Exam 15: Uses and Abuses of the Ocean

Why can introduced species be problematic?

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration advises women of childbearing age and children to completely avoid some kinds of fish because of ____ contamination.

What happens in the example of the "Tragedy of the Commons"?

Crude oil is biodegradable.

Pollutants can have negative influences on organisms by interfering with biochemical processes.

The method of desalination in which seawater is forced against a semipermeable membrane at high pressure is called ____.

We have used more natural resources since 1955 than in all of recorded human history up to that time.

Pollutants that can be broken down by natural processes into simpler compounds are described as ____.

The farming of marine organisms for human use is called ____.

What involves the introduction into the ocean by humans of substances or energy that changes the quality of the water or affects the physical, chemical, or biological environment?

Why can nutrients be considered pollutants in some situations?

The process by which toxic substances can be concentrated in the flesh of organisms at higher trophic levels is called ____.

Explain how human emissions of carbon dioxide cause Earth's climate to warm.

What is potable water?

Though desalination is a theoretically attractive method for obtaining fresh water from seawater, no large commercial facilities for desalination exist.

The maximum of each species that can be caught without impairing future populations of that species is called the ____.

Why are bays and estuaries especially sensitive to pollution?

What is the purpose of marine protected areas?

About ____ percent of worldwide stocks of tuna, cod, and other large ocean fishes have disappeared in the last 50 years.

Increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide causes Earth's climate to warm by strengthening ____.