Chapter 6: Assessment Questions

16) List three examples of an environmental pollutant.

Examples of environmental pollutants include sewage dumped into streams, oil spills at sea, pesticides that enter the food chain, and acidic gases from burning fossil fuels.

2) Civilizations could not develop without _______.

agriculture

6) The sum total of the variety of organisms on Earth is referred to as _______.

biodiversity

4) The conversation of a previously soil-rich area to a sandy desert is called _______.

desertification

9) A species where population size is declining so rapidly that it could soon become extinct is said to be _______.

endangered

7) When land development divides a habitat into isolated "islands" of the original area, the result is called _______.

fragmentation

24-A) In your own words, explain what is plotted on the y-axis. What does the unit 0.0 represent?

The change in temperature, expressed in °C, is plotted on the y-axis. The unit 0.0 represents the global temperature in 1850.

24-C) Describe the trend in the data between 1970 and 2000.

The data between 1970 and 2000 show an overall increase in temperature.

24-D) Explain why this graph cannot predict global temperature change in the future.

The graph by itself does not predict the pattern of global warming in the future, because many different variables interact to produce temperature averages for a given year and can also modify climate trends in unpredictable ways.

12) What has been the greatest source of change in the biosphere?

The greatest source of change in the biosphere is human activity.

13) What was the green revolution?

The green revolution introduced farming strategies such as high-yield varieties of major food crops, which greatly increased agricultural production.

18) Give an example of biological magnification. How does it occur?

The increasing concentration of DDT released into the food chain from zooplankton to fish to eagles is an example of how biological magnification occurs.

24-B) How much did temperature change between 1850 and 2000?

The world temperature change in 2000 was 0.7, or 0.7 degrees higher than in 1850.

10) The concept of using natural resources at a rate that does not deplete them is called _______.

sustainable development

5) The burning of fossil fuels may cause all of the following EXCEPT _______.

the ozone hole

1) Which of the following human activities was NOT important in transforming the biosphere?

Aquaculture.

19) Describe the process by which chlorofluorocarbons deplete the ozone layer.

CFCs are carried into the upper atmosphere, where UV radiation breaks them apart. A series of chemical reactions follows, breaking down ozone into ordinary oxygen.

15) Why have forests been called the "lungs of the Earth"?

Forests remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and produce oxygen.

11) Examine the food web below and determine which of the following organisms would accumulate the highest levels of chlorinated pesticide.

Hawk.

3) A resource that cannot be replenished by natural processes is called _______.

nonrenewable

8) A species that enters an environment where it has not lived before is called a(an) _______.

predator