Deck 14: The Global Environment and International Politics

Question 1

Why is the world's population growing?

A)Mainly because people are having more children
B)Mainly because immigration is at such high levels
C)Mainly because mortality has decreased so dramatically
D)Mainly because agricultural yields have grown so exponentially over the last decades

Answer 1

C

Question 2

What does the tragedy of the commons refer to?

A)The situation in which too many people live in a shared region
B)The situation in which each individual acts according to his or her individual interest, resulting in a collective disaster
C)The situation in which people try to work together to solve problems, but don't always succeed
D)The situation in which developing countries allow exploitation of natural resources by transnational corporations

Answer 2

B

Question 3

What do scholars estimate the world's population to be by 2050?

A)Scholars estimate the world's population to exceed 7.5 billion people by 2050.
B)Scholars estimate the world's population to exceed 8.4 billion people by 2050.
C)Scholars estimate the world's population to exceed 9.8 billion people by 2050.
D)Scholars estimate the world's population to exceed 12.2 billion people by 2050.

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Which of the following is a global environmental problem?

A)Pollution of waterways that border more than one country
B)Depletion of the ozone layer
C)Air pollution flowing across borders
D)Overfishing of shared bodies of water

Question 5

What does the "green revolution" refer to?

A)The increased use of recycled and recyclable goods by people in developed countries
B)The dramatic gains in agricultural yields in many developing countries, caused by increased use of fertilizers, pesticides, and new crop breeds
C)The move of people away from classical medicine, including vaccines, to use of homeopathic remedies
D)The dramatic increase in the use of solar and wind power to make electricity since the 2000s

Question 6

Where did the meeting to negotiate a new plan to combat global warming and climate change take place in late 2015?

A)Kyoto, Japan
B)Durban, South Africa
C)Paris, France
D)Copenhagen, Denmark

Question 7

According to geographer Jared Diamond, if people in the developing world were to consume as much as the average American, in terms of the consumption of resources it would be as if the total world population exceeded how many people?

A)23 billion people
B)41 billion people
C)54 billion people
D)72 billion people

Question 8

While there is not yet a global shortage of fresh water in the world, several regions are already experiencing severe shortages. Why are these regions experiencing such shortages?

A)Due to the continued salinization of existing water supplies
B)Due to increased rates of evaporation caused by warmer than average temperatures
C)Due to increased consumption
D)Due to the pollution of existing water supplies from new chemical plants

Question 9

Natural products whose supply is fundamentally limited are known as which of the following?

A)Renewable resources
B)Negative externalities
C)Nonrenewable resources
D)Potentially recyclable resources

Question 10

What is a situation in which a group of actors has a common interest, but cannot collaborate to achieve it called?

A)A collective action problem
B)A levels of analysis problem
C)A rational action problem
D)An expected utility problem

Question 11

Why was the Kyoto Protocol seen as obsolete?

A)It exempted most developing countries from having to take action, but economic growth (and corresponding growth in GHG emissions)in those countries, meant that tackling climate change required including them.
B)China was subject to strict restrictions under the Kyoto agreement and refused to abide by them.
C)The United States was subject to strict restrictions under the Kyoto agreement and refused to abide by them.
D)It exempted most developed countries from having to take action, focusing only on developing countries, which, according to economic structuralists, would only prevent them from being able to develop.

Question 12

What best describes the problem of sustainable development?

A)While poor people consume less than their wealthier counterparts, they are also more constrained from pursing environmental goals.
B)Poor people consume as much as their wealthier counterparts, but do so more cheaply and with less regard for the environment.
C)Wealthy people consume less than their poorer counterparts because they have the luxury of taking environmental goals into account.
D)Wealth and consumption are not correlated.

Question 13

Those resources that can be sustained indefinitely, as long as the state of consumption does not exceed the natural rate of replacement, are known as which of the following?

A)Renewable resources
B)Reusable deposits
C)Green commodities
D)Nonrenewable resources

Question 14

Why is the Paris agreement likely to fail?

A)Because allowing each country to set its own targets for greenhouse gas emissions and failing to make the agreement legally binding sets the stage for failure
B)Because allowing each country to set its own targets for greenhouse gas emissions and making these legally binding is an affront to state sovereignty
C)Because setting stringent international targets for greenhouse gas emissions and making them legally binding is an affront to state sovereignty
D)Because setting the scientifically unattainable goal of an increase of less than 1.5 degrees Celsius is likely to fail to encourage countries to try to make any changes

Question 15

What is the world's population as of 2019?

