Final Exam

Question 1

Imagine an area is undergoing urbanization. You would expect this to increase what?

Answer 1

Population density

Question 2

The amount of sediment in a river is related to what?

Answer 2

A threshold level.

Question 3

What is a threshold level?

Answer 3

The fundamental point where a change occurs

Question 4

What environmental treaties or agreements addresses POPs?

Answer 4

The Stockholm convention

Question 5

What is the difference between point source and non-point source of water pollution?

Answer 5

Point source water pollution refers to a single, indefinable source like a pipe. Non-point source comes from diffuse sources like agricultural runoff.

Question 6

The dirty dozen are?

Answer 6

12 persistent organic pollutants that are harmful to human health and the environment.

Question 7

What is an organic pollutant?

Answer 7

A chemical compound that contains carbon and harmful elements to the environment, like PCBs and pesticides

Question 8

Which of the following is often a major water problem in parts of the world that lack sanitation?

Answer 8

Water-borne diseases

Question 9

What is acid rain mostly caused by?

Answer 9

Sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide from burning fossil fuels.

Question 10

Flint, Michigan has been in the news due to unsafe water. Why is their water unsafe?

Answer 10

Lead contamination from aging pipes

Question 11

Nitrogen and phosphorus often act as ___________ and when added to water through fertilizer, runoff may lead to ___________?

Answer 11

Nutrients, algal blooms

Question 12

Imagine an area uses a lot of biomagnifying compound to control insect pests. Where would the concentration of this compound be highest?

Answer 12

In organisms at the top of the food chain

Question 13

What is biomagnification?

Answer 13

When the concentration of toxic substances increases in organisms at higher trophic levels

Question 14

What is bioaccumulation?

Answer 14

The accumulation of substances in an organism such as pesticides and heavy metals

Question 15

What are heavy metals?

Answer 15

Metallic elements with high densities that are toxic at low concentrations, such as lead, mercury, and cadmium.

Question 16

Imagine that you need to dispose of hazardous waste safely. What method will you use and what method would you not use?

Answer 16

Use: Secure land filling or incineration.
Not use: Dumping.

Question 17

One of the factors that leads to midnight dumping is what?

Answer 17

The lack of environmental regulation enforcement

Question 18

Imagine two cities. City a is powered by nuclear power wall city B is powered by coal. You have asthma, so which city is likely to be more dangerous to your health?

Answer 18

City B

Question 19

What are the EPA criteria pollutants for air pollutant?

Answer 19

Particulate matter, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, ozone, and lead.

Question 20

What is the cause of the dead zone?

Answer 20

Nutrient runoff

Question 21

Minamata disease is associated with what?

Answer 21

Mercury poisoning

Question 22

Streams with a high sediment load have _______ biodiversity and in PP compared to streams with low sediment load?

Answer 22

Lower

Question 23

What is PM2.5?

Answer 23

Particular matter less than 2.5 µm in diameter.

Question 24

Temperature inversions are mostly associated with

Answer 24

air pollution + fog

Question 25

Which of the following fossil fuels has the lowest emissions of PM, NOx and SO2 per unit of energy?

Answer 25

natural gas

Question 26

For the past 75 years, Louisiana has been losing land partly because of?

Answer 26

Coastal erosion

Question 27

Integrated Pest Management uses?

Answer 27

a combo of bio, cultural, + phys. chemical tools

Question 28

Which Disaster was a hazardous chemical release and the worst industrial environmental disaster in history?

Answer 28

Bhopal

Question 29

The U.S. has a complex set of environmental laws and regulations including the Clean Air and Clean Water Act, the Superfund Law, the Toxic Substances Control Act, etc. The primary purpose of these laws is to?

Answer 29

protect human health + the environment

Question 30

When the concentration of sulfur dioxide in the atmosphere increases, the pH of rain?

Answer 30

decreases

Question 31

Sustainability means?

Answer 31

meeting needs without compromising future ability to meet needs

Question 32

Imagine a pollutant mimics the effect of the hormone estrogen in your body. This would be an?

Answer 32

endocrine disrupter

Question 33

What is a Superfund site?

Answer 33

contaminated location in U.S. used for clean up of hazardous waste, heavy metals, and POPs

Question 34

What gas accounts for the greatest percentage of the greenhouse effect globally?

