Quiz 3: Human Impacts on the Environment

Question 1

When a manufacturing company develops technologies to turn waste into raw material to make new products, it is called

Answer 1

closed-loop system

Question 2

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.

Answer 2

infinite

Question 3

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?

Answer 3

the price would be higher

Question 4

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.

Answer 4

short-term; long-term

Question 5

at what stage is Canada in the demographic transition model

Answer 5

post-industrial stage

Question 6

What is a reason for the “economy against environment” divide?

Answer 6

Frequently environmental policies force choices because they add more costs for industry and infringe on the rights of private citizens.

Question 7

Including both internal and external costs, when setting a price for a good or service, is an example of ______ cost.

Answer 7

true

Question 8

What would be part of an environmental economist’s agenda

Answer 8

to consider the long-term impact of our consumption choices on human society and the environment

Question 9

According to the IPAT model, what is expected when affluence increases?

Answer 9

impact of humans on environment will increase

Question 10

if there is increased ________, a country’s population growth rate will increase

Answer 10

immigration

Question 11

A population that has been at or below replacement-level fertility for decades will

Answer 11

stop growing

Question 12

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.

Answer 12

bottom-heavy; top-heavy

Question 13

in general high poverty produces

Answer 13

high fertility and greater environmental damage

Question 14

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?

Answer 14

-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

Question 15

Citizens of the poorest countries may resent restrictions on carbon emissions imposed by wealthy countries because developed countries

Answer 15

have a greater impact on the environment

Question 16

Why are large families in poor countries common?

Answer 16

partly because more children means more available labour

Question 17

what correlates most closely with a reduction in human population growth in many regions of the world?

Answer 17

education of girls

Question 18

Which event 10 000 years ago resulted in a dramatic growth spurt in the global human population?

Answer 18

agricultural revolution

Question 19

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

Answer 19

stage 1 - pre-industrial

Question 20

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?

Answer 20

both will decrease

Question 21

the transitional stage in the demographic transition model is initiated by

Answer 21

industrialization

Question 22

What is an issue(s) that a country with a top-heavy age structure diagram would face?

Answer 22

-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

Question 23

Why is the product or process provided by some ecosystem services considered priceless?

Answer 23

There are currently no substitutes for these services.

Question 24

The development of agriculture during the Neolithic Revolution made food less of a ____________ on population growth

Answer 24

limiting factor

Question 25

From a global perspective, the overall impact of humans on the Earth is a combination of all but which of the following factors?

Answer 25

shrinking land mass

Question 26

What does the “sensitivity factor” in the IPATS model represent?

Answer 26

the sensitivity of an environment to human activities

Question 27

What situation is an example of the situation called “the tragedy of the commons”?

Answer 27

Farmers put too many sheep in a public field because they think “If I don’t use this available resource, someone else will.”

Question 28

Where are population growth and fertility rates the lowest?

Answer 28

upper-income countries

Question 29

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?

Answer 29

tragedy of the commons

Question 30

A graph of world population growth over the past 500 years most closely resembled the letter

Answer 30

J