Professional Documents
Culture Documents
2. Tool use and social cooperation have allowed humans to alter their environment
enormously. How would these traits help Homo Sapiens in these scenarios:
a. Hunting in 10,000 BC?
c. Responding to the discovery a huge asteroid that will crash in to the Earth in
a few years?
3. So far in history, technological development has led to both increased human wellbeing and increased environmental disruption. Why has this been the case?
b. Food Production
d. Human Population
e. Resource Depletion
5. What are the goals of the environmental justice movement, and why are the
relevant to sustainability?
2. What are externalities, and why are they typically not reflected in the price of a
good or service?
3. How are the wealth and productivity of a nation usually measured, and what other
factors must be considered when evaluating the well-being of a nations people?
4. What characteristics must a sustainable economic system have? How does our
current system compare?
5. What are the 3 major environmental worldviews, and what does each prioritize?
1.
2.
3.
6. Provide the full name of each of the following major world and national
organizations that affect environmental quality, and describe the priorities of each:
UNEP
World Bank
WHO
UNDP
EPA
OSHA
DOE
7. What is meant by finding solutions that meet the "triple bottom line"?
8. Two major challenges for our time are reducing poverty and protecting the
environment. Can they both be accomplished? Or must progress towards one goal
always go along with setbacks in the other?
Energy Efficiency
Energy Quality
Entropy
Open System
Closed System
Inputs
Outputs
System Analysis
Steady State
Feedback
Negative Feedback Loops
Positive Feedback Loops
Adaptive Management
Plan
Evaporation
7. Carbon Cycle
Name of Step w/ description
of change
Photosynthesis (CO2C6H12O6)
8. Nitrogen Cycle
Name of Step w/ chemical
change
Nitrogen Fixation (N2NH3 or
NO3)
10.How does the water cycle help facilitate the other cycles?
11.What human activities cause an impact on the hydrologic cycle? What are these
impacts?
12.Explain the difference between the fast and slow parts of the carbon cycle.
Fast:
Slow:
14.Which 2 macronutrients most frequently serve as the limiting nutrient for plant
growth in an ecosystem? Is it different for terrestrial vs. aquatic ecosystems?
18.What characteristics do you think give ecosystems high resistance and high
resiliency against change?
19.Describe each of the major types of ecosystem services, and how their value can be
measured:
Evapotranspiration
Runoff
Macronutrients
Limiting Nutrient
Nitrogen Fixation
Leaching
Disturbance
Watershed
Resistance
Resilience
Restoration Ecology
Intermediate Disturbance
Hypothesis
Instrumental Value
Intrinsic Value
Provisions
1. Earths Atmosphere
How will the melting of polar ice from global warming alter Earths
albedo?
What types of atmospheric conditions are found where air sinks back
to the surface?
Why does the ITCZ move throughout the year in a regular pattern?
In Los Angeles, the longest day of the year occurs in the month of
_______ because
__________________________________________________________________
6. Ocean Currents
7. Rain Shadows
Summarize
climate:
What is the difference between the windward and the leeward sides of a
mountain range?
why
latitude
is
so
important
in
determining
General Global
Location
Annual Weather
Patterns
Soils
Distinguishing
species
9. Boreal
Forest
10.Temperat
e
Rainfores
t
11.Temperat
e
Seasonal
Forest
12.Shrublan
d
(Chaparr
al)
13.Temperat
e
Grasslan
d
14.Tropical
Rainfores
t
15.Tropical
Season
Forest
16.Subtropic
al Desert
*******************************************************************************************
Aquatic
Biomes:
17.Streams &
Rivers
18.Lakes &
Ponds
Defining characteristics
Ecological importance:
19.Freswater
Wetlands
20.Salt Marshes
21.Mangrove
Swamps
22.Intertidal
Zone
23.Coral Reefs
24.Open Ocean
Tropical Seasonal
Forests & Savannahs
Subtropical Deserts
Littoral Zone
Limnetic Zone
Phytoplankton
Profundal Zone
Benthic Zone
Freshwater Wetlands
Salt Marsh
Mangrove Swamps
Intertidal Zone
Coral Reefs
Coral Bleaching
Photic Zone
Aphotic Zone
Chemosynthesis
5. In artificial selection, humans induce evolution in a species over time through our
actions. What dictates changes in species in the process of natural selection?
