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Question 1

How much cooler would the average air surface temperate on the Earth be if there were no greenhouse gasses?

Answer 1

33 Celsius

Question 2

Besides industrial processes burning fossil fuels, what is another major source of CO2 emissions?

Answer 2

Deforestation

Question 3

How much has the average air surface temperature of the Earth already increased? (in Celsius)

Answer 3

0.8

Question 4

How many metric tonnes of CO2 are emitted every year?

Answer 4

30,000,000,000 metric tonnes

Question 5

What caused a cooling between 1940 and 1970?

Answer 5

Aerosols

Question 6

Who (last name is good enough) started observing CO2 concentrations first and in what year?

Answer 6

Dr. Keeling in 1958

Question 7

How far are we able to go back in the climate record using ice cores?

Answer 7

800,000 years

Question 8

What is the heavier isotope of water – 18O or 16O – and what is its relationship to warming and cooling? In a warm climate, more or less 18O makes it to the poles/ice caps?

Answer 8

18O water made from this evaporates more during warm periods and less during cold periods

Question 9

During the _____________________, 90% of ocean species and 70% of land species on Earth went extinct, most likely due to 1,000 gigatons of coal being burned by volcanoes erupting for 1 million years at the Siberian Traps, increasing ocean waters to 104 degrees C.

Answer 9

Permian Mass Extinction

Question 10

True or False: CO2 concentrations and their positive effect on plants are likely to override any negative effects warming might have on the plants.

Answer 10

True

Question 11

Oceans have absorbed ______% of the warming caused by CO2 emissions. Knowing this, what would the warming have been if the oceans hadn’t absorbed the heat? (Hint: current warming is 0.8oC, which corresponds to 10% of the total heating, so the equation is: 0.8x=0.1…where x is the total amount of heating you’d expect without the oceans. x = _____________

Answer 11

90%

Question 12

Which renewable energy source is likely to reduce our reliance on coal the most in the future, according to the NREL?

Answer 12

Wind Power

Question 13

The majority off emissions come from what sector: road transport or electricity generation and heating?

Answer 13

Electricity generation and heating

Question 14

On average, soil is composed of ___ water, ______% air, _____% minerals, and _____% organic matter.

Answer 14

25% water
25% air
45% minerals
5% organic matter

Question 15

Agriculture is considered any land that is arable, has perennial crops, or has permanent pasture. What fraction of the earth’s land surface is used for agriculture?

Answer 15

1/3

Question 16

It can take 1” of soil _______ years to form.

Answer 16

1,000

Question 17

The ___ (#) functions of soil are

Answer 17

1) medium of plant growth, 2) regulating water,
3) Habitat of soil organisms
4) Recycling raw materials
5) Engineering medium

Question 18

What formed most of the soils in the Midwest?

Answer 18

Glaciers

Question 19

If you have 300 mm of precipitation in a year and measured 180 mm of evapotranspiration, what is the leaching index in that site?

Answer 19

120 mm

Question 20

As soils become more mature and fertile, they allow more vegetation to grow, whose roots lock soils in place, reducing the __________ rate.

Answer 20

Erosion

Question 21

Eluviation is the movement of materials ______ of a horizion.

Answer 21

Usually clay and hummus (out)

Question 22

Illuviation is the movement of materials ______ a horizon.

Answer 22

Usually clay and hummus (into)

Question 23

What ecosystems (forest, prairie or desert etc) typically have the thickest A horizons?

Answer 23

Praire

Question 24

Soil texture is divided into parts sand, silt and ________, with ________ having the smallest particle size.

Answer 24

Clay, Clay

Question 25

Of sand, silt and clay, which has the highest water holding capacity?

Answer 25

Clay

Question 26

Generally, the darker the soil, the higher its _______________ content.

Answer 26

Organic Matter

Question 27

A soil sample weighs 100 grams, 35 grams are sand, 15 grams are clay, what percentage of the soil is silt?

Answer 27

100g – 35g – 15g = 50g => 50%

Question 28

Which are needed in larger amounts: macronutrients or micronutrients?

Answer 28

Macronutrients

Question 29

True or false: Fertilizers used in agriculture are a nutrient for plants, but can be a contaminant if too much is applied

Answer 29

True

Question 30

Fields that have not been cultivated and have standing stubble have _____________ (more or less) erosion than cultivated crops without cover.

Answer 30

More

Question 31

Porosity is the volume of the pores divided by the bulk volume, so if you have 1 cc of pore space in a 5 cc sample, what is the porosity?

