TOPIC : 1 Foundations of environmental systems and societies

Which is an example of negative feedback?

• Loss of vegetation leading to soil erosion leading to further loss of vegetation.

  .

• A decline in a large predator population after they have eaten most of their prey population.

• Melting of permafrost in the tundra due to climatic change leading to further release of methane, causing further change.

• Unsustainable slash and burn agriculture practices in tropical rain forests

By approximately how many times is the world population in 2125 expected to exceed the population in 1950?

• 5

• 4

• 3

• 2

4. A lake with a stream flowing into it, but with water lost only by evaporation, is an example of a system which is

• isolated.

• stable and closed.

• unstable and closed.

• open.

A system may best be defined as

a set of components that function predictably.

• A set of components that function predictably.

• An assemblage of parts and their relationships forming a whole.

• A set of components that function unpredictably.

• An assemblage of functioning parts without inputs or outputs.

Inputs to a closed system may be

• Matter only.

• Energy only.

• Matter and energy.

• Heat only.

The flow of water from ocean to atmospheric storages over land masses involves

• Both transfer and transformation processes.

• Transfer processes only.

• Transformation processes only.

• No transfer or transformation processes.

Which statement best illustrates the second law of thermodynamics?

• Potential energy increases as energy moves through a system.

• The amount of energy is unchanged as matter moves through a system .

• Potential energy decreases as energy and matter move through a system.

• Energy cannot leave a system.

The capacity of a system to self-regulate is generally increased by

• The presence of positive feedback.

• The presence of negative feedback.

• Low energy inputs in the system.

• Energy outputs greater than energy inputs in the system

Which statement is correct?

• Convectional cells in the as the no sphere are important for the net transfer of energy from the tropics to the poles.

• The atmosphere and the hydrosphere are important for the net transfer of energy from the poles to the tropics.

• The atmosphere and the hydrosphere are important for the net transfer of energy from the tropics to the poles.

• Convectional cells in the atmosphere are important for the net transfer of energy from the poles to the tropics.

The accelerating decline in the population of a country in which the average age was increasing, provides an example of which of the following?

• Negative feedback

• Positive feedback

• Steady-state equilibrium

• A demographic transition model