6. List 5 organisms and describe the adaptations that increase their fitness in their
environment:
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
Description:
8. Genetic drift
9. Bottleneck
Effect
10.Founder
Effect
11.Describe the process through which allopatric speciation can produce new species.
12.How can sympatric speciation occur if the individuals a population are not
geographically isolated?
14.How do a populations size and genetic diversity influence its ability to adapt to
change?
17.What are some of the major differences between niche generalists and niche
specialists?
18.The average lifespan of a species is just 1-10 million years. Why do you think there
are such a high rates of speciation and extinction constantly occurring throughout
the history of life on Earth?
19.If extinctions are generally a result of changes in the environment that a species is
unable to adapt to, what do you think this indicates about the 5 previous mass
extinctions and the 6th one occurring now?
Natural Selection
Fitness
Adaptations
Genetic Drift
Bottleneck Effect
Founder Effect
Geographic
Isolation
Reproductive
Isolation
Allopatric
Speciation
Sympatric
Speciation
Genetic
Engineering
Genetically
Modified
Organisms
Range of
Tolerance
Fundamental
Niche
Realized Niche
Species
Distribution
Niche Generalists
Niche Specialists
Fossils
Mass Extinction
Sixth Mass
Extinction
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Broadleaf
forest reestablishe
d
Individua
l
Populatio
n
Commun
ity
Ecosyste
m
Biospher
e
3. Which level
scenario?
i.
ii.
iii.
6. Five major characteristics help us understand how populations change over time:
Why is this factor
important?
Population Size
Population Density
Population
Distribution
Population Sex Ratio
Population Age
Structure
2.
2.
8. Predict what would happen to the population sizes of P. aurelia and P. caudatum if
Gause had continued his experiment by alternating between high-food and low-food
conditions each day:
9. The Exponential Growth Model
a. What does the intrinsic growth rate (r) for a species measure?
b. Chart the growth of the following population of mice at a growth rate of 10%
per year:
Year
:
Mic
e:
200
0
100
200
1
200
2
200
3
200
4
200
5
200
6
200
7
200
8
200
9
201
0
Reproduct
ion Speed
Likely to
overshoot
?
Example
Survivorsh
ip Curve
Type
Type I
Small, short
lives, many
offspring
Interspecies Interactions
13.Competition
a. Why did Gauses experiment growing 2 strains of paramecium in the same
environment produce a different outcome from when they he grew them
separately?
b. Why cant two species simultaneously share the same realized niche?
c. Why is resource partitioning advantageous for species that would otherwise
be competing?
d. Identify each of the following as an example of the competitive exclusion
principle, temporal resource partitioning, spatial resource partitioning or
morphological resource partitioning:
i. Several species of Warbler Birds hunt insects in the same types of
trees, but each feeds in a different part of the tree
ii. When wolves were absent from Yosemite, deer grazed many plant
species so heavily that other herbivore species were unable to
establish themselves
iii. Many different species of bats use a single watering hole, but each at
different times
iv. Different species of butterfly have tongues of varying lengths, each
specialized to the shape of the flowers produced by the plants it feeds
on
v. Invasive species that out-compete native species for key resources
often drive the native species to extinction
14.Predation
a. List 2 distinguishing characteristics of each type of predation:
Characteristic 1
Characteristic 2
True
predators
Herbivores
Parasites
Parasitoids
15.Mutualism
a. Under what conditions would natural selection favor mutualism between two
species?
