Week 11: Environment

Question 1

This view argues that people have certain perceptions and understandings of population and environmental issues. Their social backgrounds affect these perceptions, which are important to appreciate if population and environmental problems are to be addressed.

Answer 1

Symbolic Interactionism

Question 2

Argues that population growth is not a serious problem because the world has sufficient food and other resources, all of which must be more equitably distributed. The practices of multinational corporations and weak regulation of these practices account for many environmental problems

Answer 2

Conflict Theory

Question 3

Argues that population and the environment affect each other. Normal population growth is essential for any society, but population growth that is too great or too little leads to various problems. Environmental problems are to be expected in an industrial society, but severe environmental problems are dysfunctional.

Answer 3

Functionalism

Question 4

Functionalism argues that the only way for a society to thrive is if it’s population ________

Answer 4

is growing; so that it can meet future challenges

Functionalism disagrees on the idea that overpopulation is a serious problem

Question 5

Where does the Conflict Theory of environment attribute the problem of world hunger?

Answer 5

Inequalities in the distribution of food; as opposed to overpopulation

Question 6

Symbolic Interactionism regards people’s ________ and _______ regarding population

Answer 6

perceptions and activities

Question 7

For what reasons is the environment considered a sociological topic?Where

Answer 7

1. Environmental problems are the result of human activity
2. Environmental problems have a significant impact on people
3. Solutions to our environmental problems require changes in economic and environmental policies
4. Many environmental problems reflect and illustrate social inequality based on social class and on race and ethnicity
5. Efforts to improve the environment, often called the environmental movement, constitute a social movement

Question 8

The study of the interaction between human behavior and the natural and physical environment

Answer 8

Environmental Sociology

Question 9

Where do environmental sociologists point the blame for most environmental problems?

Answer 9

Human decisions and activities (think of Oil Spills)

Question 10

Refers to the fact that low-income people and people of colour are disproportionately likely to experience various environmental problems

Answer 10

Environmental Inequality

**Environmental Racism is the fact that this is more likely to happen to people of colour

Question 11

Refers to scholarship on environmental inequality and racism and to public policy efforts and activism aimed at reducing these forms of inequality and racism

Answer 11

Environmental Justice

Question 12

Which sociologist played a key role in the beginning of the environmental justice movement in the US in the 1980s?

Answer 12

Robert D. Bullard, who is referred to as the “father of environmental justice”

Question 13

What did “the father of environmental justice” study in Houston? New Orleans?

Answer 13

The sites of landfills in the city, and the fact that every city-owned landfill was located in a black neighbourhood; despite the fact that only 1/4th of the Houston population is African American

In new Orleans, he shed light on the pattern of white residents living in the more highly elevated neighbourhoods of the city, and the blacks living in the areas closer to sea-level.

Question 14

How many people die each year from air pollution?

Answer 14

~1.3 Million

Question 15

Three of the greatest environmental health hazards for children are ______

Answer 15

Lead

Pesticides

Air pollution

Question 16

True or false; Asthma is becoming more common in American children

Answer 16

True; Asthma is children is up 40% in the US from 1980

Question 17

What are the main big problems that climate change is creating?

Answer 17

Increased disease transmitted via food and water

Malnutrition resulting from decreased agricultural production and drought

A higher incidence of hurricanes and other weather disasters

Extinction of several species

Question 18

According to an Oxford University economist, having a drought increases by _____% the chance that an African nation will have a civil war a year later

Answer 18

50%

Question 19

Which 5 countries produce over half of the worlds carbon emissions?

Answer 19

USA, Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain

Question 20

Unwanted materials or byproducts that are potentially toxic

Answer 20

Hazardous Waste

Question 21

Who are the two well-known female environmental activists described in the textbook?

Answer 21

Lois Gibbs - dealt with Love Canal situation

Erin Brockovich - brought light to the Hinkley situation (and was later adapted in a self-titled film)

Question 22

Known as the unintentional catching and killing of fish, marine mammals, sea turtles, and seabirds while other fish are being caught

Answer 22

Bycatch

Question 23

What are the 4 main environmental problems that threaten the planet?

Answer 23

Air pollution

Global climate change

Water Pollution/ Inadequate Sanitation

Hazardous Waste

Question 24

What’s the main thing about environmental issues that sets them apart from other social problems?

Answer 24

They affect the entire world, not just specific societies

Question 25

What is the Kyoto Protocol?

Answer 25

An international treaty among industrialized nations that sets mandatory limits on greenhouse gas emissions

Question 26

The point in time when the maximum rate of crude oil extraction is reached, after which the rate of extraction is expected to begin to decline

Answer 26

Peak Oil

Question 27

Poor environmental conditions account for how much of the preventable ill health in the world?

Answer 27

25%

Question 28

The fact that poor and radicalized communities are disproportionately affected, and are often located near hazardous and polluted sites

Answer 28

Environmental Racism

Question 29

When did environmental social movements first begin to get strong attention?

Answer 29

The early 1970s