Sustainability and Environmental Issues Exam Bank
Course Introduction
This course explores the fundamental concepts of sustainability and examines key environmental issues affecting the planet today. Students will investigate the scientific, economic, social, and policy dimensions of sustainability, focusing on topics such as climate change, resource management, pollution, biodiversity loss, and the development of sustainable communities. Through case studies, discussions, and critical analysis, the course encourages students to understand the interconnectedness of environmental challenges and to evaluate solutions that promote ecological balance, social equity, and long-term economic viability.
Recommended Textbook
Environmental Science 14th Edition by G. Tyler Miller
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17 Chapters
1891 Verified Questions
1891 Flashcards
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Page 2
Chapter 1: Environmental Problems, Their Causes, and Sustainability
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92 Verified Questions
92 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Pesticides blown from agricultural lands into the air is an example of ____________________ pollution.
Answer: non-point source
Q2) The three principles of sustainability are chemical cycling, reliance on solar energy, and ____________________.
Answer: biodiversity
Q3) Which of the following is a social movement dedicated to the protection of the Earth's natural capital?
A) Ecology
B) environmental science
C) Environmentalism
D) natural science
E) Sustainability
Answer: C
Q4) The tragedy of the commons is a phenomenon that occurs only when the number of users is small.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Page 3
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Chapter 2: Science, Matter, and Energy
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113 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Protons, neutrons, and electrons are all
A) forms of energy
B) equal in mass
C) subatomic particles
D) negative ions
E) charged particles
Answer: C
Q2) Energy can be formally defined as
A) the velocity of any moving object
B) the heat generated by atoms losing electrons
C) the ability to do work or produce heat transfer
D) the displacement of heat from the Sun to the Earth
E) the process of moving objects
Answer: C
Q3) When matter undergoes physical changes, the chemical composition also changes.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q4) Genes are segments of ____________________.
Answer: DNA
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Chapter 3: Ecosystems: What Are They and How Do They
Work
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172 Verified Questions
172 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Earthworms, some insects, and vultures are all examples of
A) primary producers
B) detritus feeders
C) Decomposers
D) Scavengers
E) secondary consumers
Answer: B
Q2) A sequence of organisms, each of which serves as a source of nutrients or energy for the next, is called a(n)
A) food web
B) food chain
C) Ecosystem
D) Community
E) food chain and food web (they are interchangeable)
Answer: B
Q3) What trophic level does the blue whale occupy in this food web?
Answer: The blue whale is a secondary and tertiary consumer. It feeds on krill which is a primary consumer of phytoplankton and a secondary consumer of herbivorous zooplankton.
Page 5
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Chapter 4: Biodiversity and Evolution
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Sample Questions
Q1) Biomes are
A) large aquatic regions of the earth with distinct climate and certain species adapted to them
B) large terrestrial regions of the earth with distinct climate and certain species adapted to them
C) groups of populations living in harmony in a given ecosystem
D) all the biological portions of the planet
E) types of forests that are extensive and widespread on a continent
Q2) Deserts, forests, and grasslands are all examples of ____________.
Q3) In the 1960's Edward O. Wilson, along with other scientists, developed the theory of island biogeography. Explain the relevance of this theory in today's world
Q4) If a species of frogs becomes threatened because they can only live in a narrow range of temperatures, they would be classified as a(n) ____________________.
Q5) Clearly explain the relationship between the geologic process of plate tectonics and the biological process of evolution over geologic time.
Q6) Clearly explain how large-scale mass extinctions can actually lead to evolutionary opportunities.
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Page 6
Chapter 5: Biodiversity, Species Interactions, and Population Control
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92 Verified Questions
92 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following is NOT one of the chapter's three big ideas?
A) There are always limits to population growth in nature.
B) Certain interactions among species affects their use of resources and their population sizes.
C) The balance of nature theory only.
D) The balance of nature theory and the concept of restoration of ecosystems by humans.
E) Changes in environmental conditions cause communities and ecosystems to gradually alter their species composition and population sizes.
Q2) Which of the following best describes the two important aspects needed to stabilize living systems?
A) resilience and flexibility
B) inertia and resilience
C) environmental resistance and persistence
D) persistence and inertia
E) persistence and flexibility
Q3) On the ecological succession figure, choose the letter that represents the stage in which the land can support trees, shrubs, weeds, and grasses.
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Chapter 6: The Human Population and Urbanization
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112 Verified Questions
112 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) In the United States, the percentage of married women working outside the home increased from __________ to ________ between the years 1900 and 2000.