b. True/false: In a mutualistic relationship, neither species evolves traits suited
to helping the other
c. Which of the following are mutualistic: (Lichens) (Viruses) (Coral) (Acacia
trees) (African lions)
16.Commensalism
species richness
Habitat
Size
Distance
from other
habitats
Population Community Population ecology Population size Population density Population distribution Sex ratio Age structure Density-dependent factors Limiting resource -
0
1
1
1
Density-independent factors -
2
1
Growth rate -
3
1
4
1
5
1
6
1
Overshoot -
7
1
Die-off -
8
1
k-selected species -
9
2
r-selected species -
0
2
Survivorship curves -
1
2
Corridors -
2
2
Metapopulations -
3
2
Community ecology -
4
2
Competition -
6
2
Resource partitioning -
7
2
Predation -
8
2
True predators -
9
3
Herbivores -
0
3
Parasites -
1
3
Parasitoids -
2
3
Mutualism -
3
3
Commensalism -
4
3
Symbiotic relationship -
5
3
Keystone species -
6
3
Predator-mediated competition -
7
3
Ecosystem engineers -
8
3
Ecological succession -
9
4
Primary succession -
0
4
Secondary succession -
1
4
Pioneer species -
2
4
Demographics
3. Provide the formula for calculating the change in population size over a given period
of time:
4. What does the TFR of a country measure, and why is it an important demographic
measurement?
5. How does Life Expectancy vary across the globe, and what are the major factors
that influence it?
6. What information do population pyramids show, and why are they important
demographic information?
7. What is underlying cause of the demographic transition that most countries go
through as they develop?
8. Complete the following chart regarding the demographic transition:
Stage I
Stage II
Stage III
Stage IV
What
happens?
Why?
Impact on
pop?
9. What major factors tend to reduce the number of children families have?
18.How does the percentage of people living in urban areas in developed countries
compare to developing countries? How is this expected to change in the next 20
years?
19.We find that countries with very low GDPs per capita have little impact on the
environment, then the impact rises as GDP increases, until eventually the impact
begins to decrease. What causes this pattern (low impact rising impact falling
impact)?
20.Some environmental scientists have argued that increasing the GDP of developing
nations is the best way to decrease their impact on the environment. Explain why
this is, and whether or not you agree.
Demographic transition
Family planning
Affluence
IPAT Equation
Urban area (census
definition)
Gross domestic product
(GDP)
2. What explains the distribution of heavy and light elements within Earths volume?
Where are each generally located, and how did they wind up there?
3. The inside of the Earth is characterized by vertical zonation. Briefly describe each of
Earths layers:
Crust
Mantle
Core
4. What is the connection between the heat at the Earths core and the movement of
its tectonic plates?
5. What evidence led Alfred Wegner to propose the theory of plate tectonics in 1912?
6. How do the properties of oceanic crust rock and continental crust rock differ?
Oceanic
Continental
7. Suppose a single continent is breaking apart due to divergent plate boundary. One
piece of the continent is moving north towards the polar regions and one piece of
the continent is moving south towards the tropics. What effect do you think this
process would have on biodiversity?
8. Why do the Hawaiian Islands form an arc, with the oldest islands at one end and
the youngest islands at the other end?
9. At a convergent plate boundary where oceanic crust is meeting continental crust,
what will happen?
10.What types of tectonic plate movements can cause earthquakes?
11.How much stronger is an earthquake that registers as an 8.0 on the Richter scale
than an earthquake measuring 4.0?
12.Why are seismic activity and volcanic activity often located in the same places?
13.What is the relationship between minerals, elements and rocks?
14.Does the rock cycle proceed in any particular order when transformations from one
type of rock to the next occur? Explain.
15.How are each of the 3 rock types formed?
1. Igneous
2. Metamorphic
3. Sedimentary
16.What is the difference between physical and chemical weathering?
17.What types of processes or forces usually cause erosion?
18.Why are weathering and erosion important to the rock cycle?
19.How is soil formed both from above and from below?
20.What effect does climate have on soil formation? How would you expect this to
create differences between Boreal Forests and Tropical Rain Forests?
22.Why do soils develop different horizons? What separates one horizon from another?
23.Soils contain different blends of sand, silt and clay. Why is a balance needed
between all 3 to promote ideal plant growth? (What would be bad about a sandheavy or clay-heavy soil?)
24.What type of soil particles would be best to line a pit that is to be filled with
hazardous chemicals?
