Deck 12: Humans and the Environment

Question 1

Which of the following is one of the five fundamental driving forces of human threats to the environment?

A) Arable and pastoral activities
B) Technological developments
C) Increasing human populations
D) Increasing connections between different regions of the globe
E) All of the above

Answer 1

E

Question 2

The date of the first nuclear test detonation has been pinpointed as the beginning of which geological epoch?

A) Anthropocene
B) Holocene
C) Pleistocene
D) Pliocene
E) Miocene

Answer 2

A

Question 3

In 2011, a leading scientist suggested that which ecosystem will be the first to be eliminated by human activity by 2100?

A) Grassland
B) Forest
C) Coral reef
D) Desert
E) Tundra

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Which of the following scholars formally developed the concept of an ecosystem?

A) A.G. Tansley
B) Charles Darwin
C) Alfred Wegener
D) Alexander von Humboldt
E) Carl Sauer

Question 5

Which of the following is the home to all life on earth?

A) Ecology
B) Ecosystem
C) Ecosphere
D) Anthropocene
E) Holocene

Question 6

Which of the following was a newly discovered energy source in the second half of the eighteenth century?

A) Coal
B) Oil
C) Solar power
D) Electricity
E) Wind power

Question 7

Easter Island in the Pacific Ocean is an example of which of the following?

A) Unrestricted population growth
B) Ecological disaster
C) Reckless use of natural resources
D) Destruction of the environment
E) All of the above

Question 8

Resources that regenerate naturally to provide a new supply within a human lifespan are known as which of the following?

A) Renewable resources
B) Stock resources
C) Biomass
D) Natural resources
E) Depleted resources

Question 9

Which of the following describes stock resources?

A) Animal resources
B) Free resources
C) Political resources
D) Renewable resources
E) Fixed resources

Question 10

Which of the following are non-renewable fossil fuels?

A) Wood, oil, and crop waste
B) Sun and air
C) Coal and water
D) Coal, oil, and natural gas
E) Natural gas and animal dung

Question 11

In many parts of the less developed world, the primary energy sources are from traditional biomass sources that include which of the following?

A) Oil and coal
B) Wood, crop waste, and animal dung
C) Wood and natural gas
D) Animal waste and gas
E) Coal, oil, and water

Question 12

Which dam represents the single largest construction project in China since the Great Wall?

A) Sardar Sarovar Dam on the Narmada River
B) Houay Ho Dam on the river Xe Kong
C) Gariep Dam on the Orange river
D) Bakun Dam on the Balui river
E) Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River

Question 13

The Three Gorges Dam in China has created a reservoir that extends how many kilometers into the country's interior?

A) 0-199 km
B) 200-399 km
C) 400-599 km
D) 600-799 km
E) 800-999 km

Question 14

Which of the following countries do NOT heavily use nuclear reactors?

A) France
B) Canada
C) Belgium
D) South Korea
E) All of the above use nuclear reactors.

Question 15

Today, which country is the world leader in wind energy production?

A) China
B) France
C) Belgium
D) Canada
E) Germany

Question 16

Which continent is a leader in wind farm technology?

A) North America
B) South America
C) Europe
D) Asia
E) Africa

Question 17

A projection from the International Energy Authority suggested that, at best, ethanol will provide 10 per cent of the world's gasoline by approximately which of the following years?

A) 2020-2029
B) 2030-2039
C) 2040-2049
D) 2050-2059
E) 2060-2069

Question 18

What catastrophic environmental accident occurred on 26 April 1986?

A) Easter Island Accident
B) Cleveland River Accident
C) Three Mile Island Accident
D) Chernobyl Nuclear Accident
E) Exxon Valdez Accident

Question 19

Which of the following kickstarted the current debate and understanding of human impacts on ecosystems?

A) G.P. Marsh's Man and Nature, or Physical Geography as Modified by Human Action
B) Thomas Friedman's Hot, Flat, and Crowded
C) The 1987 Montreal Protocol
D) The 1997 Kyoto Protocol
E) Rachel Carson's Silent Spring

Question 20

Which scholar drew attention to the relationship between available resources and population size?

