Deck 14: The Global Environment

Question 1

The Tragedy of the Commons illustrates

A) the danger of mad cow disease.
B) the dangers of collaboration.
C) the challenge of collective action.
D) the impact of high population growth rates in the Third World.

Answer 1

the challenge of collective action.

Question 2

The Tragedy of the Commons is similar to

A) Mitrany?s functionalism and Haas?s neo-functionalism.
B) Rousseau?s Stag Hunt fable, raising the question of individual vs. collective action.
C) Wallerstein?s world-system theory.
D) both Marxist and non-Marxist dependency theory.

Answer 2

Rousseau?s Stag Hunt fable, raising the question of individual vs. collective action.

Question 3

We can apply J.D. Thompson?s insights on how certainty and uncertainty about causality and outcomes effect environmental policies-understandings he drew from his

A) study of organizations.
B) Marxist critique of capitalism.
C) Tragedy of the Commons parable.
D) critique of Thomas Malthus.

Answer 3

study of organizations.

Question 4

The example of the Nile perch being introduced into Lake Victoria, Uganda illustrates

A) a creative solution to an environmental problem.
B) unintended consequences of environmental policy.
C) a local population solving a problem without interference from outside ?experts.?
D) a success for the African Union.

Question 5

A major issue concerning the atmosphere involves

A) pollution caused by high-altitude jets.
B) high energy radon emissions.
C) nuclear leakage from satellites.
D) a hole in the ozone layer.

Question 6

Measurements show a weakening of the ozone layer over

A) the United States.
B) the Antarctic.
C) Europe.
D) the Pacific Ocean.

Question 7

Burning fossil fuels over many decades increases the overall volume of

A) carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
B) lead in the atmosphere and oceans.
C) CFCs in the oceans.
D) water in the ocean.

Question 8

Which of the following is the least likely to be a major cause of deforestation?

A) expansion of agricultural land
B) overharvesting of industrial and fuel wood
C) overgrazing
D) infestation of birds

Question 9

The extent of the loss of biodiversity is calculated against what is termed

A) the Tragedy of the Commons.
B) the Stag Hunt outcome.
C) CFC index.
D) the natural rate of extinction.

Question 10

Approximately one-third of the world?s population lives in countries that suffer from what scientists term

A) little or low water stress.
B) moderate water stress.
C) moderate-to-high water stress.
D) no water stress.

Question 11

Approximately how many people worldwide lack access to safe drinking water?

A) just over a billion persons
B) 4 billion persons
C) 6 billion persons
D) 8 billion persons

Question 12

Which of the following is the largest source of oceanic pollution?

A) dead fish and fowl
B) sewage
C) seaweed spores
D) leakage from nuclear reactors on submarines

Question 13

One of the major results of El Niño in 1997-1998 was

A) improved climate controls.
B) end of long-net fishing.
C) worldwide bleaching of coral.
D) increased bird populations in the Arctic.

Question 14

Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)

A) are the major cause of global warming.
B) are no longer produced.
C) will remain in the Earth?s atmosphere for many decades.
D) were first used in the Third World.

Question 15

If global temperature rises by more than two degree Celsius, this raises the prospect of

A) runaway climate change.
B) reduced demand for heating oil.
C) global cooling as a natural reaction.
D) decreasing acidity of rainfall.

Question 16

Countries in which serious conflict has erupted over water use include all of the following EXCEPT

A) Syria.
B) North Korea.
C) Israel.
D) Brazil.

Question 17

Countries that rely on the waters of the Euphrates include all of the following EXCEPT

A) Egypt.
B) Iraq.
C) Syria.
D) Turkey.

Question 18

Which of the following countries relies almost exclusively (96 percent) of its freshwater coming from outside its borders?

A) Egypt
B) Syria
C) Jordan
D) Israel

Question 19

The environmental problem in Bangladesh is primarily attributed to

A) declining levels of agricultural production capabilities of the soil.
B) land scarcity in relation to population growth.
C) shortage of water.
D) cold temperatures that undermine agricultural production.

Question 20

Which of the following, in and of itself, is LEAST likely to cause political violence directly?

