Deck 20: The Evolving International Economy in an Ecologically Constrained World

Question 1

Why do markets fail to reflect the true price of natural resources and services?

A) Markets are not fully competitive.
B) Many natural resources are controlled by oligopolies and cartels.
C) There are seldom markets for nature's services.
D) All of the above.
E) None of the above.

Answer 1

All of the above.

Question 2

Which of the following is a possible consequence of the accumulation of greenhouse gases?

A) Climate change.
B) More extreme weather events, such as hurricanes, tornados, floods, and droughts.
C) Increased average temperatures.
D) All of the above.
E) None of the above.

Answer 2

All of the above.

Question 3

Why is the slope of the conservation curve zero up to some point and it then curves up sharply?

A) At some point the reduction of habitat causes animal populations to crash.
B) At some point the salinization of soils will impair crop growth.
C) At some point the acidity of the ocean eliminates coral reefs.
D) All of the above.
E) None of the above.

Answer 3

All of the above.

Question 4

According to Figure 20.1 (in the text) showing the spheres of human existence, which of the following statements is true?

A) Nature is a subsystem of the economic sphere.
B) The social sphere and the economic sphere are subsystems of the nature sphere.
C) The economic sphere lies entirely within the social sphere.
D) The social sphere lies entirely within the economic sphere.

Question 5

Which of the following statements is false?

A) The rate of species extinction today is probably at least 500 times as fast as its historical rate.
B) The spread of agriculture and animal husbandry are the main reasons for the decrease in biodiversity.
C) Agriculture based on a variety of crops is more susceptible to collapse than monoculture.
D) All of the above.
E) None of the above.

Question 6

Global warming is predominantly caused by:

A) unknown variations in the ecosystem.
B) the growing accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
C) shifts in sun spots.
D) normal variations in volcanic activity.

Question 7

Among the five categories of nature's services is:

A) punitive services.
B) deregulating services.
C) cultural services.
D) All of the above.
E) None of the above.

Question 8

The category of nature's services known as preserving services can is best described as:

A) nature's raw materials critical to human survival.
B) the replenishing function such as water purification, pollination, and seeds.
C) the diversity and redundancy of the ecosystem provides insurance against future uncertainties.
D) the human reproductive processes.

Question 9

All of the following are considered renewable resources except:

A) air.
B) water.
C) soil.
D) petroleum.
E) All of the above.
F) None of the above.

Question 10

What is an example of a feedback effect of global warming?

A) Species extinction.
B) Increase of greenhouse gases from melting permafrost regions and ocean bottoms.
C) Increased extreme weather, such as, drought and flooding.
D) Human and animal migrations.

Question 11

What is an example of a feedback effect of global warming?

A) Increased average temperatures.
B) Rising sea levels.
C) Acidification of the oceans.
D) The melting of polar ice that results in greater reflection of the sun's heat.

Question 12

Which is NOT an example of feedback effects of global warming?

A) Increase of greenhouse gases from melting permafrost regions.
B) Increase of carbon released from warmer oceans.
C) Increase of air temperatures because of increased levels of water vapor in the atmosphere.
D) Increase of temperature because less ice reflects less of the sun's light and warmth.
E) None of the above; all are examples of feedback effects.

Question 13

What prevents the problem of global warming from gaining the attention of policy makers?

A) There is no consensus among scientists on whether there even is global warming.
B) We cannot measure global warming.
C) Actual global warming lags greenhouse gas emissions, which makes it difficult to convince people that their economic growth is causing global warming.
D) Technological developments are already substantially mitigating the effects of global warming.

Question 14

The 2007 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has concluded that:

A) it is premature to include feedback effects in predictions of global warming.
B) today's average temperatures are similar to average temperatures in between past ice ages.
C) over the past 50 years, temperatures have risen by 0.13°C per decade, about twice the rate over the previous 50 years.
D) the projected rise in temperatures can be lower if feedback effects are taken into consideration.

Question 15

What is meant by biodiversity?

A) The variety of plants, animals, and microorganisms that exist in earth's environment.
B) The ability of an animal to live in various different ecosystems.
C) The ability of a plant to act like an animal, i.e. consume animals, insects, and microorganisms. (e.g. Venus fly trap).
D) All of the above.
E) None of the above.

Question 16

Which is a cause of the decrease in biodiversity?

A) Climate change.
B) Loss of habitat because of human population expansion.
C) Monoculture agriculture.
D) All of the above.
E) None of the above.

Question 17

The best description of the "green revolution" is:

A) civil disobedience by environmentalist organizations such as Greenpeace.
B) the problem of algae in water resources because of increased use of nitrogen fertilizers.
C) the gain in efficiency of agriculture by various methods including, mechanization, specialization, irrigation, and seed development.
D) uprisings of native populations in tropical countries where the rainforest is being destroyed.
E) the takeover of crop land by noxious weeds.

Question 18

Which of the following statements about the services that nature provides is true?

A) There is no need for the redundancy of species. It just crowds the planet.
B) The water cycle renders water resources unusable.
C) Human culture is uniquely human and not influenced by its natural surroundings.
D) Modern culture has separated humans from their natural surroundings.
E) Nature needs the services of humans more than humans need the services of nature.

Question 19

Which of the following is a service of nature?

A) Wind.
B) The rotation of the earth.
C) Carbon sinks.
D) All of the above.
E) None of the above.

Question 20

According to the study by Robert Constanza et al., the following its true:

A) nature provides more services to humanity than the human economy does.
B) the calculation of GDP largely accounts for nature's services.
C) it is easy to calculate the direct value of nature's services, especially when those services are no longer provided.
D) the finite nature of exhaustible resources is a more pressing issue than the deterioration of the ecosystem that provides nature's renewable resources.