Q2) Since 1980, the U.S. population has
A) shifted to the north and east
B) shifted to the north and west
C) shifted to the south and east
D) shifted to the south and west
E) shifted to the north as people seek cooler areas because of global warming
Q3) You live in a village where street parking and driveways are forbidden and the community has no single-family homes. You may be living in__________________.
Q4) The urban growth occurring in the developing countries is
A) generally well planned and orderly
B) helping to eliminate urban poverty
C) generally offset by migration to rural areas
D) caused by both immigration and natural increase
E) stabilizing and expected to decline in the next decade
Q5) Briefly explain the bottom line for analysts who believe that adding more people to the planet is not a problem.
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Chapter 7: Climate and Biodiversity
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145 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following trees is characteristic of tropical coastal wetlands?
A) Cypress
B) Coconut
C) Mangrove
D) Palm
E) live oak
Q2) Explain why conservation measures to maintain a healthy mountain range would be simpler to establish than conservation measures to maintain the health of one of the four major oceans in the world.
Q3) The tropical rainforest terrestrial ecosystem has been disturbed by human activity more than any other.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Warm, dry air rises and hot, wet air sinks.
A)True
B)False
Q5) On the ocean life zones figure, choose the zone that is dimly lit and contains zooplankton.
Q6) The three types of deserts are _____________, _______________, and
Q7) The
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Page 10
Chapter 8: Sustaining Biodiversity: the Species Approach
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104 Verified Questions
104 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) A major factor in the population explosion of the zebra mussel in the Great Lakes region is
A) the zebra mussel's specialist ecological niche
B) its rapid reproductive rate
C) its lack of natural enemies that might control its population
D) that it is a prey species of the sea lamprey
E) its rapid reproductive rate and its lack of natural enemies that might control its population
Q2) peregrine falcon
A)international regulatory laws
B)U.S. regulatory laws
C)wildlife refuges
D)botanical gardens
E)captive breeding programs
Q3) The United States Endangered Species Act offers protection only for species located within United States boundaries.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Most failed species reintroduction occurs because of lack of
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Chapter 9: Sustaining Biodiversity: the Ecosystem Approach
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Sample Questions
Q1) Reintroduction of the wolf eventually reduced attacks on domestic cattle by what other species?
A) golden eagle
B) Coyote
C) Fox
D) grizzly bear
E) local wild dogs
Q2) Millions of trees are cut down in North, Central and South America to make ultra-soft toilet paper.
A)True
B)False
Q3) What point on the graph represents the year when 20,000 fishermen and fish processors lost their jobs?
Q4) E.O. Wilson said we might as well go ahead and log the world's remaining old growth forests.
A)True
B)False
Q5) If a stream is located at the bottom of a slope of forest that has been strip cut or selectively cut, the stream would likely be ____________________.
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Chapter 10: Food, Soil, and Pest Management
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121 Verified Questions
121 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) no genetically modified seeds
A)industrialized agriculture
B)organic agriculture
Q2) globally export-oriented
A)industrialized agriculture
B)organic agriculture
Q3) Numerous practices have been developed to deter ____________________, including reducing or eliminating tillage, managing irrigation to reduce runoff, and keeping the soil covered with plants or mulch.
Q4) biological pest control
A)industrialized agriculture
B)organic agriculture
Q5) Conservation tillage
A) increases labor costs
B) increases erosion
C) increases energy consumption
D) accelerates water loss from the soil
E) decreases erosion
Q6) The irrigation system with the lowest efficiency rating is __________________.
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Q7) The United States primarily uses ____________________ for food production.
Chapter 11: Water Resources and Water Pollution
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128 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) List at least five things you are willing to do to help eliminate water waste. As part of your answer explain why these things are important.
Q2) Worldwide, about 70% of the water withdrawn each year is used for
A) industrial processes
B) cooling towers of power plants
C) irrigation of croplands and raising livestock
D) domestic use
E) water theme parks in tourist areas
Q3) We can say that the United States has _____________freshwater scarcity stress
A) No
B) very little or minimal
C) Average
D) Spotty
E) Widespread
Q4) Which of the following decrease(s) photosynthesis in bodies of water?
A) disease-causing organisms
B) inorganic plant nutrients
C) sediment such as soil or silt
D) heat
E) organic chemicals
Page 14
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Chapter 12: Geology and Nonrenewable Minerals
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Sample Questions
Q1) Discuss the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing (3M) company's Pollution Prevention Pays program.
Q2) Which statement best fits as a description of the U.S. General Mining Law of 1872?
A) Land could be purchased at market price for purposes of extracting minerals.
B) A statement had to be made by the prospective owner that the land likely contains hard rock miners.
C) A statement had to be made by the prospective owner that $500 would be spent to improve the land for mineral development.