26.Can soils have both high CEC and high porosity? Explain why or why not.
27.How are the CEC of a soil and its base saturation related?
30.What is the difference between an ore vein and a disseminated deposit? Which ones
are easier to mine?
31.What are the 3 techniques used for surface mining, and what are the environmental
dangers of each?
1.
2.
3.
32.In general, why does the impact of extracting deposits of a certain mineral resource
increase over time?
33.What legal requirements did the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of
1977 introduce?
Ores
Metals
Known reserves
Strip mining
Tailings
Open-pit mining
Subsurface mining
SMRCA law
2. Who are the major interest groups competing over the Klamath River, and what
does each one want?
3. How was the conflict over Salmon and water in the Klamath River resolved?
4. How does the amount of water found in oceans compare to the total amount of
water on Earth?
5. What is the major source of freshwater that is accessible for human use?
7. Why do unconfined and confined aquifers recharge at different rates? Which is more
likely to be contaminated?
9. What are the major types of processes which can form lakes?
19.How does the City of Los Angeles get its daily water?
20.Why are conflicts over water ownership/use intensified by dams and aqueducts?
21.What are the 2 most common technologies used for desalination, and how does
each work?
22.Draw a pie chart depicting the approximate percentages of worldwide water use for
agriculture, industry and household use.
23.How is water use connected to the amount of meat that people in a given country
consume?
24.Why does agriculture represent the greatest opportunity for water conservation
improvements?
25.What are the 4 major irrigation techniques, and why do you think certain techniques
are more efficient than others?
26.How does hydroponic agriculture works? What are its benefits and drawbacks?
27.What are the major industrial uses for water?
28.What 3 household activities have the biggest impact on water consumption in the
US?
29.What prevents access to clean water in many poor countries, and what effects does
it have on the populations of those countries?
30.Why is it harder to determine ownership of water than for many other resources?
How can we resolve these conflicts?
32.How do recent trends in global water consumption compare with recent trends in US
water consumption? Given these trends, what do you think will happen to global
water use in the near future?
5. How can private ownership of resources solve the tragedy of the commons without
government?
Examples
National Parks
Managed
Resource
Protected
Areas
9. Which 3 human activities each use 20% or more of the United States total land?
10.Which US Government agency would be in charge of protecting lands that are home
to sensitive populations of fish, birds, amphibians, bears, etc?
11.What traits define a rangeland, and what are they commonly used for?
12.Why are rangelands so fragile? Why do we continue to use them if they are so
fragile?
13.What criteria does the BLM use to asses rangeland health?
14.How have the Taylor Act and BLM regulation failed to consistently protect
rangelands?
15.What types of policies would you recommend the BLM follow in order to manage
rangeland use more sustainably?
16.What are the three primary techniques that are used to harvest timber from a
forest, and what practices define each?
17.What are the main problems with tree plantations?
18.What is the natural role of fires in many ecosystems?
19.How do human policies aimed at preventing fires actually make fires worse?
20.What type of fire-management policies are now favored instead of fire-suppression?
21.Why were natural parks established, and what principles does the National Park
Service follow when managing them?
22.What characterizes lands designated as national wildlife refuges and national
wilderness areas?
23.What is an Environmental Impact Study, and why do developers need to conduct
them?
24.What changes have occurred in residential patterns over the last 50 years in
America?
What it means/importance
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Managed Resources
Protected Areas
Habitat/Species
Management Areas
Strict Nature
Reserves and
Wilderness Areas
Protected
Landscapes and
Seascapes
National Monuments
Resource
conservation ethic
Multiple-use lands
Bureau of Land
Management
US Forest Service
National Parks
Service
Fish and Wildlife
Service
Rangelands
Overgrazing
Clear-cutting
Selective cutting
Sustainable forestry
Tree plantation
Reforestation
Fire management
Prescribed burn
National Parks
Wildlife Refuge and
Wilderness Areas
NEPA
Environmental
Impact Study
Suburban lands
Exurban lands
Urban Sprawl
Urban blight
Induced demand
Zoning regulations
Transit-oriented
development
Infill
Urban growth
boundaries
Eminent Domain
16.What changes did the Green Revolution bring, and what were its positive and
negative effects?
