APES midterm study guide

Economic benefits of building large dams include which of the following? I. Storage of water for agriculture and domestic use. Il. Controlling floods upstream. Ill. Production of renewable energy

1 and 3

in what year was the fraction of energy supplied by coal the greatest?

1910

In approximately what year did oil and gas become the dominant fuels for the United States?

1940

Which of the structures in the diagram is the site where the nuclear power plant accidents at Three Mile Island and Chernobyl occurred?

A

Some solar energy systems produce high-temperature water for industrial applications and produce steam to run turbines that generate electricity. What type of solar energy system is needed for these kinds of applications?

A solar collector system using mirrors or lenses to concentrate sunlight

What does the processing of pyrite ore contribute too?

Acid mine drainage

What would be the best method for remediating the effects of soil salinization?

Addition of large amounts of water to leach out salts

Which of the following statements best describes the most unsustainable method of clear cutting forests to harvest timber?

All of the trees in a forest are cut down and removed in one operation

Which of the following statements best describes the most unsustainable method of clear-cutting forests to harvest timber?

All of the trees in a forest are cut down and removed in one operation

Which of the following is a direct economic advantage associated with aquaculture?

Aquaculture produces large amounts of seafood for human purchase and consumption year-round

Environmentalists oppose the mining of Antarctic mineral resources. Why?

Arctic/antarctic are fragile and extremely vulnerable to the disturbances that would accompany development.

Which of the following areas shown on the map of the United States has a history of coal deposits and is most likely to have mining operations?

B

In the majority of less developed countries, the major source of energy for domestic use is which of the following?

Biomass

Which of the following best describes an advantage of burning biomass rather than burning fossil fuels in developing countries?

Biomass production is cheaper than fossil fuel extraction, making it more readily available for use.

Which of the following is the most successful solution to the problem of fish mortality caused by dams?

Building fish ladders around the dam

For the diagram below, assume fracking has not been used with the oil and gas well. Rock layer that myst be porous and have enough permeability for fluid to move through the layer

C

Which of the following is a greenhouse gas that is produced by domestic livestock?

CH4

Which of the following describes an environmental problem that can result from the combustion of fossil fuels to generate electricity?

Carbon dioxide is a product of the combustion fossil fuels, and it can lead to global climate change when released into the atmosphere

Which of the following countries has the largest coal reserves?

China

Which three sources supply the majority of commercial energy in the world today?

Coal, oil, and natural gas

The cities of Edmonton and Calgary are relatively far north and at high elevation. Which of the following best explains the data presented in their ecological footprints?

Colder average temperatures and longer nights in Edmonton and Calgary lead to high energy usage to heat and light homes.

Which of the following accurately describes a benefit of concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOS)?

Concentrated animal feeding operations are efficient and relatively low-cost facilities that help keep consumer costs low.

Sustainable use of forests in the United States would likely be encouraged by

Cutting small groups of medium and large sized trees in uneven aged forests

The process of extracting and separating gold in remote regions often results in environmental contamination of what toxin?

Cyanide

For the diagram below assume fracking has not been used with the oil and gas well. Rock layer that must be rich in organic matter that was subjected to heat and pressure over time during the formation of oil and natural gas.

D

For the diagram below, assume fracking has not been used with the oil and gas well. Rock layer that can be porous but must have very low to no permeability

D

Two branches of a river have different sediment loads. Based on the diagram, which of the following most likely led to the differences in the amount of sediment in the two branches of the river?

Deforestation from clear cutting

Which of the following is the primary environmental problem associated with the use of nuclear power to generate electricity?

Disposal of radioactive waste.

A major limitation of using photovoltaic cells to generate electricity is that they

Do not produce as much electricity on cloudy days

Coal was surface mined from five sites, labeled 1 through 5, that had originally been covered by forest. Each site was planted with a mix of tree seedlings to reclaim the area to forest. Grass was also seeded over each site to prevent initial erosion and to provide forage. Ten years after planting, information was collected at the five sites and is given in the table below. Select the letter of the row that indicates the site with the most successful forest reclamation.

