Chapter 12-13

Rachel Carson

-wrote silent spring -increased our understanding about the effects of pesticides

reservoir

After a river is dammed, the river's flow creates an artificial lake, or reservoir, behind the dam.

Ironically, those who are overnourished face similar health problems of those who are undernourished. a. True b. False

Answer A

Meat animals (primarily cattle, pigs, and chickens) a. are either grazed in open fields and rangelands (about 50%) or live in confined pens/cages/buildings (about 50%). b. are mostly in feed lots, with feed grains supplied by the farmer. c. are mostly grazed under open sky, eating plants available to them. d. mostly live in large buildings, fed grains, living out their lives indoors.

Answer A

One in ________ people per year lack regular access to enough clean water for drinking, cooking, and washing. a. 6 b. 14 c. 33 d. 50

Answer A

There are no disadvantages of hydroelectric dams. a. True b. False

Answer B

drought

a prolonged period in which occasional precipitation is at least 70% lower and evaporation is higher than normal in an area that is normally not dry.

Glyphosate

best-selling herbicide

organic agriculture

crops that are grown with little or no use of synthetic pesticides, synthetic fertilizers, or genetically engineered seeds.

floodplain

A flood happens when water in a stream overflows its normal channel and spills into the adjacent area, called a floodplain.

waterlogging

Another problem with irrigation is waterlogging, in which water accumulates underground and gradually raises the water table.

A natural area that is prone to flooding is called a a. floodplain. b. levy. c. dam. d. watershed.

Answer A

Repeated annual application of irrigated water in dry climates leads to a buildup of salts in upper soil layers in a process called a. salinization. b. desertification. c. waterlogging. d. water erosion.

Answer A

The green revolution was made possible by large inputs of water, fertilizers, and pesticides, increasing the number of crops grown per year per plot of land, and a. developing high-yield crops. b. developing richer soils. c. increasing the amount of land used for farming. d. using aquaculture.

Answer A

A long-term diet lacking trace amounts of iodine may result in a. vitamin A deficiency. b. goiter. c. fatigue and mental retardation. d. anemia.

Answer B

Annual surface runoff in rivers and streams not lost by seasonal floods, and therefore available for human use, is called a. surface water. b. reliable surface runoff. c. groundwater. d. watershed.

Answer B

Both California and China have plans to move vast amounts of water from one part of the land to another. The primary reason that each feels water need to be moved is a. the people in water-poor areas have squandered their water, and need more to survive. b. the water-rich areas can afford to give water to highly populated, water-poor areas. c. water is absolutely needed for the industries in these water-poor areas. d. this will stimulate these economies by employing many people to build the pipes/aqueducts/etc. to move the water.

Answer B

Cities provide water to their citizens. The majority of these citizens a. pay a water bill to privately owned water companies. b. pay a water bill to government-owned water companies. c. do not get billed for water use; taxes pay their water costs. d. get their water for free.

Answer B

For thousands of years we have been modifying plants by crossbreeding and hybridization. These processes have yielded the domesticated crop plants we eat today. Aside from the 10-15 years it takes to develop a new variety of tomato or corn, what disadvantage is there to new varieties produced by this method? a. People soon get tired of the taste. b. Pests and diseases reduce the plants' yield/resistance/vigor within 5-10 years. c. all of the choices d. The cost is prohibitively expensive.

Answer B

Forcing saltwater through a membrane filter with extremely small pores to produce freshwater is called a. irrigation. b. reverse osmosis. c. infiltration. d. distillation.

Answer B

Fortunately, the resource freshwater is fairly evenly divided throughout nations and continents. a. True b. False

Answer B

Soil "layers" of distinctive composition are called soil a. levels. b. horizons. c. zones. d. thicknesses.

Answer B

The fastest growing area of food production currently is a. grain production. b. aquaculture. c. fisheries. d. livestock production.

Answer B

The kind of chemical used to kill pest plants is called a/an a. rodenticide b. herbicide. c. insecticide. d. fungicide.

Answer B

The single biggest domestic water use in the U.S. is a. automatic dishwashers. b. flushing toilets. c. washing cars. d. baths and showers.

Answer B

The world's single biggest cause of illness is a. a lack of adequate shelter. b. a lack of clean water for drinking and sanitation. c. a lack of healthy food to eat. d. airborne viruses and bacteria.

Answer B

A severe shortage of food accompanied by long-term hunger of most of the population, many deaths, and social disruption is called a. warfare. b. chronic malnutrition. c. famine. d. mass starvation.

Answer C

According to water experts, the main cause of water waste is a. washing cars. b. evaporation. c. water doesn't cost enough. d. water leaks in pipes.

Answer C

Genetically modified (GM) foods a. have been acclaimed universally as a remarkable and needed agricultural breakthrough. b. all of the choices c. potentially have many advantages. d. are engineered so that there are no environmental problems.

