Deck 13: Environmental Problems

Question 1

Biodiversity is concerned with the sustainability of living organisms on the planet.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

In Canada, radioactive waste has been produced since the early 1930s.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

The World Health Organization estimates that 5500 children die each day from diseases linked to polluted water, air, and food.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

Most of the world's energy-86 percent, in 2003-comes from fossil fuels.

Question 5

In developing nations, as much as 80 percent of untreated sewage is dumped directly back into water sources used for drinking and bathing.

Question 6

Cancer, the number one childhood illness in the United States, is linked to air pollution.

Question 7

The most common victims of environmental injustice are the disadvantaged.

Question 8

Desertification is the degradation of semi-arid land.

Question 9

Desertification involves the expansion of desert land.

Question 10

The world's population tripled from 1960 to 1999.

Question 11

Bioinvasion usually occurs and as a result of displacement.

Question 12

Biologists indicate that at least half of the 1.9 million species alive today will become extinct over the next few centuries.

Question 13

Many common pesticides are considered potential carcinogens and neurotoxins.

Question 14

Minority communities are disproportionately affected by industrial toxins, contaminated air and drinking water, and the location of hazardous waste treatment and storage facilities.

Question 15

Planned obsolescence is much more common today.

Question 16

Deforestation contributes to desertification.

Question 17

Artificial light is major contributor to light pollution.

Question 18

Pollution in the Far North is so concentrated that the food supply is contaminated, and new mothers fear the dangers of breastfeeding their infants.

Question 19

Each person's environmental footprint is determined by the patterns of production and consumption in that person's culture.

Question 20

The ozone hole above Antarctica spanned a record 5 million square miles in 2003, exposing the southern tip of South America.

Question 21

In 1992, leaders from around the globe met at the first Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro to forge agreements about which of the following?

A) the environment and poverty
B) the rain forests and human trafficking
C) nuclear weapons and terrorism
D) nuclear energy and changing global weather patterns

Question 22

Which of the following perspectives says that industries use their power and wealth to resist environmental policies that would hurt the industries' profits?

A) symbolic interactionist
B) conflict
C) structural-functionalist
D) labelling

Question 23

A species of insect is discovered in the Great Lakes area that threatens existing insect life naturally found there. What is this an example of?

A) infestation
B) migration
C) bioinvasion
D) recidivism

Question 24

Earth Day brings environmentalists together to celebrate the earth and raise awareness. In which year did it start?

A) 1970
B) 1980
C) 1990
D) 2000

Question 25

Which of the following is a microwave oven that is built to last only seven years a good example of?

A) faulty manufacturing
B) greenwashing
C) pronatalism
D) planned obsolescence

Question 26

Which of the following is manipulated as part of greenwashing?

A) natural resources
B) technology
C) research methods
D) public perception

Question 27

Wind power is the world's fastest-growing energy source.

Question 28

The world's population is projected to reach more than 9 billion by 2050.

Question 29

Which of the following perspectives looks at how human actions, social patterns, and cultural values affect the environment, and, in turn, how the environment affects social life?

A) conflict
B) feminist
C) symbolic interactionist
D) structural-functionalist

Question 30

Which of the following is often referred to as greenwashing?

A) a technique for cleaning industrial waste before dumping it into a river or other waterway
B) the redefining of a corporation's or product's image as being "environmentally friendly" or socially responsible
C) the application of pesticides, usually by plane, over a wide area
D) the commercial logging practice of cutting down virgin forest

Question 31

Which of the following calls attention to women's potential to energize an ecological revolution?

A) pronatalism
B) greenwashing
C) ecofeminism
D) liberalism

Question 32

Individualism is a way of thinking central to agricultural economies.

Question 33

Some companies try to salvage their public images by putting a positive spin on their environmentally damaging ways. Which of the following does that make them guilty of?

A) desertification
B) the ecological fallacy
C) greenwashing
D) ecofeminism

Question 34

Which of the following perspectives focuses on how meanings, labels, and definitions learned through interaction and through the media affect environmental problems?

