Sustainability Issues, Effects and Action
Please answer the following questions to the best of your ability
Having shorter showers will
a.
b.
c.
d.
Save water by reduced use
Save electricity and/or gas by reducing water heating needs
Save money by reducing the electricity and water use which you will be billed for
All of the above
Turning off lights when you leave a room will
a. Save electricity since lights use electricity to shine
b. Save electricity by reducing air conditioning needs
c. Waste electricity as all light bulbs use more energy to start up several times than will be
saved by being turned off for several hours a day
d. A and B
e. A, B and C
Taking a bus to school instead of using your personal vehicle will:
a.
b.
c.
d.
Use no fossil fuels
Use some fossil fuels but significantly less than what you would use to drive your own car
Use more fossil fuels because the bus is a larger, heavier vehicle with a bigger engine
Use the same amount of fossil fuels
Carbon offsetting is the practice of
a. Carbon sequestration
b. Paying a tax to make up for carbon emissions
c. Making up for carbon emissions removing an equivalent amount of carbon from the
atmosphere, by a method such as tree planting
d. Using chemicals to convert carbon dioxide to less harmful gases
Electric vehicles
a. Uses no fossil fuels at all
b. Uses fossil fuels sometimes to run, when batteries cannot provide enough power
c. Uses some fossil fuels in construction, but not on an on-going basis that creates carbon
emissions
d. Uses some fossil fuels in construction and potentially some indirectly depending on how the
electricity used is generated, but significantly less than a gasoline vehicle
Local Purchasing is good for the environment because
a. Locally made foods use less pesticides than those grown far away and shipped here
b. Locally made foods are transported less of a distance so pollution caused by trucks burning
fuel is reduced
c. Locally made foods are more expensive and therefore forces you to consume less
According to the IPCC Fourth Assessment report of 2008, estimate for the projected sea level rise by
the end of this century (2100) is
a.
b.
c.
d.
2 -14 inches
3.4-12 inches
4.6-13.7 inches
7.1-23 inches
Whether man-made or natural, global warming leads to increased global temperatures over time,
resulting in polar ice melting at a faster rate. This:
a. Results in more polar land area being free of ice and possibly open to habitation
b. Results in possible extinction of polar wildlife such as Penguins and Polar Bears
c. Results in sea level rise, and reduction of coastal land area and possible destruction of
human and wildlife habitat
d. Results in ground water salination
e. All of the above
Developments in industrial agriculture have led to monoculture (growing one crop over a large area
over many years). Monoculture
a. Is bad for the environment as it harms biodiversity
b. Is good for the environment as it often helps increased yield from a certain land area, thus
needing less space to feed more people
c. Is bad for the environment because it enables diseases to spread quickly over a large area
d. A and B only
e. A, B and C
Allocating a carbon emissions quota for each country or corporation and having countries or
corporations that emit less than this quota earn credits which can be sold to those who emit more
than their quota is called
a.
b.
c.
d.
Carbon sequestration
Emissions trading
Carbon tax
Carbon saving