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Bio 31
Exam 1
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Triple bottom line | people, planet, profit |
| Anthropocentric | human-centered view of relationship with environment |
| Biocentric | gives intrinsic value to certain living things or biotic realm as a whole |
| Ecocentric | gives importance to entire ecological system |
| Environmentalism | social movement dedicated to protecting the natural world |
| According to the Task Force on Environmental Sustainability for the UN Millenium Project, what are the five direct drivers of environmental deterioration? And which is considered to me the most important? | Land cover change, over-appropriation or exploitation of resources, invasive species, air/soil/water pollution, climate change* |
| What are considered the six most important indirect drivers of environmental change? | Demographic change, economic factors, market failures and distortions, scientific and technological change, institutional gaps, sociopolitical factors |
| Describe the “Tragedy of the Commons” as put forth by Garret Hardin. What are some proposed solutions to this problem? | Resources open to everyone are not regulated and will probably be exploited and eventually depleted. Answers?: 1)private ownership, 2)voluntarily sharing resources, or 3)government regulation |
| According to the research of Jared Diamond, what are the five interacting factors that determine the failure or success of civilizations? Which factor is considered one of the most important if not the most important? | 1)environmental degradation (most important), 2)climate change, 3)enemies, 4)changes in friendly trading partners, 5)society’s responses |
| Define ecological footprint | Attempt to quantify consumption. Measures how much land & water area a human population requires to produce the resources it consumes and to absorb its waste. |
| What are the components of the ecological footprint and which is the largest? | Cropland, Carbon, Forest, Fisheries, grazing land, built up land. Largest component is carbon. |
| ? If everyone in the world consumed resources at the rate of Americans, how many additional planet Earth’s would we need? | 5 |
| According to the research of the Global Footprint Network (Wackernagel and Rees), we passed Earth’s biological capacity in what decade? | 1970's |
| What is the current overshoot predicted? | ~1.5 planets per year |
| Define environmental justice | fair treatment of all people with respect to environmental policy and practice, regardless of race, ethnicity, or income. |
| Understand the origins of the environmental justice social movement. Be able to give examples of environmental racism based on the research evidence presented in your textbook and in class | Started with Warren County in 1980 when people protested a toxic waste dump in their minority community. Native Americans exposed to radiation working in mines |
| What are characteristics of "good" science? | Follows scientific method, consists of facts instead of opinions, data and methods well documented |
| What is political inference in science? Be able to give examples | Distortions or censorship of findings that contradict policies. Manipulation of science to align results with desired outcomes. Ex. Tobacco, Exxon |
| What are five questions to ask when evaluating scientific or other research claims? | 1)Who is making the claim 2) are they being paid? how might it affect their statements, 3)what evidence is presented 4)was the evidence obtained through good science 5)are views of scientific community being accurately portrayed? |
| Economics | study of production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services and their management |
| Subsistence economy | people meet their needs directly from nature and agriculture |
| Capitalist market economy | Buyers & sellers interact to determine production and prices of goods and services |
| Centrally planned economy | national government decides how to allocate resources |
| Ecological economics | applies principles of ecology and systems science to the analysis of economic systems |
| Environmental economics | says that economic growth may be unsustainable if we don’t reduce population growth and make resource use much more efficient |
| Findings of Millennium Ecosystem Assessment | showed that 15/24 ecosystem services are being used unsustainably, degradation disrupts economies, impacts poor more that wealthy, and reversing degradation is possible with sufficient changes |
| Gross domestic product (GDP) | total monetary value of final goods and services it provides each year. Used to assess national economy |
| Human development index (HDI) | uses extra financial indicators to supplement the GDP (health statistics, education, income)(doesn’t include stats on environment) |
| Environmental or eco index | how a country scores on environmental health. Highly correlated with wealth |
| Genuine progress indicator | starts with GDP and then adds positive contributions not paid for with money (volunteer work/parenting) and subtracts negative impacts (crime, pollution, etc) |
| National Environmental Policy Act | signed by Nixon in 1970. Created agency called the Council on Environmental Quality and required that an environmental impact statement be prepared for any major federal action that might significantly affect the environment |
| Environmental impact statement | shows the potential impact a project will have on environment |
| Environmental Protection Agency | in charge of conducting and evaluating research, monitoring environmental quality, setting and enforcing standards for pollution levels, assisting states in meeting standards and goals, and educating the public |
| Conventional law | arises from conventions or treaties into which nations enter |
| United Nations | serves every country in the world. Helps nations understand and solve environmental problems |
| World Bank | one of world’s largest sources of funding for economic development |
| European Union | works to address waste management, noise, water, and air pollution, habitat degradation, and natural hazards |
| World Trade Organization | has real authority to impose financial penalties on nations that don’t comply with directives, which can play major role in shaping policy |
| Command and control | a regulating agency prohibits a certain action, or sets rules, standards, limits, and threatens punishment for violators |
| Subsidy/subsidy shifting | government giveaways of money or publicly owned resources that are intended to encourage a particular industry or activity |
| Tax credit, tax break, Tax shifting | Tax breaks may be given to encourage good environmental behaviors. Tax shifting- lowering income taxes and taxing industries creating the largest degree of environmental degradation |
| Green tax/environmental tax reform | taxes environmentally harmful activities |