A) E. Katz
B) T.R. Malthus
C) G.P. Marsh
D) G.L. Buffon
E) R. Carson

Question 21

The first major international meeting concerning environmental issues was held in 1972 in which city?

A) Kyoto
B) Stockholm
C) Montreal
D) Rio de Janeiro
E) New York City

Question 22

Which international agreement was aimed at the reduction and eventual elimination of chlorofluorocarbons?

A) The Berlin Protocol
B) The Johannesburg Treaty
C) The 1987 Montreal Protocol
D) The Kyoto Protocol
E) The Rio Protocol

Question 23

R.J. Johnston and P.J. Taylor are associated with which of the following arguments?

A) Previous European activity in tropical areas was environmentally destructive.
B) Capitalist world economy is hell-bent on annihilating space and place.
C) Humans indiscriminately impact low water levels.
D) Dams displace thousands of people.
E) Humans aim to subjugate nature.

Question 24

Where and when did green (i.e., environmentalist) political parties first appear?

A) West Germany in 1979
B) Belgium in 1970
C) France in 1965
D) The United States in 1972
E) Canada in 1962

Question 25

Evidence suggests that economic growth leads to a reduction of environmental problems, so long as the growth is accompanied by which of the following factors?

A) Higher taxes
B) Zero population growth
C) Good governance
D) Technological breakthroughs
E) Demographic changes

Question 26

What was a principal cause of ozone depletion?

A) Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)
B) Acid rain
C) Water pollution
D) Nuclear radiation
E) All of the above

Question 27

There is increasing evidence that economic growth leads to which of the following?

A) Reduction of environmental problems
B) Increasing environmental problems
C) Environmental protection
D) Increased pollution
E) Both A and C

Question 28

An anthropocentric view believes which of the following statements?

A) Humans are the source of all value.
B) Land exists for human use.
C) Resources are unlimited.
D) Humans are central to the world.
E) All of the above

Question 29

Which term represents the following thought: "When individuals have access to a common resource, their individual rational behaviour does not result in a collectively prudent outcome"?

A) Sustainable development
B) The tragedy of the commons
C) Deep ecology
D) Shallow ecology
E) Natural resources are cultural appraisals

Question 30

For many settlers, the forest was a symbol of which of the following?

A) Nature's domination over humans
B) Economic prosperity
C) Humans' domination over nature
D) Humans' connection to nature
E) The beauty of nature

Question 31

For eighteenth-century and later Europeans, what did cleared land represent?

A) Progress and triumph of technology
B) More space for diversification
C) More land for agriculture
D) Soil erosion
E) A threatening symbol of oppression

Question 32

Which of the following ranges represents the estimated area cleared by deforestation in North America by 1990?

A) 0-500,000 km²
B) 500,001-1,000,000 km²
C) 1,000,001-1,500,000 km²
D) 1,500,001-2,000,000 km²
E) 2,000,000-2,500,000 km²

Question 33

Which technique provides accurate data on forest inventory, depletion, and regeneration?

A) Photography
B) Remote sensing
C) Mapping
D) Cartography
E) Surveying

Question 34

Humans have deliberately modified the environment for the past 1.5 million years by doing which of the following?

A) Using crude tools to work the soil
B) Domesticating animals
C) Using fire to burn vegetation
D) Planting crops
E) All the above

Question 35

Which of the following regions is thought to have experienced the most deforestation over time?

A) Africa
B) Asia
C) North America
D) Former USSR
E) Central America

Question 36

Which of the following is a prime example of how fire has played a major role in creating vegetation systems?

A) Savannas
B) Mid-latitude grasslands
C) Mediterranean scrub lands
D) Both A and B
E) All of the above

Question 37

What is an example of early plant domesticates?

A) Oats
B) Millet
C) Rice
D) Yams
E) All of the above

Question 38

Plant domestication is a process by which a plant is modified in order to fulfill a specific human desire. This change is considered to be which of the following?

A) Remarkable
B) Temporary
C) Undesirable
D) Reversible
E) Permanent

Question 39

What is the term given to the increasing forest density in many parts of the world after several decades of decline?