A) conflict
B) feminist
C) symbolic interactionist
D) structural-functionalist

Question 35

Ecoterrorists are usual environmental activists.

Question 36

Environmental refugees are individuals who have migrated because they can no longer secure a livelihood as a result of environmental problems.

Question 37

In which year was the term ecofeminism coined?

A) 1952
B) 1963
C) 1974
D) 1981

Question 38

A builder wants to construct a condominium near some marshland. Which of the following would be of concern to environmentalists?

A) biohazards
B) possible ground contamination
C) the environmental footprint
D) greenwashing

Question 39

Which of the following perspectives often embraces a spiritual approach to addressing environmental problems, emphasizing the close connection between women and nature?

A) liberal feminism
B) eco-feminism
C) socialist feminism
D) solipsism

Question 40

Which of the following does planned obsolescence contribute to?

A) overpopulation
B) energy efficiency
C) ever-increasing amounts of waste
D) groundwater contamination

Question 41

Which of the following produces more hydroelectric power than any other country?

A) Canada
B) Brazil
C) China
D) the United States

Question 42

In poor countries, which of the following is responsible for the vast majority of indoor air pollution?

A) animal waste
B) fumes from cooking and heating
C) lead-based paint
D) smoking

Question 43

What is the ozone layer responsible for blocking out?

A) ultraviolet B rays
B) pollution
C) greenhouse gases
D) solar gases

Question 44

Which of the following have contributed to the rising levels of air pollutants?

A) transportation vehicles
B) deforestation
C) acid rain
D) global warming

Question 45

Which of the following does deforestation contribute to?

A) acid rain
B) destruction of the ozone layer
C) indoor air pollution
D) global warming

Question 46

Which of the following refers to the complex and dynamic relationships between forms of life and the environments they inhabit?

A) green systems
B) ecosystems
C) greenwashing
D) sustainable developments

Question 47

Which of the following are common indoor air pollutants?

A) mattresses, carpeting, and mothballs
B) insects and detergents
C) dust, mould, and pet hair
D) mites and bedbugs

Question 48

How many people will be living in areas of high water stress by the year 2030?

A) more than 50 million
B) more than 100 million
C) more than 1 billion
D) more than 3 billion

Question 49

I am concerned with expansion of deserts into areas that used to be good for farming. What is this expansion called?

A) deforestation
B) desertification
C) arid land transition
D) bifurcation

Question 50

According to the World Health Organization, which of the following ranks fifth as a risk factor for ill health worldwide?

A) AIDS
B) malnutrition
C) indoor air pollution
D) poor water

Question 51

Which of the following is caused mainly by the accumulation of various gases that collect in the atmosphere and hold heat from the sun close to the earth, preventing it from rising back into space?

A) global warming
B) acid rain
C) toxic waste
D) desertification

Question 52

What do air pollutants mix with to form acid rain?

A) CFCs
B) pesticides
C) precipitation
D) solid waste

Question 53

Which two factors contribute the most to high levels of air pollution?

A) deforestation and acid rain
B) heavy industry and traffic congestion
C) heavy industry and deforestation
D) traffic congestion and desertification

Question 54

Between the 1960s and the 1990s, how much of the world's tropical forests were cut or burned?

A) one-half
B) one-third
C) one-fourth
D) one-fifth

Question 55

As a scientist, I am concerned about the damage a new subdivision will do to all of the plants and animals that used to live in that habitat. What is my primary concern?

A) air, land, and water pollution
B) the ecosystem
C) pest control
D) global warming

Question 56

Which of the following causes the greenhouse effect?

A) overgrown rainforests
B) gases that collect in the air
C) desertification
D) acid rain

Question 57

In 2005, scientists reported that the Ilulissat glacier had shrunk by more than 9.6 km in two or three years. What country is this glacier found in?

