Questions and Answers of Environment

Name an additional example of a common-pool resource other than those mentioned in this chapter.
In this chapter we said the current global ecological footprint is 2.7 hectares (6.7 acres) per person. Do you think it will be higher, lower, or the same in 15 years? Explain your answer.
Discuss four specific environmental goals that you hope are achieved in your lifetime.
How do initiatives can (or do) college campuses – or students on them – take to reduce the volume of various solid wastes they generate?
Do you think this cartoon reasonably depicts the challenge of reducing pesticide use? OUke Baldwin / Correret BAA ORGANIC * NO PESTICIDES MARKET $25 425. 6 18 "Sure it costs more. We have to squash
Propose an integrated pest management plan to control rabbits in a garden. Your approach may include a rodenticide.
Which of the following uses of pesticides do you think are most important? Which are least important? Explain your views.a. Keeping roadsides free of weedsb. Controlling malariac. Controlling crop
Taking a systems perspective, suggest how to prevent BOD from animal sewage and milk processing of a dairy farm from reaching an adjacent river.
Sea level is expected to rise about 0.4 m (1.3 ft) by 2100 (the blue line in the figure above). However, the prediction is uncertain; different models suggest that we can expect anywhere from 0.2 m
One of Socolow and Pacala’s wedges (see introduction) involves reducing the number of miles driven by each car by 50% (they predict 2 billion cars worldwide by 2056). Considering what you know
Explain the irony in the following cartoon. NEWS |acme DEVELOPMENS SCHWADPm co. "WE BELIEVE WE WILL BE ABLE TO TEAR DOWN THE ENTIRE ECOSYSTEM IN AN ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY MANNER." O HarleySchwadron
What invasive species are problems in your area? How do they affect local ecosystems, including native species? How are the invasive species being controlled?
Some people in industry argue that the planned obsolescence of products, which means they must be replaced often, creates jobs. Others think that the production of smaller quantities of durable,
Sketch mineral flow in a traditional industrialized society. Make sure you include mines, mills, factories, homes, and businesses. Now sketch mineral flow in a low-waste industrialized society. Which
Historically, the cost of environmental damage arising from mining and processing minerals was not included in the price of consumer products. Do you think it should be? Why or why not?
The pie chart shows an overview of the world?s total land area with respect to its suitability for agriculture. How could soil that is too dry for agriculture be converted to cropland? How could soil
Should we allow housing on the flood plain of a river? Should taxpayers provide federal disaster assistance for those who choose to live on flood plains? Explain your answers.
Should the air pollution (including greenhouse gases) produced from fossil fuels used to mine and refine uranium, build nuclear power plants, and transport nuclear wastes be attributed to nuclear
Do you think we should permit more oil drilling off the coast of the United States? Why or why not?
Which of the negative environmental impacts associated with fossil fuels is most serious? Why?
Explain why the United States Department of Energy describes coal as a “true measure of the energy strength of the United States.” Is this also true of China? India? Why or why not?
On the basis of what you have learned about coal, oil and natural gas, which fossil fuel, do you think the United States should exploit in the short term (during the next 20 years)? Explain your
Which of the following do you think could most effectively reduce the use of oil in the United States: reducing subsidies on fossil fuels, changing the design of cities, or requiring vehicles to be
The following graph shows projected CO2 emissions in India based on the level of urbanization that occurs in the 21st century. Why do you think a higher level of urbanization will result in greater
Examine the cartoon. What point is the cartoonist making? steveggreenbeng art.com THE NEW COLOSSUS (or, "Obesity Appalling the World") Give me your doughnuts, your chips, Your huddled nachos
Generally, the higher a country's level of urbanization, the lower its level of poverty. Suggest a possible explanation for this observation.
What was the human population when you were born? When your parents were born?
Do you expect that a warmer world will improve or worsen human health? Explain your answer.
Select one of the two choices to complete the following sentence, and then explain your choice: The absence of certainty about the health effects of an environmental pollutant (is/is not) synonymous
Which biome do you think is in the greatest immediate danger from human activities? Why?
In which biome do you live? If your biome does not match the description given in this book, how do you explain the discrepancy?
Draw a diagram of three concentric circles and label the circles to show the relationships among species, ecosystems, and communities. If you were adding symbiosis, predation, and competition to the
What portion of the human's fundamental niche are we occupying today? Do you think our realized niche has changed over the past 200 years? Why or why not?
What ENSO effects are made fun of in the cartoon below? Hey guys, look!.. EINino is here!.
What are some of the environmental factors that produce areas of precipitation extremes, such as rain forests and deserts?
How do you interpret this cartoon? What sort of options is the diner considering? Relate your answer to the Food for Thought exercise which is given below.? "Tm trying to eat lower on the food
Draw a food web containing organisms found in a Chesapeake Bay salt marsh.
What is this cartoon trying to say? When do you think this cartoon was published? peNT BANE UME HER
Do you agree or disagree with the idea that climate change is an environmental justice issue? Explain your answer.