A)About 5.7 billion
B)About 7 billion
C)About 7.7 billion
D)About 9 billion

Question 16

Which of the following environmental problems is not global?

A)Biodiversity loss
B)Overpopulation
C)Oil shortages
D)Overconsumption of water from watersheds which supply more than one country

Question 17

Which of the following is a transnational environmental problem?

A)Global warming
B)Biodiversity loss
C)Overpopulation
D)Pollution of waterways that border more than one country

Question 18

External costs that force costs (in terms, for example, of polluted air or water)onto others are also known as which of the following?

A)Non-excludable issues
B)Collective action problems
C)Negative externalities
D)Non-rival goods

Question 19

What has been the recent trend of birthrates in Japan, Russia, and much of Europe?

A)Birthrates have increased dramatically
B)Birthrates have remained the same
C)Birthrates have declined slightly
D)Birthrates have declined dramatically

Question 20

Which of the following can be said about the main goal of the Paris agreement, in which countries agreed to limit temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius?

A)It was an ambitious goal, that is very likely to be reached through cooperation.
B)It was an ambitious goal, that is unlikely to be reached.
C)It was not an ambitious goal and scientists think it will not matter in the long run.
D)It was a reasonable goal that politicians could easily reach and then boast to their constituents about their success.

Question 21

What is the largest amount of a renewable resource that can be harvested each year without reducing the amount that can be harvested in future years is called?

A)Maximum sustainable yield
B)Energetic capacity
C)Collective yield
D)Maximum capacity

Question 22

How do scientists suggest we solve the "trilemma" created by the shift in recent years from fossil fuels to biofuels, such as ethanol?

A)They suggest we eat less food
B)They suggest that governments offer additional subsidies for farmers who are growing biofuel crops
C)They suggest that biofuel production should be carried out in very particular ways, such as by growing perennial grasses on abandoned fields
D)They suggest that we ride our bikes and walk rather than drive

Question 23

Beyond collective action problems, there is a general set of obstacles that tend to arise on many international environmental issues. Which of the following is not such a barrier to cooperation?

A)Competing economic priorities
B)Equity
C)Domestic politics
D)Scientific proof

Question 24

Approximately how much of U.S. corn production goes into ethanol production, rather than into the food supply?

A)10 percent
B)25 percent
C)40 percent
D)55 percent

Question 25

What do feminists focus on?

A)How environmental issues influence the power of a given state vis-à-vis other states in the global system
B)How environmental issues influence gaps in wealth and economic power
C)How environmental issues influence norms of behavior toward the environment and toward environmental policy
D)How environmental issues and the difficulties associated with forging environmental cooperation most harshly impact women in the developing world

Question 26

Which of the following countries pioneered the use of biofuels as a means of energy independence after the global energy crisis of 1973?

A)Canada
B)The United States
C)Brazil
D)Venezuela

Question 27

What do economic structuralists focus on?

A)How environmental issues influence the power of a given state vis-à-vis other states in the global system
B)How environmental issues influence gaps in wealth and economic power
C)How environmental issues influence norms of behavior globally concerning how companies, NGOs, and states interact to conserve resources
D)How environmental issues influence the productive capacities of women in developing societies

Question 28

Which group of scholars focuses on how environmental degradation affects women and how women might contribute to the amelioration of environmental problems?

A)Structural economists
B)Liberals
C)Constructivists
D)Feminists

Question 29

Which country is today the world's largest ethanol producer?

A)Brazil
B)The United States
C)Canada
D)Venezuela

Question 30

Which of the following statements concerning the resolution of collective action problems is true?

A)The more actors are part of a given collective action problem, the harder it is to solve.
B)Only if significant value is placed on current costs and benefits is cooperation today rational.
C)One way to resolve free rider issues is to deny selective benefits to those who participate in their resolution.
D)Realism is optimistic about the prospects for cooperation in environmental collective action problems.

Question 31

The view of international environmental problems as collective action problems fits well with which of the following international relations theories?

A)Realism
B)Liberalism
C)Feminism
D)Economic structuralism

Question 32

Which of the following is a generalized factor that influences the difficulty in solving collective action problems?

A)The number of actors
B)Replicability
C)Internet access
D)Reciprocity

Question 33

Protection against the threat of energy shortages either because of supply problems or because of deliberate efforts by others to inflict harm is known as which of the following?

