Deck 45: Building a Sustainable Society

Question 1

The supply of usable fresh water is

A) projected to improve as global climate change increases worldwide precipitation rates.
B) gradually increasing as the polar ice caps melt.
C) projected to decline as global climate change precipitation patterns shifts to areas presently uninhabited.
D) projected to decline as groundwater reservoirs continue to be exploited at rates greater than their recharge.

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Government regulations and international agreements have resulted in many environmental improvements, but to date none has been able to

A) reduce emissions of CFCs
B) reduce emissions of sulfur dioxide
C) reduce carbon dioxide emissions
D) reduce the use of fossil fuels

Answer 2

D

Question 3

Building a sustainable society

A) will be accomplished primarily by scientists and economists.
B) needs to be carried out by national governments.
C) can include even the small-scale efforts of individuals.
D) should be a primary responsibility of the world's multinational corporations.

Answer 3

C

Question 4

The human population is growing rapidly. In order to build a sustainable society for future generations,

A) we must increase our food to support that growth.
B) the world's deserts need to be restored to the productive lands they once were.
C) the rate of population growth must be brought under control.
D) new forms of nonpolluting energy will have to be created.

Question 5

There are numerous issues to be overcome to create a sustainable society, included among them are

A) the stability of biomes.
B) the relationships among ecosystems.
C) the amount of solar radiation being retained by our atmosphere as heat.
D) all of the above

Question 6

A cap and trade system for sulfur dioxide emissions in the United States resulted in

A) no decline in emissions.
B) only a small (5 percent) reduction in emissions.
C) a significant reduction in emissions.
D) virtual elimination of emissions.

Question 7

The world is very close to attaining a sustainable human society now that

A) human population growth has been brought under control.
B) ecologists have a complete understanding of biological relationships among Earth's populations.
C) genetically modified crops promise to double food production in the next 25 years.
D) none of the above

Question 8

Which of the following would make a meaningful contribution to sustainability?

A) car pooling
B) using more domestic oil
C) using public transportation
D) a and c above

Question 9

Which of the following represents a sustainable source of energy?

A) a watch battery
B) a solar panel
C) a tank of gasoline
D) none of the above

Question 10

Petroleum represents the greatest single source of energy for human societies; current estimates are that the production of oil

A) will be adequate to meet human demands for the next 100 years.
B) will begin to decline somewhere around the year 2020.
C) has already begun to decline.
D) began a long decline around the year 1950.

Question 11

In which of the following continents is the availability of fresh water most limited?

A) Australia
B) Africa
C) Europe
D) North America

Question 12

The green roof projects undertaken in Japan, Europe, and North America

A) have been for the most part unsuccessful; most have been removed.
B) work well in theory, but often cause structural damage to the building where they are installed.
C) represent reclaimed cropland and have made modest contributions to food production.
D) provide a number of environmental and practical benefits including decreased heating and cooling cost.

Question 13

In comparison to conventional farming, organic farming can be considered more environmentally friendly, because

A) it uses less water than conventional farming.
B) it avoids the use of synthetic pesticides and fertilizers.
C) it has greater net primary production than conventional farming.
D) it is more energy efficient, using livestock-drawn farming equipment rather than tractors and fossils fuels.

Question 14

Old-growth forests have supplied most of the timber harvested in the United States but at a cost; in terms of area which region has experienced the greatest loss of old-growth forest?

A) the East
B) the Southwest
C) the Pacific Northwest
D) the northern California coast

Question 15

In 1990 polls taken in the United States and around the globe concerning the environment indicated most people

A) are unaware that there is a problem.
B) know that there is a problem but are not very concerned about it.
C) think improvements must be made, no matter what the cost.
D) think it would cost too much to make required improvements.

Question 16

At present, the rate of cutting tropical forests

A) could be increased slightly, creating much needed employment in tropical regions.
B) is sustainable, with many areas of the tropics experiencing modest increases in forest acreage.
C) exceeds the rate of reforestation and is unsustainable.
D) has fallen to near zero as virtually all of the world's tropical forests have been harvested.

Question 17

The decrease in area of tropical forests is

A) balanced by increases of forest areas in other parts of the globe.
B) largely the result of extensive logging.
C) largely due to increases in damaging weather.
D) occurring as sea levels rise due to global warming.

Question 18

Satellite monitoring of life on our planet has shown that human activities have

A) been smaller than expected.
B) been limited primarily to aquatic ecosystems.
C) have been serious and extensive.
D) been limited primarily to terrestrial ecosystems.

Question 19

The increased lobster catch in waters off the Maine coast appears to be a product of both government regulation and

A) reductions in the extent of primary production in Maine coastal waters.
B) reductions of the populations of lobster predators.
C) increased populations of secondary consumers.
D) the large increase in the number of lobster fishermen.

Question 20

Green roofs carry out photosynthesis, and hence they help to

A) reduce the greenhouse effect.
B) absorb CO2 from the atmosphere.
C) decrease the amount of fixed nitrogen in the air.
D) a and b above

Question 21

Wangari Maathai and the Green Belt Movement have shown that

A) creating jobs and sustainable development do not mix.
B) without extensive funding, efforts at sustainable development cannot occur.
C) sustainable development and job creation can go hand in hand.
D) a few individuals with a plan for sustainable development require the involvement of large governments.

Question 22

The Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare

A) measures not only goods produced but also the social and environmental costs associated with production.
B) formerly called the Gross Domestic Product, measures the value of a nation's economic production.
C) is a measure of a nation's unemployment that results from the implementation of environmental legislation
D) measures short-term environmental consequences of the production of goods and services.

Question 23

Life-cycle engineering refers to documenting the environmental impact of products from manufacture to the sale and disposal of the products.