A) Great Reversal
B) Redensification
C) Replenished Forests
D) Great Return
E) Grand Revival

Question 40

Where are rain forests primarily located?

A) In less developed areas of the world
B) Close to the equator
C) Close to the temperate zones
D) In highly developed areas of the world
E) Both A and B

Question 41

Which of the following was the most publicized area experiencing desertification following the 1968-73 Africa drought?

A) Benguela city of Angola
B) Sahel zone of West Africa
C) Ogaden region of Ethiopia
D) Nairobi area of Kenya
E) All of the above

Question 42

Which of the following human activities are associated with desertification?

A) Overgrazing
B) Salinization of irrigated lands
C) Waterlogging
D) Fuel-gathering
E) All of the above

Question 43

What are the two main consequences of rain forest removal/destruction?

A) Extinction of species and climate change
B) Soil erosion and decreased resilience
C) Increase in farming and forest products
D) Impacts to traditional farming and resource yields
E) Decrease in water supply and food sources

Question 44

According to a 2014 UN report, how many people in sub-Saharan Africa live in drylands susceptible to desertification?

A) 25-50 million
B) 50-100 million
C) 100-500 million
D) 500 million-1 billion
E) 1-5 billion

Question 45

Why was the United Nations' effort to combat desertification largely viewed as a failure?

A) Technical solutions were applied.
B) Local populations were not involved.
C) There was no simple solution.
D) Economic, social, and political causes were not addressed.
E) All of the above

Question 46

What is the central objective of the Kenyan Green Belt Movement?

A) Farm in the cleared areas
B) Remove forests and farm the land
C) Reclaim land lost to desert and to ensure future fertility
D) Provide timber for developed nations
E) Decrease wood supplies

Question 47

What is the initiative called that is underway in sub-Saharan Africa to combat the effects of desertification and climate change?

A) Great Return
B) The Great Green Wall
C) Deserts No More
D) Green Africa
E) Tree Wall

Question 48

What is the goal of The Great Green Wall initiative by 2030?

A) Restore 100 million hectares of degraded land
B) Create hundreds of thousands of jobs in rural areas
C) Sequester 250 million tonnes of carbon
D) Both A and C
E) All of the above

Question 49

Approximately how much is the demand for water expected to increase by 2050?

A) 0-20 per cent
B) 21-40 per cent
C) 41-60 per cent
D) 61-80 per cent
E) 81-100 per cent

Question 50

Approximately how many years ago were dingoes thought to have been introduced into Australia?

A) 0-1,000 years
B) 1,000-2,000 years
C) 2,000- 3,000 years
D) 3,000-4,000 years
E) 4,001-5,000 years

Question 51

In which Australian state does a rabbit-proof fence run for nearly 2.000 km?

A) Queensland
B) Western Australia
C) Northern Territory
D) South Australia
E) New South Wales

Question 52

Which of the following animals were introduced into Australia by accident or on purpose?

A) Foxes
B) Deer
C) Sheep
D) Mice and rats
E) All of the above

Question 53

Loss of arable land is occurring as a result of which of the following factors?

A) Improper agricultural practices
B) Population increases
C) Industrialization
D) Both B and C
E) All of the above

Question 54

Where in the world is agricultural land the most impoverished?

A) Europe
B) North America
C) Latin America
D) Asia
E) Africa

Question 55

Which two issues dominate the consideration of human impact on water quality and quantity?

A) Scarcity and availability
B) Precipitation and transpiration
C) Vapour transport and evaporation
D) Scarcity and contamination
E) Evaporation and transpiration

Question 56

Humans increase the salinity of soil largely through which of the following processes?

A) Farming
B) Standing water
C) Irrigation
D) Cutting trees
E) Mining

Question 57

Bahrain has virtually no fresh water and relies on which of the following?

A) Desalinization of sea water
B) Melted snow
C) Pipeline supply from Arabia
D) Summer precipitation
E) Supplies from other nations

Question 58

Which of the following consumes the greatest amount of water?

