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1
According to the 1992 Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, the Precautionary Principle requires that we act to prevent serious or irreversible damage:
A)even with no scientific evidence that harm can or will happen.
B)only when the scientific evidence of future harm is clear and incontrovertible.
C)even when we lack full scientific certainty.
D)only when the benefits are minor.
2
According to the 1992 Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, precautions taken under the Precautionary Principle:
A)should be cost-effective.
B)should be cost-free.
C)should be taken without regard to cost.
D)should be taken only if they lack side-effects.
3
Sustainability" refers to:
A)Continuing current levels of resource use.
B)Continuing to meet human needs.
C)Keeping the debate over environmental protection going.
D)Continuing current growth in population and resource use.
4
What set sustainability firmly on the global agenda and made it an essential part of efforts to deal with global environmental issues and promote equitable economic development?
A)The Brundtland report.
B)The Payne-Davidson Compromise.
C)The Montreal Protocol.
D)The 1992 Rio Conference on Environment and Development.
5
According to Rebecca L. Goldman, examples of ecosystem services include:
A)water purification.
B)soil fertility.
C)coastal protection.
D)water retention.
E)all the above.
6
According to Rebecca L. Goldman, the definition of "ecosystem services" is:
A)the benefits to people provided by intact ecosystems.
B)the biological interactions among the living components of ecosystems.
C)the physical interactions between the living and nonliving components of ecosystems.
D)human activities designed to protect (or "service") ecosystems.
7
According to C. Josh Donlan, large animals such as mammoths and cheetahs disappeared from North America:
A)after the post-Civil War expansion westward.
B)after the arrival of European settlers in the 1600s.
C)after the arrival of settlers from Asia 13,000 years ago.
D)at about the same time as the dinosaurs disappeared.
8
According to C. Josh Donlan, it is important to concentrate "rewilding" efforts on large animals because:
A)they have major effects on ecosystems.
B)they attract major funding.
C)hunters are much more interested in getting a chance to shoot them.
D)large predators will help to limit the human population.
9
According to Benedict S. Cohen, encroachment on military lands by homes, industries, malls, and highways. The result is:
A)interference with military activities.
B)easier recruiting.
C)better training for modern, urban warfare.
D)all the above.
10
According to Benedict S. Cohen, Congress has set aside 25 million acres of land for the Department of Defense (DoD) to:
A)protect from all potential environmental damage.
B)use efficiently and care for properly.
C)use without regard to any environmental regulations.
D)train soldiers for future wars.
11
According to Paul Cicio, capping greenhouse gas emissions will:
A)create jobs and increase exports.
B)create jobs and increase imports.
C)drive jobs offshore and increase imports.
D)create jobs and save lives.
12
According to Paul Cicio, the sector of the economy responsible for the greatest growth in greenhouse gas emissions is:
A)the industrial sector.
B)the commercial sector.
C)the transportation sector.
D)electricity generation.
13
According to the Global Humanitarian Forum, the Climate Change: The Anatomy of a Silent Crisis represents which of the following:
A)a cautious underestimate of the human impact of climate change.
B)a highly pessimistic estimate of the human impact of climate change.
C)the most plausible narrative of the human impact of climate change.
D)the consensus of the community of economists.
14
According to the Global Humanitarian Forum, the number of lives already being lost to climate change every year is in the neighborhood of:
A)10,000.
B)hundreds of thousands.
C)over a million.
D)over 10 million.
15
According to Stephen L. Baird, public support for offshore oil drilling has recently increased due to:
A)rising fuel prices.
B)rising food prices.
C)rising unemployment.
D)all the above.
16
According to Stephen L. Baird, according to a Pew Research Center poll 60 percent of respondents considered:
A)energy supplies more important than environmental protection.
B)environmental protection more important than energy supplies.
C)energy supplies more important than food supplies.
D)environmental protection more important than food supplies.
17
According to Diane Katz, shale gas offers all of the following except:
A)reduced dependence on foreign oil.
B)improved water quality.
C)increased supply of natural gas.
D)reduced greenhouse gas emissions.
18
According to Diane Katz, the advantages of natural gas include:
A)distribution networks already exist.
B)it is continuously available, unlike wind and solar power.
C)it emits half as much carbon dioxide as coal.
D)all the above.
19
According to Andrea Larson, synonyms for "green technology" include all of the following except:
A)renewable energy technologies.
B)sustainability.
C)clean commerce.
D)cleantech.
20
According to Andrea Larson, in 2009 the United States set a goal for renewable energy. This goal was:
A)10 percent.