E

The region has been the largest petroleum exporter for the past four decades

E

The largest hydroelectric dam in the world is located on one of the world's longest rivers in this area

E (china)

Which of the following scenarios best explains the concept of the tragedy of the commons?

Fish are shared resources, and as the fishing industry competes for the fish, the resource extraction is no longer sustainable

The diagram shows a power plant designed to generate electricity for a nearby city. Based on the diagram, which process would provide the energy used to generate electricity at the power plant?

Fission in radioactive fuel

Farmers use various methods of irrigation on crops. Which of the following statements correctly pairs an irrigation method with an advantage or disadvantage?

Flood irrigation is often used in agricultural fields, however, it increases surface erosion and salinization of the soil.

Of the following, which constitutes the greatest percent of domestic use of water in the United states?

Flushing toilets

Which of the following irrigation methods is most likely to result in salinization of the soil, especially if the agricultural fields are located in a warm climate with consistent sunlight?

Furrow irrigation

Describe a disadvantage of using genetically engineered crops over crops that are not genetically modified.

Genetically engineered plants can decrease the genetic diversity of the crop.

Drawbacks include noise and the release of corrosive chemicals

Geothermal

Which of the following energy sources is not derived directly or indirectly from solar energy?

Geothermal

This type of energy utilizes heat that is stored beneath Earth's surface to heat water and produce steam.

Geothermal energy

Which of the following best describes a disadvantage of geothermal energy production?

Geothermal energy implementation in homes and businesses has a high upfront cost, and electricity is needed to operate pumps.

What is an environmental advantage of urbanization?

INDIVIDUALS LIVING IN CITIES USUALLY HAVE A LOWER TRANSPORTATION CARBON FOOTPRINT THAN INDIVIDUALS IN RURAL AREAS.

The development of dangerous strains of disease organisms represents a significant consequence of which of the following agricultural practices?

Incorporating antibiotics into the feeding regimens of densely concentrated livestock.

What describes the pesticide treadmill?

Increased use of pesticides to eradicate genetically resistant pests

Throughout the world, especially the less developed countries, burning wood or other biomass for heating or cooking in homes is common. One negative environmental impact of this practice is the production of particulates indoors, which can be a health hazard to humans. Which of the following describes the best strategy for mitigating this potential problem?

Installing effective ventilation systems in dwellings

Which of the following is a true statement about passive solar heating?

It is based in part on the principle of the greenhouse effect

Which of the following actions would be most likely to increase the protection of ecological systems in national forests?

Mandate that the government sale of logging rights in national forests be at fair market value

Industrial logging threatens many forested ecosystems. Which of the following environmental consequences will most likely result from clear-cutting deciduous forests for logging?

More carbon dioxide will be added to the atmosphere and increase anthropogenic climate change.

Many environmentalists consider Egypt's Aswan High Dam on the Nile River to be an ecological disaster. Which of the following is the best evidence to support this viewpoint?

Most of the nutrient-rich silt that the Nile annually deposited downstream is now deposited behind the dam

Which of the following is a true statement concerning the production of electricity in conventional nuclear power plants using fission reactors?

New nuclear power plants will be built without containment structures, due to the increased insulation in the reactor core.

Which of the following panel systems is least effective at producing energy?

No tracking, tilted EAST

If peak electricity use occurs around 2 pm in the Los Angeles area and avoiding brownouts is more important to the installers of the panels than annual energy output, which of the following panel systems would be best to use in the area?

No tracking, tilted west

Which of the following is a characteristic of nonrenewable energy sources that distinguishes them from renewable energy sources?

Nonrenewable energy sources typically take a longer time to replenishthan renewable energy sources do.

The source that is not renewable

Nuclear fission

Based on the data in the graph, which of the following Canadian cities had the lowest average per capita ecological footprint?