A) Iceland
B) Siberia
C) Greenland
D) Antarctica

Question 58

Which of the following was identified as a major reason for deforestation?

A) greed
B) expansion of agricultural land
C) local housing needs
D) diseased trees

Question 59

What is the conversion of forestland to non-forestland called?

A) gentrification
B) deforestation
C) desertification
D) environmental injustice

Question 60

In which of the following areas is acid rain a particular threat?

A) Ontario and Quebec
B) Nova Scotia and New Brunswick
C) the prairie provinces
D) the territories

Question 61

Water pollution is likely to be most severe in which of the following countries?

A) Canada
B) the United States
C) Iceland
D) India

Question 62

How many people in developing countries lack access to clean water?

A) more than 500 000
B) more than 4 million
C) more than 20 million
D) more than 1 billion

Question 63

Another effect of global warming is that it contributes to further warming of the planet. What is this process called?

A) cycle of warming
B) ratio warming
C) positive feedback loop
D) redundant warming

Question 64

According to a 2005 federal report, how much of the waste generated in Canada went to landfill sites or was incinerated?

A) 2.5 million tonnes
B) 5 million tonnes
C) 9.5 million tonnes
D) 15 million tonnes

Question 65

Which of the following is a symptom of multiple chemical sensitivity?

A) headache
B) heart palpitations
C) mental disorders
D) difficulty walking

Question 66

Which of the following results in shifting of plant and animal habitats and the increased rate of extinction of some species?

A) acid rain
B) greenhouse gases
C) nuclear power
D) global warming

Question 67

Which of the following provinces has been identified as being the leading producer of greenhouse gases?

A) Ontario
B) Quebec
C) Alberta
D) British Columbia

Question 68

How long is the half-life of radioactive plutonium?

A) 24 years
B) 240 years
C) 24 000 years
D) 2.4 million years

Question 69

Which of the following would be called environmental injustice?

A) the threatened extinction of plant and animal species
B) the violation of environmental laws and regulations
C) the increasing consumerism and resulting waste and pollution worldwide
D) the tendency for minority groups to bear the brunt of environmental ills

Question 70

In the spring of 2006, Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty announced a $40 billion increase for the development of power generation. What kind of power generation was the money for?

A) nuclear power
B) hydroelectric power
C) wind power
D) chemical power

Question 71

Which of the following is radioactive plutonium used in?

A) weapons production
B) electronic devices
C) solar power
D) airport security devices

Question 72

Which country recently decided to shut down all of its 19 nuclear power plants by the year 2020?

A) Canada
B) Russia
C) the United States
D) Germany

Question 73

About how much of the world's surface is land?

A) 30 percent
B) 35 percent
C) 40 percent
D) 45 percent

Question 74

According to a federal report from 2005, how long does it take each Canadian, on average, to produce about 383 kg of solid waste?

A) a day
B) a month
C) a year
D) a decade

Question 75

Which of the following sets out the laws intended to protect our environment?

A) Kyoto Protocol
B) Charter of Rights and Freedoms
C) Environmental Protection Act
D) Groundwater Pollution Act

Question 76

Which of the following do most of Canada's greenhouse gases come from?

A) the agriculture industry
B) the manufacturing industry
C) the energy industry
D) the transport industry

Question 77

Rising levels of the most prevalent greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide, result from energy production, transportation, and which of the following?

A) acid rain
B) CFCs
C) deforestation
D) desertification

Question 78

Which of the following is referred to by the term "e-waste"?

A) waste from electrical equipment
B) excrement (feces) from humans and animals
C) the burning of buildings by ecoterrorists
D) unwanted e-mails or "spam"

Question 79

Which of the following is another term for environmental injustice?

A) environmental genocide
B) environmental crime
C) environmental apathy
D) environmental racism

Question 80

What was the crisis that hit the Ontario town of Walkerton in the spring of 2000, killing 7 residents and making 2800 others sick?

A) water contamination
B) air pollution
C) food contamination
D) nuclear waste