17.Complete the chart below with information about modern agricultural practices
Role in Modern
Agriculture?
Benefits?
Drawbacks?
Mechaniza
tion
Irrigation
Fertilizers
Monocrop
ping
Pesticides
18.Why has production shifted from small-scale farms to large-scale farms in modern
agriculture?
19.How do salinization and waterlogging of soil occur?
20.How is modern genetic engineering of foods different from the artificial selection
humans have been performing on crops and animals for thousands of years?
21.Complete the following chart with information about benefits and drawbacks of GMO
foods:
Benefits of Genetically Modified
Drawbacks/risks of Genetically
foods
Modified foods
1.
1.
2.
2.
3.
3.
4.
4.
22.Why is small-scale farming still common in many developing countries, despite the
advantages the Green Revolution brought to large-scale farms?
24.What happens during desertification, what causes it and where is it most likely to
occur?
Intercropping
Crop Rotation
Agroforestry
Countour
Plowing
No-Till
Ariculture
Integrated Pest
Mgmt
Organic
Agriculture
27.Why has high-density animal farming in CAFOs become a major way in which meat
is raised?
28.What practices at CAFOs can have negative environmental impacts?
29.What are the advantages and disadvantages of free-range meat (as opposed to
CAFO meat?)
30.What are fisheries, and why are they particularly difficult to protect from the effects
of the tragedy of the commons?
33.What types of policies and practices can make commercial fishing more
sustainable?
4. How has the mixture of energy sources the US depends on changed over time?
5. What is meant by energy quality, and why is it important when examining energy
resources?
6. What does the EROEI of an energy source tell us? Why is it important?
7. Why is energy use generally a very inefficient process under current world
practices?
8. Electricity can be generated from many different sources. Explain how an electricity
generator works to convert energy from source in to electricity.
Advantages/Uses
Disadvantages/Enviro
nmental Impacts
Coa
l:
Oil:
Gas
:
Nuclear Energy
11.What is the source of heat that generates steam in a nuclear power plant?
12.Explain how fission occurs in a self-sustaining chain reaction.
13.What is the difference between fuel rods and control rods in a nuclear reactor?
14.What happens during a meltdown in a nuclear reactor?
235
U fuel?
16.What factors led to a slowdown in the construction of new nuclear plants in the US?
17.How does the amount of CO2 released during the mining of Uranium and generation
of electricity in a nuclear plant compared with the mining & use of coal in a power
plant?
18.Describe what led to each of the two major accidents at nuclear plants, Three Mile
Island and Chernobyl.
19.What have been the primary health impacts of the meltdowns at Three Mile Island
and Chernobyl?
20.What are the 3 main types of radioactive waste, where do they each come from,
and which one is most likely to cause negative environmental impacts?
21.Under current regulations, how are spent nuclear fuel rods disposed of?
22.What are the major precautions that must be undertaken in order to safely store
radioactive waste?
23.In comparing the advantages and disadvantages of nuclear energy with fossil-fuelbased electricity generation plants, do you think nuclear energy represents a
preferable option? Explain why or why not.
24.Explain how fusion power works:
Nonrenewable fuels
Fossil fuels
Commercial energy
sources
Subsistence energy
sources
Energy efficiency
EROEI
Electricity
Turbine
Electrical grid
Combined cycle gas plant
Power plant capacity
Capacity factor
Cogeneration
Coal
Peat
Lignite
Anthracite
Petroleum
Crude oil
Source rock
Exxon Valdez
Alaska National Wildlife
Refuge
Natural gas
Liquefied petroleum gas
Oil sands
Bitumen
Coal-Liquified-Fuel
Energy intensity
Hubbert curve
Peak oil
Nuclear fission
Fuel rods
Control rods
Uranium enrichment
Reactor meltdown
Radioactive waste
Nuclear fusion
2. What source of renewable energy makes up the vast majority of global renewable
energy resource use?
3. Why are energy efficiency and conservation just as important as the source of
energy in transitioning to a sustainable energy use strategy?
