Multiple choice questions:
Question 1
1. Which statement best characterizes the assertions of the logarithmic-logistic models of societal development contained in both the charts from Raskin et al. in the lecture and Turner and McCandless (2004) "How Humankind Came to Rival Nature"?
Contemporary environmental degradation will likely doom all societies to failure
Because humans have always impacted their environment there is no need to be concerned about contemporary environmental change
Human-caused transformation of the environment is an entirely new feature of the industrial revolution
We are now at the beginning of a new stage of social, cultural, and technological development that could lead to new environmental challenges as well as better understanding of the human-environment condition
Question 2
1. Which regions of the world currently have the lowest percentage of urban population?
Sub-saharan Africa and south Asia
Sub-Saharan Africa and South America
South Asia and southern Europe
South Asia and South America
Question 3
1. In the European enlightenment formulation, women, indigenous people, and nature are
feminized and exploitable objects
active and thinking subjects
feminized and sacred objects
life-giving and fearful subjects
Question 4
1. In terms of world population censuses, the definition of urban
is singularly defined and established by the U.N.
defines any place with a population of 10,000 people or more
defines all places where residents are not primarily engaged in agricultural activities
varies from country to country
Question 5
1. The oceans cover about what percent of the earth's surface?
71%
50%
30%
95%
Question 6
1. Whereas the I=PAT equation suggests that the higher a country's affluence or income the higher that country's environmental impact, Kuznets Curves suggest that
as per-capita income increases the environment worsens, until reaching a maximum carrying capacity and leading to societal collapse
as per-capita income increases population and technology increase at a steady rate, reflecting the increasing need to innovate and find solutions to environmental problems.
as per-capita income increases the environment worsens, until reaching a turning point beyond which as per-capita income continues to increase the environment improves (a bell curve)
as per-capita income increases population and food production increase at a steady rate, reflecting the increasing purchasing power of individual consumers (a linear progression)
Question 7
1. In terms of the Colorado River flow, we have learned that
the flow of the river is expected to decrease within the next 25 years
the flow of the Colorado remained the same from year-to-year before the construction of large dams
the flow of the Colorado River has fluctuated greatly over the last 800 years
we have dramatically under-allocated the Colorado's water.
Question 8
1. Which two factors most contributed to the Great Plains Dust Bowl of the 1930s?
rapid urban growth and aridity
deforestation and erosion
over-plowing and drought
over-hunting and flooding
Question 9
1. Which statement about Great Plains population distribution is most accurate?
populations in rural areas have grown rapidly since 1950 due to increases in tourism and construction
populations in urban areas have decreased since 1950 as people have "gone back to the land" to work farms abandoned during the Dust Bowl
the population of every county across the entire region has steadily increased since 1950 with the boom in the oil economy
populations in rural areas have decreased in many places since 1950 due to the increasing efficiency of modern agricultural practices
Question 10
1. Thomas Malthus' theory on population growth and food production
considers affluence and technology as important variables
has unequivocally been proven correct
has unequivocally been proven wrong
does not take into account many social, economic, institutional, and cultural variables
Question 11
1. The urban garden and community agriculture movement in the United States can best be described as
subsistence agriculture
industrial agriculture
cash-crop agriculture
none of these answers
Question 12
1. The infrastructure of informal settlements, sometimes referred to as slums, squatter settlements, and favelas, is typically characterized by
a lack of indoor plumbing
all of the these answers
the use of a variety of scrap materials to build homes
unpaved streets
Question 13
1. Food prices and oil (petroleum) prices
exhibit a positive relationship; as oil prices increase food prices tend to increase
tend to not be related
remain steady from year to year
exhibit a negative relationship; as oil prices increase food prices tend to decrease
Question 14
1. "Path-dependency" as illustrated by Turner and McCandless (2004) "How Humankind Came to Rival Nature" refers to
the transition to a "planetary" society
the steady upward trajectory of human civilization
the current socioeconomic and environmental conditions that constrain or expand future possibilities
the lack of precedent for the scale of contemporary environmental changes
Question 15
1. Some scientists have argued that using the term Anthropocene is redundant. Why?
Because modern humans have existed throughout the Pleistocene Epoch for the last 2.5 million years
Because the Holocene Epoch, in which we currently live, already denotes a time when the human imprint is widespread
Because humans cannot really cause lasting damage or change the global environment
Because humans have modified the global environment since at least the Industrial Revolution
Question 16
1. In the Cartesian formulation from the European enlightenment, man is separate from, and superior to, nature. This make nature
a dangerous and terrifying object
an inferior and exploitable object
an interdependent and embodied object
a separate and sacred object
Question 17
1. What is the average depth of the Ocean?
7,800 meters
15,000 meters
3,800 meters
1,000 meters
Question 18
1. According to the charts from Raskin et al. in the lecture, which of the following systems of social organization, forms of economy, and communications technology characterizes the current "Planetary Phase?"