A) the coercive power of the state
B) perceptions of injustice or inequity
C) the condition of poverty
D) perceptions of economic and political opportunity

Question 21

The premise that there needs to be a balance between consumption and population size within the overall limits imposed by the environment is referred to as

A) ecological awareness.
B) sustainable development.
C) environmental protocol.
D) environmental awareness.

Question 22

International environmental agreements have addressed all of the following EXCEPT

A) whaling.
B) tropical timber.
C) environmental modification and biodiversity.
D) water levels in underground aquifers.

Question 23

All of the following are true about the conference held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 1992 EXCEPT

A) it was a formal United Nations conference.
B) it saw parallel meetings of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) interested in environmental issues.
C) it supported the idea of sustainable development.
D) it produced a multilateral treaty on the environment.

Question 24

The conference in Cairo, Egypt that addressed population issues achieved

A) a consensus on the nature of the problem.
B) a consensus on the goals to be reached.
C) a consensus on the methods of population control.
D) little if any consensus then or subsequently.

Question 25

The Law of the Sea negotiations in the late 1970s produced international agreements that were

A) immediately agreed upon and ratified by the respective governments.
B) agreed upon but not formally ratified by the respective governments and seldom adhered to.
C) not agreed upon and never ratified by the respective governments.
D) generally agreed upon and not always ratified, but adhered to with some exceptions by all of the respective governments.

Question 26

Transnational organizations concerned with environmental issues include all of the following EXCEPT

A) World Wildlife Fund.
B) Amnesty International.
C) Greenpeace.
D) Friends of the Earth.

Question 27

One of Greenpeace?s most famous campaigns involved

A) whaling.
B) coral reefs.
C) the launching of satellites into space.
D) nuclear testing on Pacific atolls in the 1950s.

Question 28

Thomas Malthus wrote about

A) population growth.
B) environmental degradation.
C) the causes of war.
D) pollution in the British Isles.

Question 29

Governance in international relations and world politics

A) requires world (or at least regional) governments.
B) is reserved exclusively to states.
C) is impossible, given conditions of global anarchy.
D) often involves the use of persuasion to ensure compliance with international norms.

Question 30

The idea of sustainable development is a response to challenges posed by

A) resource depletion.
B) environmental degradation.
C) rapid population growth rates.
D) all of the above.

Question 31

Consumption patterns seemingly oblivious to long-term implications are sometimes referred to as the ?tragedy of the commons.?

Question 32

Global warming is associated with burning hydrocarbon fuels.

Question 33

Burning of fossil fuels contributes both to acid rain and to the greenhouse effect.

Question 34

The world?s industrial nations have all adopted the concept of sustainable development to guide their economic policies.

Question 35

NGOs have had a substantial impact on environmental issues.

Question 36

Many fear that industrialization in the Third World likely will have significant adverse consequences for the global environment.

Question 37

Global environmental internet networks were established in the 1960s.

Question 38

Annual population growth rate is calculated by subtracting the number of deaths from the number of births at the end of a given year and dividing that figure by the total population at the beginning of the year.

Question 39

The number of years it will take for a country?s population to double can be found by dividing 72 by the population growth rate.

Question 40

What are the major environmental problems facing the planet? Prioritize them and indicate what might be done about them by government and the private sector.

Question 41

To what extent was Thomas Malthus correct? Why?

Question 42

Critique the logic of the Tragedy of the Commons.

Question 43

Discuss the roles of international and nongovernmental organizations and the environment from realist and pluralist or liberal perspectives.

Question 44

How do you think economic structuralists would approach the issue of global environmental pollution? Would they support Third World efforts to industrialize?

Question 45

How would realists tend to approach the issue of the environment? Why?

Question 46

Discuss the impact of atmospheric and oceanic pollution and resource depletion on global and national economies.

Question 47

Debate the following proposition: ʺThe countries of India and China have a ʹrightʹ to pollute the environment until they catch up with more industrialized countries.ʺ

Question 48

Do environmental scarcities undermine international security? If so,how? Give examples.

Question 49

Discuss: ʺThe issue of global warming is essentially caused by industrial states, so it is their responsibility to come up with a solution.ʺ