ESSAY Ch 18 Central Asia

Environmental Science Essay Questions

Choose one question from those given for each unit. Essays are to be at least 5 paragraphs double-spaced typed and will be graded using the attached rubric. Essays will be completed in class on the dates below in the computer lab.

No note cards or notes of any kind will be allowed during the essay. Essays that are missed must be made up after school.

Essay #1 10/02

1. Describe what Garrett Hardin meant by the “Tragedy of the Commons,” and give an example.

2. It has been estimated (Rees and Wackernagel) that it would take the land area of five additional planet earths to meet the consumption of the people now on earth if they all consumed at the level of the United States. Discuss what the implications are of this statistic and any solutions that you see.

3. The “biological capacity” is the ability of the natural world to replenish its renewable resources and absorb the resulting waste products and pollution. Exceeding the biological capacity creates an “ecological deficit.” Discuss the potential future implications for the earth resulting from the fact that we are currently exceeding the earth’s biological capacity by about 25 percent.

Ch 3 4. As China and India become developed nations, their combined populations of nearly 3 billion people will be approximately 10 times more than that of the United States. As their per capita ecological footprint nears that of the United States, competition for resources will become more intense. What, if anything, should the developed countries of today do to lessen or avoid potential conflicts in the future?

5. According to Lester R. Brown concerning the western economic model: “The western economic model—the fossil fuel–based, automobile-centered, throwaway economy—is not going to work for China. Nor will it work for India, which by 2033 is projected to have a population even larger than China’s, or for the other 3 billion people in developing countries who are also dreaming the ’American dream’.”

Do we, in the developed western world, have a responsibility to address this impending crisis, or should we merely strengthen our defenses and let the rest of the world work it out?

6. Much of the energy produced is lost before it can become useful. Explain how energy efficiency, or energy productivity, and the second law of thermodynamics may be useful in a discussion with another

person on how to reduce CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions.

6 7. The population of any organism will increase, if the conditions are correct, until it reaches a point where the population cannot be sustained. This is a type of feedback loop. What type of feedback loop is this and what are the conditions that cause the feedback loop to function?

8. Apply the concept of the Range of Tolerance to the following scenario. Global warming, or global climate change, may cause the desert southwest of the U.S. (Arizona, New Mexico, etc.) to become more like Kansas and Nebraska. The latter two states may, in turn, become more like Arizona and New Mexico. What part will the Range of Tolerance play in the changes that will occur in animal and plant populations?

Ch. 5 9. Using a small rodent, such as a field mouse, and a predator, such as a snake, explain how coevolution works.

10. Explain coevolution using the interaction between the malaria parasite and humans.

11. At the present time the global human population approaches 7 billion persons. If we exceed the carrying capacity of the earth, the human population may suffer a substantial collapse. Consider the formula for population change given on page 109 of the text. What will be required of humans in order to stabilize or reduce our population?

12. Basic to the theory of evolution are the concepts of environmental resistance and biotic potential. Explain how these concepts are central to natural selection.

Ch 6 13. What are the implications of the phrase optimal sustainable population (page 125), considering the facts that: 1) 97 percent of future growth will come from developing countries, and 2) the environmental footprint of a population is dependent on the affluence of the population? Has the human population been able to achieve what it has achieved because only a small portion of the population is affluent? What will happen as more countries move from under-developed to developing and finally to developed?

14. Given the following formula:

Population change = (Births + Immigration) – (Deaths + emigration)

How would you suggest we reduce the growth rate of the entire human population rather than the population of a country, or area?

15. The United States has one of the heaviest ecological footprints of any nation. We also have the fastest population increase of any developed nation. Does this combination of factors affect the ability of the United States to call for movement toward an optimal sustainable population?

6 16. Immigration is a volatile subject in many countries of the world, including the United States. However, analysts suggest the retirement of the very large baby boomer generation may result in a worker shortage in the United States. If the United States moves to reduce the number of immigrants into the United States, what will we do to supply the shortage of workers?

Essay #2 12/11 Ch. 7 1. Briefly summarize the component parts (e.g., heat from the tropics, dense salt water, melting ice, etc.) of the ocean currents as they travel from the North Atlantic to the Pacific and back.