Ottowa

Which of the following best describes the conditions under which peat is formed?

Partially decayed vegetation is placed under high-pressure, anaerobic, acidic conditions.

Other than potential negative health effects on humans, what is a disadvantage of using chemical pesticides to eliminate crop pests?

Pesticides may harm organisms other than the target crop pests through biomagnification in the food web.

Which of the following best describes how electricity is generated using photovoltaic cells?

Photons of light excite electrons that result in a flow of current

Which of the following practices would have the biggest impact on achieving global sustainability?

Reducing human population size

An integrated pest management approach to pest control emphasizes what?

Reduction of crop damage to an economically tolerable level

Which of the following explains why some energy sources are renewable?

Renewable energy sources can be replenished naturally, at or near the rate of consumption

Which of the following would be the best way to mitigate deforestation?

Replant and protect trees in areas that have been previously cleared.

Which of the following best achieves the goal of providing wood products for humans while preserving biodiversity?

Selective cutting of large areas of old-growth forest

A farmer observes that increasingly higher concentrations of a particular pesticide have been required each year over the past ten years to achieve the same level of effectiveness on a specific insect pest. What is happening?

Some individual insects are more likely to reproduce than other due to their inherited traits

Which of the following is a disadvantage of using nuclear energy as a source of electricity?

Spent fuel rods must be disposed of properly.

In contrast to low-level radioactive waste, most high-level radioactive waste is currently

Stored at reactor sites

What element in pyrite contributes to acid mine drainage?

Sulfur

Which of the following has the largest proven coal reserves?

The United States

Which statement best describes the approximate global distribution of coal supplies?

The United States, the former Soviet Union, and China together contain 50% of proven reserves

Which of the following statements correctly explains the role of fossil fuels in the production of energy?

The combustion of fossil fuels heats water to produce steam, which then turns a turbine.

Which of the following is most likely to occur in a forested region that has been recently clear cut?

The concentration of nitrates in streams running through the region will increase

What is the most likely unintended consequence of using pesticides in agriculture?

The continual use of pesticides can cause organisms to build a resistance through genetic mutation that then requires more/ stronger pesticides.

Biological controls are frequently used to replace persistent chemical pesticides. What represents the greatest potential risk of using biological methods?

The control agent attacks not only its intended target but also beneficial species.

Which of the following is the best example of an economic approach to reduce over fishing for a fish species with a declining population?

The federal government sets a catch limit (per person or per boat) for the species and imposes a tax on any extra fish that are caught

Describe acid mine drainage.

The leakage (leached) of water containing toxic materials from coal and metal mines acid drainage due to leaching of spoil heaps by rainwater

Which of the following statements about geothermal energy is accurate?

The location of geothermal energy sources ranges from short distances below ground to miles below the surface

Which of the following is a negative consequence associated with photovoltaic solar cells?

The manufacture of photovoltaic solar cells involves toxic metals that can be released into the environment.

Which of the following is the best example of the tragedy of the commons?

The overharvesting of fish from privately owned lakes

It has recently been estimated that the growth in world population has slowed in the past decade. Despite this trend, environmentalists remain concerned about the environmental impact of world population,principally because

The standard of living is increasing in many developing countries, leading to an increased per capita use of natural resources

The water used in this type of power plant is often released back into a reservoir. Which of the following effects could this released water have on the reservoir?

The temperature of the released water causes a decrease in the amount of dissolved oxygen in the reservoir

Which of the following techniques is a mechanical IPM method for reducing pests?

The use of screens or traps to prevent pests from entering the crop area

Which of the following is a drawback to using biofuels, such as ethanol, as a fuel source?

There is high energy investment in producing and processing the crops needed for ethanol production.

Which of the following is considered an advantage of using nuclear power to generate electricity?

There is no CO2 emitted from the nuclear reaction

What is true of the Ogallala Aquifer?

