Environmental Science

The carbon, oxygen, and nitrogen cycles are all biogeochemical cycles. They show the movement of elements through living and nonliving components of the Earth. Carbon, oxygen, and nitrogen, are essential components of life that pass through organisms and nonliving components, but are never used up.

The use of coal has steadily increased from 1800 to 2004. Burning coal was the leading cause of global fossil carbon emissions until around 1970, when the petroleum became the leading cause of global fossil carbon emissions. Petroleum use rose quickly after 1950.

More than one instrument is needed to measure change in the climate system because its complexity. The climate system involves the interaction of the atmosphere, land masses, and bodies of water. Because there are a variety of factors that influence climate, a variety of instruments are needed to measure changes in the climate system.

The Radiosonde is used to measure temperatures, humidity, and pressure of the upper atmosphere. It can take measurements at up to 30 km.

d. Carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen cycles are biogeochemical cycles.

Tracking changes in the climate system can help forecast weather conditions. It can also help predict natural disasters, such as hurricanes. Another advantage of tracking changes in the climate system is the ability to determine human impact on the climate system.

True

a. forecasting weather

d. none of the above

a. to measure the amount of rainfall

False

Not d

False

A

A

B

True

True

D

D

a. They can measure aspects of climate globally.

d. All of the above.

d. none of the above

d. burning of fossil fuels

TRUE

d. All cycles of matter are equally important for life to be sustained.

TRUE

TRUE

c. carbonation

d. It does not involve the atmosphere.

a. effectively conserve and retain water

Fertilizers contain nutrients, especially phosphorous and nitrogen, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council. Since fertilizers help plants grow, they also cause algal blooms in aquatic ecosystems.

Energy is necessary for all living organisms. Everything needs energy to happen

b. triggered by changes in the weather

The carbon cycle is one of the major biogeochemical cycles describing the flow of essential elements from the environent to living organisms and back to the environment again.

Populations are influenced by fluctuations in any of the abiotic cycles. The fluctuations of seasonal cycles can cause populations to hibernate, migrate, or breed. Organisms breed as a result of seasonal fluctucations that cause them to have a limited resource supply. Fluctuations in the phosphorus cycle can cause changes to aquatic ecosystems, either positive or negative.

d. all of the above

cycle is true? a. In living organisms, phosphorus can be found in nucleic acids.

a. can lead to changes in the growth rates of aquatic populations

d. all of the above

b. Secondary succession affects ecosystems that are already established.

a. organisms gradually change the environment

Primary and secondary succession both happen when plant life begins to grow again in a habitat that was once destroyed or is recovering. Secondary succession happens at an increased rate and often the plants grow thicker. An example of secondary succession is a wildfire. Primary succession happens after a habitat is completely destroyed and it finally starts to grow back but is much thinner. Plants that grow here are shrubs and bushes.

Wilfires, ice ages, drought, extreme logging.

Extreme logging can cause a habitat to be destroyed. After this happens shrubs and bushes usually grow back thinner.

Primary succession occurs on novel areas such as volcanic ash, glacial deposits, or bare rock, areas which have not previously supported a community. In such harsh, unstable environments, pioneer colonizing organisms must have wide ranges of ecological tolerance to survive. In contrast, secondary succession is initiated by disturbance such as fire, which removes a previous community from an area. Pioneer species are here constrained not by the physical environment but by their ability to enter and exploit the vacant area rapidly.

b. a natural recovery process

Succession allows ecosystems to recover from events. Even ecosystems that have no soil, such as those that have been destroyed by volcanic activity, can return to a stable and sustainable state. Primary succession occurs in these ecosystems. Pioneer species are found in areas undergoing primary succession. These pioneer species help reform soil over time. After soil is present, new species can move into an area during secondary succession. After a longer period of time, climax communities can be reached.

c. occurs in areas without soil

d. algae

c. Mohorovicic discontinuity

b. the upwelling of magma from the asthenosphere

b. The crust provides raw materials necessary for life.

a. 40%

Mid-ocean ridges are a long, seismically active submarine ridge system situated in the middle of an ocean basin and marking the site of the upwelling of magma associated with seafloor spreading. An example is the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Mid-ocean ridges continuously create crust.

Mid-ocean ridges are where new crust is formed and trenches are where crust is destroyed by subduction. As new crust is formed continuously it gets further and further from the mid-ocean ridge (like a conveyor belt), is "rusting" (aqueous minerals form), it becomes heavier and heavier, colder, less buoyant, and eventually it sinks into the mantle, aided by the weight of the sediment from the continents as well, and a new trench forms.

a. the flow of matter

b. granitic and basaltic minerals

d. Some layers of the earth are liquid, and some are solid.