tribe/village, hunting/gathering, language, respectively
nation-state, industrial system, and printing, respectively
city-state/kingdom, settled agriculture, writing, respectively
global governance, globalization, and the internet, respectively
Question 19
1. LUCC science has emerged as an important field in the last half of the 20th century due primarily to the analytical power of
historical records of the use of fire
population growth records
urbanization
satellite remote sensing
Question 20
1. Which of the following cities has grown in recent decades in part due to rural displacement caused by the expansion of the oil industry?
Lagos, Nigeria
Los Angeles, USA
Beijing, China
Detroit, USA
Question 21
1. The variables in the I=PAT equation for understanding environmental change due to population growth are defined as
impact = (population) (affluence) (technology)
impact = (personality) (affluence) (time)
institutions = (population) (affluence) (time)
institutions = (personality) (affluence) (time)
Question 22
1. In 1950, half of the world's 10 largest cities were in Europe and the United States. How many European and U.S. cities are projected to be in the list of the world's 10 largest cities in 2025?
1
5
7
6
Question 23
1. The largest share of population growth in the 21st century is expected to come from
China
Europe
the more developed countries
the less developed countries
Question 24
1. In the 1980s and 1990s, which trend was observed in the relationship between cultivated land and cereal yields globally?
both cereal yields and the amount of land in cultivation increased
the amount of land in cultivation increased while cereal yields decreased
cereal yields increased while the amount of land in cultivation decreased
both cereal yields and the amount of land in cultivation decreased
Question 25
1. In the reading from Jared Diamond (2005) "Malthus in Africa," it was revealed that
population growth and high population densities put stressors on land and resources that contributed to the Rwandan genocide of the 1990s
women in Sub-Saharan Africa ultimately had no say in the number of children they had, therefore leading to increasing population growth rates
the factors that influence women's and family's choices about how many children to have in Sub-Saharan Africa are many and complex
population growth and high population densities were a significant cause of the HIV/Aids epidemic and the resulting "missing" population of Sub-Saharan Africa
Question 26
1. In the LUCC case of Brazilian deforestation, which of the following best exemplifies an underlying cause?
the farmer in the slide show physically planting soy beans
increasing international demand in urban areas for soy products
ranchers and cowboys cutting down trees for cattle pasture
the cattle eating new tree growth
Question 27
1. Hardin's (1968) "Tragedy of the Commons" idea is best exemplified by
over-fishing in the Grand Banks of Newfoundland
the Rwandan genocide
population decline in the Adriatic region of southern Europe
China's one-child policy
Question 28
1. Which of the following cities has lost population in recent decades in part due to the decline of the manufacturing economy?
Lagos, Nigeria
Beijing, China
Detroit, USA
Los Angeles, USA
Question 29
1. About what percent of the world's population lives in urban areas today?
10%
50%
80%
20%
Question 30
1. In the 1990s and early 2000s, _____ experienced the greatest rise in the number of people living on less than $0.50 per day.
Latin America
Pacific Islands
Sub Saharan Africa
south Asia
Question 31
1. In terms of population, Europe has
has experienced internal displacement due to civil war
offered monetary incentives to families to have additional children
experienced high rates of in migration from Africa and the Middle East
adopted a strict family planning policy to limit population growth
Question 32
1. Which of the following was not a recommendation of John Wesley Powell in his Report on the Lands of the Arid Region of the United States?
change the size of land allotments under the homestead act
discontinue Eastern riparian water laws and adopt a new water law for the West
redraw state boundaries around major river watersheds
large dams and reservoirs should be built by private companies and individuals
Question 33
1. In LUCC science, land use refers to
the social, economic, political, cultural and institutional factors that define how land should be used
the natural covering of land existing before human modification
the physical covering of land whether it is natural or human created
the human alteration of an environment, for instance from forest to cropland
Question 34
1. Stage 1 of the demographic transition model is characterized by
low birth rates, low death rates, but high population
low birth rates, low death rates, and decreasing population
high birth rates, high death rates, and low population
high birth rates, declining death rates, and rapidly increasing population
Question 35
1. During the summer of 2015, most migrants in Europe's refugee "crisis" intended to reach which country as their final destination?
