BCN Exam 1 Questions and Answers Latest Update 2025-2026
Avg. surface temperature to... - Answers rise by 1.8 - 4 degC by the end of 21st century, relative
to 1980-1990.
Deforestation and soil erosion... - Answers leads to loss of fertile agricultural land, famine, etc.
Eutrophication - Answers A process by which nutrients, particularly phosphorus and nitrogen,
become highly concentrated in a body of water (through fertilizer runoff) leading to increased
growth of organisms such as algae or cyanobacteria. After such organisms die, bacterial
degradation of their biomass results in oxygen consumption, thereby creating the state of
hypoxia/dead zones
The I.P.A.T. formula - Answers Impact = Population x Affluence x Technology
Impact= People x {Materials/Person} x {Impact/Material}
Human Impact (I) on the environment is theproduct of Population (P), Affluence (A) and
Technology (T)
Current population size - Answers Currently estimated at 7.795 billion
China and India are what % of the population - Answers 35.5%
The "day of 7 billion" - Answers October 31, 2011
Rule of 72 - Answers Small % changes can grow exponentially.
To get the Doubling Time (DT), given a specified annual % growth rate, divide 72 by the annual %
growth rate.
OECD - Answers Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development
OECD countries - Answers North America (US, Canada & Mexico), Europe, Asia (Japan, S Korea,
Australia, NZ)
Mesopotamia (3000 BC) - Answers Demand for energy & other resources, particularly the desire
for specific foods. • Decrease in yields, decline of civilizations.
Industrial Societies (18th & 19th centuries) - Answers Technological advances (coal powered
engines, electricity generation, modern sanitation (steam powered engines) & advances in
medicine)
By 20th century, exponential increase in the human consumption of resources.
"Increase in health, wealth & population was perceived as progress."
Sustain - - Answers "maintain," "support," or "endure"
, Sustainable Development - Answers "Sustainable development is the development that meets, -
the needs of the present -without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their
own needs."
sustainable development three parts - Answers economic system, natural system, social
system
ocean acidification - Answers decreasing pH of ocean waters due to absorption of excess
atmospheric CO2 from the burning of fossil fuels,
the ocean has absorbed CO2 at an increasingly rapid rate, changing the ocean's chemistry and
leading to ocean acidification
coral bleaching from acidification - Answers leads to a loss of valuable ecosystem services
provided by coral reefs such as food security, tourism, shoreline protection, and biodiversity.
ehtics - Answers an academic or legal code of conduct.
morals - Answers as a personal or cultural code of conduct.
All people have a fair share to basic resources - - Answers Food Water Chance at a quality of life
beyond survival
How is sustainable development characterized? - Answers Social Environmental Economic
Cultural
social ethics - Answers Focus how a community can be organized to achieve a common good.
environmental ethics - Answers Focused on the ecological leg of sustainability
Anthropocentric - Answers Human centered
Ecocentric or biocentric - Answers Nature/Function centered
Economic Ethics - Answers Focus on moral foundations, characteristics, and consequences of
economic activities and institutions.
Triple Bottom Line - Answers people, planet, profit
companies should value beyond bottom line profit and consider impacts to both social and
environmental levels.
precautionary principle - Answers the idea that one should not undertake a new action until the
ramifications of that action are well understood.
Helps to define moral responsibility to present and future generations, stimulate scientific
queries into current actions, and cultivate political and economic controls - all while
understanding the limitations with regard to all.
Avg. surface temperature to... - Answers rise by 1.8 - 4 degC by the end of 21st century, relative
to 1980-1990.
Deforestation and soil erosion... - Answers leads to loss of fertile agricultural land, famine, etc.
Eutrophication - Answers A process by which nutrients, particularly phosphorus and nitrogen,
become highly concentrated in a body of water (through fertilizer runoff) leading to increased
growth of organisms such as algae or cyanobacteria. After such organisms die, bacterial
degradation of their biomass results in oxygen consumption, thereby creating the state of
hypoxia/dead zones
The I.P.A.T. formula - Answers Impact = Population x Affluence x Technology
Impact= People x {Materials/Person} x {Impact/Material}
Human Impact (I) on the environment is theproduct of Population (P), Affluence (A) and
Technology (T)
Current population size - Answers Currently estimated at 7.795 billion
China and India are what % of the population - Answers 35.5%
The "day of 7 billion" - Answers October 31, 2011
Rule of 72 - Answers Small % changes can grow exponentially.
To get the Doubling Time (DT), given a specified annual % growth rate, divide 72 by the annual %
growth rate.
OECD - Answers Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development
OECD countries - Answers North America (US, Canada & Mexico), Europe, Asia (Japan, S Korea,
Australia, NZ)
Mesopotamia (3000 BC) - Answers Demand for energy & other resources, particularly the desire
for specific foods. • Decrease in yields, decline of civilizations.
Industrial Societies (18th & 19th centuries) - Answers Technological advances (coal powered
engines, electricity generation, modern sanitation (steam powered engines) & advances in
medicine)
By 20th century, exponential increase in the human consumption of resources.
"Increase in health, wealth & population was perceived as progress."
Sustain - - Answers "maintain," "support," or "endure"
, Sustainable Development - Answers "Sustainable development is the development that meets, -
the needs of the present -without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their
own needs."
sustainable development three parts - Answers economic system, natural system, social
system
ocean acidification - Answers decreasing pH of ocean waters due to absorption of excess
atmospheric CO2 from the burning of fossil fuels,
the ocean has absorbed CO2 at an increasingly rapid rate, changing the ocean's chemistry and
leading to ocean acidification
coral bleaching from acidification - Answers leads to a loss of valuable ecosystem services
provided by coral reefs such as food security, tourism, shoreline protection, and biodiversity.
ehtics - Answers an academic or legal code of conduct.
morals - Answers as a personal or cultural code of conduct.
All people have a fair share to basic resources - - Answers Food Water Chance at a quality of life
beyond survival
How is sustainable development characterized? - Answers Social Environmental Economic
Cultural
social ethics - Answers Focus how a community can be organized to achieve a common good.
environmental ethics - Answers Focused on the ecological leg of sustainability
Anthropocentric - Answers Human centered
Ecocentric or biocentric - Answers Nature/Function centered
Economic Ethics - Answers Focus on moral foundations, characteristics, and consequences of
economic activities and institutions.
Triple Bottom Line - Answers people, planet, profit
companies should value beyond bottom line profit and consider impacts to both social and
environmental levels.
precautionary principle - Answers the idea that one should not undertake a new action until the
ramifications of that action are well understood.
Helps to define moral responsibility to present and future generations, stimulate scientific
queries into current actions, and cultivate political and economic controls - all while
understanding the limitations with regard to all.
