Deck 14: Global Commons: Environmental Threats and Responses

Question 1

Environmental scholars have developed a measure called __________ designed to give some sense of the land and water area required to sustain a given population indefinitely.

A) a carbon footprint
B) a pollution footprint
C) an ecological footprint
D) a degradation scale

Answer 1

C

Question 2

An externality is

A) not a political problem because it is external to the political process.
B) not an economic problem because it is external to the market system.
C) a benefit or cost that accrues to someone who had nothing to do with the production or consumption of a good.
D) a pure political or economic good that is shared by the various nation-states all of which pay equally for the production and consumption of the good.

Answer 2

C

Question 3

The greatest achievement of the Brundtland Report was

A) placing sustainable development on the international agenda.
B) the creation of a series of regimes to help states resolve transboundary problems.
C) the assignment of responsibility for environmental destruction to the North.
D) the creation of debt-for-nature swaps.

Answer 3

A

Question 4

The country with the largest system of protected land and national parks in the world is

A) the United States.
B) Belize.
C) Germany.
D) Costa Rica.

Question 5

Malthusians have

A) forewarned of looming demographic disaster.
B) advocated 1 child per family policies.
C) abiding faith in market mechanism.
D) advocated for addressing the ecological deficit first.

Question 6

The region of the world that leaves the strongest ecological footprint deficit is

A) Western Europe.
B) Africa.
C) North America.
D) Latin America.

Question 7

The commons can be managed by

A) establishing property rights.
B) creating a strong and coercive central authority.
C) regulating use through international regimes.
D) all of the above.

Question 8

Individuals rationally pursuing their self-interest but resulting in the mistreatment of common property is often called the

A) tragedy of the commons.
B) profit motive.
C) logic of the commons.
D) single-iteration prisoner's dilemma.

Question 9

The Brundtland Report led to

A) formation of the Club of Rome.
B) 1992 Earth Summit.
C) increased international investment in alternative energy technologies.
D) collapse of the United Nations Environment Program.

Question 10

The world problematique refers to the

A) limited carrying capacity of the planet.
B) security dilemma created by environmental problems.
C) interconnected set of contemporary global problems.
D) threat of global catastrophe resulting from the collapse of the global commons.

Question 11

The tragedy of the commons is caused by

A) selfish people attempting to control and exploit a resource.
B) people following the logic of self-interest.
C) a lack of strong regulations.
D) people subduing altruistic motivations.

Question 12

In 2007,the Global Footprint Network estimated an ecological __________ for every person on the planet.

A) surplus of 10.9 hectares
B) deficit of 10.9 hectares
C) surplus of 0.9 hectares
D) deficit of 0.9 hectares

Question 13

The carrying capacity of the Earth is being most affected by

A) globalization.
B) population growth.
C) failing states.
D) failing economies.

Question 14

The term used to describe how a member of a group may not be able to avoid the costs of environmental degradation is

A) free rider.
B) alliance burden.
C) forced rider.
D) global contagion.

Question 15

Nearly ____countries have ratified the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.

A) 75
B) 100
C) 140
D) 160

Question 16

Resources not belonging to any particular state and not falling under any particular state's jurisdiction are termed

A) natural resources.
B) environmental goods.
C) private goods.
D) common-pool resources.

Question 17

To address sustainable development Malthusians emphasize

A) restraining the forces of growth.
B) expanding the limits to growth.
C) restraining the limits to growth.
D) expanding the forces of growth.

Question 18

Cornucopians have

A) forewarned of looming demographic disaster.
B) advocated 1 child per family policies.
C) abiding faith in market mechanism.
D) advocated for addressing the ecological deficit first.

Question 19

The externality of pollution has the basic characteristics of a

A) perishable good.
B) private good.
C) collective good.
D) forced good.

Question 20

Ecology is the study of the

A) relationships between living things and their biological environment.
B) connection between humanity and the global commons.
C) interconnection between humans and other species.
D) web of life.

Question 21

The Kyoto Protocol has ____ contracting parties,____ of which agreed to emissions reductions by 2012.

A) 45;12
B) 67;23
C) 119;31
D) 191;37

Question 22

The Kyoto Protocol entered into force in ______________.

A) 1997
B) 2001
C) 2003
D) 2005

Question 23

What is the meant by the concept of sustainable development? What are the primary challenges to sustainable development? Explain and provide examples.

Question 24

The United States,with under 5 percent of the world's population,accounts for _____ of the world's consumption of both oil and natural gas.

A) 10 percent
B) 21 percent
C) 25 percent
D) 50 percent

Question 25

The total world energy use has grown ______ times its use in 1990.

A) 7
B) 10
C) 14
D) 18

Question 26

The final stage of demographic transition is

A) when birth rates and death rates are very low.
B) when birth rates and death rates are very high.
C) when ecological modernization drives economic growth.
D) when sustainable development is embedded in local and national policies.

Question 27

What are the stages of demographic transition? Why do policymakers need to look ahead 50 years? Explain and provide examples.

Question 28

What are collective goods and collective bads? Explain and provide examples.

Question 29

During the second stage of the demographic transition,because of the change in birth rates and death rates,

A) overall population shrinks.
B) overall population stays roughly at the same level.
C) overall population grows quickly.
D) population changes are unrelated to birth and death rates.

Question 30

The greenhouse effect,which traps heat inside the atmosphere,comes from increases in the carbon dioxide content in the air.Its result is known as

A) air pollution.
B) the ozone layer.
C) global warming.
D) natural decay.

Question 31

What is the Tragedy of the Commons? What are some solutions to resolve this tragedy? Explain and provide examples.

Question 32

The greatest amount of projected population growth will occur in

A) developed countries with a disproportionately high young male population.
B) developed countries with a disproportionately high young female population.
C) developing countries with a disproportionately high young male population.
D) developing countries with a disproportionately high young female population.

Question 33

Most water consumption takes place in

A) resort activity.
B) agricultural activity.
C) urban activity.
D) industrial activity.

Question 34

The FAO estimates that over the next thirty years,the average annual increase in crop production will be ____ percent,down from ____ percent during the past thirty years.

A) 1.5;2.2
B) 2.5;3.2
C) 3.5;4.2
D) 4.5;5.2

Question 35

A cosmopolitan way of thinking emphasizes

A) commitment to urban renewal.
B) politics close to home.
C) helping those beyond our borders.
D) community development projects.

Question 36

One noteworthy creation under the Kyoto Protocol is

A) carbon-dating credits.
B) carbon trading credits.
C) emissions trading credits.
D) industrial trading credits.

Question 37

The United States ________ the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety.

A) strongly opposes
B) strongly supports
C) wrote the treaty establishing
D) led international alliances to support

Question 38

After some enticements from the EU,_________ ratified the Kyoto Protocol and the treaty entered into force.

A) the U.K.
B) Russia
C) France
D) Poland

Question 39

Deforestation has been the major cause in the reduction of the number and variety of living things on Earth,also known as

A) the greenhouse effect.
B) biodiversity.
C) common pool resources.
D) environmental justice.

Question 40

In the first stage of the demographic transition (e.g. ,Europe before the Industrial Revolution),

A) birth rates and death rates are low.
B) birth rates and death rates are high.
C) birth rates are high and death rates are low.
D) death rates are high and birth rates are low.

Question 41

What is international environmental justice? What does it call for? Explain and provide examples.

Question 42

Discuss the successes and failures of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol.Explain and provide examples.