ENVIR 100 Midterm
Which gas is the main cause of ocean acidification?
Carbon dioxide
Which version is the latest IPCC climate change report published in 2013?
Fifth Assessment Report (AR5)
Which of the following is NOT one of the ways that nitrogen is fixed on Earth?
Nitrogen fixing plants like alder trees and legumes such as peas and beans.
Has this year of above average rainfall ended the drought in California and across the West?
No, the drought is not over in either place. Most reservoirs are far below their averages and groundwater has been drained to the point that decades of wet weather would be required to replenish them.
Which organization, led by David Brower, initiated a series of campaigns against the damming of the Colorado River in the 1950s and 1960s?
Sierra Club
Kuhlman and Farrington (2010) argued that two pillars would be a better model of sustainability than three pillars. What should those pillars be?
Sustainability and well-being pillars
Which of the following is true about world population growth?
The population is growing, but that growth is slowing
Which of the following is NOT a key feature of biogeochemical cycles?
They are chemical interactions between at least three of the four parts of the earth's system.
What does the Michigan State 20 year farming experiment suggest is the way to get excellent harvests with reduced nitrogen pollution?
Use a "low input" method where fields receive small amounts of fertilizer but are also planted with legumes as a winter cover crop.
Since the 1850's what country has cumulatively produced the most carbon emissions?
● The U.S. ● In regards to current per capita emissions: ○ Australia
What is total fertility rate and 2 ways to reduce it?
● The average number of children born to a woman over her lifetime ○ Increase availability and/or use of contraceptives (birth control) ○ Increasing education (especially for girls) ○ Increasing personal income ○ Reducing infant & child mortality rate
What are Foley's 5 steps to feeding the world?
1. Stop expanding agriculture's footprint 2. Close the world's yield gaps (improve yields of least productive farms) 3. Use resources more efficiently 4. Shift diets away from meat 5. Reduce food waste
What is the approximate current human population?
7.4 billion
What does Hans Rosling suggest population will be in 2050? (Note, Rosling suggests this is the lowest possible number while the UN population projection has this as their medium projection).
9 billion
What is the Anthropocene and 2 of its dynamics/patterns?
A new geologic era in which human actions have become the main driver of global environmental change. ● Increasing scale and speed ● Increasing complexity and interconnectedness ● Increasing population and consumption ● Increasing urbanization and fossil fuel consumption ● Era of mass transport and scientific revolutions ● Increasing wealth and economic disparity
What is Great Acceleration?
A period of dramatically increased production, technology, transportation, and globalization ● Began in the 1950s after WWII
Which of the following policies for population control would Paul Ehrlich (author of "The Population Bomb") be most likely to support?
A policy like China's one child policy. The government requires that families have only one child and uses free contraceptives as well as required sterilization and abortion to enforce this policy. Ehrlich wrote, "The cancer of population growth must be cut out by compulsion if voluntary methods fail", so would certainly support this policy.
The term planetary boundaries was explained in Rockstrom et al (2009) as...
An attempt to define a "safe operating space" for humanity that identifies critical boundaries to global-scale processes beyond which humanity should not go
When did the Anthropocene start?
At some point during the industrial revolution
Why is climate change a global justice issue?
Because the poorest countries in the world, which had little contribution to the current climate change, will suffer from the consequences of climate change the most.
Which of the following is NOT true about water?
Because water is a renewable resource, current rates of using water are sustainable
Which of the following is an example of planned obsolescence?
Buying a new washing machine when your old one breaks after 3 years. It is cheaper to buy a new one than it is to fix the old one.
The Tom Knudsen article suggests:
By preserving wild lands without reducing consumption, Californians have simply shifted the pain associated with logging and mining to other places
When CO2 in the atmosphere increases, what happens to the oceans?
CO2 in the ocean increases and pH decreases
Which of the following is NOT true about the demographic transition?
Countries move through the demographic transition at the same time and at the same rate.
Name the 3 Cs of organic farming and how each of them work to improve the sustainability of farming.
Cover crop Compost Crop rotation
Foley (2014) said that in order to feed 9 billion people we need to do all of the following EXCEPT:
Create more agricultural lands
Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the video as evidence for a warming climate?
Declining sea level
What is the term used to describe how humans are using more resources than the earth can provide?
Ecological or earth overshoot
Which of the following persons represented the "utilitarianism" perspective on conservation, who argued that the nation's natural resources should be developed to serve human societies?
Gifford Pinchot
What is Moore's Law and how does it play into perceived obsolescence?
Gordon Moore, co-founder of the computer-chip maker Intel, observed that computer processing power roughly doubles every two years. An unstated corollary to "Moore's law" is that at any given time, all the machines considered state-of-the-art are simultaneously on the verge of obsolescence.
What was the significance of the Cuyahoga River fire in Cleveland, 1969?
It brought the public's attention to pollution issues and demanded actions for environmental protection.
