Deck 14: Global Responsibility for the Preservation of the Environment

Question 1

The Global South agrees that the genetic character of the many species of plants and animals within their borders should be considered a part of the global commons.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

Three out of four of the world's twenty largest oil companies are state-owned.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

The production of greenhouse gases has been rising in all areas of the world, including the Global South.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

OPEC has used its control over oil production as an instrument of coercive diplomacy to influence politics in the Middle East.

Question 5

Scientists believe there are roughly 1.5 million species of plants and animals, most of which have not been named.

Question 6

Neo-Malthusians are optimistic about the capacity of the world to supply enough food for its growing population through market forces and advances in technology.

Question 7

Global warming will likely cause deserts to disappear due to increased rainfall.

Question 8

The maximum number of humans and living species that can be supported by a given territory is called carrying capacity.

Question 9

The 1987 Montreal Protocol limits the production of CFCs in an attempt to stop depletion of the ozone layer.

Question 10

Sustainable development is economic development designed to sustain today's current population, often at the expense of the ability of future generation to meet their development needs.

Question 11

Production of CFCs in the developing Global South has not kept pace with that of the Global North, thereby giving hope for the reduction of CFCs.

Question 12

Biodiversity includes genetic diversity, species diversity, and ecosystem diversity.

Question 13

The earth's temperature began to rise with the invention of power-driven machinery in the late eighteenth century.

Question 14

Currently the top emitter of greenhouse gases is the United States, with over twenty percent of all emissions.

Question 15

The metaphor of the tragedy of the commons demonstrates that individual self-interest can have a destructive effect on the interest of the community.

Question 16

Virtually all scientists agree that global warming is a scientific fact, supported by virtually all available scientific evidence.

Question 17

The concept of environmental security broadens the traditional definition of security, which focused primarily on national security.

Question 18

Deforestation is problematic because it contributes to climate change through global warming and threatens the earth's biodiversity.

Question 19

The volatility of oil prices may be even more threatening than high oil prices due to the instability and inability to plan future energy investments.

Question 20

Oil is being discovered at a much faster pace than it is being consumed.

Question 21

The Arctic becomes important in assessing the politics of global warming because

A) Arctic ice is melting faster than anticipated.
B) the Arctic is not melting fast enough to offset CFCs.
C) one-fourth of the world's oil and gas reserves lie under the ice.
D) India wants Arctic oil.
E) Both a and b are true.

Question 22

_____________________ is research to discover new types of plant and human life for sale and use as substitutes for those produced naturally, and ______________________ are agricultural products with improved characteristics created artificially by combining genes from species that would not naturally interbreed.

A) Agricultural exploration; organic foods
B) Genetic engineering; transgenetic crops
C) Neo-Malthusian genetic studies; cornucopian engineering
D) Transgenetic engineering; organic foods
E) Transgenetic crops; genetic engineering

Question 23

Which idea is associated with sustainable development?

A) Economic growth that does not deplete the resources needed to maintain growth
B) Underutilizing resources
C) "Spending the earth's capital"
D) The ability of a corporation to sustain its development by establishing subsidiaries abroad
E) Global North countries assisting Global South countries to increase their development to the level necessary to sustain their population

Question 24

Environmentalists view using trade to promote environmental standards as one way to combat the negative impact that trade can have on the environment.

Question 25

Optimists who believe that technology and market forces will correct environmental problems are called _________.

A) cornucopians
B) neo-Malthusians
C) structuralists
D) constructivists
E) environmentalists

Question 26

The amount of human and other life forms that the Earth can support is referred to as _________.

A) the tragedy of the commons
B) spaceship Earth
C) carrying capacity
D) the secret of the Persian chessboard
E) irreversible conservation

Question 27

Among known technologies, solar energy has often been championed as the leading alternative to fossil fuel dependence.

Question 28

Which area of the world has the greatest amount of oil reserves?

A) Global South
B) European Union
C) United States and Canada
D) Middle East
E) China

Question 29

The concept of environmental security captures the notion that

A) a state must maintain its immediate surroundings to feel secure.
B) government officials must appease domestic challengers or face a possible revolution.
C) threats to global life systems are as important as the threat of armed conflicts.
D) states should have reserves of oil at their disposal at all times.
E) None of the above is true.

Question 30

A renewable source of energy is _________ .

A) solar
B) coal
C) oil
D) natural gas
E) fossil fuels

Question 31

Which of the following are causes of the global food crisis?

A) Environmental stress
B) Government policies
C) Rising prices
D) Changing food consumption patterns
E) All of the above are causes.

Question 32

One reason the price of food has risen worldwide is

A) the price of energy has increased.
B) fertilizer prices never rose to keep up with market demand.
C) less demand for food worldwide, thereby increasing prices.
D) flat or diminishing demand for nitrogen, thereby increasing prices.
E) Both A and C above are examples.

Question 33

The effects of continued rising temperatures include all of the following except

A) sea levels will rise.
B) winters will get warmer, and heat waves will become increasingly frequent and severe.
C) rainfall will decrease due to the rising temperatures.
D) drought-prone regions will become even drier.
E) tropical diseases will appear in areas previously too cold to support them.

