c12 the earth's natural resources

Question 1

why do humans use the Earth’s resources?

Answer 1

to provide food,shelter,warmth and transport

Question 2

natural resources, supplemented by agriculture provide?

Answer 2

food, timber, clothing and fuels

Question 3

what is processed and why?

Answer 3

finite resources from the Earth, oceans and atmosphere are processed to provide energy and materials

Question 4

why are life cycle assessments ( LCAs) carried out?

Answer 4

to assess the environmental impact of products in different stages

Question 5

what are each of the stages that LCAs asses the environmental impacts of products?

Answer 5

-extracting and processing raw metals
-manufacturing and packaging
-use and operation during its lifetime
-disposal at the end of its useful life, including transport and distribution at each stage

Question 6

Use of water, resources, energy sources, and production of some
wastes can be

Answer 6

fairly easily quantified

Question 7

why is LCA not a purely objective process?

Answer 7

Allocating numerical values to
pollutant effects is less straightforward and requires value
judgements

Question 8

Selective or abbreviated LCAs can be devised to evaluate a product but?

Answer 8

these can be misused to reach pre-determined conclusions, eg in support of claims for advertising purposes.

Question 9

Plastic bags are produced using?

Answer 9

chemicals from crude oil

Question 10

paper bags are made from?

Answer 10

wood from trees

Question 11

crude oil is a ?

Answer 11

non-renewable resource

Question 12

trees are?

Answer 12

renewable, can plant more trees

Question 13

extracting crude oil can be?

Answer 13

harmful to habitats e.g if there is oil leak

Question 14

felling trees for wood is also?

Answer 14

extremely destructive to habitats such as forests

Question 15

both crude oil and wood need to be?

Answer 15

chemically processed

Question 16

being chemically processed requires?

Answer 16

a large amount of energy and releases waste products

Question 17

making paper also requires a huge amount of?

Answer 17

water

Question 18

plastic shopping bags strong and reused . paper shopping bags not as strong tend to tear

Question 19

at the end of their lives, both plastic bags and paper bags?

Answer 19

have to be transported either for recyling or landfils.

Question 20

paper bags often heavier than plastic bags so?

Answer 20

take more energy to transport

Question 21

plastic is non-biodegradable. what does this mean?

Answer 21

it is not broken down by microorganisms

Question 22

paper breaks down quickly, especially when?

Answer 22

wet

Question 23

because paper is non-biodegradable plastic bags?

Answer 23

remain in the environment for a very long time

Question 24

because paper is non-biodegradable plastic bags?

Answer 24

remain in the environment for a very long time

Question 25

plastic bags major forms of litter. Also fill up?

Answer 25

landfills