Deck 10: Population, the Environment, and Global Sustainability

Question 1

Of the following issues, __________ has not been fully addressed in the United Nations program to achieve sustainable development.

A) alleviation of poverty
B) population growth
C) environmental degradation
D) economic growth

Answer 1

B

Question 2

The Green Revolution tends to focus on all of the following except an

A) improved food distribution system.
B) increased use of irrigation.
C) increased use of fertilizer.
D) increased use of genetically modified seeds.

Answer 2

A

Question 3

According to data from the World Bank, China has the largest economy in the world, with _____ being second.

A) Germany
B) India
C) Japan
D) the United States

Answer 3

D

Question 4

The United Nations estimates that approximately ______ percent of the world's agricultural land is used for meat production.

A) 10
B) 25
C) 50
D) 75

Question 5

Of the following factors, _______ is not an ingredient in the Ehrlich and Ehrlich impact equation.

A) technology
B) culture
C) affluence
D) population

Question 6

An important contribution to world population policy made by the United States was through the creation of the

A) Green Revolution.
B) Agency for International Development.
C) World Bank.
D) Demographic Surveillance Sites.

Question 7

Of the following factors, availability of _______ may be the most limiting with respect to sustainable food production for a growing population.

A) fertilizers
B) fresh water
C) arable land
D) organically grown foods

Question 8

If the ecological footprint calculations for the world are correct, then we

A) have achieved a level of sustainability with respect to resources and population.
B) have about a half century before we will have exceeded our global carrying capacity.
C) are on the verge of exceeding our global carrying capacity.
D) are already in a situation of overshoot.

Question 9

Intensification of agriculture involves

A) putting more acres under production.
B) planting more crops in grain-fed areas of the world.
C) increased yield per acre.
D) putting more people to work on the land.

Question 10

Of the following, _______ is least likely to promote economic development.

A) changing age structures
B) increasing the official poverty level
C) reducing "organizational inefficiencies"
D) increasing the percentage of women in the paid labor force

Question 11

Economic development refers to a situation in which there is

A) an increasing economic output.
B) development of land for industrial purposes.
C) growth in average (per-person) income.
D) sustainable economic growth.

Question 12

Of the following countries, _______ generates the greatest total amount of carbon dioxide emissions.

A) Qatar
B) China
C) India
D) United States

Question 13

Ester Boserup is famous for her idea that population growth

A) is an impediment to economic development.
B) can trigger economic development.
C) is not related to economic development.
D) promotes degradation of the environment.

Question 14

The idea that human population is the "ultimate resource" is most closely associated with the writing of

A) Thomas Robert Malthus.
B) Paul Ehrlich.
C) Karl Marx.
D) Julian Simon.

Question 15

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that there are currently about ____ people in the world with less than an adequate amount of food.

A) 10 million
B) 200 million
C) 800 million
D) 1 billion

Question 16

The best evidence that the demand for food is growing faster than the population is that

A) the amount of meat being consumed in the world has been increasing.
B) there is now less geographic variability in daily food consumption.
C) caloric intake per person has been rising.
D) food insecurity has been declining.

Question 17

Economic development depends especially upon

A) investment of capital.
B) high levels of natural resources.
C) high rates of population growth.
D) public-private partnerships.

Question 18

History suggests that ________ is the more common demographic response to resource over-utilization at the local level.

A) an increase in fertility
B) a decline in fertility
C) out-migration
D) in-migration

Question 19

Of the following, _________ is most closely related to the concept of carrying capacity.

A) sustainability
B) demographic overhead
C) economic development
D) economic growth

Question 20

Which of the following countries has the highest estimated ecological footprint per person?

A) United States
B) China
C) Japan
D) Indonesia

Question 21

How would you describe economic development as it applies to your own life? Do you aspire to more material goods? Do you aspire to more cultural goods that use human rather than natural resources?

Question 22

In order for economic development to occur, the rate of economic growth must be higher than the rate of population growth.

Question 23

The wealth of a nation can be described as its natural resources minus its human resources.

Question 24

Because of its natural resources, Canada has a higher ecological footprint per person than the United States.

Question 25

Increasing the yield per acre comes about through an intensification of agriculture.

Question 26

Thinking about the community in which you grew up, would you say that population growth was positively or negatively related to the local economy, or both, or not related at all? Defend your answer.

Question 27

What is your perception of the strengths and weaknesses of the ecological footprint concept? How useful is the concept to you in helping you to understand your own impact on the earth?

Question 28

The historical evidence shows clearly that population growth is inevitably an impediment to economic development.

Question 29

To understand the relationship between population growth and economic development, the age structure must be taken into account.

Question 30

Population growth has been shown to increase the probability of producing the genius who will solve the world's problems.

Question 31

Given the clear evidence that human-induced global climate change is occurring, what do you think might be the long-term consequences for the choices (voluntary or forced) that people will make about where to live in response to climate changes, especially in places where the population is continuing to increase? How will these choices impact the world community?

Question 32

Would you be willing to give up or at least dramatically reduce your intake of meat in order to feed the planet and limit environmental damage? Why or why not?

Question 33

The single most important aspect of the Green Revolution is improved irrigation.

Question 34

The available evidence suggests that sustainable development is possible if we eliminate poverty from the world.

Question 35

One way to view the Agricultural Revolution is to think of it as a response to the "resource crisis" created by hunter-gatherer populations outstripping the available food supply.