University of Phoenix Material

Environmental Science Worksheet

Answer the following questions in at least 100 words. The answers are found in Ch. 1–4 of Environmental Science.

1. What would you include in a brief summary on the history of the environmental movement?

The environmental movement is closely related with the appearance of environmental awareness. Before 1960, very few people knew the term ecology. Environmental concerns were absent in the political and social spheres. However, a groundbreaking book by Rachel Carson, Silent Spring, was published in 1960 and large numbers of people became aware of the consequences of humans’ encroachment upon the nature in terms of the use of highly toxic chemicals like
So, population growth should be predicted to better reconcile the future needs with the necessity of protecting nature. Population predictions allow decision makers to make adjustments. Healthcare system, education, national security, and economics are the main areas that population predictions affect. Population growth predictions for developed and developing countries differ widely. This is due to the so-called demographic transition. In an underdeveloped country, birth and death rates are high and the actual population growth is low. However, industrialization leads to improvement in health and death rates decrease as a result while birth rate is still high. Then, at the next stage, a high growth rate is maintained. But education and material welfare increase and family-planning methods are widely adopted. Consequently, birth rate decreases and nears the death rate. A zero growth rate occurs. Developed nations like the US, Germany, and Japan are at the furthest stage of population growth while developing nations experience declining death rates and still increasing birth rates. It is difficult to predict the growth of Earth’s human population because there is always the possibility of a natural disaster, and it is not certain whether some developing nations can arrive at zero-growth stage before facing catastrophic