Answer 34

CO2 - carbon dioxide

Question 35

The principal gas in the biogas produced in a landfill that must be managed is?

Answer 35

Methane

Question 36

POPs can be found everywhere on Earth, including far from places where they are produced or used. Why does this occur?

Answer 36

they're transported through air + water currents

Question 37

Through their use of fossil fuels and emission of CO2, older generations have left an __________ cost to younger generations.

Answer 37

environmental

Question 38

True or False: Prior to the Clean Water Act, waterways were seen as a common resource which could be exploited by anyone who had access.

Answer 38

True

Question 39

In a country undergoing the demographic transition, population growth occurs because?

Answer 39

birth rates remain high, mortality declines

Question 40

What energy sources is mostly associated with industrial smog?

Answer 40

coal

Question 41

What energy source is mostly associated with photochemical smog?

Answer 41

gas/automobile emissions

Question 42

Since the passage of the Clean Air Act in the U.S., the emissions of the six criteria pollutants has...?

Answer 42

decreased

Question 43

About how many people in the world drink contaminated water?

Answer 43

~2 billion

Question 44

What decreases fertility rates?

Answer 44

contraception access + education

Question 45

What are the differences between primary and secondary succession? Give examples.

Answer 45

primary: lifeless areas, sec: destroys communities

Question 46

Over the past century, CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere have increased from about 280 to?

Answer 46

400ppm

Question 47

Norman Borlaug is most closely associated with?

Answer 47

the Green Revolution

Question 48

If an area supports 500 kg of herbivores, about how many kg of carnivores can it support?

Answer 48

50 kg

Question 49

Which of the following is not one of the vital concepts that moves societies towards a sustainable future?

Answer 49

unsustainable resource extraction

Question 50

Which of the following sources of calories in the human diet requires the greatest amount of land per calorie to produce?

Answer 50

beef

Question 51

What air pollutant is not a primary pollutant?

Answer 51

ozone

Question 52

The single largest component of municipal solid waste in the United States is?

Answer 52

paper products

Question 53

What parentage of municipal solid waste in the United States is recycled?

Answer 53

~ 35%

Question 54

Global population is expected to stabilize in about 70 years. Currently, we expect there to be about how many people on Earth when the population stabilizes?

Answer 54

10 billion

Question 55

A population is growing exponentially with a doubling time of 10 years. If the size of the population now is 50, what will the size of the population be 30 years from now?

Answer 55

~ 400 individuals

Question 56

Imagine your town needs a new power plant. You can build a coal plant, a nuclear plant, or a natural gas plant. Which one has the greatest negative impact on your local air quality?

Answer 56

coal plant

Question 57

What is the role of the moderator in a nuclear reactor?

Answer 57

slows down neutrons to sustain nuclear fission reactor

Question 58

What are the greenhouse gases?

Answer 58

CO2, methane, nitrous oxide, + water vapor

Question 59

A general trend and climate change is that the wet areas of the globe are expected to get wet while the dry areas of the globe are expected to get?

Answer 59

Drier

Question 60

A consequence of the second law of thermodynamics is that?

Answer 60

energy transformations are not 100% efficient

Question 61

If the relationship between species A and B is mutualistic?

Answer 61

both benefit

Question 62

The process by which water vapor passes through stomata from plants to the atmosphere is called?

Answer 62

transpiration

Question 63

Global HDI has generally what over the past 40 years?

Answer 63

Increased

Question 64

For natural selection to occur, there must be which variation associated with?

Answer 64

differential, survival of reproduction

Question 65

Easter Island is an example of socio-ecological collapse. Once home to a thriving civilization, it fell into cannibalism. This was likely due to?

Answer 65

the loss of their forests + resources

Question 66

Since 1950, the yield of wheat and other crops per hectare has increased in the developing world as a result of?

Answer 66

The Green Revolution + advancements in agricultural technology

Question 67

World food supply per person has increased over the past 6 decades, yet people are still hungry. Which of the following is a reason for continued hunger?

Answer 67

Poverty, inequality, + food distribution issue

Question 68

The stewardship ethic is...?

Answer 68

the responsible management of resources + the environment for present + future generations

Question 69

Valuing the environment for its what is considered its inherent value?

Answer 69

ecological services + intrinsic worth

Question 70

What are the differences between ecocentric and anthropocentric ethics?

Answer 70

eco = ecological concerns + rights of nature, anthro = human needs + interests