Human/Environmental Interaction

1. What problem will occur if global warming causes polar icecaps to melt?

2. When the former Soviet Union made the decision to divert water toward farmland, which sea started to dry up? Why did they divert that water?

3. Which river is very important for providing water to parts of California, Arizona, and Nevada?

4. Name a health problem caused by smog.

5. What benefits do forests provide?

6. What types of technology are used in agriculture?

7. Other than financial cost, name a disadvantage of using fossil fuels as an energy source.

8. Which river is the Aswan High Dam intended to block?

9. What causes desertification?

10. Although nuclear power is usually a cleaner energy source, what problem(s) can it cause? 11. What technology allowed suburbs to develop?

12. Where would you find a great deal of noise pollution?

13. The environment affect’s human settlement patterns. Describe an environment that would be good for human settlement.

14. Why are few houses made of wood in the Middle East?

15. Why is cotton grown in the southern US, but not in the northern US?

16. How can the environment affect human recreational opportunities?

17. Which city in the Ukraine was the site of a horrible nuclear accident in 1986?

18. What is the name for a hurricane that develops in the Pacific Ocean?

19. What is erosion?

20. Why do earthquakes occur?

21. What is the greenhouse effect? 22. Name two specific places where earthquakes frequently occur.

23. What is deforestation?

24. How can fertilizers harm the environment?

25. Name an area in the world that used to be grassland but is now mostly desert.

26. What problem has the Aswan High Dam created for farmers downstream (north) of the dam?

27. What are polders and where would you find them?

28. What is terracing? In which areas of the world would you find them?

29. What is acid rain?

30. Which type of irritant gas is formed by smog?