4. How can a tiered rate system alter peoples energy use patterns?
5. When does peak demand generally occur, and what problems does it present?
Advantages
Disadvantages
Different types?
Biomass
Hydroelect
ric
Geotherma
l
Solar
Wind
10.In your opinion, which renewable energy source(s) hold the most promise for future
use? Explain why.
11.In your opinion, which renewable energy source(s) hold the least promise for future
use? Explain why.
2.
What are the 3 main negative effects of contaminating water with human
wastewater?
3.
How does measuring the biochemical oxygen demand of a lake inform us about the
potential presence of wastewater contamination?
4.
Put the following statements describing the process of eutrophication in the correct
order:
__ Microbes digest the dead organisms, depleting O 2 dissolved in the water
__ Nutrients such as N & P are released
__ Fish and other marine organisms die in large numbers
__Large dead zones are created
__ Wastewater enters a natural body of water
__Rapid population blooms of algae & other producers occur, followed by mass dieoffs
5. Identify 4 specific diseases or health threats which can come from human
wastewater contamination.
6. Explain how a septic tank system works (you may draw a diagram)
7. Explain how a sewage treatment plant works (you may draw a diagram)
8. What are manure lagoons, and why do they pose major water-pollution concerns?
9. Complete the following chart for heavy metal pollutants found in water:
Metal
Lead
Arsenic
Mercury
Source/cause/examples
Pharmaceuticals &
hormones
Military compounds
Industrial
compounds
16.What are the major components of solid waste pollution in water bodies, and how
can it affect ecosystems?
17.What causes sediment pollution, and what negative effects does it have?
19.What is the objective of the Clean Water Act, and why was it important?
20.The Safe Drinking Water Act established maximum contaminant levels for various
substances. Explain what that means and why it is important in protecting water
quality.
Point sources
Nonpoint sources
Wastewater
Biochemical oxygen
demand
Dead zones
Eutrophication
Septic tank
Leach field
Primary treatment
Secondary treatment
Tertiary treatment
Disinfection
(Chlorine/UV)
Manure lagoon
Acid mine drainage
Nitrogen Oxides
(NOX)
Carbon Oxides
(COX)
Particulate Matter
(PM)
Ground-level Ozone
Volatile Organic
Compounds (VOC)
2. Which of the above pollutants can be harmful to human respiratory systems (list all
that apply)?
3. Which of the above pollutants result from fossil fuel combustion (list all that apply)?
4. Which of the above pollutants are associated with the formation of smog (list all
that apply)?
5.
What are the 2 sizes of Particulate Matter that the EPA classifies? Which is more
dangerous, and why?
6.
7.
8. What is the main threat that high levels of VOC pose, even if many are not directly
harmful?
9. What are the main air pollutants generated as a result of industrial agriculture?
10.Which air pollutants are key ingredients in forming photochemical smog? Include
chemical reactions.
18.What are the main dangers of indoor air pollution in developed countries?
2. What does the term Throwaway Society mean? Why is relevant to waste
generation/management?
3. What are the main sources of waste generation in developed countries such as the
United States?
4. When broken down by composition, what type of product makes up the largest
fraction of MSW?
5. What types of waste can be composted? What do these products have in common
that allows this?
6. What are the major challenges that E-Waste poses, and how has it been dealt with
so far?
7. Why is waste reduction generally considered to be the most important & effective of
the 3 Rs?
9. How does the amount of MSW recycled in the US today compare with the amount
recycled in 1980?
LANDFILLS
Draw a diagram or explain
how a landfill handles solid
waste.
INCINERATORS
Draw a diagram or explain
how an incinerator works
14.What are bottom ash and fly ash, and why are they problematic?
15.In addition to ash, what other problematic emissions can come from incinerators?
16.
17.
What was the main goal of the RCRA, and how does it
attempt to accomplish it?
18.
19.
How are abandoned non-operating sites of hazardous
pollution handled when it is not possible to identify or locate a
responsible party?
20.
21.
What are the principles of life-cycle analysis, and how does it
help address the problem of waste generation?