In general, as nations become wealthier, what trend is observed regarding meat consumption?
It increases, because meat is seen as a desired part of the diet.
Which of the following is FALSE about the Haber-Bosch process?
It is the way that humans turn ammonia (NH3) into nitrogen gas (N2)
Approximately 75% of Earth's surface is covered with water. The amount of that water that is relatively easily accessible and drinkable by humans is:
Less than 1% of it
What is the relationship between pH and acidity?
Lower pH means higher acidity
What is the example for "green consumerism" given in the reading?
Organic food industry
Which marine organism is most directly affected by ocean acidification?
Oyster
What is the term that refers to the design process in which items are "built to break"—provide 1 example
Planned obsolescence - Ex) computers, phones, DVD players
What is preserationism and it's applications?
Preservationism is protecting the environment of all human influence and leaving wilderness on its separate dimension from people (e.g., not taking into account human interaction by Native Americans generations prior). John Muir was a preservationism advocate, and you can see this style of conservation in areas of our national parks.
According to the Story of Stuff, President Eisenhower's council of economic advisers chairman said that the American Economy's ultimate purpose is to:
Produce more consumer goods
If you want to reduce your water consumption, what is the most important thing you can do?
Reduce your consumption and especially, eat less meat.
When you remove a predatory seastar from a local tidepool, the community changes from the colorful, diverse ecosystem on the left to one dominated by a single species (mussels) on the right. This is an example of:
Regime shift
When you remove a predatory sea star from a local tidepool, the community changes from the colorful, diverse ecosystem to a one dominated by one species. This is an example of:
Regime shift: large, abrupt, persistent changes in structure and function of a system
The time that elements, like nitrogen, are stored in abiotic or biotic reservoirs or sinks and linger for lengths of time is ___.
Residence cycle
Many important pieces of U.S. environmental legislation were passed in the first half of the 1970s. Who was the president that signed these pieces of legislation?
Richard Nixon
Which book gave rise to the birth of the modern environmental movement?
Silent Spring
Which of the following is NOT true about ecological overshoot?
The actual ecological footprint of humans on earth right now is 3.5 earths
Which of the following is NOT true about the Anthropocene?
The coupled human-earth system is more resilient in the Anthropocene than it was in the Holocene.
Which president was influential on the conservation of American wild lands in the late 19th century and the early 20th century?
Theodore Roosevelt
What is utilitarianism and it's applications?
Utilitarianism is using natural resources and the environment for human purposes. Gifford Pinchot was a utilitarianism advocate, and this perspective is applied in many environmental industries such as timber, agriculture, and water.
Rockstrom et al (2009) indicate what about current atmospheric CO2 concentrations and the planetary boundary?
We are above both the pre-industrial value and the proposed planetary boundary
Which of the following was established in 1872 as the first national park in the United States?
Yellowstone National Park
Techniques used in sustainable agricultural practices include:
compost and cover crops to reduce water consumption, reduce weeds, and increase the carbon content of the soil.
The Green Revolution...
dramatically increased world food supplies by focusing on new crop varieties with higher yields and higher densities, chemical fertilizers, and pesticides.
When was the green revolution? What were some changes seen in agricultural practices over this time span?
• 1950-1970: dramatic increase in agriculture productivity • Higher yields • Higher densities (think about corn plants growing closer together) • Chemical fertilizers • Application of pesticides
What is the estimated change in pH over the past two centuries?
● 0.1 ○ 8.2 → 8.1 ○ 30% increase in H+
Describe how ocean acidification works chemically.
● Carbon dioxide reacts with water to form a bicarbonate ion and a hydrogen ion ● The extra hydrogen ion reacts with carbonate to form another bicarbonate ● When carbonate binds with hydrogen ion, it can no longer bind with calcium to form shells
What is CHANS?
● Coupled Human and Natural System (Human and nature system interaction) ○ Reciprocal Effects & Feedback Loops: complex webs of interaction embedded in each other ■ Ex) Climate change, invasive species spread, GMOs ○ Regime Shifts & Tipping Points ○ Emergent Properties unique properties emerging from human & nature interaction ■ Ex) wildlife adapted to urban habitats → crows ○ Legacy Effects &Time Lags: LG are cumulative impacts of past CHANS interactions; TL are time intervals between human & nature interactions and ecological & socioeconomic effects ○ Resilience & Vulnerability
What has been theorized to have caused historic climate changes?
● Driven by variations in the Earth's orbit: ○ the 120,000- year "Milankovitch cycles"
What are the strands of environmentalism?
● Environmental justice ● Deep Ecology/Radical Environmentalism ● Green Consumerism
The Love Canal case study was an example of which environmental strand?
● Environmental justice ● Love Canal, NY: city built on the landfill ● Mothers found that it was built on landfill—women and working class communities were the ones who rose against it
What happens when excess nitrogen gets into lakes or oceans?
