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Test Your Environmental Science Knowledge

Are you ready to challenge yourself with our comprehensive Environmental Science quiz? Dive into 40 thought-provoking questions designed to assess your knowledge on topics ranging from biodiversity to sustainable agriculture. Whether you're a student, a teacher, or simply an enthusiast, this quiz serves as a great way to test your understanding of crucial environmental issues.

40 engaging multiple-choice questions
Covers various crucial environmental topics
Immediate feedback on your answers

40 Questions10 MinutesCreated by ExploringEarth42

Which of the following statements is true regarding Melinda Zeder's and Bruce Smith's "Conversation on Agricultural Origins?"

Zeder and Smith endorse the position that climate change in the early Holocene period was the primary cause of the rise of agriculture around the globe

Zeder and Smith argue that roaming agriculture developed first before humans settled down into permanent, non-nomadic communities.

With evidence from Mesoamerica and central Asia, Zeder and Smith suggest that human behavior ecology, environmental stress, and constricted resource zones best explain the development of agriculture.

Relying upon evidence from Eastern North America and the Near East, Zeder and Smith, suggest that the origins of agriculture are best explained by niche construction theory, in which localized factors of resources and social development interact with broader scale issues like climate change.

How does the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES) protect biodiversity?

It mandates that degraded lands be set aside for restoration

It identifies biodiversity hotspots for designation as preserved habitatit identifies biodiversity hotspots for designation as preserved habitat

It bans the hunting, trade, and selling of endangered species

It provides detailed recovery plans for endangered species

The main reason that wolves were exterminated from much of their habitat is that wolves

Frequently attack humans

Are detrimental to the healthy functioning of ecosystems

Threaten the livestock and ranching livelihood

Have valuable fur

The National Environmental Policy Act of 1970 was a major turning point in natural resource management because it requires

Stakeholder participation

An ecocentric ethic

An expert-driven management strategy

The reintroduction of apex predators

All of the following are similarities between undernutrition and overnutrition except

Both are a type of malnutrition

Both involve a lack of access to sufficient daily calories

Both leave the body susceptible to disease

Both can affect young or old individuals

One of the problems associated with the "Green revolution" is that

Not enough food is produced for developing countries

it is confined to highly developed countries

It makes developing countries dependent on high-energy consuming imported technology

Technology is not advanced enough to make it practical

All of the following are negative environmental impacts of the use of pesticides in industrialized agriculture

Production of greenhouse gases from pesticide exposed plants

Air pollution from pesticide sprays

Contamination of food supply from pesticide residues

Soil pollution from pesticide residues

The move away from using techniques that produce high yield and towards methods that focus on long-term sustainability of the soil is known as

Subsistence agriculture

Industrialized agriculture

The green revolution

The second green revolution

Which one of the following is NOT a hurdle to changing the way beef is grown and processed?

Consumer's unwillingness to pay the premium for sustainably raised beef

Globalization of the industrial beef industry

The flavor of sustainably produced beef

Issues with creating consistent labels and standards for sustainably produced beef

Which of the following are true regarding global meat production and consumption?

As affluence and income increases in the developing countries, the consumption of meat increases.

Approximately 15% of global grain production is for animal feed for meat production.

Most of the world's meat production is grass-based production.

Global meat production has had devastating ecological impacts, including water pollution, loss of biodiversity, and soil erosion.

A and D are true

A and B are true

Which TWO of the following describe ways in which the US government can influence and shape consumer demand for industrially produced beef.

Subsidies to corn growers.

Subsidies for pollution control for CAFOs (Contained Animal Feedlot Operations)

Tax credits for health care.

Fiscal policies promoting farm ownership.

Regulatory restrictions on food additives.

How does saltwater intrusion occur?

Salts accumulate in irrigated soils due to evaporation

Road salts used in urbanized areas run off into nearby rivers and streams

Ocean water moves into freshwater aquifers before they can recharge

Naturally salty water is released from confined aquifers via artesian wells

All of the following statements about the connections between the Ogallala Aquifer and High Plains agriculture are true EXCEPT:

In some areas of the High Plains, farmers are drawing water from the Ogallala Aquifer as much as 40 times faster than nature replaces it and have lowered the water table more than 30 m (100 ft) in some places.

Most hydrologists predict that groundwater will eventually drop in all areas of the Ogallala to a level uneconomical to pump so High Plains agriculture will eventually have to change back to dry land agriculture as it was before the aquifer was pumped.

As there is not that much urban development in the High Plains, the recharge zones for the Ogallala Aquifer are unaffected and thus if managed appropriately, can in fact recharge the aquifer adequately to keep up with current withdrawal rates.

The High Plains produce about 15% of the nation’s grain crops and almost 40% of its livestock using approximately 30 percent of the irrigation water used in the United States.

According to Karl Wittfogel and Donald Worster, which of the following societal stages tended to be the "first mode" of a hydraulic society?

Agrarian State Mode

Local Subsistence Mode

Capitalist State Mode

Feudal Society Mode

Select from below the characteristics or examples that Donald Worster associates with the "capitalist state mode." (select all that apply)

. It is exemplified by the American West.

It advances the domination of nature as well as the domination of people.

It was developed by the Hohokam tribe

It results in a largely unequal distribution of power between the state and the private sector

Materials from cathode ray tube (CRT) televisions are no longer recycled because

new materials have reduced demand for leaded glass

All of the materials have already been recycled

they are no longer regulated as hazardous waste

it is now illegal to recycle them

Which of the following represents a market-based solution to the negative externalities associated with e-waste?

ban the production of electronic devices with hazardous materials

Strict monitoring of trade and recycling of e-waste

Collect more information about the potential hazards of component materials

Consumers buy sustainably-produced electronic devices

The purpose of the Basel Convention is to

Prohibit e-waste dumping in ecologically fragile locations

set limits on the total amount of e-waste produced

Ensure that e-waste recycling facilities follow international standards

Prevent the sale of hazardous e-waste from wealthy to poor countries

DDT was sprayed in a Long Island salt marsh over a period of years for mosquito control. A portion of the food web is as follows: algae -> shrimp-> American eel -> Atlantic needlefish -> ring-billed gull. In which organism would biological magnification be MOST evident?

Algae

Shrimp

Eel

Gull

The most common method of determining whether a chemical causes cancer is to expose groups of laboratory animals, such as rats, to various large doses and count how many animals develop cancer at the different levels. All of the following are problems with this approach in terms of understanding the health risks to humans EXCEPT:

This method is indirect and uncertain as human and rats are different organisms and may respond differently to exposure to the same chemical.

For expediting the research process, in lab settings rats are exposed to massive doses of suspected carcinogens relative to body size whereas humans are usually exposed to much lower amounts.

For ethical reasons, rats in lab settings are given very small doses of suspected carcinogens relative to body size whereas humans are usually exposed to much higher amounts

Risk assessment assumes that we can extrapolate from studies in rats to determine the expected rates of cancer in humans but extrapolating from one species to another and from one dose level to another is uncertain and may overestimate or underestimate a toxicant’s danger.

How does bioaccumulation occur?

Toxins move up the food chain, so that predators ingest higher concentrations.

Toxins do not break down and remain in the environment for long periods of time.

Ingested toxins -that are slow to be metabolized and excreted - are instead stored in the body.

Organisms are exposed to low doses of toxins over several years.

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