AP Environmental Science - Questions 301-330

317. The amount of biologically productive area required to support a person and dispose of his or her waste is known as (A) the free-access resource area (B) the common-property resource area (C) the ecological capacity (D) a sustainable yield (E) an ecological footprint

(E) An ecological footprint is a measure of a person's or population's demand on the environment - the amount of land and ocean necessary to reproduce consumed resources and to dispose of or recycle waste. Each human meal requires agricultural space to grow, for example, and landfill space is often used for disposing of waste.

313. One approach to building more efficient housing with recreational space involves concentrating high-density housing in one part of a site and leaving a large proportion for shared open space. This is known as (A) fundamental land (B) land-use planning (C) smart growth (D) mixed-use development (E) cluster development

(E) Cluster development concentrates housing and leaves large areas of land open for recreation or other uses

320. Sewage runoff from human settlement in to the oceans can cause all of the following EXCEPT (A) Harmful algal blooms (B) Exposure of marine life and people to high levels of infectious bacteria (C) unusually high levels of human viruses in the water (D) oxygen- depleted water zones that suffocate marine life (E) calcium-rich zones that damage fish and shellfish by hardening and stiffening joints

(E) sewage doesn't do much to increase calcium in oceans and lakes, and calcium doesn't pose a danger to fish and shellfish

330. "A natural, inorganic solid having a particular crystalline structure and chemical composition" is the definition of A) an element B) a mineral C) a compound D) a gemstone E) a fossil fuel

B) a mineral

304. If a country maintains the same total population of 100 but its rural population shrinks from 55% to 52% in one year, what is the urban growth rate for this period, assuming that the rest of the population is composed of city dwellers? A. 2.7% B. 6.7% C. 3.0% D. 0.9% E. 6.3%

B. 6.7%

327. Which of the following public land conservation principles have developers and resource-extraction industries in the United States actively opposed? 1. Protecting the biodiversity should be the primary goal 2. Resource extraction should not be government subsidized 3. Resource extractors should pay fair compensation for resources removed. 4. Everyone using public lands should be liable for environmental damage. A) 1 only B) 1,2, and 3 C) 1,2,3, and 4 D) 2,3,4 E)1,3,4,

C) 1,2,3, and 4

329. Approximately 3.8 billion hectares of earth's original forests remain. This number represents what proportion of the original total? A) about 5% B) about 20% C) about 50% D) about 70% E) about 90%

C) about 50%

303. If 20,000 of a small country's total population of 1 million live in cities, the country;s degree of urbanization is A. 20% B. 5% C. 2% D. 0.2% E. 0.5%

C. 2%

310: Cities can put extra stress on the environment's water resources by: I. Depriving nearby, less-developed areas of surface water and groundwater II. Decreasing the amount of water entering soil and groundwater by increasing runoff III. Decreasing nearby cloud formation by producing excess heat and CO2 IV: contributing to water pollution (A) I, II, and III (B) II, III, and IV (C) I, II, and IV (D) only I and III (E) only III and IV

C. Cities have all of the effects indicated except significantly decreasing cloud formation. In fact, particulate matter that cities release into the atmosphere can encourage nearby cloud formation.

309: People in urban areas often have advantages over rural dwellers, including: (A) lower chances of exposure to hazardous wastes (B) lower levels of asthma and other respiratory problems (C) better access to health care and other services (D) exposure to fewer sources of noise pollution (E) living where infectious diseases are less able to propagate

C. In rural ares, medical providers are few and far between compared to urban areas.

306. Which of the following statements accurately describes urban growth patterns in the United States? A. Between 1850 and 1900, urban growth stagnated. B. During the mid-20th century, suburbs and small cities lost more people to larger nearby cities than they gained. C. Ongoing migration inside the country is generally headed toward the Southwest. D. The majority of the rural population has migrated to urban areas from rural areas since the 1970s. E. Since the 1980s, the birthrate has been largely responsible for the country's growing population.

C. Ongoing migration inside the country is generally headed toward the Southwest.

312: Some U.S. cities including Portland, Oregon, apply zoning, planning, tax breaks, building regulations, and other policies to control sprawl and protect the local environment. This approach is called: (A) fundamental land (B) reconciliation ecology (C) cluster development (D) smart growth (E) land-use planning

D. Smart growth is a multi pronged strategy using these approaches to develop urban areas around environmental protection and livability.

307: All of the following statements are examples of the negative effects of urban sprawl except: (A) an increase in obesity in sprawl areas (B) the loss of central city tax bases (C) the loss of prime cropland, grass, and forests (D) Decreased water runoff (E) Increased surface-water pollution

D. Urban sprawl causes an increase in water runoff from increased impervious cover, such as parking lots and streets

302. People can be "pulled" to emigrate from rural areas into urban areas by A. poverty in rural areas B. lack of agricultural land outside of cities C. lack of jobs outside of cities D. available housing in urban areas E. war in the countryside

D. available housing in urban areas

326. Each set of federally managed areas in the United States has different restrictions on its use. The US federal lands with the most restrictions are known as the A)National Forest System B) National Resource Lands C) National Wildlife Refuges D) National Park System E) National Wilderness Preservation System

E) National Wilderness Preservation System

324. In the United States, parcels of land managed by the Forest Service and the Bureau of land management are used for many of the same purposes, with important differences. Unlike land managed by the Forest Service, land under the Bureau of Land management is NOT often used for A) Mining B)Natural Gas extraction C) livestock grazing D) Oil extraction E) recreation

E) recreation

311: In the United States, rail transportation compares favorably to automobile transportation in all of the following areas except: (A) flexible transportation schedules (B) air pollution (C) energy efficiency (D) accidental injuries and deaths (E) contributing to traffic congestion

Rail transportation options operate on their own schedules.