B)25 percent.
C)50 percent.
D)75 percent.
21
According to Keith Kline, et al., increased food prices in 2007 and early 2008 were chiefly due to:
A)increased demand in emerging economies.
B)higher energy prices.
C)drought in food-exporting countries.
D)increased biofuels production.
E)all the above.
22
According to Keith Kline, et al., the amount of suitably productive land available for multiple uses, including biofuels production, is:
A)not nearly enough to meet demands for both food and fuel.
B)sufficient to meet demands for either food or fuel but not both.
C)sufficient.
D)highly responsive to market prices.
23
According to Allison MacFarlane, a major reason why nuclear power is being pushed as an answer to global warming is that it:
A)produces so much extra electricity that it can be used to power global air conditioners.
B)does not emit chlorofluorocarbons.
C)consumes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
D)does not emit carbon dioxide.
24
According to Allison MacFarlane, in 2006, the use of nuclear power reduced carbon dioxide emissions from fossil-fuel-based electric power plants by about:
A)5 percent.
B)13 percent.
C)50 percent.
D)75 percent.
25
According to Sir David Attenborough, the one causative element shared by global warming, biodiversity loss, ocean acidification, air pollution, and other environmental problems is:
A)human population size.
B)fossil fuel use.
C)industrialization.
D)the economy of growth.
26
According to Sir David Attenborough, we face in the not too distant future a "perfect storm" of:
A)population growth.
B)peak oil production.
C)climate change.
D)all the above.
27
According to Carl Safina, there is "a fund of knowledge and conceptual tools that could be applied" and the United States government's fisheries management can best be described as NOT:
A)very effective.
B)primitive.
C)often ineffectual.
D)simplistic.
28
According to Carl Safina, most fisheries management efforts today are based on:
A)closed seasons.
B)catch quotas.
C)marine reserves.
D)size restrictions.
29
According to Ed Hamer and Mark Anslow, switching to organic agriculture would benefit most:
A)the consumer.
B)the industrialized world.
C)the less-industrialized world.
D)the environment.
30
According to Ed Hamer and Mark Anslow, in order to feed everyone in the UK with organic agriculture, changes are needed. These changes include:
A)reducing population.
B)eating less meat.
C)eating less food.
D)avoiding the use of biomass for energy (burning wood and biofuels).
31
According to Jim Thomas, Eric Hoffman, and Jaydee Hanson, the risks of synthetic biology include:
A)destroying ecosystems.
B)threatening human health.
C)unsustainably increasing the pressure of human activities on land and marine ecologies.
D)all the above.
32
According to Jim Thomas, Eric Hoffman, and Jaydee Hanson, pursuing the promise of synthetic biology for creating biofuels could threaten all of the following except:
A)the oil industry.
B)efforts to conserve biological diversity.
C)efforts to ensure food security.
D)efforts to prevent dangerous climate change.
33
According to Michele L. Trankina, a growing body of evidence indicates that hormone or endocrine-disrupting chemicals can cause developmental and reproductive abnormalities in humans and animals. In humans, concern centers on:
A)premature puberty.
B)declining sperm counts.
C)increased incidence of breast and testicular cancers.
D)all the above.
34
According to Michele L. Trankina, estrogenic chemicals are NOT released by:
A)baby bottles.
B)plastic toys.
C)spermicides.
D)cosmetics.
E)none of the above.
35
According to Stephen Lester and Anne Rabe, the Superfund program was created in response to:
A)pressures exerted by environmentalist organizations.
B)efforts by Democrats to control and/or destroy small businesses.
C)requests from major corporations for waste disposal guidance.
D)serious threats from toxic waste sites.
36
According to Stephen Lester and Anne Rabe, climate-change related extreme weather events:
A)help to clean up Superfund sites by washing away toxic wastes.
B)disrupt Superfund sites and widen the impact of toxic wastes.
C)are a more significant threat to public health than toxic wastes.
D)are becoming less frequent.
37
According to Kate J. Dennis, Jason Rugolo, Lee T. Murray, and Justin Parrella, the United States should reconsider nuclear fuel reprocessing in order to obtain:
A)conservation of uranium resources.
B)reduced environmental impact of uranium mining.
C)lower nuclear waste quantity.
D)all the above.
38
According to Kate J. Dennis, Jason Rugolo, Lee T. Murray, and Justin Parrella, the nuclear waste that remains after reprocessing is:
A)greater in volume.
B)less radioactive.
C)half as expensive to store safely.
D)three times as toxic.





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