The exam will cover material from the lectures and the text, starting after the midterm with the lecture on Population (Chap. 7). Some key concepts from recitation exercises may be included in the exam, but because you are being graded separately on exercises they will not be reflected in the exam in any depth.
To prepare for the exam,
use your lecture notes as the key pointer to more detailed material in the
text. Use the posted lecture notes to correlate with your own notes, keeping in
mind that they are outlines/notes and not verbatim transcripts of lectures.
The following pointers on
what to study also indicate by omission areas we skipped in the textbook.
Chap. 7: Population,
especially the demographic transition (Fig. 7.7), and it three phases, the
poverty cycle, the Neo- Malthusian specter, and methods and policies for
reducing population growth.
Chap. 9: know the sources
of energy (Figures 9.1 and 9.4), and the main advantages and disadvantages of fossil
fuel and non-fossil fuels sources like nuclear, and renewables.
What progress have we made in energy use efficiency in the
Chap. 10: We use this
chapter just to get at the greenhouse effect/global warming issue and material
(so: sections 10.6, 10.7 and 10.8). Both the lectures and the recitation went
well beyond this basic material, but if you know the text material and your
notes (checked against the posted lecture notes), you’ll have it. Some
questions to examine as you study: What is the basic physical problem (know Fig
10.7, be familiar with 10.10)? What likely impacts? What policy response now
on-going? What weaknesses of the UN Framework and Kyoto Protocol? What other
response options exists in terms of mitigation and adaptation?
Chap. 12: The Hydrologic Environment.
Know sections: 12.2; 12.4; 12.5; 12.7; 12.9, 12.10. Be sure to recognize the
interactions of variables in the hydrologic equation: P=I + ET + Ro. The purposeful and inadvertent human interventions in the hydro
cycle. Also, common streamflow changes due to
human activities; ground water safe yield; consumptive vs
non-consumptive uses; degrading uses; and the two main allocation systems in
the
Chap. 16: Biological
Diversity: Know basic concepts of diversity, species, extinction, and island
biogeography. Then: human causes of extinction and aspects of species that make
them vulnerable, see lecture notes for the last two. Ways to preserve species,
sec. 16.7 plus lecture notes. Why preserve species?---
see lecture notes.
Chap 17: Open Land Resources.
Know the
Chap 18: Managing the
Environment: We return to “Sustainable Development” (secs.
18.1, 18.2, 18.3); what’s been the progress, and examine international
institutions for the environment (18.4). Then go to lecture notes for more
about international and especially
Some Sample Questions:
(1) Human development in
watersheds tends to:
recharge aquifers
reduce runoff
increase precipitation
*decrease infiltration
(2) According to the
theory of Island Biogeography, as habitat size declines, the probability of
species extinction in that patch of habitat:
(a) declines
*(b) increases
(c) depends
on the edge effect
(d) remains
the same
(3). Phase I of the demographic transition model includes
*A. very slow net growth
of population size
B. very fast net growth of population size
C. very slow net decline of population size
D. very fast net decline of population size
E. Both A and C
4. Aerosols can directly reflect sunlight back into space and indirectly force more clouds to be present on earth. In this instance, the presence of aerosols ______ the surface of the earth.
*A. cools
B. warms
(5) (F) Under the
1973 Endangered Species Act, a species is listed as "threatened" if
it is in immediate danger of extinction.
(6) (T) Industry lobbying
groups (like the Chemical Manufacturers Association) are examples of
Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs) with an important role in environmental
management.
(7) (T) Greenhouse
gases tend to absorb out-going terrestrial (long-wave) radiation.
(8) (T) Most of the energy use by the residential and commercial sector is for heating and lighting.
Match these energy sources with their chief disadvantage:
(9) oil (c)
(10) coal (d)
(11) natural gas (e)
(12) nuclear (a)
(13) wind (b)
Answers:
(a) safety concerns, link to weapons
(b) intermittent availability
(c) spills during transport
(d) large mining impacts
(e) requires expensive distribution infrastructure