Question 21

According to the study by the World Wildlife Foundation:

A) humanity is already using more of nature's renewable resources than nature has the capacity to replenish.
B) population growth will soon lead humanity to use more of nature's renewable resources than nature has the capacity to replenish.
C) humanity is nowhere close to using more of nature's renewable resources than nature had the capacity to replenish.
D) there is not enough evidence to estimate whether humanity is using more of nature's renewable resources than nature has the capacity to replenish.

Question 22

According to the studies by Wackenagel et al. and the World Wildlife Foundation:

A) humanity currently uses nature's renewable resources in a sustainable manner.
B) population growth will not lead humanity to use more of nature's renewable resources than nature has the capacity to replenish.
C) humanity is already using non-renewable resources at an unsustainable rate, but it is still keeping consumption of renewable resources within sustainable levels.
D) the human footprint on Earth has been shrinking because of technological progress.

Question 23

Which of the following has the most detrimental (negative) impact on the capacity of the natural sphere to provide its natural services?

A) Global warming.
B) Human migration.
C) Increase in biodiversity.
D) Globalization of economic activity.

Question 24

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (2007) estimated it would cost what percentage of world GDP to reduce greenhouse gas emissions enough to avoid global warming?

A) About 2 percent.
B) 5 percent.
C) Over 10 percent.
D) The IPCC has concluded that no amount of investment and/or technological change can avoid global warming.

Question 25

Which of the following statements is true?

A) The capitalist economic system based on private ownership and unregulated markets is well suited to stimulate technological progress in all three spheres: natural, human, and economic.
B) The capitalist economic system has solved the problem of the "tragedy of the commons," the idea that individuals tend to abuse collectively owned property.
C) No political-economic paradigm, whether it be capitalism, socialism, or communism, has led to the successful end of humanity's abuse of nature's services.
D) None of the above.

Question 26

What is meant by ecological footprint?

A) The damage done to ecological systems by some form of economic activity.
B) The consequences of removing a particular plant, animal, and/or fungi from an ecological system.
C) The ability of one species to replace another species in an ecological system.
D) The sum of all the land and water required to produce what humanity consumes and to absorb the waste that humans produce.

Question 27

Which of the following statements is true?

A) Human activity has not yet surpassed the regenerative biocapacity of the Earth, but with another decade of rapid economic growth in China, Earth's capacity to supply its services will be surpassed.
B) Some environmentalists have calculated the global human ecological footprint in terms of the number of earths it takes to support human economic activity.
C) The human population on Earth began using services at a rate that exceeded the capacity of the Earth's ecological system to replenish itself shortly after the beginning of the Industrial Revolution.
D) The Green Revolution has provided the technological progress to reduce humans' ecological footprint to the point that the Earth can again regenerate all of nature's services at a sustainable level.

Question 28

According to Martin Weitzman, uncertainty in global warming science:

A) merits a "wait-and-see" approach from policy makers.
B) means policy makers should be especially concerned about stopping global warming.
C) justifies ignoring global warming and concentrating on more certain problems.
D) means that the private markets, especially financial and insurance markets, can deal with this issue better than government policy makers.

Question 29

According to Figure 20.5,(in the text) which shows the net costs of all of the ways in which we can cut carbon emissions, the following measure(s) can reduce greenhouse gas emissions while actually also reducing costs:

A) better building insulation.
B) more efficient lighting systems.
C) more efficient water heating systems.
D) more efficient vehicles.
E) All of the above.

Question 30

Which of the following statements is true about the calculation of the cost of insuring humanity against potentially catastrophic consequences of global warming?

A) The cost of preventive measures to reduce global warming would have a cost equal to about 50 percent of world GDP.
B) The cost of preventing global warming is comparable to the costs of routine types of insurance people willingly pay for, like insuring a house from total loss.
C) Most people accept the predictions of global warming, but they like the challenge of learning to live with a much warmer climate.
D) The cost of mitigating global warming is a halving of humans' standards of living, which explains why people are opposed to environmental policies.

Question 31

Which GHG emission reduction scheme do most environmentalists favor?

A) Direct tax.
B) Cap and trade.
C) Self-regulation.
D) A supply rationing scheme.
E) Carbon offsets.

Question 32

Which of the following statements about the enhanced two-sector Solow model is false?

A) Technology can always shift the production function to higher levels in the economic sphere, even when the natural sphere is not maintained.
B) Only up until a certain point in the growth of output are nature's services able to replenish those services for free.
C) Some saving and investment in the economic sphere must be transferred to investment in conservation in the natural sphere to have sustainable growth.
D) A shift in savings and investment out of the economic sphere and into nature's sphere will slow economic growth.

Question 33

The enhanced Solow model that includes both the economic and natural spheres shows that:

A) output growth in the economic sphere is not influenced by what happens in the natural sphere.
B) output growth in the economic sphere affects what happens in the natural sphere.
C) output growth in the social sphere is not influenced by what happens in the natural sphere.
D) output growth in the economic sphere affects what happens in the social sphere.

Question 34

What accurately describes the conservation function in the enhanced two-sector Solow model?

A) It is the depreciation line of natures' services.
B) It has a constant increasing slope.
C) At some point in economic growth the slope decreases rapidly.
D) It is a linear function similar to depreciation of physical capital.

Question 35

What happens if the required expenditures to maintain nature's services are not undertaken?

A) The conservation curve moves to the right.
B) The production function shown in the economic dimension increases.
C) Investment and savings increase.
D) All of the above.
E) None of the above.

Question 36

Humans have been most successful in applying technological progress to the:

A) natural sphere.
B) economic sphere.
C) human sphere.
D) all spheres.