● Eutrophication: Algae blooms → dies → decomposition → hypoxia→ dead zones → fish kills
What is the Haber-Bausch process and its impacts?
● Human/Industrial nitrogen fixer ● Chemical fertilizer that makes atmospheric nitrogen biologically available ● Impacts: ○ Larger energy input (500 degrees C) ○ Disrupts organic forms/returns of nitrogen to soil → releases nitrous oxide (greenhouse gas) ○ Increased dependency on synthetic methods → soil erosion ■ Exhausts long-term conservation and soil fertility
Recall the Deep Ecology Platform (Naess and Sessions, 1984). Name 1 controversial aspect of this platform.
● Humans have no right to reduce this richness and diversity except to satisfy vital needs. ● The flourishing of human life and cultures is compatible with a substantial decrease of the human population. The flourishing of nonhuman life requires such a decrease. ● Richness and diversity of life forms contribute to the realization of these values and are also values in themselves. The earth and humans are on the same level, suggesting that the Earth has a body of rights, just as individuals do, and thus humans do not have the right to interfere with i
Why is lack of water in Western U.S. structural/systematic rather than biological?
● Mismanagement of water supply ● Water-use policies without agriculture efficiencies ● Many crops that use less water entitle farmers to fewer federal subsidies → farmers don't have much of an incentive to switch crops ● "Use it or lose it" policies that encourage farmers to flood fields
According to Rockstrom et al., which 3 planetary boundaries have we exceeded?
● Nitrogen & phosphorus cycles ● Climate change ● Biodiversity loss
You are a shellfish farmer off the coast of Washington state. What is your stance on climate change action and why?
● Ocean acidification directly affects the shellfish industry because high levels of carbonic acid can corrode the shells of shellfish ● Economic impact: northwest oyster die-offs impacting the shellfish industry in the Puget Sound region, posing threats to approximately 3,000 jobs and an economic impact of about $207 million
What are 2 perspectives on growing population and who were they influenced by?
● Paul Ehrlich: 1968 Population Bomb: WORRY: overpopulation will deplete resources and degrade environment, leading to disease, famine, war, and misery ● Julian Simon: 1981 The Ultimate Resource: OPTIMISM: human ingenuity & technology will expand the world's carrying capacity; more people are beneficial w/ larger workforce
Name two ecological impacts of climate change and the animals it impacts.
● Reduced reproductive success ○ Decreased fertilization rates in external fertilizers (sea urchins, bivalves) ○ Increased juvenile mortality (bivalves, sea urchins, copepods, fish larvae) ● Reduced adult growth (sea urchins, bivalves) ● Impaired oxygen transport (squid) ● Reduced metabolism (squid
Where does our waste go? What is e-waste, and where does that go?
● Seattle's waste gets shipped via train to Portland (landfill) ○ Recycling in high-tech industries and shipped ○ Composting collected by Cedar Grove ● E-waste is electronic waste such as computers and cell phones ○ Shipped to third-world countries
The common definition used of sustainability encompasses which 3 dimensions?
● Social ● Economic ● Environmental
how does the current climate change compare to historical climate change? What is its significance and why is this alarming?
● Time frame and rate which the change occurred ● Root cause ● Impacts other than rises in carbon
Name 3 factors that lead to the modern environmental movement
● Understanding of ecology (Odum brothers) ● Silent Spring (Rachel Carson's book on America's dependency on pesticides → BIOACCUMULATION) ● Satellite image of earth ● A push for environmental legislation ○ NEPA, EPA ○ CAA, CWA, ESA
According to the freshwater lecture, "reducing ___ is the most important way to save water on a broad scale.
● Water use in agriculture ○ Accounts for 70% of the world's total water use
What is IPAT?
● Way to estimate environmental impact ● I = Impact on the environment ● P = Population ● A = Affluence (as a proxy for consumption) ● T = Technology (used to produce goods + services consumed)
What are the two main uncertainties about the future climate?
● What is going to happen with emissions of CO2 and other GHGs? ● What is going to happen with feedback loops?
What is the criticism of wilderness and who presents it?
● Wilderness as a social construct presented by William Cronon. ● A white elitist way of viewing the environment ● Ignores the presence and livelihood of Native Americans on the land for generations ● Poses difficulty in people connecting wilderness/nature in their daily lives back home, as wilderness being "out there" entails something of the unknown and untouchable by humans
Biogeochemical cycles are chemical interactions that exist between these 4 parts of the earth's system:
● air, land, water, and life ○ (atmosphere, lithosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere)
Define nitrogen fixation and 3 ways it occurs.
● the chemical processes of atmospheric nitrogen converted into organic compounds, especially by certain microorganisms as part of the nitrogen cycle ● 1. Lightning ● 2. Nitrogen-fixing bacteria (legumes) ● 3. Haber-Bausch process
