Practice Exam

All of the following are considered household hazardous waste;

- Batteries - Bug spray - Motor oil - Oil-based paint

Cause of decreased coal production

- Began to decrease in 2008 b/c of increasing use of natural gas and renewable energy

Major anthropogenic sources of nitrogen pollution include..

- Commercial fertilizers - Vehicle exhaust - Industrial air pollution - Discharge of sewage to surface waters

All of the following negative externalities

- Illnesses related to living near a manufacturing facility - Noise associated with living near a major airport - Air pollution caused by refinery emissions - Damage to crops from automobile exhaust

Results from increased temperatures in the Arctic

- Increased numbers of mosquitoes drive caribou to higher, cooler elevations where there is less vegetation - Increased melting of the permafrost increases the amount of methane that escapes into the atmosphere, which increases the temperature even more - Increased melting of sea ice decreases travel distance for ships but increases the distance that polar bears and other Arctic species have to travel to find food, thus leading to their possible extinction

The Sun's radiation provides energy for

- Plant growth - Ocean currents - Hurricanes - Cloud formation

An experiment was carried out to determine the lethal dose of ammonium sulfate on mung bean germination

- The independent variable is the concentration of the ammonium sulfate - The dependent variable is the number of seeds that failed to germinate

Which of the following is the most likely explanation of how herbicides affect amphibians?

Act as endocrine disruptors

Which of the following represents a positive feedback loop in the Arctic that is associated with anthropogenic climate change?

Arctic Ocean ice melts --> ocean surface water temperature increases --> more ice melts

Eutrophication results in the death of trout and other fish as a result of...

Asphyxiation from lack of oxygen

Catalytic converters reduce which of the following pairs of pollutants in car exhaust?

Carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons

Which of the following is the most likely route for mercury to enter the food web?

Coal-burning emissions --> deposition --> ocean --> plankton --> fishes

Which of the following is an example of a carbon sink?

Deposition of organic matter on the deep ocean floor

Storm water runoff from the new development into nearby Samel Creek will likely lead to which of the following?

Destruction of fish habitats by high levels of suspended solids and sediments

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

Groundwater contamination

Which of the following questions is most appropriate to ask when investigating the cause of the change in the alpine meadows?

Has an increase in soil nitrates from air pollution allowed the invasive grasses to outcompete the native plants?

Which of the following is a likely cause for the decline of world population growth?

Increased numbers of women entering the workforce in developing nations

Which of the following is true of the Ogallala Aquifer?

It underlies the US High Plains and is being depleted by overuse

Was once widely used in the US as a gasoline additive

Lead

The presence of which of the following in soil is most likely to neutralize acid rain?

Limestone

Open oceans produce the largest share of Earth's biomass because the NPP of the oceans is...

Low, but the large expanse of the oceans supports enormous numbers of producers such as phytoplankton

Poses a health risk to humans who eat large quantities of marine fish

Mercury

Which of the following is the most likely cause of recent blooms of blue-green algae in Lake Erie?

Phosphorus contained in agricultural runoff

Which of the following describes the changes in a country's demographics as it begins its transition from a preindustrial state to an industrial state?

Population increases rapidly, birth rate remains high, death rate decreases

Which of the following measures would be most likely to promote fertility above replacement level?

Public housing priority for families with more than two children

Hydraulic fracturing

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

Gaseous decay product of uranium found in rocks

Radon

Leading cause of lung cancer in the US

Radon

Which of the following describes the most likely change to the distribution of red pine over the next 200 years?

Red pine distribution will shift northward into Canada

For which of the following reasons do small isolated islands have a greater rate of species extinction than larger, less isolated islands?

Small isolated islands have a lower availability of resources

Phytoplankton are most abundant in the upper few hundred feet of most bodies of water because

Sunlight does not penetrate to great depths in the water

If technology that reduces the hydrocarbon concentration had been utilized, which of the following would have been the most likely result?

The concentration of O3 would have been lower

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

There is no CO2 emitted from the nuclear reaction

Which of the following is true about the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990?

They allowed power plaints to buy and sell SO2 pollution allowances

Which of the following accurately describes a fuel cell vehicle?

Use hydrogen to generate electricity that runs the motor

Concern with GM crops

Use of GM seeds can lead to loss of genetic diversity in crops

Glyphosate herbicides

Use of glyphosate has selected for herbicide resistance in weed populations

One important step that homeowners in the new development can take to protect water quality in Samel Creek would be to...

Use rain barrels to reduce the flow of storm water into the creek

Most deserts on Earth are located near the 30* north and 30* south latitudes because the humidity is lower at 30*. The best explanation for the lower humidity is that

Warm air rises at the equator, cools, and sinks at 30* latitude

Which of the following best explains the relationship between the El Nino event and the population decline?

Warmer ocean temperatures can cause fish to move to colder water farther from pelican nest sites

Which of the following is a reason why hybrid electric vehicles use less fossil fuel per mile traveled than a typical internal combustion engine vehicle?

When the brakes are applied in hybrid electric vehicles, kinetic energy is converted into electric energy to charge the batteries that assist the electric motor

Surface oceanic circulation results most directly in the...

distribution of heat from tropical to temperate and polar regions

A major limitation of using photo-voltaic cells to generate electricity is that they...

do not produce as much electricity on cloudy days

The K-selection reproductive strategy maximizes survival of offspring by producing...

few offspring with high levels of parental care