D) $120 per year had to be paid each year for a 20-acre parcel.
E) All of these except land could be purchased at market price for purposes of extracting minerals.
Q3) One of the environmental problems with gold mining is the leach ponds that contain ____________________.
Q4) On the figure of the tectonic plates, choose the letter that represents the subduction zone.
Q5) On the figure of the tectonic plates, choose the letter that represents the lithosphere.
Q6) The Richter scale measures the amplitude of ____________________.
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Page 15
Chapter 13: Energy
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117 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) The United States wastes almost none of its energy.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Using information from this chapter about consumption of products of crude oil, and combining it with information from chapter 10 on food production, explain something you can do in your day-to-day life that can significantly help reduce energy consumption.
Q3) radioactive wastes are an ongoing problem
A)wind power
B)nuclear power
C)natural gas
D)hydro-electric
E)passive solar
Q4) Electricity is generated in which area of the plant?
Q5) Explain this statement: The highest priority in fighting the war on terror must be to reduce America's dependence on foreign oil.
Q6) Geothermal fuels have lower carbon dioxide emissions than fossil fuels.
A)True
B)False
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Q7) Briefly describe how a cogeneration or combined heat and power (CHP) functions.
Chapter 14: Environmental Hazards and Human Health
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97 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) nerve gas
A)essentially nontoxic
B)slightly toxic
C)moderately toxic
D)very toxic
E)extremely toxic
F)supertoxic
Q2) List the reasons that we tend to evaluate risks inappropriately.
Q3) Which one of the following infectious diseases has been on the rise since 1990 and kills about 1.3 million people per year?
A) AIDS
B) West Nile virus
C) SARS
D) measles
E) tuberculosis
Q4) A viral killer that damages the liver and kills about 600,000 people each year is
Q5) A very effective and inexpensive defense against the spread of malaria is a(n)
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Chapter 15: Air Pollution, Climate Change, and Ozone
Depletion
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137 Verified Questions
137 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which statement most accurately reflects the projections on temperature-related deaths in humans if our climate projections are accurate?
A) Cold-related deaths will decline, heat-related deaths will increase.
B) Cold-related deaths will increase, heat-related deaths will decline.
C) Cold- and heat-related deaths will not change.
D) Heat-related deaths will not change, but cold-related deaths will.
E) Cold-related deaths will not change, but heat-related deaths will.
Q2) An increase in thick and continuous clouds at low altitudes could warm the lower atmosphere and increase surface warming.
A)True
B)False
Q3) President Barack Obama wants the United States to
A) continue to boycott the Kyoto Protocol
B) lead the way in creating a new international agreement on climate change
C) reduce our carbon emissions to 1990 levels by 2020
D) all of these answers
E) lead the way in creating a new international agreement on climate change and reduce our carbon emissions to 1990 levels by 2020
Q4) How much did the surface temperature of the Earth change from 1950 to 2004?
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Chapter 16: Solid and Hazardous Waste
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following statements is false?
A) It is more economical to have consumers separate trash before pickup than to use materials-recovery facilities.
B) Glass, iron, and aluminum can be recovered from solid wastes.
C) Source separation involves consumers separating trash into categories like glass, paper, and metal.
D) Source separation is more costly and energy intensive.
E) Materials-recovery facilities need a steady diet of garbage to be financially successful.
Q2) Which category most accurately describes waste such as food wastes, cardboard, cans, bottles, yard wastes, furniture, plastics, metal, glass, and e-waste?
A) e-waste
B) municipal waste
C) solid waste
D) industrial waste
E) municipal solid waste
Q3) Less use of energy will produce less waste but more pollution.
A)True
B)False
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Page 19
Chapter 17: Environmental Economics, Politics, and Worldviews
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Sample Questions
Q1) A(n)____________________ worldview assumes that humans are dominant over all other species and should therefore make environmental decisions based on that dominance.
Q2) The view that natural resources are important but not indispensable is held by
A) environmental economists
B) ecological economists
C) Eastern European economists
D) neoclassical economists
E) classical economists
Q3) Consider the Core Case Study from this chapter about the changes made in the city of Chattanooga, Tennessee. Now, think about the city or town that you live in today. Is a similar transition something that is needed in your home town or city? If it is needed, think carefully about three major changes that should take place, and list them. For example, is it the transportation system, a particular industry, the local governing body? Then, under each potential change, make a brief statement about what processes will make this change occur. Is it city government, private citizens, public agencies, environmental groups?
If you feel your hometown or city has already addressed its environmental issues and is moving toward a sustainable place to live, briefly explain why.
Page 20
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