Deck 1: Humans, Geology, and the Environment

Question 1

Which item listed below has not helped to increase the carrying capacity of the Earth?

A) the development of nitrogen-based fertilizers
B) the development and application of chemical pesticides
C) the development and application of chemical herbicides
D) genetic modification of grains and other crops
E) the development of a vaccine for polio

Answer 1

the development of a vaccine for polio

Question 2

What is the population of the world likely to be by the year 2050?

A) 5 billion
B) 7 billion
C) 9 billion
D) 11 billion
E) 13 billion

Answer 2

9 billion

Question 3

Which of the following statements is true regarding the world population growth rate since 1965?

A) It has been increasing at an alarming rate.
B) It has been decreasing at an alarming rate.
C) It has been decreasing slowly.
D) It has been increasing slowly.
E) It has stayed the same.

Answer 3

It has been decreasing slowly.

Question 4

The IPAT equation is about which of the following?

A) earthquake prediction
B) global warming trends
C) inflation
D) environmental impact
E) slope stability

Question 5

Which of the following is not true of environmental geology?

A) It is concerned with how natural geological processes affect man.
B) It is concerned largely with surface geologic processes.
C) It applies the science of geology to problems arising from the complex interactions of water, soil, air, solid earth, and life.
D) It seeks ways for the Earth's inhabitants to interact safely with their geological surroundings.
E) It is concerned with developing methods to prevent natural disasters from occurring.

Question 6

The number of people or animals that can be supported indefinitely by a given area of land is called ____.

A) carrying capacity
B) growth rate
C) doubling time
D) population dynamics
E) critical mass

Question 7

A lack of understanding of which of the following phenomena will make things harder on the entire population of your country - no matter where people live?

A) Earthquakes
B) Landslides
C) Volcanic eruptions.
D) Climate change
E) Tsunamis.

Question 8

Which of the following is NOT a variable in the IPAT equation?

A) impact
B) technology
C) natural resources
D) affluence
E) population

Question 9

A population exceeding its carrying capacity is referred to as ____.

A) population dynamics
B) ecological overshoot
C) involutional melancholia
D) diminishing returns
E) negative feedback

Question 10

____ are far more readily modified and overturned than ____.

A) Hypotheses; laws
B) Laws; hypotheses
C) Theories; hypotheses
D) Hypotheses; theories
E) Laws; theories

Question 11

Which of the following would be the first step in applying the scientific method to an environmental geological problem?

A) formulate a hypothesis
B) create a map
C) pose a question
D) draw a conclusion
E) analyze data

Question 12

Which of the following is NOT something that is included on derivative maps?

A) landslide hazards zones
B) depth to underground water
C) areas susceptible to flooding
D) seismic hazard zones
E) All are included.

Question 13

What is the computer system that assembles, stores, manipulates, and displays geographic data according to location?

A) GPS
B) GOP
C) GSA
D) GIS
E) GPA

Question 14

What are lines of equal elevation called on topographic maps?

A) isotherms
B) contours
C) geological contacts
D) lineations
E) grid lines

Question 15

How much greater are population growth rates in poorer countries than in richer countries?

A) two times
B) four times
C) six times
D) eight times
E) ten times

Question 16

An environmental geologist could be expected to apply the scientific method to all of the following questions EXCEPT:

A) Which public policy can best lower population growth rate?
B) Which regions in the United States have the lowest seismic risk?
C) How did the water supply to a community get contaminated?
D) Are the soils in a sub-development safe to build on?
E) What is the landslide potential of building a shopping mall outside a city?

Question 17

Which of the following sustainable factors helped to save America's forests from destruction during the 20^th century?

A) conservation of forests by creation of the National Forest Service
B) technology driven mass production of construction materials from plastics
C) economic policies that allowed the importation of wood from tropical rainforests
D) conservation efforts that resulted in a reduction in the demand for wood products
E) overall decline in the United States population

Question 18

In poorer countries, which part of the IPAT equation has the greatest impact?

