Deck 14: The Global Environment and International Politics

Question 1

While there is not yet a global shortage of fresh water in the world, several regions are already experiencing severe shortages due to

A) continued salinization of existing water supplies.
B) increased rates of evaporation caused by warmer than average temperatures.
C) increased consumption.
D) pollution of existing water supplies from new chemical plants.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

World population is growing mainly because

A) people are having more children.
B) immigration is at such high levels.
C) mortality has decreased so dramatically.
D) agricultural yields have grown so exponentially over the last decades.

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Which of the following are global environmental problems?

A) Oil shortages
B) Air pollution
C) Biodiversity loss
D) Both options A and C are true.

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Natural products whose supply is fundamentally limited are known as

A) renewable resources.
B) negative externalities.
C) nonrenewable resources.
D) potentially recyclable resources.

Question 5

External costs that force costs (in terms, for example, of polluted air or water) onto others are also known as

A) non-excludable issues.
B) collective action problems.
C) negative externalities.
D) None of the above is true.

Question 6

Which of the following was not a result or outcome from the Durban meeting in late 2011?

A) All the important questions relating to resolving climate change and global warming were deferred until the future.
B) The countries present agreed to set binding commitments by 2015 on greenhouse gas emissions.
C) The negotiation partners agreed to extend the Kyoto Protocol beyond 2012.
D) China agreed to limit greenhouse gases, but the United States balked at having to do so.

Question 7

By 2025, many estimates claim that the world's population will exceed

A) 5 billion people.
B) 8 billion people.
C) 9 billion people.
D) 12 billion people.

Question 8

According to the text, which of the following transnational problems concern overfishing of shared bodies of water?

A) Caspian Sea
B) Jordan River
C) Great Lakes
D) Ganges and Brahmaputra

Question 9

In Japan, Russia, and much of Europe, birthrates have

A) increased dramatically.
B) remained the same.
C) declined slightly.
D) declined dramatically.

Question 10

The tragedy of the commons refers to the situation in which

A) too many people live in a shared region.
B) each individual acts according to his or her individual interest, resulting in a collective disaster.
C) people try to work together to solve problems, but don't always succeed.
D) developing countries allow exploitation of natural resources by transnational corporations.

Question 11

All of the following environmental problems are considered global, except for

A) global warming.
B) overpopulation.
C) oil shortages.
D) overconsumption of water from watersheds which supply more than one country.

Question 12

The "Green Revolution" refers to the

A) Iranian uprising in 2009 that still continues today.
B) dramatic gains in agricultural yields in many developing countries, caused by increased use of fertilizers, pesticides, and new crop breeds.
C) enormous Texas-sized algae bloom in the Pacific Ocean caused by overuse of fertilizers among agricultural producers.
D) None of the above is true.

Question 13

A situation in which a group of actors has a common interest, but cannot collaborate to achieve it is called

A) a collective action problem.
B) a levels of analysis problem.
C) a rational action problem.
D) an expected utility problem.

Question 14

According to the text, which of the following transnational problems relate to pollution of waterways that border more than one country?

A) Great Lakes
B) Mediterranean Sea
C) Danube River
D) All of the above is true.

Question 15

According to the text, which of the following transnational problems relate to overconsumption of water from watersheds that supply more than one country?

A) Great Lakes
B) Danube River
C) Caspian Sea
D) Tigris and Euphrates

Question 16

In 2012 the world's population surpassed

A) 6 billion.
B) 7 billion.
C) 8 billion.
D) 9 billion.

Question 17

The most recent meeting to negotiate a new plan to combat global warming and climate change took place in late 2011 in

A) Kyoto, Japan.
B) Durban, South Africa.
C) New York, New York.
D) Copenhagen, Denmark.

Question 18

According to geographer Jared Diamond, if people in the developing world were to consume as much as the average American, in terms of consumption of resources it would be as if the total world population exceeded

A) 20 billion.
B) 40 billion.
C) 50 billion.
D) 70 billion.

Question 19

Those resources that can be sustained indefinitely, as long as the state of consumption does not exceed the natural rate of replacement, are known as

A) renewable resources.
B) cornucopian deposits.
C) positive externalities.
D) absolute gains.

Question 20

All of the following environmental problems are considered transnational, but not global, except for

A) pollution of waterways that border countries.
B) depletion of the ozone layer.
C) air pollution flowing across borders.
D) overfishing of shared bodies of water.

Question 21

Beyond collective action problems, which of the following is not an obstacle that tends to arise on many international environmental issues?

A) Struggle for influence or control among intergovernmental organizations
B) Complexity
C) Competing economic priorities
D) Conflict with free trade agreements

Question 22

One of the most prominent states who has not ratified the Kyoto Protocol is

A) Japan.
B) Germany.
C) Brazil.
D) the United States.

Question 23

Which of the following theories directs us to look at the role of ideas in shaping behavior toward the environment and toward environmental policy?

A) Economic structuralism
B) Constructivism
C) Feminism
D) Rational choice

Question 24

How do scientists suggest we solve the "trilemma" created by the shift in recent years from fossil fuels to biofuels, such as ethanol?

