Describe the goals and effects of industrial agriculture
What will be an ideal response?
The injection of large amounts of fossil fuels, mechanization of traditional farming techniques for growing and transporting crops, and the development of synthetic fertilizers, herbicides, and insecticides have greatly expanded humanity's ability to produce food and have been instrumental in allowing food production to keep pace with population growth. However, efficiency has dictated that crops be grown in monocultures, with huge amounts of land devoted to a single crop species. This has resulted in increased use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers, resulting in a host of negative environmental impacts. The Green Revolution, which promised greater yields of staple crops, especially in developing nations, has indeed delivered as promised but has damaged soils in the process and, with heavy dependence on pesticides and fertilizers, has become increasingly expensive for poorer farmers to practice.
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The 1700 AD tsunami generated by a large earthquake on the Cascadia subduction zone in the Pacific Northwest was dated most precisely using
A) Native American histories B) Pacific Northwest sediments C) Japanese tsunami records D) early seismograms in China
Bison grazing on grasses growing in a meadow represent
A) a consumer eating a producer. B) a predator eating a consumer. C) anaerobic metabolism. D) two producers exchanging energy.
The planets stay in orbit around the Sun because of a balance between ________ and ________
Fill in the blank(s) with correct word
Which of the following materials has high porosity and high permeability?
A. compacted clay B. unfractured granite C. well-sorted gravel D. uncompacted clay E. poorly sorted sand, silt, and clay