1/2003
Environmental Quiz

1. The population of the world is currently about:

a. 3.4 billion
b. 6.2 billion
c. 8.7 billion
d. 9.1 billion
e. 11.5 billion

2. The population of the world is currently increasing at a rate of about 9,043 people per _______.

a. month
b. week
c. day
d. hour 
e. minute
f. second 

3. The estimated world population in the year 2050 is about:

a. 3.4 billion
b. 6.2 billion
c. 8.7 billion
d. 9.1 billion
e. 11.5 billion

___ 4. True (T) or False (F). United States population growth is near zero, with the population expected to stabilize by about 2025. 

5. Over the past decade, the United States population has grown at an annual rate of  about 1%. Some have suggested that this growth rate is too high, and a problem if maintained over the long term, while others note that 1% is a small number and nothing to be concerned about. The annual long-term growth rate that you view as acceptable for the United States is _________.

a. 10% or less
b. 5% or less
c. 3% or less
d. 2% or less
e. 1% or less
f. 0.5 % or less
g. 0%

___ 6. True (T) or False (F). The United States is a net exporter of most raw materials used by industry today.

___ 7. True (T) or False (F). The raw material that is used in the greatest quantity in the United States today, and which accounts for almost one-third (by weight) of the total raw materials used annually, is steel.

___ 8. True (T) or False (F). The world is rapidly running out of many important
minerals.

9. The number one cause of tropical deforestation worldwide is:

a. commercial logging.
b. wildfire.
c. clearing of lands for agricultural use.
d. gathering of firewood.
e. building of roads and cities.

10. The area covered by forests in the United States today is approximately _______ of the forested area that existed in 1600.

a. 70 percent
b. 50 percent
c. 33 percent
d. 25 percent
e. 17 percent

___11. True (T) or False (F). The geographic area that encompasses the United States today has a greater extent of forest coverage than the same geographic area  did in 1920. 

12. Which of the following statements most accurately describes United States forests over the past several decades:

a. forest harvest exceeds net growth by 8 percent.
b. forest harvest has exceeds net growth by 3 percent.
c. forest harvest roughly equals net growth.
d. net forest growth exceeds harvest by 19 percent.
e. net forest growth exceeds harvest by 48 percent.

___13. True (T) or False (F). As originally established, it was never intended that the National Forests of the United States would be periodically harvested to obtain timber that would be used in meeting the nation's need for wood.

___14. True (T) or False (F). At current rates of deforestation, 40 percent of current forests in the United States will be lost by the middle of the next century. 

___15. True (T) or False (F). In the U.S. and globally, more species of plants and animals have been driven to extinction by logging activity than any other activity of mankind.

___16. True (T) or False (F). Under current United States law, forest harvesting is allowed within federally designated wilderness areas.

___17. True (T) or False (F). Populations of elk, pronghorn antelope, and wild turkey have declined significantly in the United States over the past 60 years.

___18. True (T) or False (F). Considering the total annual harvest of forests in the  United States and the total consumption of wood and wood fiber products within our country, the U.S. is a net importer of wood and wood products.

19. The use of forest products in the United States:

a. has declined significantly since 1960.
b. has remained at about the same level for the past 50 years.
c. is growing slowly as the population increases.
d. has increased on a per capita basis by over 25 percent since 1970. 

20. As a percentage of all the paper used in the United States in 2001, _____ was recovered for reuse.

a. 2.9 percent
b. 6.5 percent
c. 14.7 percent
d. 29.3 percent
e. 48.3 percent
f. 60.1 percent

21. Recovered paper provided _____ of the U.S. paper industry's fiber in 2001.

a. 2.0 percent
b. 6.1 percent
c. 12.9 percent
d. 19.8 percent
e. 24.3 percent
f. 38.4 percent

___22. True (T) or False (F). More extensive recycling of paper could reduce harvesting of forests in the U.S. by 60 percent or more.

23. The building material that can be produced with the least impact on the
environment is:

a. brick
b. concrete
c. aluminum
d. virgin steel
e. recycled steel
f. wood
g. plastic

Click here for the answers to the Quiz

Evergreen Magazine
P.O. Box 1290, Bigfork, MT. 59911
Tel: (406) 837-0966 • Fax: (406) 837-1385
Email:  jim@evergreenmagazine.com