Answer 31

1cc/5cc=.2 or 20%

Question 32

A soil sample weighs 390 grams at the permanent wilting point (PWP) and 440 grams at the field capacity (FC). What is the available water capacity (AWC) by weight?
Remember: AWC = FC – PWP

Answer 32

440g – 390g = 50g

Question 33

If an impermeable layer is at the surface of the soil, what will water from precipitation do more readily: infiltrate or runoff?

Answer 33

Not sure

Question 34

What does a barometer measure, and which will yield a higher measurement: a low pressure system or a high pressure system?

Answer 34

Measures air pressure. High pressure system will yield a higher measurement

Question 35

_____________________ satellites rotate with the earth and are used for cloud imaging, whereas __________________ satellites rotate the Earth from pole to pole, scanning the Earth as it rotates underneath the satellites.

Answer 35

Geostationary. Polar Orbiting

Question 36

Weather balloons, also called ____________________, are sent up twice a day from sites around the world at 0000Z and 1200Z

Answer 36

Radiosondes

Question 37

Both clouds and __________ reflect a large portion of the Sun’s heat, which explains why they are important factors in climate models.

Answer 37

Snow

Question 38

The ______ stream holds back polar winds from reaching places like Michigan most winters. The shape (called ________ waves) and southward movement of the jet stream is driven by the temperature difference between the equator and North Pole.

Answer 38

Jet stream. Rossby waves.

Question 39

What reservoir stores the largest amount of carbon?

Answer 39

Deep Oceans

Question 40

Which carbon reservoir had been locked away for millions of years until now?

Answer 40

Fossil Fuels

Question 41

Photosynthesis uses _____________, ___________ and _____________ to produce sugars (carbohydrates) and ______________ in the chloroplasts of plants.

Answer 41

• CO2, Water, and Sunlight energy. Produces O2 and sugars

* (Know this formula: 6CO2 + 6H2O + energy from sunlight = C6H12O6 + 6O2 which is saying the same as above)

Question 42

Healthy plants reflect (more or less?) green light than blue and red, accounting for why they look green.

Answer 42

Reflect More

Question 43

Cellular respiration, the opposite of photosynthesis, uses sugar and ____________, releasing _________________, __________________, and _____________________.

Answer 43

• O2 and releases CO2, Water, and Energy

* (Know this formula: C6H12O6 + 6O2 = 6CO2 + 6H2O + energy)

Question 44

Atoms are made of 3 things: ______________, ______________, and ______________.

Answer 44

• Protons, Neutrons, and Electrons

Question 45

If you change the number of protons in an atom, you get a new _________________.

Answer 45

Element

Question 46

According to all the measurements made, how old is our universe?

Answer 46

13.77 Billion years old

Question 47

Where are all the elements heavier than hydrogen and helium made?

Answer 47

In stars, fusions using helium results in heavier elements.

Question 48

How old is the Earth and the solar system?

Answer 48

4.6 Billion years old

Question 49

What is the process called by which dust and debris are pulled together by gravity to form larger masses of particles, eventually forming things such as planets and asteroids?

Answer 49

Accretion

Question 50

It is very likely that the _________ formed in a ring of debris that was ejected into space when another planet struck Earth.

Answer 50

Moon

Question 51

The radioactive decay of _________ to lead (Pb) is used to age date many substances on Earth. This is possible because we know the rate of decay, otherwise known as the half-life: the amount of time needed for _________ of the element to decay to another element.

Answer 51

Uranium, Protons

Question 52

Be able to recognize the definition of a pest.

Answer 52

Organisms that interact with humans in their quest for food, fiber, shelter or space. Other pests function as vectors of disease-causing organisms or as nuisance organisms in relation to human comfort or welfare.

Question 53

Recognize the definition of Integrated Pest Management (IPM).

Answer 53

Development, use and evaluation of pest-control strategies and tactics that result in favorable socioeconomic & environmental consequences.

Question 54

Today, we are at a point where we are trying to develop equitable and ____________ development, which is the third stage of development by a society.

Answer 54

sustainable

Question 55

T/F Phosphorus, which is used in agriculture to keep yields high, is a renewable resource.

Answer 55

False

Question 56

What kind of microorganism excretes toxins (diatoms, green algae, or cyanobacteria) and what kind of environmental conditions favor them?Heat and _______________.

Answer 56

Diatoms. Heat and nutrients (phosphorus)

Question 57

Is the relationship between P and grain yield 1 to 1? That is, do you, no matter what, always get a higher grain yield if you add more and more P, or does the yield eventually plateau?

Answer 57

Eventually it will plateau

Question 58

The problem we face with phosphorus is that our current yields, which feed all of us each day, depend on phosphorus being available to use in fertilizers. However, the rate at which we extract it from the lithosphere is (greater than/less than) the rate at which it is replaced by deep water sediments.

Answer 58

Greater than