Answer C

In terms of being healthy and living longer, studies indicate the poorest diet a. is high in vegetables and fruits, and low in meats. b. is vegetarian. c. has a very high meat and starch component. d. includes moderate amounts of meat, cheese, and seafood.

Answer C

Industrialized agriculture is also called high-input agriculture because a. it takes much human work to gain high crop yields. b. high-outputs of crops result. c. many resources must be used to gain a high crop yield. d. this type of farming requires large amounts of sunlight, time, animal work, animal wastes for fertilizers, etc.-that is, many natural materials.

Answer C

Land subsidence and sinkholes are problems that sometimes occur as water is withdrawn. These sometimes occur in/at/beneath a. the Great Lakes, as we pump clean water from beneath the lakes. b. all of the choices c. middle and southwestern states where the aquifer beneath is being depleted. d. the Rocky Mountains, where water is withdrawn from rivers.

Answer C

The "blue revolution" refers to a. cleaning the oceans of pollutants. b. changing the world diet from meat to fish. c. aquaculture. d. cleaning the air of pollutants.

Answer C

The current land area experiencing severe or extreme drought is approximately a. 3% b. 10% c. 30% d. 50%

Answer C

Which statement is false? a. There is enough food currently being grown to feed all of the world's people. b. Not getting enough to eat is often due to poverty. c. Political upheaval, corruption, and war rarely affect food being distributed to those who need it. d. About one in six world citizens does not get enough food to eat.

Answer C

An old method of farming has been found to be helpful in keeping pest populations low. This practice is a. applying animal manure to crop fields. b. keeping seed from one season to be planted the next season. c. deep lowing of the soil. d. crop rotation.

Answer D

Aquifers a. are relatively rare. b. all of the choices c. should continue to provide more than enough water for drinking and irrigation well into the future. d. are usually naturally renewable by rainwater.

Answer D

Chronic malnutrition means a. a diet lacking iron and carbohydrates. b. poor. c. not getting enough calories in your diet. d. a diet lacking enough protein and key nutrients.

Answer D

For desert cities such as Las Vegas, Nevada, aquifers and ground water have been depleted. The city recycles its water used in bathing, swimming pools, and fountains. Given the need for drinking water in such a large city, the source of the water must be a. surface lakes and reservoirs. b. rainwater. c. recycled water. d. water piped from other communities.

Answer D

Groundwater refers to a. freshwater above the ground. b. all liquid freshwater. c. all liquid and frozen freshwater. d. freshwater beneath the ground.

Answer D

Hydroelectric dams along large rivers a. reduce soil fertility downriver by preventing flooding b. allow production of relatively cheap electricity. c. disrupt fish migration and spawning. d. all of the choices

Answer D

In order to help improve food production, governments sometimes ________ as a way of helping farmers. a. import food from other countries b. take a "hands off" approach, letting the marketplace decide prices c. keep food prices artificially low d. provide subsidies, including tax breaks, to keep farmers in business

Answer D

Terracing, contour planting, strip planting, and wind breaks all have this in common: they are mainly used to a. increase crop production. b. allow small farmers to stay in business. c. maximize soil water retention. d. prevent soil erosion.

Answer D

These foods provide almost 50% of daily calories consumed by people of the world. a. potatoes, rice, and cabbage b. fish and rice c. potatoes and beef d. wheat, rice, and corn

Answer D

Topsoil erosion leads to a. pollution of aquatic systems. b. loss of soil nutrients. c. desertification. d. all of the choices

Answer D

Water is limited, resulting in competition for this resource. In the U.S., competition for water results in a. equal distribution of water. b. cities getting a disproportionately smaller share. c. industry getting a disproportionately smaller share. d. farmers getting a disproportionately smaller share.

Answer D

We interfere with the Hydrologic Cycle if we a. pollute our water. b. destroy wetlands and remove large forests. c. withdraw too much ground water. d. all of the choices

Answer D

Which is a characteristic of the ideal pesticide? a. kills only the target pest b. biodegrades into harmless compounds c. does not cause genetic resistance d. all of these answers

Answer D

Which type of farming is most used by the poor tropical farmer? a. plantation agriculture b. greenhouse agriculture c. high-input agriculture d. slash-and-burn agriculture

Answer D

desertification

It occurs when the productive potential of soil, especially on arid or semiarid land, falls by 10% or more because of a combination of prolonged drought and human activities that reduce or degrade topsoil.

integrated pest management (IPM)

Many pest control experts and farmers believe the best way to control crop pests is a carefully designed integrated pest management (IPM) program. In this more sustainable approach, each crop and its pests are evaluated as parts of an ecological system. Then farmers develop a control program that uses a combination of cultivation, biological controls, and chemical tools and techniques, applied in a carefully coordinated way.

chronic undernutrition, or hunger

People who cannot grow or buy enough food to meet their basic energy needs suffer from chronic undernutrition, or hunger.