Underlines US high plains and is being depleted from overuse

Saltwater intrusion is a growing problem in places in the United States including in the coastal cities of Sa

Urbanization and population growth, which lead to over pumping from aquiver

Which of the following is the best example of greywater?

Water that has been used for bathing and for washing

Which of the following is the best example of congregation?

a coal fired power plant captures waste heat and uses it to heat adjacent buildings

Which of the following describes an environment where large amounts of oil could form millions of years in future?

a river delta in a forested area

Which of the following is the best example of a tragedy of the commons?

accumulation of plastics in the great pacific garbage patch

Purity is a major factor in determining the type of coal used for energy. Which of the following types of coal are correctly paired with a description of its purity and common use?

anthracite is considered the highest grade coal because it is almost pure carbon and it is often used for domestic heating

Which of the following best describes why aquaculture has grown considerably in several parts of the world?

aquaculture fisheries provide a larger and more consistent quantity of fish year-round than wild fisheries.

Compared with people in developing countries, people in industrialized countries are more likely to eat

beef

In the majority of less developed countries, the major source of energy for domestic use is which of the following?

biomass

Which of the following best describes an advantage of burning biomass rather than burning fossil fuels in developing countries?

biomass production is cheaper than fossil fuel extraction, making it more readily available for use

It has been observed that forest fires can produce up to 40 perfect of the mean annual global emissions of which of the following gases?

carbon dioxide

All of the following substances are derived from petroleum EXCEPT

cellulose

An advantage of using natural gas, rather than oil, as a fuel is that natural gas is

cleaner because it burns more completely

Which of the following is a commercially used method in the USA for harvesting trees and is most likely to lead to a fragmented landscape with serious impacts on biodiversity?

clear cutting

Which of the following is a commercially-used method for harvesting trees and is most likely to lead to a fragmented landscape with serious impacts on biodiversity?

clearcutting

Which of the following is an unintended environmental consequence of aquaculture?

contamination of surrounding water by organic waste

Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is the pumping of highly pressurized water with a mixture of sand and chemicals into boreholes to

create cracks within the rock in order to provide pathways for the release of gas and oil

One solution for reducing the amount of atmospheric carbon dioxide would be to

decrease the use of fossil fuels

Which of the following best illustrates the concept of the tragedy of the commons?

depletion of an aquifer by regional farmers

many communities experience the tragedy of the commons. One way a local community might regulate a shared and limited resource and reduce the tragedy of the commons is to

divide the resources into parcels and assign them to individuals

This type of irrigation is often used by small-scale farming operations, and it requires extensive labor to setup individual irrigation lines.

drip irrigation

What methods of agricultural irrigation results in the loss of the least amount of water by evaporation?

drip irrigation

One way that consumers can help prevent a decrease in the number of fish species that are experiencing population declines is to

eat fish that are caught using sustainable harvesting methods, therefore ensuring fish populations remain stable and reducing the amount by catch harvested

Overgrazing of grasslands can lead to reduced range quality. Two of the major effects of overgrazing are

erosion and desertification

Which of the following changes to the local hydrologic cycle will result if large areas of land experienced clear cutting?

evaporation of water from the soil will increase

Salmon farming threatens the health of wild salmon sticks primarily because

farmed salmon can spread parasites and diseases to wild salmon

Which of the following best describes an environmental problem associated with hydrologic fracturing or fracking?

fracking fluids can escape from the drill hole and contaminate surface water and groundwater.

