Deck 15: Population, Global Inequality, and the Environmental Crisis

Question 1

Demographers define fertility as the maximum number of children that could be born to a woman if she reproduced at maximum capacity.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

In 2011, the African American infant mortality rate was more than twice that of white infants.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

All nations go through the demographic transition in the exact same manner.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

On a global basis, immigration and internal migration are causing urban populations to grow faster than the total population.

Question 5

Excessive quantities of carbon dioxide, water vapor, methane and nitrous oxide in the atmosphere contribute to the greenhouse effect.

Question 6

Eighty countries, comprising more than half of the world's population, are suffering serious water shortages.

Question 7

Desertification takes place in high-, middle- and low-income nations, but the effects are more devastating to middle- and low-income nations.

Question 8

U.S. residences, businesses, and institutions throw away more than 243 billion tons of trash each year.

Question 9

Official immigration statistics reflect the actual number of immigrants who arrive in this country.

Question 10

Neo-Malthusians believe that overpopulation and rapid population growth exacerbate global environmental problems, including global warming and rainforest destruction.

Question 11

Which of the following statements regarding population growth is true?

A) There is no difference between the population growth of high-income nations and low-income nations.
B) A population is all the adult people living in a specific geographic area.
C) Negative population growth is common in countries in Africa.
D) High-income nations have a lower population growth rate than low-income nations.

Question 12

Which of the following statements accurately describes the population growth of low-income nations?

A) Low-income nations have a lower population growth rate than low-income nations.
B) A population is all the people living in a specific geographic area.
C) In some nations, the population growth is negative.
D) High-income nations have a lower population growth rate than low-income nations.

Question 13

The study of the size, composition, and distribution of populations is known as

A) demography.
B) fertility.
C) mortality.
D) migration.

Question 14

Crude birth rate

A) measures significant variables affecting fertility.
B) refers to the number of live births per 1000 people in a population in a given year.
C) is the number of births that occur in a specific population.
D) is the movement of people from one geographic area to another for the purpose of changing residency.

Question 15

Mortality

A) is the study of the size, composition, and distribution of populations.
B) refers to the number of children born to an individual or a population.
C) is the number of deaths that occur in a specific population.
D) is the movement of people from one geographic area to another for the purpose of changing residency.

Question 16

Which of the following statements regarding infant mortality rates is true?

A) Infant mortality rates have increased worldwide.
B) The infant mortality rate is the number of deaths of infants under one year of age per 1,000 live births in a given year.
C) Infant mortality rates are lower in high-income nations compared to those in low-income nations.
D) The average infant mortality rate was 4 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2006 in Southern Asia.

Question 17

Life expectancy

A) is higher in the United States than in Japan.
B) is higher for African Americans than whites in the United States.
C) is higher for women than men in the United States.
D) is higher for poor than rich nations.

Question 18

The movement of people from one geographic area to another for the purpose of changing residency is known as

A) demography.
B) fertility.
C) mortality.
D) migration.

Question 19

Migration takes two forms. What are they?

A) immigration and emigration
B) mortality and fertility
C) legal and illegal migration
D) net migration and gross migration

Question 20

The biological and social characteristics of a population, including such attributes as age, sex, race and marital status, education, occupation, income and size of household is called what?

A) demography
B) population composition
C) census data
D) population data

Question 21

Which of the following statements is true of the percentage of the population made up of children under the age of eighteen in the United States?

A) The percentage of the population made up of children under the age of 18 in the U.S. has increased since 1990.
B) The percentage of the population made up of children under the age of 18 hit a new low in the second decade of the 21st century.
C) The percentage of the population made up of children under the age of 18 has remained stable since 1990.
D) The percentage of the population made up of children under the age of 18 has grown faster than the older population is growing.

Question 22

What was Thomas Malthus's view on global population, according to what he wrote in his An Essay on Population (1798)?

A) Global population, if left unchecked, would exceed the available food supply.
B) Technology would increase the food supply and ease population pressure.
C) Population increases amounted to a "population bomb."
D) Societies are in various stages of demographic transition.

Question 23

What did Karl Marx and Frederick Engels blame for problems with the food supply?

A) global population
B) overconsumption
C) poverty
D) fertility

Question 24

The idea that some societies move from high birth and death rates to relatively low birth and death rates as a result of technological development is called

A) advanced industrialization and urbanization.
B) the Neo-Malthusian perspective.
C) the Marxist perspective.
D) demographic transition theory.

