Deck 13: Human Environment

Question 1

The latest Pangaea break up began about _______ years ago.

A)100,000
B)2,000,000
C)50,000,000
D)200,000,000

Answer 1

D

Question 2

The most recent glaciation of the Pleistocene was the ________ Glaciation.

A)Illinoian
B)Kansan
C)Wisconsinan
D)Nebraskan

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Human destructiveness of the environment manifested itself early when

A)streams were polluted by settlements.
B)fires were set to kill entire herds of reindeer and bison.
C)cooking fires polluted the air.
D)the beginnings of agriculture destroyed vast areas of soil.

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Depletion of the ozone layer is caused by the release of __________ into the atmosphere.

A)volcanic ash
B)CO₂
C)methane
D)chlorofluorocarbons

Question 5

Plant life and photosynthesis began about 1.5 billion years ago and increased the ___________ level in the atmosphere.

A)CO₂
B)O₂
C)methane
D)sulfur

Question 6

The climatic record documenting the beginning of the Little Ice Age was partially pieced together by using farmer's diaries.Those of _________ were most useful.

A)dairy farmers
B)wine growers
C)grain farmers
D)vegetable growers

Question 7

Growing understanding of the effects of the Little Ice Age leads to the suggestion that the chief cause of the rapid collapse of the Jamestown colony may well have been

A)flooding.
B)shortened growing season.
C)a seven year drought.
D)poor farming practices.

Question 8

The eruption of the Tambora volcano on the island of Sumatra resulted in what has been called the "year without a summer" in Europe and America)That year was

A)1000.
B)1650.
C)1815.
D)1912.

Question 9

The boundaries of rocky crustal plates (theory of plate tectonics)are associated with

A)deserts.
B)earthquakes and volcanoes.
C)ice caps.
D)plains regions.

Question 10

What percentage of the Earth's surface is covered by water?

A)90
B)70
C)50
D)20

Question 11

The geologic epoch,characterized by global warming,in which we are now living is the

A)Pliocene.
B)Holocene.
C)Pleistocene.
D)Miocene.

Question 12

Ice ages ___________________________.

A)are only a cooling event
B)contain warming and cooling phases
C)have a much longer warming than cooling phase
D)don't diminish plant and animal life

Question 13

Climatologist-geographer Alfred Wegener used his spatial view of the world to develop the theory of

A)relativity.
B)the hydrologic cycle.
C)continental drift.
D)Earth rotation.

Question 14

During the Pleistocene,glaciers extend as far as _____________

A)St. Louis and Seattle.
B)Moscow and Rome.
C)Paris and San Francisco.
D)London and Belgrade.

Question 15

Biologists estimate that there may be as many as ____ million types of organisms on Earth.

A)5
B)10
C)15
D)25

Question 16

A tsunami's waves result from

A)tidal conditions.
B)high storm winds called "tsunamis."
C)earthquake displacement of the seafloor.
D)periodic floods.

Question 17

The Earth's most recent experience with mass volcanism was between _________ million years ago.

A)180 and 160
B)150 and 130
C)120 and 100
D)90 and 70

Question 18

The greatest threat to human existence to come from any source was a volcanic eruption occurring about 73,500 years ago.The volcano was called

A)Santorini.
B)St. Helen's.
C)Tambora.
D)Toba.

Question 19

The Little Ice Age began to affect Europe in which century?

A)fourteenth
B)fifteenth
C)sixteenth
D)seventeenth

Question 20

The Polynesians reduced the forests of their islands to brush,and by the time of the arrival of the Europeans,had exterminated more than 80 percent of the regional birds due to their penchant for

A)wearing bird-feather robes.
B)eating bird's eggs.
C)eating birds.
D)collecting bird's nests.

Question 21

The distribution of precipitation over the areas of the Earth,with concentrations in some areas and paucity in others,is sustained through a process called the

A)jet stream shift.
B)hydrologic cycle.
C)cyclonic system shift.
D)upper air circulation.

Question 22

One of the great ecological disasters of the twentieth century occurred in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan and involves the

A)Black Sea.
B)Lake Baikal.
C)Aral Sea.
D)Caspian Sea.

Question 23

The amount of forest cutting that has gone on wherever humans locate has been very extensive.In the United States,for example,forests consist mainly of _______ trees.

A)second-growth
B)stumps and brushy
C)deciduous
D)coniferous

Question 24

Human habitation of the Pacific Islands is estimated to have led to the extinction of _______ bird species.

A)0
B)180
C)5000
D)2000

Question 25

___________ describes a field of study that considers the roles of political economics,power,and history in shaping human environmental interactions.
A)Geopolitics
B)Politics
C)Political ecology
D)Economics

A)Geopolitics
B)Politics
C)Political ecology
D)Economics

Question 26

Changes in climate involve changes in the ________cycle,which in turn affects patterns of precipitation.

A)nitrogen
B)hydrologic
C)oxygen
D)ozone

Question 27

About __________liters of water are required to produce one kilogram of beef.
A)100
B)1,000
C)15,000
D)150,000

A)100
B)1000
C)15000
D)150000

Question 28

Of the U.S.landfills for the disposal of low level radioactive waste,___ percent are now closed.

A)100
B)50
C)25
D)0

Question 29

Fifty times as much water is stored in _____________ in the United States as falls as precipitation each year.

A)reservoirs
B)aquifers
C)streams
D)lakes

Question 30

The world distribution of precipitation is concentrated in

A)equatorial and tropical areas.
B)mid-latitude regions.
C)high latitudes.
D)subtropical regions.

Question 31

The United States is the most prolific producer of solid waste.Studies estimate that the U.S.produces about ____ pounds of solid waste per person per day.