| What are four assumptions of traditional economics and their implications for the human health and the environment? | Resources are infinite (not the case), long term effects are discounted (decisions are made to maximize short-term benefits), costs and benefits are internal (external costs of people not involved. Not included in the price of goods), growth is good |
| How is the economic growth of a nation usually quantified? What are some criticisms of this approach? Give an example of where an increase in the GDP might not indicate an increase in human welfare. | Uses GDP -shows economic growth based on monetary value of goods and services. Only includes thing easy to quantify and may give positive value to a negative source. |
| Describe ways in which some economists have assigned market values to ecosystem services. Recognize the results and conclusions of their analyses. | They have given monetary value to how often natural resources get used and things like time people spend at parks etc. These are studies by either surveys or observations |
| Know the conclusions of the “Stern Review on Climate Change” especially regarding the cost estimates for taking strong actions to thwart climate change versus continuing business as usual. | Benefits of strong early action outweigh economic costs of not acting. If we don’t act ~5-20% GDP/year now and forever, if we do, 1%.year. As we continue to delay, costs are rising (increased costs of mitigation) |
| Describe the three waves of environmental policymaking in the United States. What is considered the fourth wave? | Late1700’s: westward expansion. 1960’s: laws promoted conservation- creating national parks and forests, soil conservation. Laws curbed pollution and other environmental problems- Silent Spring (1962), Santa Barbara Oil Spill, Cuyahoga river catches fire |
| Give examples of federal subsidies that promote environmentally unsustainable activities. | Federal subsidies given for fossil fuels, overfishing, clear-cutting forests, mining public land, and road building in national forests |
| Negative & positive feedback loops | Pos. loops drive a system to extreme. Increase in output leads to increase in input, leading to further increase in output. Neg. loops create balance. The output of a system also acts as the input, driving the system in the opposite direction. |
| Hydrocarbons | consist solely of C & H. Simplest is methane gas. Crude oil is a complex mixture of 100s of them |
| Net primary production | (energy used to generate biomass) = Gross primary production – cellular respiration. Energy or biomass available for consumption by heterotrophs |
| Eutrophication | process of nutrient overenrichment, blooms of algae, increased production of organic matter, decomposition, and hypoxia |
| Transpiration | release of water by plants through their leaves |
| Which atoms are most abundant in living organisms? Which are most abundant in present day Earth’s atmosphere? | Elements most common in living organisms: C, H, O, N. Most abundant in atmosphere: N,O |
| Know the importance of water and be able to recognize its unique chemical properties | Good medium for biochemical reactions, plays key role in almost every environmental system, carries nutrients and sediments, distributes artificial pollutants, |
| pH of normal rainwater, seawater, and acid rain. | Acid rain- 4, normal rainwater- 5.5, seawater- >8 |
| Describe and distinguish between the processes of photosynthesis and cellular respiration. | Energy from sun + water + CO2 > sugar and 02 Cellular respiration is opposite |
| Toxicology | Study of adverse effects of chemicals or physical agents on living organisms |
| Indoor health hazards | Cigarette smoke, radon, asbestos, lead poisoning, PBDE’s Toxic agent or substance, toxics, poisons, toxicants – carcinogens, mutagens, teratogens, neurotoxins, allergens, endocrine disruptors |
| Environmental toxicology | deals specifically with toxic substances that come from or are discharged into environment |
| Synergistic | When substances combine and the effects are greater than the sum of their individual effects |
| Antagonistic | When substances combine and the effects are lesser than the sum of their individual effects |
| Hormone | chemical messengers in the endocrine system that travel through blood |
| Endocrine system | – one of two control and communication systems of the body. Consists of hormones. Stimulates growth and development, controls reproduction and sexual maturity, controls brain functions, appetite, sex drive, etc |
| Endocrine disrupting chemical (EDC) | – chemicals that mimic effects of given hormone or block its action, affect production, secretion, transport, binding action, and breakdown of hormones, interfere with biochemical pathways and disturb intended function |
| Toxic Substance Control Act (TSCA) | sets procedures for regulation of toxic chemicals used in commerce. EPA charged with monitoring >85,000 chemicals |
| Persistent organic pollutants (POPs | fat-soluble chemicals that can remain unaltered for years and get stored in body |
| Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) | by-products of chemicals used in transformers and other electrical equipment |
| Bisphenol A (BPA) | endocrine disrupting chemical found in hard plastics |
| Phthalates | hormone disrupting chemical used to soften plastic and used in fragrances |
| Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) | chemical used in non-stick pans (Teflon) |
| Polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) | polybrominated flame retardants |
| Green chemistry, benign by design | utilization of a set of principles that reduces or eliminates use or generation of hazardous substances in the design, manufacture and application of chemical products |
| What four types of health hazards does research in the field encompass? | 1) physical 2) chemical 3) biological 4) cultural |
| Describe the field of toxicology and its subfield environmental toxicology | Toxicology examines effects of poisonous substances on humans and other organisms. Environmental toxicology- deals specifically with toxic substances that come from or are discharged into the environment |
| List and describe factors influencing the toxicity of a chemical. | Properties of chemical, dose amount, dose frequency, dose duration, route of exposure, fate in the body, characteristics of the individual, health status, interactions with other chemicals |
| Describe the overall function of the endocrine system and some of the vital functions it controls. What are hormones? | control and communication system, consists of chemical messengers (hormones) that travel through the blood, control many vital functions (stimulate growth & development, reproductive and sexual maturity, brain function, appetite, sex drive, etc |
Created by:
sperez77
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