This type of irrigation, often used in orchards growing tree crops, distributes water to plants through small parallel channels between crop rows but often leads to increased soil erosion in the field.

furrow irrigation

Extraction of natural gas by the process of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) is most likely to result in which of the following environmental problems?

groundwater contamination

A graph question

he one with IPM

A developer intends to use passive solar heating in a new construction project in Minnesota in an effort to reduce electricity costs for the property owners. Which of the following should be employed to maximize the benefit of passive solar heating?

install south facing glazed windows in the home and dark surfaces to cover the walls and floors

Throughout the world, especially the less-developed countries, burning wood or other biomass for heating or cooking in homes is common. One negative environmental impact of this practice is the production of particulates indoors, which can be a health hazard to humans.Which of the following describes the best strategy for mitigating this potential problem?

installing effective ventilation systems in dwellings

Switching from customary large-scale agricultural practices to which pest control method is most likely to reduce the exposure of farm workers and nearby residents to toxic chemicals?

integrated pest management (IPM)

As urbanization increases and natural solid surfaces are covered, the groundwater supply is reduced to

loss of recharge area

Buildings designed to partially heat rooms by passive solar heating rely on

materials that absorb and store solar energy to warm the room

Vegetarianism is often cited as a partial solution to the growing problem of deforestation and other types of habitat destruction as the human population continues to grow. The reason for this is

more people can be fed using less agricultural land because vegetarians eat at a lower trophic level.

Scientists are looking for new locations to generate electricity using geothermal energy. Which of the following locations would be the best choice for a geothermal energy generating plant?

near tectonic plate boundaries

This type of energy is considered a nonrenewable energy source

nuclear energy

Currently proven global reserves are expected to be largely exhausted within the next 50 years.

oil

Which of the following statements is best supported by the data shown in the graph?

panels that can track the Sun and are constantly moving to always directly face the Sun produce the most electricity daily and annually.

There are various stages in the formation of coal as heat and pressure are increased and moisture content is decreased. These stages, in order, are

peat, lignite, bituminous, anthracite

The primary cause for the decline in the use of wood as a fuel in the eighteen hundreds was the

reduced wood availability resulting from widespread deforestation

What would reduce soil erosion during surface mining of coal?

replanting vegetation

Which of the following is most likely to increase both the nutrient levels and the bacterial content of lake water?

runoff from a nearby hog farm

The excessive pumping of groundwater from wells can influence the water levels below ground. What is more likely to occur in aquifers in coastal areas than in aquifers in other regions?

saltwater intrusion

Is renewable

solar

Which of the following environmental problems is most often associated with electricity generation in the type of power plant illustrated in the diagram?

spent fuel rods are radioactive and must be disposed of properly.

This type of irrigation uses a large system of sprinklers that must be manually moved from field to field and has very large evaporative losses.

spray irrigation

Which of the following is most likely to reduce the United States contribution to the increase in concentration of atmospheric CO2?

switching from cars and trucks to rail for mass transit and freight movement

Environmentalists oppose the mining of antarctic mineral resources because

the antarctic environment is fragile and extremely vulnerable to the disturbances that would accompany development

The separation of the various components of crude oil in refineries is accomplished primarily by taking advantage of differences in which of the following?

the boiling points of components

The farming of fish such as salmon at aquaculture facilities poses a threat to marine ecosystems because

the farmed fish can escape and outcompete wild fish fro food and territory

Which of the following best describes legislation that could be used to address problems with over fishing?

the resource conversation and recovery act (RCRA) provides guidelines for the management of aquatic resources

Describe "mountaintop removal".

the use of heavy equipment to move over burden down hill during the strip mining of coal

The presence of fecal caldron bacteria in a sample of river water suggests which of the following?

the water is contaminated with animal waste

Compared to a coal-fired power plant that produces the same amount of energy, a nuclear power plant generates more

thermal pollution

Which of the following is true of farm-raised salmon?

they are often infected with parasites and sea lice

Overgrazing of public land by privately owned livestock is an example of the

tragedy of the commons

Which of the following would be most likely to be used as a fuel source for electricity generation in a nuclear power station?

uranium-235

Geothermal energy plants are a viable alternative energy source because they

use the heat from Earth's interior to create steam that is used to generate electricity and then can be pumped back into the ground

Which of the following gases is released from the structure labeled C in the diagram?

water vapor

Which of the following fuel sources is commonly used in less developed countries because it is easily accessible?

wood