Quizzes from readings

Question 1

The greenhouse gases like water, methane and carbon dioxide act as a partial blanket that helps keep the planet as much as ………. warmer than it otherwise would be, which is ideal for us humans:

Answer 1

60 0 F

Question 2

With respect to the fraction of recent global warming due to human causes versus natural causes, the IPCC concluded that the best estimate is that humans are responsible for ………of the global warming we have experienced since 1950.

Answer 2

100%

Question 3

One reason the world´s top scientists have confidence that humans are responsible for much of the global warming is that most of naturally occurring things that affect global temperature would tend to be cooling the Earth.

true or false?

Answer 3

True

Question 4

The climate system´s has positive feedbacks that turn a moderate initial warming into a big ultimate warming. Among the examples of this amplifying feedbacks of the warming are the melting of both sea-ice and land-based ice; and the amplifying feedback driven by water vapor.

true or false?

Answer 4

True

Question 5

Approximately one quarter of the CO2 humans emit into the air gets absorbed in the oceans and form carbonic acid which in turns acidifies the ocean. This has produced the oceans to be more acidic today than they have been over the last 300 million years.

true or false?

Answer 5

True

Question 6

The difference between global warming and climate change is the first generally refers to the observed warming of the planet due to human-cause greenhouse gas emissions and the second to all the various long-term changes in our climate, including sea-level rise, extreme weather, and ocean acidification.

True or false?

Answer 6

True

Question 7

The most important sources of human-caused pollutants are:

Answer 7

CO2
CH4
N2O
Black carbon

Question 8

The global warming potential (GWP) compares how much heat a greenhouse gas traps compared to a similar mass of CO2. Also it is important to consider that different greenhouse gases have different lifetimes, so the GWP generally varies by time. For instance, the IPCC reported in 2013 that methane (CH4) has a 34 times stronger heat-trapping capacity than CO2 over a 100-year time scale, but for a 20 year time scale its GWP is 86

True or false?

Answer 8

True

Question 9

According to climate scientists we may reach a point where emitting more CO2 into the air will not cause more climate change.

True or false

Answer 9

False

Question 10

About climate system the latest science suggests that we are getting close to levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere that will trigger irreversible changes. In 2009 a major study by scientist from the NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration-USA) concluded that “the climate change that is taking place is largely irreversible for 1,000 years after emissions stop”. Fortunately, with respect to the melting of some Western Antarctic ice sheet glaciers, studies involving glaciologists for NASA concluded in 2014 that they have not reached yet the point of no return.

True or false?

Answer 10

False

Question 11

Justification that has to do with the belief that various aspects of the environment have the right to exists:

Answer 11

moral

Question 12

Justification that is based on the value of some factors that is essential to larger than life support functions, even though it might not benefit an individual directly:

Answer 12

ecological

Question 13

Premise: A straight line is the shortest distance between two points. Premise: the line from A to B is the shortest distance between point A and B. Conclusion: therefore, the line from A to B is a straight lise. The syllogism above is an example of:

Answer 13

deductive reasoning

Question 14

A hypothesis is defined as:

Answer 14

a statement that can be disproved

Question 15

science and technology are often confused with each other. Which of the following is an incorrect statement regarding science and technology:

a) science cannot be advanced without technology
b) technology leads to scientific discoveries
c) science is limited by the technology avaliable
d) science leads to new technological advances
e) science is the search for understanding the natural world

Answer 15

a) science cannot be advanced without technology

Question 16

An explanation for a natural phenomenon that relates and explains many observations and is supported by a great deal of evidence is called a:

Answer 16

theory

Question 17

carrying capacity refers to:

Answer 17

the maximum number of individuals that can supported by an ecosystem

Question 18

The Gaia Hypothesis states that the dominant force that has shaped the global environment through time is:

Answer 18

life

Question 19

The Precautionary principle:

Answer 19

• Introduced in 1992 at Rio Earth Summit
• Requires critical thinking about a variety of environmental concerns
• Requires precautionary steps to be taken before scientific proof is established
• should be implemented in response to serious environmental threats

Question 20

One distinction between (A) science and (B) religion, ethics, and morals is that scientific statements are:

Answer 20

disprovable

Question 21

Before 1960, few people had ever heard of the word ecology and the term environment meant little as a political or social issue. which book brought awareness…

Answer 21

Silent Spring, Rachel Carson, 1962

Question 22

The first Earth Day was held in the US in … and the same year the US government founded the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

Answer 22

April 1968

Question 23

The United Nations Conference on the Human Environment was held in Stockholm in June 1972:

a) The Stockholm Conference was organized by Maurice Strong and was the first global United Nations conference on the environment for state officials.

b) 1200 delegates attended and there were tensions over who would pay, and who was responsible for solving global environmental problems

c) The phrase “the pollution of poverty” was coined at Stockholm, to express the idea that poverty was the greatest global environmental threat.

d) This conference led to create the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in 1973

Answer 23

all of the above:

Question 24

In 1987 the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) published the report “Our Common Future”. What is not true about this commission:

a) The WCED is known as the Brundtland Commission.

b) The Brundtland report presented a widely accepted definition of sustainable development.

c) The report denied that poverty were the core cause of unsustainable development.

d) They considered that the best way forward was economic growth, but growth from sustainable development.

Answer 24

c) the report denied that poverty were the core cause of unsustainable development

Question 25

What is false about global environmentalism ?

a) the rio summit put environment and development on the agendas of global leaders

b) The decade after Rio stats turned to the threats of terrorism and global financial crisis, and didn’t contitune signing and/or ratifying environmental treaties.

c) Agenda 21 is document from Rio Summit

d) The purpose of the Johannesburg Summit was to evaluate the progress of sustainable development since Rio Summit

e) all of the above are false

Answer 25

b) the decade after Rio states turned to the threats of terrorism and global financial crisis, and didn’t continue signing and/or ratifying environmental treaties

Question 26

For most of the history of civilization, the scale of human activity has been too small to alter the global environment, this began to change with the industrial revolution some 300 years

true or false?

Answer 26

true

Question 27

Smog in cities like London and New York killed thousands in the 19th and 20th centuries

true or false?

Answer 27

True

Question 28

The passenger pigeon, a bird once migrated through eastern North America in its millions, became extinct in 1914

true or false

Answer 28

true

Question 29

The Rio or Earth Summit congregated hardly 20 heads of state

true and falso

Answer 29

false

Question 30

Critics worry that environment, piloted by the principle of sustained development, is too weak to manage global environmental change

true or false

Answer 30

true