A)Energy security
B)Green security
C)Human security
D)Environmental security

Question 34

Which two countries together account for nearly 90 percent of global ethanol production?

A)Brazil and Canada
B)The United States and China
C)The United States and Brazil
D)Russia and Canada

Question 35

Which of the following statements about China is not true?

A)Many countries oppose an agreement to limit greenhouse emissions that does not constrain China as much as everyone else.
B)China regards further economic growth as essential to raising its standard of living; this makes it unlikely that the leadership will consider limiting fossil fuel emissions.
C)Many countries are concerned that they will be economically disadvantaged if China is not limited in the production of greenhouse gas emissions.
D)China has minimal ability to grow economically because of strict environmental protections.

Question 36

In terms of environmental problems, which of the following statements would realists fail to agree with?

A)Realists are skeptical about climate change and resource shortages.
B)States are reluctant to sign on to any agreement that might jeopardize their military or economic power.
C)States take a pessimistic view of the prospects for international cooperation on environmental problems.
D)Even when states are in agreement about the desirability of cooperation, they are concerned with relative gains.

Question 37

Which of the following statements would realists agree with?

A)Competition over resources is a major cause of war.
B)Competition over resources is unlikely to incite states to use whatever power they have to control these resources; this is not a zero-sum game.
C)Competition over resources is best solved with international cooperation.
D)Competition over resources is no reason for states to go to war.

Question 38

Which of the following is not an example of the tragedy of the commons?

A)Fishing in shared waters
B)Air pollution
C)Livestock grazing on public lands
D)Space exploration

Question 39

What do constructivists focus on?

A)How environmental issues influence the power of a given state vis-à-vis other states in the global system
B)How environmental issues influence gaps in wealth and economic power
C)How environmental issues influence norms of behavior toward the environment and toward environmental policy
D)How environmental issues influence the productive capacities of women in developing societies

Question 40

Which prominent state did not ratify the Kyoto Protocol?

A)Japan
B)Germany
C)Brazil
D)The United States

Question 41

What was the primary reason that successive U. S. presidents had not submitted the Kyoto Protocol for Senate ratification?

A)The economic cost of the agreement was prohibitively expensive
B)Not enough Senators are convinced of the science behind "global warming"
C)China and India, as major greenhouse gas emitters, are not party to the Kyoto Protocol
D)The agreement did not have any enforcement mechanisms

Question 42

Why was the Montreal Protocol significant?

A)Because it was the most sweeping environmental treaty in history
B)Because it focused on environmental problems between Canada and the United States
C)Because it emphasized, for the first time, biological diversity
D)Because it was the first global environmental treaty

Question 43

Which of the following treaties was signed at the Rio Summit in 1992?

A)The Montreal Protocol
B)The Convention on Biological Diversity
C)The Kyoto Protocol
D)The Convention to Combat Desertification

Question 44

Which of the following is not one of the components of the Convention on Biological Diversity?

A)Protection of biological diversity
B)Sustainable use of biological resources
C)Encouragement of basic scientific research by easing laws
D)Equitable sharing of benefits from biological resources

Question 45

What event caused Britain to pass its Clean Air Act in the mid-1950s?

A)The extinction of indigenous songbirds
B)A severe smog event in London
C)An oil spill in the North Sea
D)A toxic plume that was caused by a Liverpool foundry

Question 46

Which of the following statements are realists likely to make about environmental issues and the future?

A)International security is being redefined. The new dangers to states and societies come not from other states and societies, or from their armies, but from environmental degradation that threatens all states.
B)Environmental threats will make all states allies against these common enemies.
C)Climate change can be prevented only through measures that have effects across all countries.
D)Environmental issues may intensify conflict between states but will not reduce the role of traditional power in international politics.

Question 47

What has been the main criticism of the Biodiversity Treaty?

A)That the treaty has done relatively little to protect biodiversity while making the conduct of basic scientific research much more difficult
B)That the treaty has done relatively little to protect biodiversity while being extremely expensive to implement for all signatories
C)That the treaty has done relatively little to protect biodiversity while being extremely expensive to implement for the poorest signatories
D)That the treaty has had the opposite of the intended effect

Question 48

To which event in 1887 does the modern focus of environmental protection in the U.S. date back to?

A)To the establishment of Yellowstone National Park
B)To the establishment of Grand Canyon National Park
C)To the establishment of the national highway system
D)To the establishment of the national railroad system

Question 49

Which country contributes the most to the production of greenhouse gases?