Question 24

Examine the graph below.
While the dramatic increase in the Maine lobster harvest shown in the graph has been good for lobster fishermen and consumers, it may simply reflect

A) the J-shaped curve of exponential growth and signal an imminent collapse of the lobster fishery.
B) a serious disturbance in the trophic relationships of the coastal ecosystem.
C) improvements in lobster fishing or increases in the number of fishermen.
D) one of the few species that has benefited from global climate change.

Question 25

Examine the graph below.
What best explains the reduction in the forecast for future world oil production shown in this graph?

A) Oil-producing nations will attempt to drive oil prices upward by severely limiting total production.
B) World demand is expected to decline as alternative energy sources like fuel cells become available.
C) The oil in known reserves will be largely consumed by 2020 with no readily available new reserves to replace it.
D) All of the above have contributed to the forecast.

Question 26

Greenroof buildings are one of the major contributions to the greenhouse effect and global climate change.

Question 27

Many people bring empty containers to recycling centers. What does this mean in terms of contributing to a sustainable society?

A) Recycling metal and glass reduces the energy that would otherwise be used to produce the finished products from raw materials.
B) Recycling metal and glass reduces the energy that would otherwise be used to extract, refine, and transport the raw materials.
C) Recycling is insignificant relative to the size of current environmental problems, but it makes people feel that they are making a contribution.
D) Both a and b are correct.

Question 28

Successful efforts to build a sustainable society will ultimately depend on

A) education; without an awareness of the extent of environmental problems there will be little public participation in solving them.
B) shifting the economies of the world away from the exploitation of natural resources.
C) people of the world adopting the less impacting living standards currently used by citizens of the United States.
D) legislative action, with stricter environmental laws and more costly punishments for violators.

Question 29

In the industrial regions of the world, forested areas are presently increasing by about 3 percent annually.

Question 30

The United States uses a cap and trade system to regulate SO₂ by first setting a nationwide emission limit and issuing emission allowances. At the end of the year,

A) unused allowances can be sold, traded, or saved for future use.
B) companies exceeding their allowance are heavily fined.
C) unused allowances must be remitted to the government.
D) the government identifies the most successful emission reduction strategy and requires its adoption for any future allowances.

Question 31

The figure below documents the loss of old-growth forests in the United States over a 300-year period.
What best explains why the forests of the Pacific Northwest were relatively unaffected during that time period?

A) Legislation to protect endangered species like the spotted owl limited timber harvesting in the region.
B) The old-growth Douglass fir found in the region is unsuitable for most applications and the trees were simply ignored.
C) The U.S. population had not expanded significantly before 1920 and the timber of the eastern United States easily meet the needs of a smaller population.
D) Three hundred years is sufficient time to reestablish an old-growth forest, harvesting in the Pacific Northwest has simply been done sustainably.

Question 32

One means of increasing the amount of calories available for human consumption would be to

A) use the world's grain crops to raise more herbivorous livestock.
B) encourage people to simplify their diets by selecting foods from the bottom of the food web.
C) use environmentally safe pesticides to eliminate the insects that compete for our food.
D) prohibit the commercial marketing of secondary and tertiary consumers.

Question 33

Does the ability of humans to produce synthetic fertilizer mean that the carrying capacity of our biosphere for the human population is without limit?

A) Yes; with a constant supply of fertilizer humans can produce an unlimited amount of food.
B) No; the resources needed to produce fertilizers are themselves limited, as with other resources eventually fertilizer production will peak and decline.
C) Yes; fertilizers are almost entirely nitrogen, and as the most abundant gas in the atmosphere the supply of nitrogen is essentially unlimited.
D) No; converting the nitrogen in the atmosphere to a form chemically suitable for fertilizer is not economically practical.

Question 34

One reason a cap and trade system works well is that

A) allowances are inexpensive.
B) it stimulates cost-effective controls.
C) unused allowances expire.
D) allowances cannot be traded.

Question 35

Carbon dioxide and CFCs are both greenhouse gases.

Question 36

The Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare is more inclusive than the Gross National Product index.

Question 37

Although cap and trade systems reduce total emission for a given pollutant, they have been criticized because

A) the government does not specify how emission reduction will occur.
B) some companies make money by emitting less and selling their allowance.
C) local air quality can actually worsen when a factory purchases additional allowances.
D) once an total emission cap is set it remains at that level indefinitely

Question 38

Overuse of aquifers can cause cities to subside as it has done in Mexico City.

Question 39

Despite the overall increase in forested areas in the United States, concerns remain because

A) different tree species have been used to replant harvested areas.
B) replacement trees have been genetically modified to grow straighter than the original trees.
C) food production has declined as cropland is converted back into forest.
D) these second- growth forests lack the ecological complexity of the old-growth forests they are replacing.

Question 40

In many of the world's most important agricultural areas, groundwater pumped from aquifers

A) will continue to be available in virtually unlimited quantities.
B) is replenished by rainfall at rates comparable to its removal.
C) is being removed faster than it is being replaced.
D) has been abandoned for more reliable surface sources.

Question 41

Wind power is not a sustainable source of energy, because wind directions change too often.

Question 42

How can awareness and education affect our ability to build a sustainable society?

Question 43

To build a sustainable society the capabilities of humans to affect both density-dependent and density-independent factors must be taken into consideration.

Question 44

Data from satellites demonstrates that net primary production is extremely sensitive to changing weather conditions and can change in a matter of days.

Question 45

How is the current human impact on the biosphere similar to the impact of the humans who occupied Easter Island?

Question 46

The inability of human activities to impact the density-independent factors that affect other populations of organisms provides a small amount of stability on an otherwise human-dominated biosphere.

Question 47

In trade and cap systems, emissions allowances are purchased from the government.