315. In china, developers can face the death penalty for illegally building on arable areas that are designated as (A) mixed-use zoning (B) new urban areas (C) cluster developments (D) fundamental land (E) greenbelt

(D) The "fundamental land" policy is quite stringent, with violations that can include the death penalty

318. An equation to estimate a human population's ecological impact uses the variables I (total impact), P (population size), A (population affluence), and T (population technology level). Using that equation, if P and A both double compared to a previous situation but T remains the same, what happens to I? (A) I drops to zero. (B) I drops to half its previous value. (C) I remains the same value. (D) I increases to four times its previous value. (E) I cannot be calculated in this case.

(D) Total impact is calculated by multiplying the other factors by one another, so I = P x A x T. I would increase fourfold if both P and A were doubled while keeping T the same.

319. Flooding is often a bigger problem in cities than in rural areas due to which of the following factors? I. cities are often built in coastal areas or on floodplain II. Cities' greater proportion of impervious cover increases runoff III. City-related development often damages wetlands that can absorb excess water. IV. Cities release excess heat and carbon dioxide, which increase local rainfall. (A) Only I and II (B) Only II and III (C) Only I and IV (D) I, II and III (E) II, III, and IV

(D) heat and carbon dioxide do not increase local rainfall levels, but the other three factors do contribute to urban flooding

314. Urban planning experts call a neighborhood with stores, light industries, offices, high-density housing, and mass transportation within walking distance (A) a mixed-use development (B) smart-growth planning (C) cluster development (D) reconciliation ecology (E) land-use planning

(A) Mixed-use development involves integrating housing, work and other components of a person's daily life within walking distance

322. which of the following lists of land uses is arranged in order from the largest share of the earth's terrestrial area to the smallest? (A) urban space, agriculture land, wooded areas (B) agricultural land, wooded areas, urban space (C) wooded areas, agricultural land, urban space (D) urban space, wooded areas, agriculture land (E) wooded ares, urban space, agricultural land

(B) Agriculture land accounts for around 40% of earth's land area, with forests accounting for about 30% and urban areas making up less than 5%

321. measures that can decrease the prevalence of oxygen-depleted zones include all of the following EXCEPT (A) reducing the emission of nitrogen compounds by motor vehicles (B) constructing industrial-scale saltwater oxygenating plants (C) improving sewage treatment to reduce the emission of nitrogen compounds into the water (D) reestablishing coastal wetlands to help absorb extra nitrogen before it reaches rivers, streams, and oceans

(B) saltwater oxygenation plants do not exist

316. Transit corridors connect cities such as Toronto to smaller nearby urbanized areas, with the rest of the area surrounding the city center devoted to recreational open space known as (A) fundamental land (B) mixed-use zoning (C) greenbelt (D) cluster development (E) reconciliation ecology

(C) Greenbelt is crossed by transit corridors, and it provides space for recreation and plant and animal habitats in cities like Toronto.

323. most U.S. federal public land is located in the state of (A() New York (B) Utah (C) California (D) Alaska (E) Colorado

(D) About 73% of U.S. federal public land is located in Alaska

325. The US Fish and Wildlife service oversees 542 tracts of land intended mostly for A) protecting habitats for game birds and mammals B) oil and gas extraction C) recreation D) historical site preservation E) watershed conservation

A) protecting habitats for game birds and mammals

328. Biologist Garrett Hardin reasoned that each person degrading free-access, renewable resources feels that an individual person's impact is nearly imperceptible, that another person is bound to use the same resource in any case, and that as a renewable asset, the resource will rebound. Hardin called the large scale effect of this mid-set A) tragedy of the commons B) distorted risk perception C) resistance-to-change environmental management D) the reversibility principle E) short-sighted stewardship

A) tragedy of the commons

308: In the United states, urban sprawl was encouraged by the federal government through: I. Loan guarantees for veterans buying new single family homes II. Federal funding for highways III. The introduction of home-loan deductions for federal income tax IV: large federally funded suburban developments outside western U.S. cities (A) I, II, and III (B) II, III, and IV (C) I, III, and IV (D) only I and II (E) only II and IV

A. The U.S. government provided the first three inducements, but it does not typically fund whole suburban developments, and certainly not on a large regional scale.

305. Of the following statements, which one accurately reflects current urban growth patterns worldwide? A. Urban growth is slower in developed countries than in developing countries. B. Urban poverty becoming less prevalent. C. City dwellers are staying at a constant percentage of the world population. D. In developing countries, the rural population is becoming a greater proportion of the population. E. The number of megacities worldwide is shrinking slightly.

A. Urban growth is slower in developed countries than in developing countries.