Question 34

The global commons is described as

A) the widespread malnutrition in the Global South that results from a lack of food.
B) the policy of destroying crops in specific areas to starve out insurgents.
C) the fact that governments have limited resources with which to solve global problems.
D) the physical and organic characteristics and resources of the entire planet.
E) All of the above are true.

Question 35

Deforestation is most occurring in which countries?

A) The Amazon, West Africa, and Southeast Asia
B) Bali, Australia, and Southeast Asia
C) Central America and South America
D) Sub-Saharan Africa and South Africa
E) Southeast Asia and Steppes of Russia

Question 36

One successful international agreement on the environment, which gained wide acceptance thanks in part to strong scientific evidence, was

A) the Kyoto Protocol to reduce global warming.
B) the Washington Agreement to prevent deforestation.
C) the Johannesburg Treaty on biodiversity.
D) the Montreal Protocol to reduce depletion of the ozone layer.
E) All of the above are true.

Question 37

Which of the following does NOT contribute to environmental degradation?

A) Water shortages
B) Shifts from a meat-based diet to a primarily vegetarian diet
C) Soil erosion
D) Deforestation
E) Increased demand for bio-fuels

Question 38

The claiming of common properties by states or private interests for their own use is known as the __________ .

A) tragedy of the commons
B) enclosure movement
C) greenhouse effect
D) commodification of the environment
E) sustainable development

Question 39

The gas primarily responsible for the greenhouse effect, carbon dioxide, is released by_________.

A) livestock
B) burning fossil fuels
C) rising ocean temperatures
D) desertification
E) melting permafrost

Question 40

Human challenges such as global climate change, preserving biodiversity, and providing clean water are captured in the term________________.

A) carrying capacity
B) reciprocity
C) humanitarian intervention
D) the tragedy of the commons
E) None of the above is true.

Question 41

Why was the 1987 Montreal Protocol a landmark agreement?

Question 42

Explain why global warming has precipitated competition among nations for control of the Arctic.

Question 43

____________________ will result in winters getting warmer and heat waves becoming more frequent.

Question 44

What countries are competing for the resources in the Arctic?

Question 45

The phenomenon producing planetary warming when gases released by burning fossil fuels act as a blanket in the atmosphere, thereby increasing temperatures, is known as the ____________________.

Question 46

The politics of ____________________ is the view that the unavailability of resources required to sustain life, such as food, energy, or water, can undermine security in degrees similar to military aggression.

Question 47

Which of the following are interrelated sets of problems on the ecopolitical agenda?

A) Climate change and ozone depletion
B) Biodiversity
C) Deforestation
D) Energy supply and demand
E) All of the above

Question 48

In addition to nations, the key player in the ecopolitics game is _____________.

A) media
B) local communities
C) ethnic minorities
D) multinational corporations
E) IGOs

Question 49

Why are tropical forests key in preserving biodiversity?

Question 50

The main fear regarding nuclear energy is __________ .

A) safety
B) how to dispose of the waste
C) that the technology will be used for weapons instead of energy
D) both a and b
E) All of the above are true.

Question 51

What is biodiversity?

Question 52

A nation's commitment to environmental sustainability is measured in the ___________ .

Question 53

Explain the causes of the global food crisis. Which do you think is the most significant contributor? How would you address these issues? What role can domestic governments play? What role can international agencies play? Examine how realists, liberals, and constructivists would solve this problem.

Question 54

List three sources of non-renewable energy.

Question 55

The science of ____________________ has developed hybrid crops and plants and ____________________ that are genetically modified to make them more resistant to pests or to increase their nutritional content.

Question 56

Give a definition for desertification.

Question 57

"Neo-Malthusians" and "cornucopians" are the labels given to different schools of thought about the impact of population growth on economic development and environmental quality. Write an in which you contrast the positions taken by these two schools on the demographic future of the human species. Based on the available evidence on current population and resource trends, which school of thought do you find more convincing? Why?

Question 58

What is sustainable development?

Question 59

____________________ is precipitation that has been made acidic through contact with sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides and is caused by burning coal.

Question 60

Why did the OPEC countries form a cartel?

Question 61

What are the risks involved in using nuclear energy?

Question 62

Explain how moral and religious traditions conflict with the realist and mercantilist views of interacting with the environment with or without government regulation.

Question 63

In 1972, the United Nations General Assembly convened the first UN Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm. During the ensuing years, other conferences were held-the most recent ones in Rio de Janeiro (1992) and Buenos Aires (1994). What factors mitigate against international cooperation to solve global ecological problems? What are the prospects for achieving sustainable development through a managed global commons arrangement?

Question 64

"Threats to global life systems such as global warming, ozone depletion, and the loss of tropical forests and marine habitats are just as important to the future of humankind as the threat of nuclear catastrophe." Is global environmental degradation a security issue with consequences as far-reaching as those entailed by the traditional concept of national security? Why, or why not?