surface runoff

Precipitation that does not infiltrate the ground or return to the atmosphere by evaporation is called surface runoff.

salinization

Repeated annual applications of irrigation water in dry climates lead to the gradual accumulation of salts in the upper soil layers—a soil degradation process called salinization.

green revolution

Since 1950, about 88% of the increase in global food production has come from using high-input industrialized agriculture to increase yields in a process called the green revolution.

groundwater

Some precipitation infiltrates the ground and percolates downward through spaces in soil, gravel, and rock until an impenetrable layer of rock stops it. The water in these spaces is called groundwater—one of our most important sources of freshwater and a key component of the earth's natural capital.

polyculture

Some traditional farmers focus on cultivating a single crop, but many grow several crops on the same plot simultaneously, a practice known as polyculture.

commercial inorganic fertilizer

The best way to maintain soil fertility is through soil conservation. The next best option is to restore some of the plant nutrients that have been washed, blown, or leached out of the soil, or that have been removed by repeated crop harvesting. To do this, farmers can use commercial inorganic fertilizer produced from various minerals.

organic fertilizer

The best way to maintain soil fertility is through soil conservation. The next best option is to restore some of the plant nutrients that have been washed, blown, or leached out of the soil, or that have been removed by repeated crop harvesting. To do this, farmers can use organic fertilizer made from plant and animal wastes.

watershed or drainage basin

The land from which surface water drains into a particular river, lake, wetland, or other body of water.

zone of saturation

The spaces in soil and rock close to the earth's surface hold little moisture. Below a certain depth, in the zone of saturation, these spaces are completely filled with water.

water table

The top of this groundwater zone

slash-and-burn agriculture

This type of subsistence agriculture involves burning and clearing small plots in tropical forests, growing a variety of crops for a few years until the soil is depleted of nutrients, and then shifting to other plots.

Dust Bowl

a combination of extreme drought and poor soil conservation practices led to severe wind erosion of topsoil

fishery

a concentration of particular aquatic species suitable for commercial harvesting in a given ocean area or inland body of water.

dam

a structure built across a river to control the river's water flow.

Filtration

any of various mechanical, physical or biological operations that separate solids from fluids by adding a medium through which only the fluid can pass.

pest

any species that interferes with human welfare by competing with us for food, invading lawns and gardens, destroying building materials, spreading disease, invading ecosystems, or simply being a nuisance.

pesticides

chemicals used to kill or control populations of organisms that humans consider undesirable.

green manure

consists of freshly cut or growing green vegetation that is plowed into the topsoil to increase the organic matter and humus available to the next crop.

chronic malnutrition

deficiencies of protein and other key nutrients—which weakens them, makes them more susceptible to disease, and hinders the normal physical and mental development of children.

traditional intensive agriculture

farmers increase their inputs of human and draft-animal labor, fertilizer, and water to obtain higher crop yields.

desalination

involves removing dissolved salts from ocean water or from brackish (slightly salty) water in aquifers or lakes for domestic use.

soil conservation

involves using a variety of ways to reduce soil erosion and restore soil fertility, mostly by keeping the soil covered with vegetation.

plantation agriculture

is a form of industrialized agriculture used primarily in tropical developing countries.

food insecurity

living with chronic hunger and poor nutrition, which threatens their ability to lead healthy and productive lives.

food security

means that every person in a given area has daily access to enough nutritious food to have an active and healthy life.

overnutrition

occurs when food energy intake exceeds energy use and causes excess body fat. Too many calories, too little exercise, or both can cause overnutrition.

famine

occurs when there is a severe shortage of food in an area accompanied by mass starvation, many deaths, economic chaos, and social disruption.

compost

produced when microorganisms in soil break down organic matter such as leaves, crop residues, food wastes, paper, and wood in the presence of oxygen.

aquaculture

raising marine and freshwater fish in ponds and underwater cages

reliable surface runoff

the amount of surface runoff that we can generally count on as a source of freshwater from year to year.

animal manure

the dung and urine of cattle, horses, poultry, and other farm animals. It improves soil structure, adds organic nitrogen, and stimulates beneficial soil bacteria and fungi.

surface water

the freshwater from precipitation and snowmelt that flows across the earth's land surface and into rivers, streams, lakes, wetlands, estuaries, and ultimately to the oceans.

soil erosion

the movement of soil components, especially surface litter and topsoil, from one place to another by the actions of wind and water.

aquifers

underground caverns and porous layers of sand, gravel, or bedrock through which groundwater flows.

industrialized agriculture, or high-input agriculture

uses heavy equipment and large amounts of financial capital, fossil fuel, water, commercial fertilizers, and pesticides to produce single crops, or monocultures.

traditional subsistence agriculture

uses mostly human labor and draft animals to produce only enough crops for a farm family's survival, with little left over to sell or store as a reserve in hard times.