A)China
B)India
C)Russia
D)United States

Question 50

In 1962, Silent Spring was published by Rachel Carson. What was the main subject of the book?

A)The deadly fog that gripped London, England in the mid-1950s
B)The Chernobyl nuclear disaster in the Ukraine earlier that year
C)The creation of the Yosemite National Park in California as a conservationist's paradise
D)The effects of pesticide use on human and animal health

Question 51

What incident essentially ended the construction of new nuclear plants in the United States?

A)The accident at the Three Mile Island nuclear power station in 1979
B)The bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
C)The accident at Chernobyl in Ukraine in 1986
D)The 1969 Cuyahoga River fire outside Cleveland

Question 52

Which of the following accidents was one of the first cases to bring environmental issues together with the questions of poverty and development?

A)The Chernobyl nuclear power plant meltdown in the late 1900s in Ukraine
B)The Bhopal chemical leak in India in the early 1980s
C)The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant meltdown in Japan
D)The Aswan Dam collapse in Egypt in the mid-1950s

Question 53

Regarding the Convention on Biological Diversity, the United States has done which of the following?

A)Signed the treaty and plans to ratify it next year
B)Ratified the treaty, yet still has to sign it
C)Neither ratified nor signed the treaty
D)Signed the treaty, yet not ratified it

Question 54

Which environmental agreement has been considered a success?

A)The Montreal Protocol
B)The Convention on Biological Diversity
C)The Kyoto Protocol
D)The Copenhagen Summit Agreement

Question 55

Which international agreements three main goals include "the conservation of biological diversity, the sustainable use of its components, and the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources?""?

A)The Convention of Biological Diversity
B)The Paris Agreement
C)The Kyoto Protocol
D)The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Agreement

Question 56

What has the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)played an important role in?

A)Creating hysteria among the world's population
B)Creating uncertainty in the presentation of scientific data on climate change
C)Providing scientific evidence on the certainty of global warming
D)Discounting the evidence that human activity is a cause of global warming

Question 57

Which of the following is not a reason that wind farms are opposed?

A)They are unsightly
B)They are not economical
C)They cause noise pollution
D)They disrupt migrating birds

Question 58

Which treaty commits to reduce the production and use of gases that deplete the ozone layer?

A)The Kyoto Protocol
B)The Mediterranean Acton Plan
C)The Montreal Protocol
D)The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Agreement

Question 59

Why was cooperation to limit gases that deplete the ozone layer possible?

A)Because science on this problem became indisputable
B)Because rich countries decided to subsidize the economic costs of this treaty
C)Due to U.S. influence
D)Because of the role of the United Nations on this issue

Question 60

When national leaders must simultaneously negotiate with other nation-states and with domestic constituencies they are said to be engaging in which of the following?

A)A two-level game
B)Dual diplomacy
C)Divided loyalties
D)A bifurcated discussion

Question 61

What is a collective action problem? Provide examples. Why do some collective action problems get solved, whereas others seem to resist resolution? What accounts for the difference?

Question 62

What major international agreements have led up to the Paris Agreement? Have they been successful? Why or why not? Do most scholars and politicians think that the Paris Agreement is and will be a success? Why or why not?

Question 63

What factors are thought to be behind the world's current environmental problems? How do these factors come together? Are these factors thought to be especially problematic in developed or developing countries?

Question 64

What is a collective action problem? How does this idea relate to the environmental challenges we face today? What are examples of transnational, but not global environmental problems? What are examples of global environmental problems? Which problems are easier to address and why?

Question 65

What were the major factors that enabled the world's leading countries to deal effectively with the ozone depletion problem in the late 1980s? Did this successful action have any implications for future attempts to deal with environmental problems?

Question 66

Why is the world facing such unprecedented population growth? How does world population growth impact consumption growth and resource supply and demand? How does world population growth work against environmental sustainability?

Question 67

Explore the connection between resource depletion and economic development. Is it fair to ask developing countries to constrain their development in order to create a more sustainable environment? Why or why not?

Question 68

How does each of the main theories of political science view cooperation on environmental problems (likelihood, effectiveness, impact, etc.)?

Question 69

How does the Montreal Protocol illustrate how cooperation can occur even on difficult collective action problems? What factor made the agreement possible?

Question 70

In what ways do national governments attempt to work together to solve global environmental problems? What are some challenges working against this cooperation and what are the ways in which they have successfully cooperated?