Germany
Hungary
Greece
Slovakia
Question 36
1. During the second half of the 20th century in the United States, Cleveland, Detroit, and Buffalo all _____ population; while Phoenix, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles all _____ population.
gained; lost
gained; gained
lost; gained
lost; lost
Question 37
1. In terms of global demographics, the term "demographic divide" refers to
the inability of many countries to pass beyond stage 1 of the demographic transition model
the social and political differences between generations, such as the baby boom generation and the millennial generation.
the ways demographers divide country populations based on gender, age, and income levels
the different population profiles that characterize LDCs vs. MDCs
Question 38
1. Which environmental philosophy challenges the "Western" opposition of man and nature most directly?
Environmental preservation
Conservation management
Transcendentalism
Ecofeminism
Question 39
1. A country growing at a rate of 2 percent per year would be expected to double its population in
35 years
70 years
20 years
200 years
Question 40
1. The Bureau of Reclamation's earliest projects in the 1900s and 1910s included
a desalination plant at Yuma
the CAP
Glen Canyon Dam and the Los Angeles Aqueduct
Roosevelt Dam on the Salt River
Question 41
1. In the reading from William Cronon (1992) "A Place for Stories," the two differing story arcs that shape our understanding of human-caused environmental changes are different in that they present a
objective vs. subjective view
pro vs. con view
declensionist vs. progressive narrative
disagreement about the basic facts and evidence
Question 42
1. The overall human population of the earth is _____. The overall population growth rate is _____.
decreasing; also decreasing
increasing; also increasing
increasing; decreasing
decreasing; increasing
Question 43
1. In terms of population, Russia has
experienced high rates of in migration from Africa and the Middle East
offered monetary incentives to families to have additional children
adopted a strict family planning policy to limit population growth
has experienced internal displacement due to civil war
Question 44
1. All of the following are associated with the modern food system except
a large, hungry urban population
widespread subsistence farming
factory farming
a large number of food miles
Question 45
1. In terms of population, Colombia has
offered monetary incentives to families to have additional children
has experienced internal displacement due to civil war
experienced high rates of in migration from Africa and the Middle East
adopted a strict family planning policy to limit population growth
Question 46
1. The Green Revolution (GR) beginning in the 1960s refers to
the advances of agricultural science and increasing crop yields combined with the diplomatic and political work to distribute those advances to LDCs
the social upheaval that lead to the founding of modern environmental organizations and events such as Earth Day
the cultural and economic changes experienced in China as a result of the Great Leap Forward
the advances of agricultural science and increasing crop yields
Question 47
1. In Turner and McCandless (2004) "How Humankind Came to Rival Nature" and the charts from Raskin et al. in the lecture, the phases of human development follow a logarithmic-logistic model where the duration of each subsequent era decreases by a factor of 10. For instance, the stone age lasts 100,000 years while the early civilization age lasts only 10,000 years. Why might this be?
the societal transitions are spurred by not only technological advances but also population, which has a tendency to increase exponentially and spur changes in the the organization of society
there are regular environmental changes that happen naturally, without any influence from humans, and at the same time as the great societal transitions
At each transition there has been a major social or environmental catastrophe which forced people to advance to a new phase
in each phase people are much smarter than before, so they need less time to transition to a new era
Question 48
1. As people in developing countries become more affluent, a greater proportion of their diet will likely consist of
rice
meat
fresh fruits
fresh vegetables
Question 49
1. It has been argued that the start date for the Anthropocene is
difficult to identify because humans have always modified the environment in some ways
about 1950, with large increases in fossil fuel use
all of these answers
about 1800, with the Industrial Revolution
Question 50
1. In the reading from John Tierney (1986) "Fanisi's Choice," it was revealed that
population growth and high population densities put stressors on land and resources that contributed to the Rwandan genocide of the 1990s
women in Sub-Saharan Africa ultimately had no say in the number of children they had, therefore leading to increasing population growth rates
the factors that influence women's and family's choices about how many children to have in Sub-Saharan Africa are many and complex
population growth and high population densities were a significant cause of the HIV/Aids epidemic and the resulting "missing" population of Sub-Saharan Africa