environmental science tests 1-3

According to the precautionary principle, we should ________.

restrict any chemical that is suspected of toxicity until it is demonstrated to be safe

Synergistic effects of toxicants ________.

are greater than the sum of the effects of the components

The concentration of DDT in a certain lake is 0.0000003 ppm (parts per million), while the concentration of DDT in the tissues of a nearby osprey (a fish-eating bird) is 25 ppm. This is an example of ________.

biomagnification

Aquatic animals such as fish and frogs are especially good indicators of water pollution because ________.

most chemicals are water soluble so they enter these organisms through drinking or skin absorption

Which of the following statements about chronic versus acute exposure is true?

Safe levels for chronic exposure to a toxicant are lower than safe levels for acute exposure.

Acute exposure to an environmental toxin ________.

is a high exposure over short times and associated with a specific cause

________ are toxicants that interrupt essential biochemical processes in organisms by blocking one or more steps in important biochemical reactions.

pathway inhibitors

Carcinogens may be difficult to identify because ________.

there is a long lag time between exposure to the agent and disease

________ are substances that cause cancer.

carcinogens

________ is a naturally occurring substance that seeps up from the ground and is potentially toxic to people.

radon gas

Use the figure above to answer the following question(s).


The curve shown in (c) is most similar to which of the following effective dose responses?

the effect of an estrogen mimic on the reproductive system of fish

Use the figure above to answer the following question(s).


Assume that the scales for graphs (a) and (b) are identical. Compare the graphs. Which of the following statements is true?

The toxicant shown in (b) has a lower toxicity than the toxicant shown in (a).

Use the figure above to answer the following question(s).


Approximately ________% of Earth's water is found in ice caps and glaciers.

2

A watershed is ________.

the area of land that drains into a river or lake

Emergent vegetation such as cattails and reeds grow in the ________ zone of a lake.

littoral

Which of the following best describes a floodplain?

a region of land that is periodically flooded when a river overflows

Upwelling ________.

brings benthic nutrients to the ocean surface promoting high primary productivity

The exceptionally strong warming of the eastern Pacific is referred to as ________.

El Niño

Water bodies where rivers flow into the oceans, mixing fresh water with saltwater, are called ________.

estuaries

Bycatch ________.

refers to the accidental capture of animals

Levees are used ________.

to prevent flooding and facilitate shipping

All of the following are examples of point sources of pollution EXCEPT:

a large farm.

You want to maintain a healthy pond at your school site. Last year, another pond became eutrophic; to avoid that, you want to ________.

avoid increasing phosphorus runoff into the limnetic zone

The fish in the lake at the local park are dying, and a professor from the local college comes to investigate. First, she measures the levels of dissolved oxygen in order to check for ________.

hypoxia

In a municipal wastewater treatment plant, the primary treatment step consists of ________.

letting sewage sit in large tanks so suspended solids settle out

The Montreal Protocol ________.

resulted in a significant reduction in the production of CFCs by signatory nations

More than ________% of U.S. citizens live in coastal counties and are thus vulnerable to rises in sea level.

50

On average, how much warmer were global temperatures in the year 2000 than temperatures predicted by the climate change model that incorporates only natural factors?

0.6 degrees celcius

The greenhouse effect involves warming of Earth's surface and the ________.

troposphere

Which of the following is an adaptation response to climate change?

a Pacific island nation building higher seawalls

Rising sea levels result in all of the following EXCEPT:

ocean acidification

Keeling's reports from Mauna Loa demonstrated ________.

an increase in tropospheric CO₂ from the 1950s to present

Milankovitch cycles ________.

are changes in Earth's rotation and orbit that may trigger climate variation

Which of the following may result in a positive feedback mechanism that would intensify climate change?

Warmer temperatures result in the melting of permafrost.

All of the following are anthropogenic factors contributing to climate change EXCEPT:

breathing

Carbon dioxide is ________.

produced during the combustion of fossil fuels

The atmosphere around Earth can cause global warming because ________.

molecules in the atmosphere are warmed by radiation from Earth and retain that heat

The best fit between observed and model data is shown by the model that ________.

incorporates both natural and anthropogenic factors

Temperature increases with altitude through most of the stratosphere because ________.

heat is released when oxygen and ozone absorb the sun's UV radiation

Ozone in the ________ is important for absorbing and scattering much of the UV radiation coming into Earth's atmosphere from the sun.

stratosphere

Weather occurs in the ________.

troposphere

The Coriolis effect ________.

is caused by Earth's rotation

Occasionally, a layer of cool air forms under a layer of warmer air in the troposphere. This change from the normal temperature profile in the troposphere is called a ________.

temperature or thermal inversion

Residence time is the ________.

length of time a pollutant spends in the environment

Which of the following is a secondary air pollutant?

ozone

A(n) ________ is a device designed to remove airborne pollutants from smokestack emissions.

scrubber

Tropospheric ozone ________.

is produced through the interaction of heat and UV light, with nitrogen oxides and carbon-containing compounds

What gas composes the largest portion of Earth's atmosphere?

nitrogen

In the stratosphere, ________.