The Environmental Performance Index has detractors among both environmentalists and industry groups. Based on what you’ve learned in this chapter, suggest reasons for each.
Can economic approaches to environmental management adequately account for the complex interactive systems that make up the environment? Why or why not?
Following the 2010 oil platform collapse and associated oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, Congress began considering new laws regulating deep-ocean oil drilling.Do you think command and control or
Based on what you have learned in this chapter, do you think the economy is part of the environment, or is the environment part of the economy? Explain your answer.
If you were a member of Congress, what legislation would you introduce to deal with each of these problems? a. Toxic materials from a major sanitary landfill are polluting rural drinking water
When coal is burned in a power plant, only 3% of the energy in the coal is converted into light in a light bulb. What happens to the other 97% of the energy? Explain your answer using the laws of
What is a biogeochemical cycle? Why is the cycling of matter essential to the continuance of life?
Determine whether each of the following statements reflects the Western worldview, the deep ecology worldview, or both: a. Species exist for humans to use. b. All organisms, humans
Should private landowners have control over what they wish to do to their land? How would you, as a landowner, handle land use decisions that may affect the public? Present arguments for both sides
The figure below shows projected annual energy use for the United States, India, and China. How much is each country€™s energy use expected to increase between 2015 and 2035? What impact
Fossil fuels are “non-renewable” resources. Why does this pose a problem from a systems perspective?
Distinguish among fluidized-bed combustion, coal liquefaction, and coal gasification.
What are the five kinds of synfuels? Why are they not being used more extensively?
What is the relationship between fossil fuels and greenhouse gases?
What are the implications of “Peak Oil” on future global energy supplies?
Which major consumer of oil is most vulnerable to disruption in the event of another energy crisis: electric power generation, motor vehicles, heating and air conditioning, or industry? Why?
How does extraction of natural gas from shale differ from extraction from sandstone?
What impact does drilling for oil in the United States have on short-term U.S. energy supplies? Long-term supplies?
Few countries in Africa have significant amounts of coal, oil and natural gas resources. What does this suggest about opportunities for financial development in those countries?
Which contributes the most to climate change per unit of useful energy: coal, oil, or natural gas?
The Industrial Revolution may have been concentrated in the Northern Hemisphere because coal is located there. What is the relationship between coal and the Industrial Revolution?
Describe some advantages and disadvantages of the three types of fossil fuels.
How do policy decisions affect the development of energy technologies?
What are the four objectives described in this section?
What are some pros and cons of storing energy as hydrogen? In batteries? In flywheels?
What are some uses for hydrogen fuel cells?
What are some ways that electricity can be used?
When does conservation reduce quality of life? Improve quality of life?
How can the same energy services be provided with less energy for lighting? For transportation?
How do the United States, China, and Kenya compare in total energy consumption? In per capita energy consumption?
How does the concentration of energy in a source affect how people can use energy?
The German Federal Ministry for Economic Development and Cooperation use gasoline policies to classify countries into four categories: 1. Very high subsidies; 2. Subsidies; 3. Taxation; 4.Very high
What is the national energy policy of the United States? Does it include subsidies? Does it promote efficiency and/or conservation?
What forms of energy storage do you use? What are the benefits of this energy storage?
When are electricity and hydrogen “climate-neutral”? Can electricity or hydrogen produced using the energy of coal be climate-neutral? Why or why not?
What energy sources are used to generate electricity where you live, work, or go to school? This information is usually available on utility bills or at the utility website.
How would the list in item 4 differ if you were to take a systems perspective rather than a short-term perspective? Would it be easy to implement these changes? Why or why not?
List energy conservation measures you could adopt for each of the following aspects of your life: washing laundry, lighting, bathing, cooking, buying a car, and driving a car.
What are the relative advantages and disadvantages of fluorescent and incandescent lighting?
Consider Table 10.1. Which of the advantages and disadvantages of different energy sources do you think are most important? Why?
Why is it useful to know both per capita energy use and total energy use for a country?
Why is Curitiba, Brazil, a model of sustainability in the developing world?
What features does a sustainable city possess?
What is suburban sprawl?
How are transportation and land use linked?
How does zoning help regulate urban land use?
What is compact development?
What types of businesses are present, and which are generally missing, in food deserts?
What are brown-fields?
How can a city system be analyzed from an ecosystem perspective?
What are some of the problems encountered when large urban areas experience rapid growth?
What is a megacity? An urban agglomeration?
What is urbanization? What parts of the world have the fastest current rates of urbanization?
How has Curitiba, Brazil, been designed to incorporate sustainability?
How has transportation affected the spatial structure of cities?
Why is good governance so important in increasing sustainability in cities?
How can land use planning promote compact development?
What is an urban heat island? A dust dome?
What is a brownfield? Why is it challenging to redevelop brown-fields?
What are the four variables that urban ecologists study?
Suggest a reason why many squatter settlements are built on floodplains or steep slopes.

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