22.
Describe the principals of Integrated Waste Management,
and how it might be applied to improve waste management in a
city.
Description/Symptom
s?
Chronic or Acute?
it a problem?
we been?
Plague
Malaria
Tuberculo
sis
HIV/AIDS
Ebola
Fever
Mad Cow
Bird Flu
West Nile
Virus
5. Complete the following chart regarding the major types of harmful chemicals to
humans:
Description
Neurotoxins
Carcinogens
Sources
Effects
Teratogens
Allergens
Endocrine
disruptors
10.What are the main routes of exposure to harmful chemicals that humans face?
12.Rank the following in order of how great the risk of death is (figure 17.23):
a. Fire or smoke inhalation
b. Airplane accident
c. Cancer
d. Firearm assault (shooting victim)
e. Earthquake
f.
g.
h.
i.
j.
Falling
Heart Disease
Drowning
Struck by a vehicle while walking
Car crash
13.What is the difference between qualitative risk assessment and quantitative risk
assessment?
15.In addition to the scientific data on the level of risk an activity or substance poses,
what other concerns must be balanced against that information, and why?
16.Complete the following chart regarding the two main approaches to risk
management (figure 17.25):
Definition
Benefits
Drawbacks
Innocent-untilproven-guilty
principle
Precautionary
principle
Plague
Malaria
Tuberculosis
HIV/AIDS
Ebola
Mad Cow Disease
Bird Flu
West Nile Virus
Emergent infectious
disease
Toxicology
Neurotoxin
Carcinogen
Mutagen
Teratogen
Allergen
Endocrine disruptor
Dose-response study
Acute study
LD50
ED50
Chronic study
Retrospective study
Prospective study
Synergistic interaction
Biomagnification
Persistence
Risk assessment
Risk acceptance
Risk management
Precautionary principle
Stockholm convention
3. What do you think is driving a global decline in the diversity of crops and livestock,
even as the volumes of crops and meat produced increase?
4. What does it mean for a species to be endangered? Which types of species do you
think are most vulnerable?
5. Complete the following chart regarding the major causes of biodiversity loss:
How does it
threaten
biodiversity?
Underlying
causes?
Solutions
Habitat Loss
Invasive Species
Overharvesting
Pollution
Climate Change
6. What are the major pieces of conservation legislation when it comes to the singlespecies approach, and what does each of those laws protect?
2. Explain how the greenhouse effect works (you may draw a diagram):
3. Do all greenhouse gases have the same warming effect on the Earth system?
Explain.
4. Complete the following chart regarding the natural and anthropogenic sources of
greenhouse gases:
Natural Sources
Methane
Water
Vapor
Nitrous
Oxide
Carbon
Anthropogenic Sources
Dioxide
Overall contribution to
warming?
Volcanic
Eruptions
Decomposition
Use of Fossil
Fuels
Agricultural
Practices
Deforestation
Landfills
Industrial
Processes
6. Approximately how much have global average surface temperatures risen since
1880?
7. How can scientists use foraminifera to gain insight in to past climate conditions?
8. Explain the process of ice coring and how it can be used to gather information on
climate history.
9. What is the range of estimates among the most common models for expected
global average surface temperature increase by the year 2100? How does this
compare with the change since 1880?
10.As global warming continues, which regions of Earth will experience the greatest
rise in temperatures?
11.Why are warming oceans expected to produce more frequent and more intense
storms?
14.Which areas of the world are most likely to be severely impacted by rising seas
levels?
15.Why are ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica melting faster than originally
anticipated?
16.Approximately what percentage of the total gases in the atmosphere are GHGs?
17.The following chart shows CO2 levels by year. What explains the annual cycle of
rising GHGs during fall/winter and falling GHGs during spring/summer?
18.What did the Kyoto Protocol attempt to achieve, and why has it not been very
successful?
Global climate
change
Global warming
Solar radiation
Greenhouse
effect
Greenhouse
warming
potential
Foraminifera
Ice coring
Climate
feedbacks
Kyoto Protocol
Carbon
capture/sequestr
ation