Correct answer:

increase in temperature and ozone levels are strongly correlated

In the troposphere, ________.

temperature decreases nearly linearly with altitude

Which of the following best describes the concept of "natural capital"?

the combination of natural resources and ecosystem services that sustain human life and economic activity

Malthus was responsible for ________.

the idea that without social restrictions, increasing human population would lead to war, disease, and starvation

At what stage is the United States in the demographic transition model?

postindustrial

The world population growth peaked at ________% in the 1960s.

2.1

Which of the following can be inferred from the figure?

There is a correlation between TFR and female enrollment in secondary school.

In 2016, the population of the United States was approximately 325 million people, with an annual growth rate of approximately 0.7%. If the population of the United States were to continue to grow at this rate, it would double around the year ________.

2116

According to the figure, Nigeria has a ________ population size than Canada, with a ________ median age and a ________ proportion of the population at post-reproductive age.

larger; lower; smaller

Replacement fertility ________.

is equal to approximately 2.1

Enforcement and elaboration of U.S. legislation is given to ________.

administrative agencies

A population in the postindustrial stage would be expected to have ________.

birth and death rates at low stable levels

the first national park in the world was ___

Yellowstone

Published in the 1962, Rachel Carson's book Silent Spring ________.

focused on chemical pollutants, including industrial chemicals

In the demographic transition model, the highest population growth rate in a country is likely to occur during ________.

stage 2, the transitional stage

The view held by both Malthus and Paul Ehrlich suggests that depletion of resource supplies due to greater numbers of people ________.

is a problem because most resources are limited and can be depleted

The social changes in the United States in the 20th century gave rise to environmental laws concerned primarily with ________.

reducing pollution caused by industry

What federal legislation passed in 1980 regulates the cleanup of hazardous waste sites?

CERCLA

An environmental impact statement is required ________.

for any federal action that may affect U.S. environmental quality

International environmental policies arise from ________.

international conventions or treaties

To control pollution, industry has been given limits and been threatened with punishment if these limits are violated. This approach is called ________.

command and control

________ encourages more sustainable business practices.

Ecolabeling

You spend the night at a hotel and notice a sign in the bathroom asking you to place dirty towels on the floor and to hang up towels that you wish to reuse. By doing so, the hotel chain can help "save the planet" by conserving water and detergent. You recognize that the hotel chain would also save a lot of money by not having to launder so many towels, and you begin to wonder cynically whether the hotel isn't just practicing ________.

greenwashing

Which of the following is an ecosystem service?

pollination of crop plants

________ involves meeting the needs of the present without sacrificing the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

Sustainable development

Leaders striving for sustainable development aim to satisfy a triple bottom line, which involves what three goals?

economic advancement, environmental protection, and social equity

By evaluating hundreds of studies that estimated dollar values for major ecosystem services, Robert Costanza and his colleagues have shown that ________.

the value of ecosystem services is more than $125 trillion in 2007 dollars

________ is the loss of more than 10% of soil productivity in arid areas due to such factors as erosion, soil compaction, overgrazing, and forest removal.

desertification

The greatest cause of the worldwide loss of species is ________.

habitat destruction

Removal of which of the following species will result in the greatest changes in an ecological system?

a keystone species

The greatest species diversity is found in which of the following groups?

insects

Animals that are harmed by human modification of the environment tend to have all of the following characteristics EXCEPT:

being a dietary generalist.

The O horizon is ________.

primarily composed of organic materials

Insects serve what beneficial role(s) in agriculture?

essential pollinators and predators

Which of the following activities would violate CITES?

Your friend brings back an ivory chess set that he bought while on safari in Lesotho.

Normal Borlaug, who passed away in 2009, pioneered the development of ________.

high-yield wheat

What were the primary goals of the Green Revolution?

introducing new technology and farming practices

Managing crop competitors and pests has been challenging to agronomists for centuries. One approach, integrated pest management, ________.

combines synthetic chemical pesticides with biocontrol techniques

Terracing, contour farming, intercropping, and crop rotation all ________.

are techniques for conserving soil resources and fertility

The results of overapplying fertilizer can include ________.

eutrophication in nearby waterways

Irrigation can result in the salinization of soils because ________.

salts in the water are deposited on the soil surface as water evaporates

Industrial agriculture ________.

has increased our ability to obtain more food from the same area

During the past half-century, global food production has ________ world population growth.

grown at a faster rate than

Which of the following changes in your diet would decrease the size of your ecological footprint without causing health problems?

shifting your protein intake from beef and pork to eggs and dairy products

The greatest diversity is found in which of the following groups of organisms?

invertebrates

Biodiversity enhances human food security because it ________.

is a potential source of new foods or new varieties of existing foods

The loss of a particular population from a given area (but not the entire species globally) is called ________.

extirpation

Paleontologists estimate that ________.

99% of all species that have ever existed are now extinct

The IUCN's Red List is ________.

an updated list of species facing unusually high risk of extinction

Changes in habitat have tremendous effects on the organisms that depend on them. These effects are ________.

generally negative; organisms are already adapted to the habitats in which they occur and any change is likely to render the habitat less suitable

What two events led to the recovery of bald eagle numbers in the United States starting in the 1970s?

The Endangered Species Act was passed, and DDT was banned in the United States.

Contrary to popular belief, the Endangered Species Act allows ________.

landowners to harm a protected species in one area if they improve habitat for it elsewhere