Module 32 Review
What are benefits of genetically modified organisms?
-decreased pesticide use -increased profits -increased crop yield -increased genetic diversity
When did the Green Revolution begin?
1943
Why does modern agriculture depend so heavily on fossil fuels?
Because fossil fuels are used to make fertilizers and pesticides, operate tractors, pump water, and harvest food.
Why are CAFOs widely used, and what are the major environmental problems associated with them?
Because they increase food production, their antibiotics affect humans and cause runoff from excess waste.
What major changes took place in farming practices during the 20th century?
Farming became more mechanized, agribusiness is created.
How is modern genetic engineering of foods different from the artificial selection humans have been performing on crops and animals for thousands of years? To what extent do you think it should be used in agriculture?
Genetic engineered foods are literally changed by scientists, whereas artificial selection happens naturally over a long period of time.
What has been responsible for dramatic overfishing in recent years, and what have been the effects?
Increase farmed fish production and decrease in wild fish caught, this causes fish population decline (tragedy of the commons) and causes bycatching.
Why has production shifted from small-scale farms to large-scale farms in modern agriculture?
Increased population needed improved ways of farming, thus the Green Revolution.
What changes did the Green Revolution bring, and what were its positive and negative effects?
Increased use of machinery which increased food production. P: increased food production, improved crop varieties, irrigation, and fertilization N: farm size doubles, deplete groundwater, draw down aquifers, cause saltwater intrusion
How are heavy usage of monocropping and pesticides linked? What are the problems with relying on this combo?
Planting one type of crop is beneficial because pesticides may specify for just one crop. This causes soil erosion when crops are harvested, makes crops more vulnerable and loss of topsoil/nutrients.
what types of food production require high energy subsidies? Low ones? Why do you think this is so?
hunting and gathering is the lowest, far-offshore fishing is the highest. This might be because there is less people and fossil fuels involved in hunting and gathering than there is in offshore fishing.
How do salinization and waterlogging of soil occur? What are the problems of each?
water logging impairs root growth because roots can't get oxygen, and salinization causes toxic levels in plants that stop plant growth.