A) Industry
B) Agriculture
C) Basic human needs
D) Both A and B
E) Both A and C

Question 59

Which of the Great Lakes was most seriously affected by sewage, agricultural wastes, and industrial wastes by the 1960s?

A) Lake Ontario
B) Lake Erie
C) Lake Superior
D) Lake Huron
E) Lake Michigan

Question 60

If the earth had no atmosphere, what would be the average surface temperature?

A) 20 to 30°C
B) 10 to 19°C
C) 0 to 9°C
D) −10 to -1°C
E) -20 to -11°C

Question 61

Approximately how much plastic is produced for single-use?

A) 0-20 per cent
B) 21-40 per cent
C) 41-60 per cent
D) 61-80 per cent
E) 81-100 per cent

Question 62

Which ocean gyre is believed to have the largest amount of plastic waste?

A) North Pacific
B) South Pacific
C) North Atlantic
D) South Atlantic
E) Indian Ocean

Question 63

Humans are increasing the greenhouse effect by adding which of the following gases to the atmosphere?

A) Chlorofluorocarbons
B) Nitrous oxide
C) Sulphur dioxide
D) Carbon dioxide
E) All of the above

Question 64

If carbon dioxide emissions continue at current levels, global temperatures are expected to rise by about how much by 2100?

A) 0-1 degrees Celsius
B) 1-2 degrees Celsius
C) 2-3 degrees Celsius
D) 3-4 degrees Celsius
E) 4-5 degrees Celsius

Question 65

The Antarctic ice sheet contains approximately what percentage of the world's ice?

A) 0-20 per cent
B) 21-40 per cent
C) 41-60 per cent
D) 61-80 per cent
E) 81-100 per cent

Question 66

By what year is a nearly ice-free September Arctic possible due to the gradual shrinkage of the extent of annual sea ice?

A) 2030
B) 2050
C) 2070
D) 2090
E) 3000

Question 67

The Kyoto Protocol established goals to reduce which of the following?

A) Biodiversity loss
B) Nuclear energy consumption
C) Greenhouse gas emissions
D) Soil erosion
E) Desertification

Question 68

Rising sea levels put which of the following at risk?

A) Human lives
B) Food production
C) Infrastructure
D) Both A and B
E) All of the above

Question 69

Global and local ecosystems are being increasingly impacted by which of the following?

A) Decreasing forest wealth
B) Growth of population and technology
C) Use of fossil fuels
D) Greenhouse effect
E) Migration

Question 70

Which of the following refers to people who argue that human ingenuity and technology will overcome the moderate environmental problems that do exist?

A) Catastrophists
B) Skeptics
C) Environmentalists
D) Empiricists
E) Cornucopians

Question 71

Maps showing the global distribution of major environmental problems identify Canada as having which of the following environmental stresses?

A) Major CO₂ emitter
B) Water scarcity
C) Depleted fisheries
D) Both A and C
E) All of the above

Question 72

Any form of environmental protection, including preservation, is considered to be which of the following?

A) Conservation
B) Adaptation
C) Economically responsible
D) Recycling
E) Sustainability

Question 73

What is currently the largest protected ecosystem?

A) Denmark
B) Canada
C) Antarctica
D) Greenland
E) Sweden

Question 74

Adaptation to climate change might involve which of the following responses?

A) Population movement/migration
B) New water supply systems
C) Coastal defences
D) All of the above
E) None of the above

Question 75

The concept of sustainable development was introduced in the late 1980s by which of the following?

A) The World Commission on Environment and Development
B) The Berlin Treaty
C) The Green Plan
D) The Montreal Protocol
E) The Kyoto Protocol

Question 76

An important early technological advance was humans' use of fire to convert inedible plants into an edible form.

Question 77

Typically, open systems interact with elements outside the system, while closed systems have inputs but lack outputs.

Question 78

Something becomes a resource only if humans perceive it as being technologically, politically, economically, or socially useful.

Question 79

Water power is tapped from sources such as rivers, waves, and tides.

Question 80

The UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 2014 report states that there is an urgent need to shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources.