GEO 120QR Final Exam

Anthropogenic emissions of carbon dioxide are increasing by about ______ each year.

0.5%

Nuclear power as a source of energy really took off in the United States around ______.

1953 when President Eisenhower presented his "Atoms for peace" speech to the United Nations

When is the benefit of a wedge analysis solution noticed?

About 50 years after implementation

The College of the Blank 1Blank 1 r , Incorrect Unavailable in Bar Harbor, Maine, is the number one "Cool School" according to the Sierra Club (2018). The reasons for the ranking include divestment from fossil fuel companies, high-efficiency student Blank 2Blank 2 r , Incorrect Unavailable, and the use of organic food.

Atlantic; housing

What are the components of tar sands?

Bitumen Shale particles Sand

What two atmospheric CO2 trends are shown on the Keeling curve?

CO2 has increased from 1958 to 2018. CO2 concentrations vary annually in response to plant growth and decay.

What U.S. state sued car manufacturers in 2006 when they didn't comply with cutting tailpipe emissions?

California

The proposed Keystone XL pipeline would have brought oil from _______ to Texas, where most of it would have been exported.

Canada

Which of the following statements about chronic and acute exposure and effects are correct? (Select all that apply.)

Chronic exposure involves continuous or repeated contact with a toxic substance over a long period of time (months or years). Acute exposure involves a single contact with a toxic chemical. It may last a few seconds or a few hours.

Identify all the reasons the use of coal in the United States is declining.

Coal plants are aging and it is expensive to upgrade them. New technologies have made other sources cheaper.

Which of the following tenets align with the precautionary principle? (Mark all that apply.)

Decisions should be open and democratic and must include the affected parties. Before using a technology, process, or chemical, proponents have an obligation to examine alternatives, including the alternative of not using it. People have a duty to take steps to prevent harm.

Which of these are likely to become higher, more frequent, and/or more abundant due to deforestation?

Drought Temperatures Wildfires

Occurring in 1997, the ______ Protocol was an agreement by 160 countries to cut CO2, methane, and nitrous oxide emissions to a certain level by 2012.

Kyoto

We use climate models to discover the causes of recent climate change. How do we know these changes are human-caused?

Observed changes fit models with human inputs better than models without human inputs.

Why are ocean currents important in modifying regional climates?

Ocean currents redistribute heat from low latitudes to high latitudes.

Choose all the components of oil formation.

On the sea floor Mixed with mud and sand From plankton and algae

The Clean Air Act has led to a great reduction in levels of most of the "criteria" pollutants. However, two pollutants have not dropped significantly. Identify those two below.

Particulate matter Nitrogen oxides

Which of the following statements are benefits or results of microlending? (Select all that apply.)

Possible to help the poor and make a profit on the loan. Poor women have shown remarkable ability to positively impact their families with these loans. They can help the poorest of the poor.

Which of the following are methods that ranchers are experimenting with to improve the health of the rangelands? (Choose all that apply.)

Raising wild species that are more efficient and disease-resistant Restoring fire to the land Using rotational grazing techniques

The number of climate _________, will likely increase dramatically if temperatures rise by just 2°C, as both sea levels and droughts will both increase, displacing large numbers of people.

Refugees

Which of the following are problems associated with large-scale dams constructed to generate electricity? (Choose all that apply.)

Reservoirs behind the dam lose water to evaporation. The submerged vegetation in the reservoir emits methane. Sediments build up behind the dam. They alter animal and plant habitats, and destroy biodiversity.

Some of the principles behind smart growth include limiting city ______, and locating shopping and services nearby to reduce automobile dependence for everyday needs.

Size

The is a revolving pool of funds that was designed to immediately respond to emergency situations and remediate abandoned or inactive polluted sites.

Superfund

What sands are composed of a mixture of a semisolid hydrocarbon (bitumen), water, sand, and shale particles.

Tar

In 2007, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that is was ______ responsibility to limit greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act.

The EPA's

Most proven oil reserves are in

The Middle East

Which of the following statements about microlending is not true?

The loan default rates are higher than traditional loans.

Why were many environmental policies established in the 1970s? (Choose all that apply.)

There was strong bipartisan action in politics. The lobbying industry was still small. Environmental degradation was very apparent.

Criticisms of international trade organizations include which of the following? (Select all that apply.)

They are largely run by wealthy nations controlling their own interests. Lax environmental and labor conditions tend to be rewarded in free trade agreements. Producers of raw materials see little of the income generated from them.

What is the purpose or corridors?

To effectively create a large reserve from several small ones To allow populations to expand into new breeding territory To connect a natural habitat area to smaller habitats that are already protected

Which of the following statements are true about toxins? (Select all that apply.)

Toxins react with cellular components to disrupt metabolic functions or cellular processes. Extremely small amounts of some toxins can cause damage.

Which of the following two factors help to create ocean currents?

Variety in water density Wind pushing on the ocean surface

Match the country with the correct description of land preservation there.