Biogeochemical cycles are pathways for the transport and transformation of matter within four categorical areas that make up planet Earth (biosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere, and the atmosphere). Biogeochemical cycles are components of the broader cycle that govern the functioning of planet Earth. The idea of the rock cycle is that the rocks are continually changing from one type to another and back again, as forces inside the earth bring them closer to the surface (where they are weathered, eroded, and compacted) and forces on the earth sink them back down (where they are heated, pressed, and melted).

Earth's crust is the outermost solid shell of a rocky planet or natural satellite, which is chemically distinct from the underlying mantle. The crusts of Earth, the Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Io, and other planetary bodies have been generated largely by igneous processes, and these crusts are richer in incompatible elements than their respective mantles. The lithosphere is the rigid outer part of the earth, consisting of the crust and upper mantle. They have many differentiates.

c. nickel and iron

Fossil fuels were formed from plants and animals that lived up to about 300 million years ago. The Sun passed solar energy to the plants, and plants were eaten by animals. When the plants and animals died and started decaying, some of them got buried deep under the ground for many millions of years, where they turned into fossil fuels like coal, gas and crude oil. We burn that coal and oil to turn them into heat energy. Heat energy is transformed in power plants into electricity that goes through the power lines to our homes, then powers our televisions, computers, etc. There are three basic categories of fossil fuels: coal, petroleum (or crude oil), and natural gas The sun gives solar energy to the plants, when the plants die, they get dug under ground for many years. Then they turn into a fossil fuel like coal. Hear is an example what it is usually used for: when the fossil fuel turns into coal, we burn that coal to turn into heat energy. Heat energy, goes through the power lines, then leads to our television.What we watch today, works because of this system. Ultimately the result of biological processes.

False

d. None of the above

b. the upwelling of magma from the asthenosphere

True

c. inner and outer core

False

False

True

a. at mid-ocean ridges

b. biogeochemical cycles

Not a, maybe b

True

c. Between the ages of 12 and 16, all four boys had the biggest jump in height.

True

b. Similarities = helpful staff, ability to hike Differences = variety of views, crowds, peacefulness, wildlife sightings

d. boundary where crust gives way to mantle

c. The layers of Earth are uniform in thickness.

c. subsurface mining

a. Asia

a. sulfur

True

a. Clear-cutting eliminates all trees leaving none behind to maintain soil fertility or house native animals.

True

b. improved ecosystem health

b. using biological mechanisms to eliminate pests

False

c. Tokyo, Japan

An abandoned strip mine will partially recover over time. Without human intervention, however, its recovery will be minimal.

c. dredging sediments from the water bottom

d. all of the above

Mining has a large impact on the environment because minerals are contained within the Earth. Earth must be removed in order to extract the minerals. When the minerals are close to the surface, the earth is removed, causing destruction to the shape of the land and the flora and fauna living in that area.

d. automobiles

Coral bleaching occurs when polyps expel algal cells which changes the color of the coral making its appearance white. Solar irradiance warms the water which causes the coral to expel algal cells.

a. planulae

a. control starfish populations

Zooxanthellae provides CO2. It needs cora, for photosynthesis. Most coral are unable to live without zooxanthellae.It provides coral with vital nutrients for survival and allows reef-building.

b. clean up algae and decayed matter

Blast fishing does not only kill the fish, but it also destroys nearby reefs. When using cyanide to stun the fish, it also kills the reefs and nearby organisms. Coral cannot reproduce fast enough.

a. farming of coral organisms for trade

c. fragile, highly complex community

the tentacle bends, or convolves, bringing the caught food to the hypostoma (the mouth) wich is ingested through the pharynx and reaches the coelenteron, where it's digested with enzymes

Recent laws have limited the mariculture in certain areas making the population loss less.

d. It is composed of thousands of individuals.

b. Coral reefs support a wide variety of organisms.

True

True

c. xenobiotics

True

c. Various preservation methods have had some positive impact on coral reef preservation.

d. all of the above

not b

b. The coral cannot regenerate quickly enough to recover from harvesting practices.

True

b. sediment trapping

a. swamps

False

a. aquatic insects

Peat forms in wetland conditions, where flooding obstructs flows of oxygen from the atmosphere, slowing rates of decomposition

they produce great volumes of food that support a remarkable level of biodiversity

wetlands filter harmful substances wetlands protect against floods wetlands protect against erosion wetlands provide food and habitat wetlands save people money

d. all of the above

Detritus is very important as the base of food chains and for cycling of nutrients

d. acidic groundwater

A marsh is an area of low-lying land that is flooded in wet seasons or at high tide, and typically remains waterlogged at all times. A swamp is an area of low-lying, uncultivated ground where water collects; a bog or marsh. A bog is a wet muddy ground too soft to support a heavy body.

d. all of the above

not c

True

not d

d. access to water

True

c. 1%

not d

c. The less energy the organism requires, the more efficient the energy transfer.

not c

a. 6H2O + 6CO2 ® 6O2 + C6H12O6

d. O2

c. C6H12O6

Secondary productivity is the rate at which consumers convert chemical energy into their own biomass. This rate is based on the organism's metabolism, because organisms with higher metabolisms have to consume more energy to maintain their metabolic processes relative to how much energy is converted into their biomass. Reptiles have slower metabolisms than mammals and do not consume as much energy relative to their body mass as mammals, giving them a higher rate of secondary productivity.

b. Energy is recycled after flowing through ecosystems.

a. sunlight and nutrient availability

b. 10%

Energy is neither created nor destroyed by chemical processes, merely transferred. Since energy is also lost every time energy is transferred between organisms, that lost heat must go somewhere. That lost energy becomes waste heat in the environment.

a. 30% is reflected back into space

a. carnivores

Most of the energy in ecosystems enters as sunlight, so it is the principal source of energy for the biosphere. Autotrophs are organisms that can convert sunlight, solar radiation, into chemical energy that they and other organisms can use. Heterotrophs cannot utilize sunlight directly to make their food, so energy can only flow to them after passing through autotrophs.

Lightning strikes are dangerous whether an individual is or is not in the path of the discharge. The current propagated by a lightning strike is actually what is harmful and the current can pass through the ground after striking. This means that even near-misses can be dangerous as the current travels through the ground.

Organisms must gather energy to survive. This energy can come in different forms, depending upon whether the organism is an autotroph and gathers its energy from sunlight or a consumer that feeds upon autotrophs and/or other consumers. Processing plant and animal matter into usable chemical energy in this way requires transforming it. Plant matter is transformed by herbivores which are transformed by carnivores, maintaining the food webs that support an ecosystem.

d. all of the above

b. companies to receive building permits

d. requiring governmental agencies to prepare environmental assessments and impact statements

d. all of the above

True

The environmental impacts of detrimental practices on private property are not necessarily limited to the private property. Water polluted on private property might flow into a local river or aquifer used for public purposes like recreation or drinking water. Landowners that kill migrating animals on their property are destroying organisms that, by definition, are part of a larger ecosystem; the loss of these organisms will impact all the ecosystems along the migratory path.

d. zoning and transport infrastructure

a. carbon dioxide

A cap and dividend policy involves issuing permits to industries that contribute to overall carbon emissions. These industries would have a limit to how much they could contribute to carbon emissions, and each year the number of permits would decrease. This would force industries to adapt to changes in carbon emissions and reduce the overall amount of carbon emissions over time.

Environmental justice encompasses the idea that all members of society should have a meaningful opportunity to participate in the decision making that might impact the environment. It also includes the idea of fair treatment, that no group (ethnic, religious socioeconomic) should bear a disproportionate share of the negative environmental consequences of decisions or policies. Environmental justice is concerned with ensuring that the haves and have-nots both have a say in environmental policy and share the burdens of the consequences of those policies.

d. all of the above

The goals of sustainable development center around making use of available resources to meet human needs while preserving the environment. Either goal can easily be met independently; not gathering the resource preserves the environments, while gathering it makes it available for human use. Sustainable development is the attempt to achieve both goals by meeting human needs for a resource without permanently depleting it.

Smart growth planning concentrates development in the center of a city, preventing urban sprawl. This strategy reduces the need for automobile use, reducing pollution and the other environmental consequences arising from building roads and such. Smart growth also advocates more mixed-use development, which distributes the costs, benefits, and burdens of city development more broadly and equitably.

Major environmental policies came about as a result of environmental disasters that drew the attention of the media. Events like the oil spill in California and the fires along the Cuyahoga River drew the attention of the media and helped raise public awareness of environmental issues. Increased public awareness led to the federal government enacting policies to monitor water conditions and assess the environmental impact of business and industry.

Over the years, greater controversy has arisen over environmental issues as the issues addressed have become more complex and less easily identifiable.

d. none of the above