A)2.5
B)4.5
C)3.5
D)7.3

Question 32

The Sea of Galilee forms a large freshwater reservoir in the Jordan Valley and is the source of most of the water for which of the following countries?

A)Syria
B)Jordan
C)Israel
D)Lebanon

Question 33

__________________ are examples of actions that cause environmental stress.

A)The cutting of forests and emitting of pollutants into the atmosphere
B)Mountain top mining and the dumping of garbage into the ocean
C)The damming of rivers and cutting of canals
D)all of the above

Question 34

Over the past century the pace of human environmental change has

A)almost completely stopped.
B)declined slightly from earlier rates.
C)has remained constant.
D)increased significantly.

Question 35

Acid rain is most commonly found _________________

A)everywhere equally
B)along the equator
C)near areas downwind from industry
D)in farming regions

Question 36

Which of the following is not one of the key "greenhouse" gasses?

A)carbon dioxide
B)methane
C)nitrous oxides
D)ozone

Question 37

In the early 1980s,the FAO of the United Nations undertook a study of the rate of depletion of tropical rain forests and determined that ______ percent had already been affected by cutting.

A)24
B)34
C)44
D)54

Question 38

The highest densities of coal and oil burning,which causes acid rain,are associated with large concentrations of heavy manufacturing,such as those in

A)Western Europe and the United States.
B)coastal South America and Asia.
C)Eastern Europe and East Asia.
D)the Southern Hemisphere.

Question 39

Increasingly,people in many areas

A)are unsure of sustainable supplies of water.
B)are sure of plentiful supplies of water.
C)rely on water only from streams and rivers.
D)receive their water only from bottled sources.

Question 40

Forests affect the atmosphere through their role in (the)

A)global warming.
B)production of CO2.
C)desertification.
D)oxygen cycle.

Question 41

In 2010,_____________ had similar patterns of fossil fuel emissions of CO₂.

A)Spain and Australia
B)Nigeria and South Africa
C)Mexico and South Africa
D)Mexico and Chile

Question 42

Pangaea's break-up 180 million years ago was accompanied by violent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions which impacted global climate and biodiversity.

Question 43

The Kyoto Protocol
a)addresses US-Japan trade imbalances.
b)addresses Japan-European trade imbalances.
c)addresses Asian deforestation.
d)addresses global climate change.

Question 44

Residents of the eastern United States face high mortality risks and natural disasters in what form?

A)drought
B)hydrological
C)geophysical
D)drought and/or geophysical

Question 45

The Earth's environment has been changed little throughout the past 15,000 years.

Question 46

In 2010,which countries had per capita emissions of carbon dioxide of less than one metric ton?
a)United States and Australia
b)New Zealand and Sudan
c)United Kingdom and Japan
d)Somalia and Kenya

Question 47

International concern over the loss of global species led to calls for a global convention (agreement)as early as

A)1981.
B)1971.
C)1961.
D)1991.

Question 48

In the United States,landfill capacity has been reached or soon will be reached in about 12 states.

Question 49

_____________ make a far greater demand on the Earth's resources than most.

A)Semi-peripheral countries
B)Core countries
C)Peripheral countries
D)All countries

Question 50

Soil erosion is little affected by population growth as there is a limit to the amount of cultivation of an acre of land.

Question 51

Sixty percent of Israel's water supply comes from the occupied territories of the Golan Heights and West Bank.

Question 52

Chlorofluorocarbon gasses are the main culprits in ozone depletion.These gasses have only been in use since the

A)Industrial Revolution to 1790.
B)1940s.
C)1950s.
D)1990s.

Question 53

The forests in South Africa are primarily ____________

A)tropical rainforests.
B)tropical deciduous forests.
C)tropical dry forests.
D)tropical highland forests.

Question 54

The Food and Agricultural Organization at the United Nations released a study indicating that the rate of forest loss globally between 2000-2010 was lower than between 1990-2000.

Question 55

The political map

A)does not reflect the geography of environmental issues
B)reflects how environmental issues do not cross borders
C)shows the impact of humans on the environment
D)does not reflect the location of countries in relation to one another

Question 56

Kuwait is developing ________ as a resource to offset the inevitable decline in oil production.

A)fresh water
B)forestry
C)sand
D)solar energy

Question 57

During the Pleistocene period,the planet was in a deep freeze.

Question 58

The U.S.,European Union and Japan export solid waste to countries in Africa,South and Middle America,and East Asia)

Question 59

Mortality risk from natural disaster is greatest in developed countries.

Question 60

Global warming began about 18,000 years ago and is a characteristic of the Holocene.

Question 61

In the world of the early 2000s,there are many international policy-making bodies with significant authority over multinational environmental spaces.

Question 62

Oil is a finite resource.

Question 63

How has the climate of the Earth changed in the past 15,000 years? Describe periods of alternate warming and cooling and some of the associated environmental effects.What do some theories hold has been the impact of the Industrial Revolution global climate patterns?

Question 64

Modes of transportation represent some of the most important technological advances,with profound environmental impact,in human history.

Question 65

A majority of rare earth elements today are found in China)

Question 66

Analyze and discuss some of the reasons that many environmental problems are now considered global rather simply regional or local in nature,citing several examples.

Question 67

When it comes to environmental change,population numbers alone do not have the same meaning in all places.

Question 68

One of the effects of global warming and environmental change is a shift in precipitation patterns and amounts; most of the latter would probably be a reduction in annual totals.Based on your knowledge of your home area or regions,what do you think would be the result of such a shift on life in your home region?

Question 69

Explain some of the trends in global biodiversity been in the past few centuries? Identify the causes of loss of biodiversity and analyze some potential implications.

Question 70

List some of the causes of deforestation.Analyze the implications of this destruction.What could humanity lose when the rain forests are gone?