GEOG&100 10A-10B- Overfishing, Ocean Plastics, Economic Growth, and Sustainability

Which of the following is NOT one of the four main reasons for overfishing in the world's oceans?

El Nino events are more common and increase pressure on fisheries as fish stocks along the coast of South America are depleted/Increased global demand for fish as protein

What is the typical by-catch ratio for fishing?

16 to 1

What percentage of the world's commercial fishing stocks have been depleted or fully exploited?

80 to 90 percent

What type of net has been banned in Washington and Oregon because it catches many marine mammals and turtles as by-catch, among other animals?

Gillnet

Which of the following is NOT a solution for overfishing?

Increasing subsidies to fishing fleets

What is the term used to describe locations in the oceans where plastic debris accumulates?

Gyres

What was the big worry when the Cook Aquaculture nets failed and Atlantic Salmon were released into the Skagit River and Puget Sound?

Atlantic Salmon would intermingle with Pacific Salmon and contaminate them with disease or pass on inferior genetic characteristics via interbreeding

Which of the following is NOT an example of Tragedy of the Commons?

Farmers using flood irrigation on their lands in desert regimes resulting in salinization

Subsidies to fishing fleets encourages overfishing even when stocks are depleted, and these subsidies are disliked by conservatives who decry government interference in the market economy and liberals who decry environmental destruction. 

True

Which of the following statements about fishing is FALSE?

Kenya is one of the top ten countries in the world for providing subsidies to its fishing fleets

Economic Growth is in conflict with environmental protection,  but on the other hand economic growth can always be counted on to reduce poverty dramatically. 

False

Gross Domestic Product is the total amount of money spent in the economy of a nation, but only on economic activity that improves human welfare.

False

Gross Domestic Product was developed around World War II and is the total amount of money spent on goods and services in the economy?

True

According to Robert Kennedy the amount of money in the economy spent on building prisons, money from sales of weapons to mass murderers like Charles Whitman, and expenditures on trying to control pollution, are all bad things that GDP counts as a good thing.

True

The two main problems with GDP are that it counts spending on bad things as good for the economy, but at the same time ignores many positive things such as child-rearing or protection of the environment. 

True

GPI is considered a better indicator of a healthy economy for all citizens than GDP.  Which of the following is NOT a reason why it is better?

GDP only counts products sold, whereas GPI counts both products and services sold in the economy

How have labor productivity and wages correlated over the years?

Both productivity and wages went up together until about 1973 when productivity continued to rise but wages stagnated

How does personal income correlate with happiness in the world?

Gains in income increase happiness but only to a point, up until about 15,000 dollars per year

What statement about the Earth system and the economy is NOT true?

Economic growth never reduces poverty rates

Which of the following is NOT a drawback to the Green Revolution?

New Crop varieties produced during the Green Revolution are not as nutritious as the old types of grains

Which of the following statements about an ecosystem service is NOT true?

Ecosystem services benefit plants and animals but provide NO economic benefit to humans

Which of the following is NOT a component of a steady-state economy?

Increase economic growth only by increasing hours worked by employees rather than increased resource use

ALL industrial agriculture is dependent on one thing that can cause food prices to spike. What is this one thing?

Fossil Fuel use

The Growth Economy as based on GDP violates the two most basic laws of physics that state that matter and energy cannot be created nor destroyed.

True

The fact that ecosystem services are not always paid and bought in our market economy leads to slanted decisions on land use, such as whether to cut trees down for lumber or keep for flood control.

True

The Green Revolution has problems related to environmental degradation, but we can count on the Green Revolution to meet any future spikes in global population increase.

False

The Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI) is a better metric of economic health than GDP, but BOTH metrics are flawed because neither takes into account stocks of natural capital (forests, fish, soils, etc.), often known as ecosystem services. 

False