What are the four ways we can measure the wealth of nations?

5. [5 points] What are the four ways we can measure the wealth of nations? What are the

problems with only using GNP and GDP to measure national wealth?

6. [5 points] Explain why understanding the impact human activity has on the environment is

important to determining economic policies?

EARTH AND ITS RESOURCES

7. [10 points] Most plastics are considered organic compounds (made of combinations of

carbon with hydrogen and oxygen). What happens to plastics that are in landfills, dumps, or

in the ocean? (In other words: How long does it take them to decompose?) Using this

information and the Law of Conservation of Matter, what is happening to the carbon,

hydrogen, and oxygen used in plastics? Why might this be a problem?

8. [10 points] Many nutrient cycles go through all four spheres that we have discussed: the

biosphere, geosphere/lithosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere. Choose a nutrient cycle

(sulfur, carbon, nitrogen, or phosphorus), and discuss how the nutrient moves through the

different spheres.