Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
53. B Environmental costs and benefits are not easily quantified, because many of the pros and cons are
subjective or immeasurable.
54. D Fishermen have suffered massive economic losses due to the oil spill. Also, the oil has accumulated
on some shores, affecting the nesting sites of shore birds, potentially impacting long-term populations.
To date, endocrine disruption has not been noted as a result of the oil spill. Although the dispersant used
was originally thought to be a potential endocrine disruptor, no such problems have been seen.
55. B Permit trading allows companies to buy and sell emissions permits. A certain level of emissions is
established within an industry for a particular pollutant. Companies are issued a certain number of per-
mits for these emissions. They can buy, sell, and trade these permits as long as the overall standards are
still met. This is considered a way to meet environmental standards through the use of capitalism.
56. E A green tax is a tool used to discourage an environmentally harmful activity. It is a tax imposed on a
company for harmful actions to the environment.
57. A A subsidy provides a financial incentive for a company to act in an environmentally responsible
manner.
58. E The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) was established in an effort to reduce illegal
dumping. It manages the creation, movement, and disposal of hazardous waste as well as nonhazardous
solid waste.
59. D To calculate the doubling time of a population, use the equation 70 ÷ annual growth rate. Therefore,
if a population is growing at a rate of 0.7 percent annually, the answer is found as follows: 70 ÷ 0.7 =
100. This means the population will double in 100 years.
60. A Negative feedback loops maintain ecosystem balance. System outputs in excess of the norm turn off
the mechanisms that create these outputs, realigning the system with its norms.
61. D In the process of cellular respiration, oxygen and sugar are used to produce carbon dioxide, water,
and energy.
62. B An endemic species is native to only one location on the planet, which means that alterations to only
one local ecosystem can make the species extinct.
63. C Lichens are considered a pioneer species. When a major disturbance occurs and destroys all living
components of an ecosystem, one of the first species to arrive at the devastated area are lichens, which
help to recolonize the area. They can do this because of their ability to be carried great distances in the
air, as well as the unique mutualistic relationship between the fungi and algae that make up lichen. The
fungi hold on to rocks and absorb moisture while the algae produce food via photosynthesis.
64. C Soil comprised of larger particles, which have larger pore spaces, allows water to flow through more
easily. This means it has high soil permeability.
65. D Pakistan has a smaller ecological footprint than Canada, Chile, Mexico, or China because of its relat-
ively low rates of consumption and waste.
66. A In a country with a pyramid-shaped age structure diagram there is a growing population. The pyram-
id shape represents a population with a large number of young and a progressively smaller number of
people at older ages. Since the majority of the population are not yet at reproductive age, when they do
reach this point, more people will have children and, therefore, the population will continue to increase.
67. C To find the growth rate of a population the following equation is used:
Search WWH ::




Custom Search