Deck 6: Population: a Problem of Quantity or Quality

Question 1

Exponential growth refers to growth that:

A) Starts at a low rate but then the rate rises dramatically.
B) Occurs at a constant rate.
C) Starts at a high rate but then the rate drops dramatically.
D) Repeatedly fluctuates between a high and low rate.

Answer 1

B

Question 2

Which of the following countries was highlighted in Society and the Environment for its one-child policy?

A) Fiji.
B) Kazakhstan.
C) China.
D) Moldavia.

Answer 2

C

Question 3

STIRPAT-the model that examines the relationship between human activities and the environment-is short for:

A) STochastic Impacts by Regression on Population, Affluence, and Technology.
B) SusTainable Impacts by Region or Place And Time.
C) Slow Technological Impacts as a measure of Regression models, Population, Action, and Time.
D) Statistical Ingression of Repressed Progress, Affluence, and Temporality.

Answer 3

A

Question 4

Thomas Malthus predicted that:

A) Growth in population will always outpace our ability to feed, shelter, and clothe people and that without some controls on population growth it would ultimately be humanity's undoing.
B) Growth in population will eventually slow as countries reach a certain level of affluence so there is no need to worry about long term population growth.
C) China and India will become the two most populated countries in the world.
D) Agricultural productivity will keep up with population growth thanks to biotechnology.

Question 5

According to the economist Amartya Sen, modern food crises are:

A) Make-believe as we have not had a food crisis in over 500 years.
B) Due to people not wanting to work.
C) Typically the result of natural disasters.
D) Less related to the absence of food as to the inability to buy it.

Question 6

In addition to humans a considerable amount of the global grain crop goes to "feeding":

A) Cars.
B) Cattle.
C) Pigs.
D) All of the above.

Question 7

The demographic transition model illustrates:

A) The move from a state of high birth and death rates to low birth and death rates.
B) The move from a state of low birth and death rates to high birth and death rates.
C) The move from a sustainable to unsustainable society.
D) The move from an energy-intensive to an energy un-intensive society.

Question 8

The fact that population control policies in countries like China have taken decades before their full effects can be seen is an example of:

A) Demographic inertia.
B) Demographic transition.
C) Demographic depletion.
D) Demographic lock in.

Question 9

Compounds that evaporate from housekeeping, maintenance, and building products made with organic chemicals.

A) Greenhouse gases
B) Municipal substances
C) Organic matter
D) Volatile organic compounds

Question 10

Which of the following is a characteristic of least-developed countries?

A) Low fertility rates
B) Low mortality rates
C) High fertility rates
D) a and b

Question 11

As mentioned in Society and the Environment, while fertility rates in Sub-Saharan Africa tend to be high the countries in this region also have very high child mortality rates.

Question 12

Cities in low-income countries are currently half as densely populated as cities in affluent countries.

Question 13

Exponential growth has been relatively unstable since the beginning of human civilization.

Question 14

Advances in medicine, nutrition, hygiene has led to an "exponential increase in population".

Question 15

In 1998 Thomas Malthus wrote an important essay on population.

Question 16

Thomas Malthus coined the term "die back" which means population through death and starvation will adjust to resources available.

Question 17

The Club of Rome was a global "Think Tank" founded in 1968.

Question 18

Paul Erlich coined the term "population bomb" at the turn of the century.

Question 19

Megacities are cities with over 1 billion people.

Question 20

Volatile organic compounds are one of the many pollution problems facing people and populations living in metropolitan areas.

Question 21

Describe the theories of Thomas Malthus.

Question 22

What is the Club of Rome?

Question 23

Define exponential growth.

Question 24

Define China's One child policy.

Question 25

Define Developed vs. least developed countries.

Question 26

Explain and give examples of Volatile organic compounds.

Question 27

Review the Fast Facts at the start of the chapter. Consider each carefully. Which fact is most compelling (surprising) to you and why?

Question 28

Which Fast Fact would you use to talk to and educate others about our current population crisis? Why and what would you say?

Question 29

Why not reduce environmental problems to demographics? What is Carolan's argument? Use 'greenhouse gases' and 'urban sprawl' in your explanation.

Question 30

What is the link, according to the text, between population growth and food security? Use the terms 'crop yields' and 'arable land' in your explanation.

Question 31

Discuss the connection between famine and democracy according to Carolan.

Question 32

According to the text, what are some of the other 'mouths' that we must feed that are putting added stress on our food system? Use facts and references from the chapter.

Question 33

Explain the 'demographic transition model.' What are its assumptions about population growth and stabilization? Discuss and explain.

Question 34

Discuss and explain the role of family planning in stabilizing population growth. Use facts and cases from the chapter in your explanation

Question 35

What is the paradox between development and population in managing population impacts on the planet? Make reference to the chapter.

Question 36

The text discusses the "Boserup Effect" and the argument for a population explosion. What is meant by this? Reference the chapter in your explanation.

Question 37

The text discusses Julian Simon's perspective of people as the planet's 'ultimate resource.' Summarize Simon's perspective. Use the term "cornucopian" in your explanation.

Question 38

Is it fair to continue framing 'the population problem' as a low-income country problem when the average U.S. citizen's ecological footprint is thirty-times greater than that of the average Indian and one hundred times greater than that of the average person in the world's poorest countries?

Question 39

Having large families in low-income nations is perfectly rational for many living in those environments. What are some of the sociological forces underlying high fertility rates in developing countries?

Question 40

Does a person have a fundamental human right to have as many children as he or she chooses?

Question 41

Take the hit reality US television show 19 and Counting (on TLC), of the family with nineteen children (and who have expressed a desire for more). Why is it socially acceptable for this family to have so many children (and then we glamorize it by putting in on television) but not for families in poorer countries?

Question 42

What is the earth's carrying capacity (how many people can it hold?)