Deck 10: Sustainability, Population, and Environmental Degradation

Question 1

Which has the highest per capita consumption of fossil fuel?

A) China
B) European Union
C) Japan
D) United States

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Globally, of all the water that is extracted for human purposes, an estimated ___ percent is used in agriculture.

A) 25
B) 15
C) 70
D) 40

Answer 2

C

Question 3

"The twentieth century has been extraordinarily successful for the human species… perhaps too successful." Who wrote those words?

A) Wangari Maathai
B) Lester Brown
C) Gro Harlem Brundtland
D) President Richard Nixon

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Which of these countries has been a leader in both sustainable practices and policies?

A) Brazil
B) Costa Rica
C) United States
D) Netherlands

Question 5

Which of these statements is not true?

A) CO₂ has increased 30% since pre-industrial times.
B) CO₂ is still increasing at an unprecedented rate of about 0.4% per year.
C) The amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere remained relatively constant since 2008.
D) The increase in CO₂ is largely due to fossil fuel combustion and deforestation.

Question 6

The Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has documented that sub Saharan Africa already lacks adequate nutrition for ___ percent of its population.

A) 5
B) 15
C) 25
D) 35

Question 7

IPAT analysis does not explicitly consider the impact of

A) Population
B) Affluence
C) Technology
D) Environmental Impact
E) Industry

Question 8

Which U.S. president appointed the Commission on Population Growth and the American Future?

A) President Richard Nixon
B) President George H.W. Bush
C) President Jimmy Carter
D) President Bill Clinton

Question 9

Which of the methods below estimate the resource and waste requirements of specific populations?

A) Environmental Resource Accounting
B) IPAT
C) Carrying Capacity
D) Ecological Footprint Analysis
E) All of the above.

Question 10

Which of the methods below places a monetary value on environmental goods and services that conventionally, economists have regarded as free?

A) Environmental Resource Accounting
B) Population Situation Analysis
C) Carrying Capacity
D) Ecological Footprint Analysis
E) All of the above.

Question 11

The Greenbelt Movement took place in which country?

A) Kenya
B) China
C) Brazil
D) Costa Rica

Question 12

In the Ecological Footprints of Nations study conducted in the late 1990s, Mathis Wackernagel and colleagues estimated that the world's people are using about ________ more of the earth's biological productivity than can be regenerated.

A) One tenth
B) One half
C) One third
D) One fifth

Question 13

Measured by fleet capacity, which country below is not only of the world's top fishing nations?

A) Russia
B) Japan
C) China
D) Indonesia

Question 14

Population Situation Analysis (PSA) allows national and subnational governments to

A) Use available population data to analyze how current and projected population trends affect development and plan for these changes.
B) Examine the ecological footprints of their countries.
C) Gauge how much affluence and technology they will allow.
D) Calculate the value of environmental goods and services.

Question 15

The current relationship between humanity and the environment is nearly sustainable.

Question 16

Most developed economies currently consume resources much faster than they can regenerate.

Question 17

Roughly 2.5% of all of the Earth's water is fresh water; the majority of which is relatively inaccessible.

Question 18

Most people without access to an improved drinking water source live in rural areas.

Question 19

In developing countries, women head more than a third of all households.

Question 20

Between 2000 and 2010, the number of hectares of forest lost to logging were 95% replaced by active replanting.

Question 21

The production of fish continues to grow roughly at the rate of human population.

Question 22

During the twentieth century, water use grew about same the rate of population increase.

Question 23

Fully half of the world's wetlands disappeared during the twentieth century.

Question 24

Fish farming has been shown to be a long-term sustainable alternative for ocean degradation.

Question 25

Recent analyses suggest that environmental degradation may be occuring faster than population increase.

Question 26

Most developing countries with rapid population growth face the urgent need to improve living standards.

Question 27

As a group, least developed countries contribute less than one per cent of the world's total greenhouse gas emissions.

Question 28

Initially, the Kenyan government welcomed the efforts of Nobel Prize Laureate Wangari Maathai.

Question 29

Why are women especially important for sustainable development?

Question 30

Discuss some of the major international efforts to address sustainability since the mid-1980's. How have population issues been integrated into these sustainability efforts?