A) population
B) affluence
C) technology
D) pollution
E) energy

Question 19

Read carefully through the following sentence and decide which of the options is correct: In industrialized countries, personal perspectives of environmental issues are realistic because environmental problems develop close to home as resources are collected and used locally.

A) The word "realistic" should be replaced by "warped."
B) The word "industrialized" should be replaced by "developing."
C) The word "resources" should be replaced by "wastes."
D) The word "environmental" should be replaced by "geological."
E) The word "home" should be replaced by "rivers."

Question 20

Judge the following sentence according to the criteria given below: The IPAT equation of human environmental impact is a quantitative expression BECAUSE no one can put exact numbers to P, A, and T.

A) The assertion and the reason are both correct, and the reason is valid.
B) The assertion and the reason are both correct, but the reason is invalid.
C) The assertion is correct, but the reason is incorrect.
D) The assertion is incorrect, but the reason is correct.
E) Both the assertion and the reason are incorrect.

Question 21

The large agricultural yields obtained today are fundamentally dependent upon fossil fuels.

Question 22

An average American citizen consumes 35 times the resources of an average Indian citizen over the course of his or her lifetime.

Question 23

Nearly half of the population of the world is living in cities.

Question 24

The main purpose of geological maps is to show the shape of the Earth's surface.

Question 25

Once the Earth's carrying capacity is exceeded, population reduction will occur whether we want it to or not.

Question 26

GIS is a new navigational system that will soon replace GPS.

Question 27

Derivative maps are made from computer data sets that are analyzed and plotted for special applications.

Question 28

Malthus postulated in 1812 that population growth would soon cause global famine and collapse of society.

Question 29

An annual population growth rate of +1% corresponds to a situation where there are 100 more deaths per thousand individuals than live births in a given year.

Question 30

With a population growth rate of 0.7%, it would take 100 years for the population to double.

Question 31

The highest soil degradation rates occur in Africa.

Question 32

Nations that tend to have the greatest environmental impacts are those with the lowest population growth rates.

Question 33

The size of our population is limited by the amount of food we can grow.

Question 34

Since 1950, about one-third of all U.S. croplands have been lost due to erosion.

Question 35

The population density of the Earth has tripled since World War II.

Question 36

Some environmental disasters are avoidable.

Question 37

Students do not need to be concerned with environmental geology problems because they are all global in scale.

Question 38

The Earth has functioned as a life-supporting self-sustaining system for over 8 billion years.

Question 39

The National Forest Service was created to promote timber harvesting.

Question 40

One-fourth of the Earth's people suffer malnutrition on a daily basis.

Question 41

The population growth rate of the U.S. is currently well below 1%. What are some reasons why we should not feel good about this?

Question 42

Things that society values commonly increase population growth rates, thus making the population problem worse. What are some examples of these values?

Question 43

Things that society considers to be bad commonly decrease population growth rates, thus helping to correct the population problem. What are some examples of these things?

Question 44

Coal reserves in the U.S. have been estimated to be sufficient to last several centuries at current levels of use. Why should we not feel good about this?

Question 45

Some computer scenarios show a collapse of industrial production and agricultural production in the wake of the depletion of critical resources, such as fossil fuels. Paradoxically, in these scenarios, birth rates dramatically increase while population simultaneously drops. How can you explain this?

Question 46

Bangladesh had a population, in the year 2012, of 161,084,000 and had a population growth rate of 1.6%. How many years, after 2012, will it take for the population to double at this rate?

Question 47

Consider that Bangladesh has a surface area of 143,998 square kilometers. How long would it take, at a growth rate of 1.6%, for there to be one person for every square meter of land surface? What is the implication of this relative to carrying capacity?

Question 48

What was the discovery made by Fritz Haber, and why was this a mixed blessing?

Question 49

What did Dr. Albert Bartlett mean when he said, "the greatest shortcoming of the human race is our inability to understand the exponential function"?

Question 50

What is meant by the term "false carrying capacity"?