Chapter 1

20 questions

1. The interdisciplinary study of how humans interact with the environment is

environmentalism.

sustainability.

ecology.

environmental science.

2. Groups of individuals that are closely related and can interbreed are called ; a group of living things interacting with one another and with their living/nonliving environment is called a/an .

species; ecosystem.

organisms; ecology.

organisms; ecosystem.

species; ecology.

3. We say that environmental science is interdisciplinary. Interdisciplinary means

using loose guidelines to promote flexibility.

integrating the inputs from many different areas of study.

adhering to strict rules as to how the science is conducted.

excluding the input from any other areas of study.

4. Air, water, soil, plants, and wind as well as processes such as photosynthesis are examples of

gross domestic product.

natural resources.

natural services.

natural capital.

5. Collectively, we are living unsustainably and degrading the earth's natural capital at an expanding rate.

True

False

6. Gross domestic product (GDP) measures

the annual market value of all goods and services produced within a country.

the changes in a country's economic growth per person.

the amount of goods and services that a country's average citizen could buy in the U.S.

the value of a country's currency when it is used in other countries.

7. Very poor nations

use far fewer resources than wealthy nations.

collectively have many more people than found in wealthy nations.

all of the choices

produce much less pollution and waste than wealthy nations.

8. An example of a perpetual resource is

solar.

timber.

coal.

iron.

9. Land owned by a community or government that is available for use by citizens is called a(an)

private property.

a developing country.

common property.

open access renewable resource.

10. In contrast to reuse, recycling materials completely changes their form (but not their substance). Which of the following may be recycled?

plastic

copper

all of the choices

glass

11. The amount of biologically productive land and water needed to supply the people in a particular area with resources and to absorb and recycle the wastes and pollution produced by such resource use is called the

gross domestic product.

ecological footprint.

biological capacity.

ecological deficit.

12. The ecological footprint

of affluent people is smaller than that of impoverished people.

is smaller today than one decade ago.

is decreasing for the world as a whole.

of people in developed nations is much larger than that of people in developing nations.

13. We tend to mark the beginning of pivotal events in human history. The most recent such pivotal event was the

industrial-medical revolution.

information-globalization revolution.

hunter-gatherer stage.

agricultural revolution.

14. An example of biodegradable point source pollution is

the exhaust from automobiles in the city of Knoxville, TN.

canine waste from the dogs in the city of Knoxville, TN.

ash waste containing heavy metals, resulting from furnaces that burn trash.

human sewage waste dumping into a river from a waste pipe.

15. The five main causes of environmental problems include population growth, unsustainable resource use, excluding environmental costs from market prices, inadequate environmental education, and

natural global climate change.

poverty.

pollution.

wealth.

16. Which of the following is false?

It takes about 27 tractor-trailer loads of resources per year to support one American.

Affluence occurs most in developing nations.

Affluence is the same as wealth or being wealthy.

The average American consumes 100 times as many resources as the average person in the world's poorest nations.

17. We buy a table that is made from a beautiful tropical hardwood. The table's price is high. Even so, the price usually does not include

the cost to the environment of removing the tree that the lumber came from.

the cost of shipping the wood to the U.S.

the cost to pay the laborer who cut the wood from the tropical forest.

the cost to make the piece.

18. Which of the following statements is true?

The environmental wisdom worldview holds that we are separate from nature, that nature exists mainly to meet our needs, and that we can use our ingenuity to manage the earth.

The stewardship worldview holds that we are part of and totally dependent on nature and that nature exists for all species, not just for us.

The planetary management worldview suggests that we can and should manage the earth for our benefit, but that we have an ethical responsibility to be caring and responsible managers of the earth.

The environmental wisdom worldview holds that we are a part of and totally dependent on nature, and that nature exists for all species, not just for us.

19. When making environmental decisions, which of the following must come before all others in the decision-making process?

gather information

identify the problem

evaluate consequences

propose a solution

20. A grassland is composed of many plant species that rely on many factors for survival. In addition to the plants, there exist many animals that graze or eat each other. Sometimes these populations of plants and animals get too large, but there is always something that keeps their population in check. The life drama of growth and death, life and decay, winter and summer play out year after year. The aspect of sustainability that allows living organisms to take in needed atoms and molecules, and to return these same atoms and molecules at life's end, is called

population control.