Questions and Problems

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Access to and use of the internet is assumed in answering all questions including general information, statistics, constants, and mathematical formulas required to solve problems. These questions are designed to promote inquiry and thought rather than just finding material in the text. So in some cases there may be several “right” answers. Therefore, if your answer reflects intellectual effort and a search for information from available sources, your answer can be considered to be “right.

1. The U.S. Geological Survey posts prices in metals corrected for inflation from 1959 through 1998 athttp://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/.../metal_prices/. Other internet sources give current prices of metals. Using these resources, look up past and current prices of copper, chromium, nickel, tin and tungsten, the metals in the historic Ehrlich/Simon wager to see how the wager would have turned out in recent years. Explain your observations and suggest future trends.

2. At the beginning of the chapter were stated six “great challenges to sustainability.” Using adiagram, if appropriate, suggest how these challenges are very much interrelated.

3. Much of Earth’s population is dependent upon seafood for its protein. Suggest how provisionof adequate food by this route might be affected by the challenges of adequate energy supply as related to contamination of Earth’s environment with toxic and persistent substances.

4. Suggest scenarios by which the people of your country might be adversely affected and its population might even decline because of declines in key environmental support systems. Suggest how these problems might be avoided in the future by actions taken now.

5. Look up telecommuting on the internet and explain how it might fit with the ten commandments of sustainability.

6. In a quote attributed to the British sociologist Martin Albrow, sociospheres consist of “distinct patterns of social activities belonging to networks of social relations of very different intensity, spanning widely different territorial extents, from a few to many thousands of miles.” Suggest how sociospheres relate to the anthrosphere. What is your sociosphere? How might sociospheres be important in sustainability.

7. It has been estimated that U.S. coal resources can provide for up to three centuries of U.S.energy needs and could provide energy for much of the world. Is this a sustainable source ofenergy? Explain.

8. Explain how unsustainability may be the result of depletion of resources, environmentalpollution, or a combination. Give an example in which environmental pollution reducesresource availability.

9. From news events of the last five years, cite evidence that global climate change is in factoccurring. Cite evidence to the contrary.10. Currently, population growth tends to occur in coastal areas. Suggest how global warmingmight reverse that trend.11. Prior to European settlement, vast areas of the U.S. Great Plains supported huge herds of bisonthat provided the base for a viable Native American population. Given the erratic climate ofthat region, depleted groundwater for irrigation, and the aversion of many people to dwell onthe “lone prairie,” some authorities have suggested that these areas revert to a bison-basedsystem, sometimes called the “buffalo commons.” Suggest how such a system might be viableand sustainable and give arguments against it.12. Is the term “secure chemical landfill” an oxymoron? What are the alternatives to suchlandfills?13. Among the ideas for sustainability discussed in Section 17.12, might be added a suggestion forgreatly increasing the numbers of telecommuters. What are telecommuters? How mightincreasing their numbers enhance sustainability?14. Some countries in Asia have constructed new airports with exemplary rail connections. Citeand discuss several examples.