Quiz 3: Human Impacts on the Environment Flashcards
When a manufacturing company develops technologies to turn waste into raw material to make new products, it is called
closed-loop system
Mainstream economics makes the inaccurate assumption that natural resources are not a problem because they are ___________ and that necessary substitute resources can always be found.
infinite
Today, if we were to purchase goods or services at their true cost, how would the price compare to what we are accustomed to paying for such goods or services?
the price would be higher
One area where traditional economics differs from environmental economics is that traditional economics tends to give more weight to _________ benefits and costs than it does to ________ benefits and costs.
short-term; long-term
at what stage is Canada in the demographic transition model
post-industrial stage
What is a reason for the “economy against environment” divide?
Frequently environmental policies force choices because they add more costs for industry and infringe on the rights of private citizens.
Including both internal and external costs, when setting a price for a good or service, is an example of ______ cost.
true
What would be part of an environmental economist’s agenda
to consider the long-term impact of our consumption choices on human society and the environment
According to the IPAT model, what is expected when affluence increases?
impact of humans on environment will increase
if there is increased ________, a country’s population growth rate will increase
immigration
A population that has been at or below replacement-level fertility for decades will
stop growing
For predicting human population patterns in a country, a growing population trend will have a ________ age structure diagram, while with a shrinking population trend will have a ________ age structure diagram.
bottom-heavy; top-heavy
in general high poverty produces
high fertility and greater environmental damage
To feed an increasing world population, humanity has needed to increase the carrying capacity of the planet. Which would have helped to increase the carrying capacity of the earth?
-dependence on use of synthetic chemicals to grow food
-destruction of animal habitat for human use
-removing more fish from the oceans than can be repopulated
-increasing use of fossil fuels to grow food
Citizens of the poorest countries may resent restrictions on carbon emissions imposed by wealthy countries because developed countries
have a greater impact on the environment
Why are large families in poor countries common?
partly because more children means more available labour
what correlates most closely with a reduction in human population growth in many regions of the world?
education of girls
Which event 10 000 years ago resulted in a dramatic growth spurt in the global human population?
agricultural revolution
Using the following information, at what stage in the demographic transition would a country be classified? The characteristics of this country include:
(1) ongoing problems in food safety and health care
(2) no significant decline in the death rate
(3) high birth rates
(4) evidence of a growing population
stage 1 - pre-industrial
According the demographic transition model, as a country progresses from the pre-industrial stage to the post-industrial stage, what will happen to the birth rate and death rate?
both will decrease
the transitional stage in the demographic transition model is initiated by
industrialization
What is an issue(s) that a country with a top-heavy age structure diagram would face?
-higher wages, better working conditions, and more jobs to choose from for younger members of the population
-a shrinking workforce
-younger members of the population being forced to care for a large number of older relatives
-more retirement residences and long-term care homes constructed
Why is the product or process provided by some ecosystem services considered priceless?
There are currently no substitutes for these services.
The development of agriculture during the Neolithic Revolution made food less of a ____________ on population growth
limiting factor
From a global perspective, the overall impact of humans on the Earth is a combination of all but which of the following factors?
shrinking land mass
What does the “sensitivity factor” in the IPATS model represent?
the sensitivity of an environment to human activities
What situation is an example of the situation called “the tragedy of the commons”?
Farmers put too many sheep in a public field because they think “If I don’t use this available resource, someone else will.”
Where are population growth and fertility rates the lowest?
upper-income countries
Ethanol is often produced in locations where farmers also grow corn. Underground water reservoirs are used to grow the corn and to process the ethanol. These common reservoirs are being seriously depleted in some areas of the midwestern United States. Which term best describes such water depletion situations?
tragedy of the commons
A graph of world population growth over the past 500 years most closely resembled the letter
J
