Visualizing Environmental Science

Soybeans

75% of 100 million hectares

Corn

32% of 159 million hectares

Cotton

82% of 30 million hectares

Based on data from International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech

Applications (ISAAA), 2011.

Mark Thiessen/NGS Staff/NG Image Collection

Mark Thiessen/NGS Staff/NG Image Collection

Rebecca Hale/NGS Staff/NG Image Collection

Sub-Saharan Africa

South Asia

Near East/North Africa

Latin America/Caribbean

School attainment and undernourishment by region, 2000

Prevalence of

undernourishment (%)

Number of years of school

completed (average)

35 30 25 20 0 10 5 0 12345678

East Asia Based on data from UNESCO/FAO.

Critical and Creative Thinking Questions

1. Compare undernutrition and overnutrition. Describe the
   types of people and the regions of the world most likely to
   be affected by each.


2. How and why do (a) population growth and (b) the rising
   consumption of meat affect world grain carryover stocks
   and world food security?
   Use the following graph to answer questions 3 and 4.


3. Based on the graph, what conclusion can you make about
   how the level of education people attain in a region is
   related to that region’s prevalence of undernutrition?
   Give examples of data from specific regions to support
   your conclusion.


4. How do these results fit in with our understanding of the role
   that poverty plays in the world’s hunger problems?


5. Distinguish between shifting cultivation and slash-and-burn
   agriculture.


6. What are the environmental impacts of urban/suburban
   sprawl on agriculture land?


7. What was the green revolution? Describe a few of its
   successes and shortcomings and compare those to changes
   that have occurred in the recent “second green revolution.”


8. Name two environmental problems associated with
   industrialized agriculture and give at least three examples
   of ways that industrialized agriculture could be made more
   sustainable.


9. Contrast the use of the following in industrialized and
   sustainable agriculture: water resources, fertilizers, and
   chemical pesticides.


10. How is developing new genetically modified crops and livestock
    promising in feeding the world’s people? What are some
    concerns associated with growing genetically modified crops?


11. These charts compare the 2011 global acreage of genetically
    modified crops (screened areas) to the total production.
    How many hectares of genetically modified soybeans were
    planted? cotton? corn?

Critical and Creative Thinking Questions 371

GLOBAL

LOCAL

15. How might your choosing to consume only organic
    foods affect environmental problems associated with
    food production? What about choosing vegetarianism?
    Compare the environmental benefits of organic and
    vegetarian diets.

Sustainable Citizen Question

12. Which type of pesticide has fewer deleterious environmental
    effects, broad-spectrum or narrow-spectrum? Explain your
    answer.


13. Overall, do you think the benefits of pesticide use outweigh
    the disadvantages, or vice versa? Give at least two reasons
    for your answer.


14. How and why is a pesticide’s effectiveness altered by its
    heavy, long-term use?

✓✓THE PLANNER