A) They suggest we eat less food.
B) They suggest that governments offer additional subsidies for farmers who are growing biofuel crops.
C) They suggest that biofuel production should be carried out in very particular ways, such as by growing perennial grasses on abandoned fields.
D) They suggest that we ride our bikes and walk rather than drive.

Question 25

According to the text, which of the following wars would realists claim was not caused by a competition over resources?

A) World War I
B) World War II
C) Vietnam War
D) NATO intervention in Libya

Question 26

Approximately how much of U. S. corn production goes into ethanol production, rather than into the food supply?

A) 10 percent
B) 25 percent
C) 40 percent
D) 55 percent

Question 27

In terms of environmental problems, realists would agree with all of the following except

A) realists are skeptical about climate change and resource shortages.
B) states are reluctant to sign on to any agreement that might jeopardize their military or economic power.
C) states take a pessimistic view of the prospects for international cooperation on environmental problems.
D) even when states are in agreement about the desirability of cooperation, they are concern with relative gains.

Question 28

Which of the following is a generalized factor that influences the difficulty in solving collective action problems?

A) Number of actors
B) Time horizons
C) Hegemony
D) All of the above are true.

Question 29

Beyond collective action problems, there is a general set of obstacles that tend to arise on many international environmental issues. Which of the following is not a barrier to cooperation?

A) Competing economic priorities
B) Equity
C) Domestic politics
D) Scientific proof

Question 30

The largest amount of a renewable resource that can be harvested each year without reducing the amount that can be harvested in future years is called the

A) maximum sustainable yield.
B) energy security.
C) collective action.
D) None of the above is true.

Question 31

According to the text, the view of international environmental problems as collective action problems fits well with which of the following international relations theories?

A) Realism
B) Liberalism
C) Feminism
D) Economic structuralism

Question 32

Economic structuralists focus on how environmental issues influence

A) the power of a given state vis-à-vis other states in the global system.
B) gaps in wealth and economic power.
C) norms of behavior globally concerning how companies, NGOs, and states interact to conserve resources.
D) the productive capacities of women in developing societies.

Question 33

For __________, the central questions are how environmental degradation affects women and how women might contribute to the amelioration of environmental problems.

A) the Grameen Bank
B) the World Bank
C) constructivists
D) feminists

Question 34

All the following are examples of the tragedy of the commons, except

A) fishing in shared waters.
B) air pollution.
C) livestock grazing on public lands.
D) space exploration.

Question 35

Which of the following is true about China?

A) Many countries oppose an agreement to limit greenhouse emissions that does not constrain China as much as everyone else.
B) China regards further economic growth as essential to raising its standard of living; this makes it unlikely that the leadership will consider limiting fossil fuel emissions.
C) Many countries are concerned that they will be economically disadvantaged if China is not limited in the production of greenhouse gas emissions.
D) All of the above are true.

Question 36

Which two countries together account for nearly 90 percent of global ethanol production?

A) Brazil and Canada
B) United States and China
C) United States and Brazil
D) Russia and Canada

Question 37

Which of the following pioneered the use of biofuels as a means of energy independence after the global energy crisis of 1973?

A) Canada
B) United States
C) Brazil
D) Venezuela

Question 38

China has recently provided billions of dollars in funding for national infrastructure and human development projects in which of the following regions?

A) Latin America
B) Southeast Asia
C) Oceania
D) Africa

Question 39

Which country is today the world's largest ethanol producer?

A) Brazil
B) United States
C) Canada
D) Venezuela

Question 40

Concerning the resolution of collective action problems, which of the following is true.

A) The more actors are part of a given collective action problem, the harder it is to solve.
B) Only if significant value is placed on current costs and benefits is cooperation today rational.
C) One way to resolve free rider issues is to deny selective benefits to those who participate in their resolution.
D) None of the above is true.

Question 41

Which country contributes the most to the production of greenhouse gases?

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

Question 42

Which of the following is not a reason that wind farms are opposed?

A) They are unsightly.
B) They are not economical.
C) They cause noise pollution.
D) They disrupt migrating birds.

Question 43

What was the primary reason that successive U. S. presidents have not submitted the Kyoto Protocol for Senate ratification?

A) The economic cost of the agreement was prohibitively expensive.
B) Not enough Senators are convinced of the science behind "global warming."
C) China and India, as major greenhouse gas emitters, are not party to the Kyoto Protocol.
D) None of the above is true.

Question 44

Of the environmental agreements discussed in this chapter, which one is seen as a success?

A) Montreal Protocol
B) Convention on Biological Diversity
C) Kyoto Protocol
D) Copenhagen Summit

Question 45

When national leaders must simultaneously negotiate with other nation-states and with domestic constituencies they are said to be engaging in

A) a two-level game.
B) dual diplomacy.
C) divided loyalties.
D) a bifurcated discussion.

Question 46

Which of the following is a goal of the Convention on Biological Diversity?

A) The conservation of biological diversity
B) The sustainable use of its components
C) The fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources
D) All of the above are true.