2. Briefly summarize the El Niño Southern Oscillation.

3. Using the environmental factors of moisture and temperature, describe the relationship between the three types of biomes (e.g., grasslands or forests).

4. The author indicates that attempting to strike a balance between exploitation of terrestrial natural capital and conservation of that capital is controversial. What might you say to a person whose livelihood comes from the timber industry (or mining, or agriculture making heavy use of irrigation) to encourage consideration of the ongoing degradation of the natural capital and its eventual impact on him/her?

Ch. 8 5. Compare and contrast estuaries and intertidal pools in terms of biodiversity.

6. Explain how the open sea can be both an area of low average primary productivity and the largest contributor to the earth’s overall net primary productivity.

Ch. 11 7. The Columbia River has 119 dams and a fish problem. If you were the person in charge of determining what to do, what would you decide? Would you seek to free up the river in favor of the fish, or would you make a few accommodations for the fish and leave the dams in place? Explain.

8. Respond to E. O. Wilson’s proposed priorities for protecting the world’s remaining ecosystems and species. Do they seem appropriate and possible? Should they be put in place? Who should be in charge of seeing they come to pass?

Ch. 12 9. Describe why vitamin A is important to human health and what relationship it has to the so-called “golden rice.”

6 10. Compare and contrast chronic undernutrition, chronic malnutrition, and overnutrition.

11. What are the three food systems that supply most of our food? What concerns are there that the majority of the world’s food calories are supplied by a very small number of plant and animal species?

12. Why is the green revolution unlikely to be the final answer in terms of feeding the billions of people that are, and will be, living on earth?

13. Governments have three basic approaches to influencing food production. One of those approaches is to “let the marketplace decide.” Do you think it would be wise to let the market set prices and availability of food? Explain your answer.

14. Would you be willing to eat less meat in order to reduce the destructive ecological footprint of modern affluent societies? Explain your answer.

Ch. 13 15. The three most serious environmental problems the world faces this century are water shortages, biodiversity loss, and climate change. Some analysts believe water shortages could lead to war between countries that need to share water. Do you think this is possible? Why or why not? 16. Freshwater is a very tiny fraction of all the earth’s water supply. Even so, the United States, the largest user of freshwater, has very few controls on how water is transported or used. We also subsidize water costs in order to keep them low, which encourages use rather than conservation. Should the U.S. begin to move toward controls on water? What controls would you prefer were instituted?

17. Many aquifers, including the Ogallala aquifer, were formed thousands of years of years ago. Many of these aquifers are either very slowing recharged, or cannot be recharged. Should removal of this water be treated in the same fashion as mining other resources? What steps should be taken to control the removal of a nonrenewable resource such as this?

Essay #3 02/26 Ch. 14 1. Mining provides important and useful minerals for our daily lives. However, most of us would be surprised to learn it requires the creation of six tons of mining waste to get enough gold to make two wedding rings. Should mining companies be required to repair the damage they do to the environment, even if wedding rings get more expensive?

2. Compare and contrast surface and subsurface mining in terms of environmental impact

6 3. Should the government of the United States continue to subsidize the mining industry, keeping the price of minerals artificially low, or allow the market to set the price and possibly encourage more environmentally friendly practices?

4. Should the 1872 mining act be revised and updated to include covering the actual costs of cleanup and restoration of the land after mining ceases, and a reasonable leasing cost? Ch. 15 5. If we are to continue using conventional oil at the projected rate of increase, we will need to discover oil reserves equivalent to those of Saudi Arabia every five years. Considering this is an unlikely reality: (A) what are our options, and (B) which option is likely to come about?

6. We require, on average, approximately 600,000 kilocalories of energy per day to maintain our complex lifestyles. Most of us have not taken into account our share of the global energy budget in these terms. Where in your daily living do you require the largest input of energy to maintain your lifestyle? As energy becomes more expensive, is there a place you can reduce the input?

7. Natural gas is a good alternative to other fossil fuels such as coal and oil. Switching to natural gas, though, has its own set of problems. What do you see as the largest problem of using natural gas? Explain.

Essay #4 04/09 Write an essay on a topic in environmental science that you feel strongly about. Take a stand on the topic and support your views with logic and facts.