Question 25

Which perspective explains that environmental problems are made worse by people's subjective assessment of reality?

A) functionalist
B) conflict
C) interactionist
D) neo-Malthusian

Question 26

The environmental justice framework is a framework of particular concern to analysts using which sociological perspective?

A) functionalist
B) conflict
C) interactionist
D) neo-Malthusian

Question 27

Some functionalist perspectives on environmental problems focus on

A) the neo-Malthusian approach to controlling population.
B) ecofeminism.
C) environmental racism.
D) an anthropocentric worldview.

Question 28

The dramatic increase in agricultural production made possible by high-yield "miracle" crops is known as

A) the green revolution.
B) the biotechnical revolution.
C) Malthusianism.
D) self-sufficiency.

Question 29

Many critics of family planning programs argue that most policies are developed by political leaders in high-income nations. These critics argue that these programs

A) are based on class and race issues rather than genuine concern regarding world hunger or population.
B) are based on genuine concern regarding world hunger or population and concern for the well being of humanity.
C) are based on the economic dominance of developing nations over developed nations.
D) encourage birth rates among low-income women.

Question 30

Zero population growth

A) refers to a situation in which there is a balance among births, deaths, and migration, resulting in a totally stable population from year to year.
B) has been achieved in the United States since 1930.
C) is threatened by birth control and trends toward later marriage.
D) is the case in most African nations.

Question 31

A person who has been granted lawful permanent residence in the United States is called

A) a legal refugee/asylee.
B) a U.S. citizen.
C) a student visitor.
D) a legal permanent resident.

Question 32

In order to a have negative population growth, a country must have

A) greater numbers of deaths and emigration than births and immigration.
B) fewer deaths and emigration than births and immigration.
C) a high mortality rate.
D) a low fertility rate.

Question 33

The measure of fertility focuses on

A) men and women equally, because both sexes are biologically necessary.
B) the number of live births in a given population.
C) women, because pregnancy and childbirth are more easily quantified than biological fatherhood.
D) men, because men are more important in the reproductive process.

Question 34

In what stage of demographic transition theory does the population grow very slowly, if at all?

A) the transitional stage
B) the postindustrial stage
C) the advanced industrialization and urbanization stage
D) the preindustrial stage

Question 35

According to the World Health Organization, which of the following populations are most likely to experience malnutrition?

A) elderly adults
B) adult males
C) women and young children
D) infants under the age of two

Question 36

The approach to reducing global food shortages known as the biotechnological revolution

A) includes any technique that uses microorganisms to modify or improve plants or animals.
B) is less controversial because it involves genetic manipulation.
C) may not have the potential to produce enough food to feed the rapidly growing world population.
D) avoids the use of hormones.

Question 37

Which of the following statements regarding environmental degradation is true?

A) Ecosystems have an infinite ability to support population growth or environmental depletion or destruction.
B) Mining does not disturb ecosystems.
C) The drastic increase in air pollution that began in the 20th century has placed an undue burden on the atmosphere's ecosystem services.
D) The United States' high level of industrial production and economic growth causes no effect on the environment.

Question 38

Which environmental condition is caused by large concentrations of sulfuric and nitric acids that enter the atmosphere primarily from the burning of fuel and car and truck exhausts?

A) acid rain
B) the greenhouse effect
C) ozone depletion
D) deforestation

Question 39

David works for the U.S. Census Bureau and studies the composition size and distribution of the population in America. The field of research in which David studies is called

A) desertification.
B) demography.
C) environmental degradation theory.
D) proportional populace.

Question 40

Juanita is a white female born in Oregon in 2009. What is her life expectancy?

A) less than 50 years
B) 76.1 years
C) 78.2 years
D) nearly 81 years

Question 41

Describe the factors that affect population growth, and the effects of these factors on individuals.

Question 42

Describe and explain the green revolution, and explain the problems with it. Explain the extent to which you think this revolution is beneficial or not in light of its problems. Propose potential solutions that you may have to the problems of global food shortages and world hunger.

Question 43

Describe how immigration is changing the population composition of the United States. What are the costs and benefits of immigration? Evaluate whether immigration is beneficial or harmful to the U.S.

Question 44

Compare and contrast the functionalist perspective with the conflict perspective of population and environmental problems. Which perspective do you agree with the most? Explain why.

Question 45

Describe a scene depicting environmental degradation and identify the major sources that caused the environmental degradation.