Question 47

Cooperation to limit gases that deplete the ozone layer was possible because

A) science on this problem became indisputable.
B) the rich countries decided to subsidize the economic costs of this treaty.
C) of U.S. influence.
D) of the role of the United Nations in this issue.

Question 48

The Montreal Protocol is significant because it

A) was the most sweeping environmental treaty in history.
B) focused on environmental problems between Canada and the United States.
C) emphasized for the first time biological diversity.
D) was the first global environmental treaty.

Question 49

Which of the following treaties was signed at the Rio Summit in 1992?

A) Montreal Protocol
B) the Convention on Biological Diversity
C) Kyoto Protocol
D) the Convention to Combat Desertification

Question 50

An increase in the planet's temperature can be expected to have all of the following effects except

A) changes in weather patterns.
B) rising sea levels.
C) an increasing incidence of extreme weather.
D) more tsunamis like the ones that took place in Indonesia and Japan.

Question 51

In 1962, Silent Spring was published by Rachel Carson. What was the main subject of the book?

A) The deadly fog that gripped London, England in the mid-1950s
B) The Chernobyl nuclear disaster in the Ukraine earlier that year
C) The creation of the Yosemite National Park in California as a conservationist's paradise
D) The effects of pesticide use on human and animal health

Question 52

The Convention on Biological Diversity contains all of the following components except

A) protection of biological diversity.
B) sustainable use of biological resources.
C) encouraging basic scientific research by easing laws.
D) equitable sharing of benefits from biological resources.

Question 53

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has played an important role in

A) creating hysteria among the world's population.
B) creating uncertainty in the presentation of scientific data on climate change.
C) providing scientific evidence on the certainty of global warming.
D) discounting the evidence that human activity is a cause of global warming.

Question 54

Which of the following accidents was one of the first cases to bring environmental issues together with the questions of poverty and development?

A) The Chernobyl nuclear power plant meltdown in the late 1900s in Ukraine
B) The Bhopal chemical leak in India in the early 1980s
C) The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant meltdown in Japan
D) The Aswan Dam collapse in Egypt in the mid-1950s

Question 55

What event caused Britain to pass its Clean Air Act in the mid-1950s?

A) The extinction of indigenous songbirds
B) A severe smog event in London
C) An oil spill in the North Sea
D) A toxic plume that was caused by a Liverpool foundry

Question 56

In the United States, the focus on environmental protection can be traced back to

A) the late 1800s, when Yellowstone National Park was established.
B) to the publication of the Silent Spring in the early 1960s.
C) to the Three Mile Island nuclear accident in the late 1970s.
D) to 1969 when the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland, Ohio caught on fire.

Question 57

Which treaty commits to reduce the production and use of gases that deplete the ozone layer?

A) Kyoto Protocol
B) Mediterranean Acton Plan
C) Montreal Protocol
D) Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

Question 58

According to some observers of the Kyoto Protocol, if emissions were reduced to the 1990 level, this would

A) set a poor precedent for future environmental agreements.
B) not be enough to solve the problem of global warming.
C) significantly reduce the production of greenhouse gases by developing countries.
D) have a significant impact only if enforcement could be effective.

Question 59

Regarding the Convention on Biological Diversity, the United States has

A) signed the treaty and will ratify it next year.
B) ratified the treaty, yet still has to sign it.
C) neither ratified nor signed the treaty.
D) signed the treaty, yet not ratified it.

Question 60

According to the Kyoto Protocol, which area is meant to reduce the most in terms of greenhouse gases?

A) European Union states
B) United States
C) Japan
D) China

Question 61

Many countries are concerned about the implications of global warming and climate change. Why might the production of biofuels to mitigate the effects of greenhouse gas emissions have negative repercussions on the economic and social development of developing countries?

Question 62

What were the major factors that enabled the world's leading countries to deal effectively with the ozone depletion problem in the late 1980s?

Question 63

What will it take specifically in order for the world's leading countries to manage global or transnational environmental problems in the future? What are important impediments to achieving a common understanding on such issues?

Question 64

What are some of the predictions regarding scarcity? Why haven't they come true? Do you think they will come true? Why or why not?

Question 65

What is a collective action problem? Provide examples. Also discuss why some collective action problems get solved, whereas others seem to resist resolution. What accounts for the difference?

Question 66

Discuss the efforts by which national governments attempt to work together to solve global environmental problems. What are some challenges working against this cooperation and what are the ways in which they have successfully cooperated?

Question 67

How does world population growth work against environmental sustainability? Should global intergovernmental organizations actively seek to limit population growth? If so, how? If not, how do you believe problems associated with population growth can be mitigated?

Question 68

Explore the connection between resource depletion and economic development. Is it fair to ask developing countries to constrain their development in order to create a more sustainable environment? Why or why not?

Question 69

The text introduces several factors that inhibit international environmental collaboration. In particular, how are these factors especially relevant to countries in the developing world?

Question 70

Discuss some of the main barriers to environmental cooperation among countries? What confounds a permanent resolution of the climate change problem the world faces?