What is a common environmental consequence of urban sprawl?

• A. Loss of agricultural land and wildlife habitat.
• B. Increased farmland area.
• C. Decreased car dependency.
• D. Increased public transit usage.

Answer: (A)

As cities push outward, they convert surrounding rural and natural lands into housing, shopping centers, and roads. This process eliminates farmland and breaks up wildlife habitats, making it a common environmental consequence of urban sprawl. With more land covered by impervious surfaces and longer travel distances, ecosystems become fragmented, and biodiversity can decline.

Why the other ideas don’t fit as well: sprawl typically reduces, not increases, farmland area, and it tends to raise car dependence while decreasing the practicality of public transit, since low-density, spread-out development is harder to serve efficiently by buses or trains.