Venezuela: It claims 66% of the country is protected, largely for preserves for indigenous people or for sustainable resource harvesting. Brazil: It has the largest total area of land protected of all countries; more than 2.5 million km2. United States: Only 22% of its land is protected, but land is well managed with hundreds of thousands of employees and billions of dollars in public funding. Greenland: It has a large reserve area that is mostly ice covered. Saudi Arabia: It has a large reserve area that is mostly desert.

The first goals of the Clean Water Act were to ______. (Mark all that apply.)

Why were many environmental policies established in the 1970s? (Choose all that apply.)

Critics of the Keystone XL pipeline (that would move tar-sands oil from Alberta to Texas) say the project should not move forward because ______. (Select all that apply.)

a spill would contaminate the largest aquifer in the United States it could cause oil prices to rise only about 50 permanent jobs would be created (much less than supporters' estimate of 20,000)

The ozone hole is best described as ______.

a thinning of stratospheric ozone concentrations

Precipitation that is made more ______ by emissions of pollutants such as sulfur dioxide and sulfates does damage to water systems, buildings, and plants.

acidic

Approximately half of the solid waste produced in the United States is _______ waste, which is generally recycled into the _______ on the farms where it is produced.

agricultural; soil

Some allergens work indirectly to cause an immune response. Those allergens that work directly to cause an immune response are called ______.

antigens

The Keeling curve, created from measurements taken on the Mauna Loa volcano in Hawaii, shows ______ since 1958.

atmospheric CO2 concentrations steadily increasing

The United States produces about 11 ______ tons of solid waste each year.

billion

The biggest source(s) of toxic and hazardous waste in the United States are _____.

chemical and petroleum industries

The most abundant fossil fuel resource worldwide is

coal

A regulated criteria pollutant under the Clean Air Act, nitrogen oxides are reactive gases formed during _______, when the nitrogen in fuel or in the air is heated in the presence of oxygen.

combustion

Hazardous waste is any discarded material that contains substances known to be ______. (Choose all that apply.)

corrosive fatal to humans or lab animals in low doses toxic, carcinogenic, or mutagenic to humans or other life-forms

The U.S. Clean Air Act was amended in 1970 to address six major pollutants referred to as pollutants.

criteria

Principles of ecosystem management include managing whole landscapes over ecological time, depending on scientifically sound for decision making, and maintaining biological and essential ecosystem processes.

data; diversity

Epidemics that affect animals and wildlife are referred to as _______ diseases.

ecological

The pollutants which the EPA classifies as "criteria pollutants" are thought to contribute most to air quality degradation, and include _____. (Choose all that apply.)

lead sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides carbon monoxide and ozone total suspended particulate matter

Greenhouse gas emissions could be quickly decreased by sealing the methane _______ from oil and gas wells.

leaks

Oxygen isotopes are important in understanding temperature from ice core records because ______.

lighter-weight isotopes evaporate more readily in cold years

Barren land created by the overgrazing of grasslands will reflect of the sun's heat than if it was left as grass, causing even more desertification.

more

Overgrazing of livestock on land leads to ______. (Mark all that apply.)

more runoff erosion damage to vegetation

Mercury is an example of a ______ in that exposure to mercury damages the brain and nervous system, especially in young organisms and developing fetuses.

neurotoxin

While most "criteria" pollutants have been reduced since the passage of the Clean Air Act, the growing number of automobiles has kept levels of ______ high in many areas.

nitrogen oxides

Rain, and other types of precipitation, are made acidic by industrial emissions of ______.

nitrogen oxides sulfur dioxide sulfates carbon dioxide

Half of nuclear power plants operating in the United States were built ______.

over 40 years ago and are approaching the end of their expected operational life

Ocean fish stocks are on the decline primarily because of ______.

overharvesting

Nitric oxide further ______ in the atmosphere to form nitrogen dioxide (the reddish-brown gas in smog).

oxidizes

Disease causing organisms are known as

pathogens

Green roofs can provide many benefits including ______. (Select all that apply.)

reduced urban heat island effects improved air quality conservation of energy

The goal of the Montreal Protocol, to ______, has largely been achieved by reducing CFCs and HCFCs.

restore stratospheric ozone

The danger of a chemical (its toxicity) is determined by the ______. (Select all that apply.)

route of entry dose sensitivity of the organism timing of the exposure

Two degrees of warming will most likely cause ______ to increase. (Choose al that apply.)

sea levels climate refugees heat wave deaths droughts

Coral reefs are the most threatened marine ecosystem due to ______. (Mark all that apply.)

sediment runoff destructive fishing methods rising sea temperatures

Which of the following is a condition the International Monetary Fund (IMF) frequently puts on debtor nations and that is commonly criticized?

slashing welfare programs

Urban occurs when compact cities begin to spread over the landscape, consuming open space and wasting resources.

sprawl

Some of the issues with open dumps include ______. (Choose all that apply.)

the spread of waste and pollution by wind and rain smell the amount of waste oil poured into them

El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is an atmospheric shifting that occurs in the Pacific Ocean, involving changes in ______. (Select the best answer.)

wind, ocean currents, and air and water temperatures