Environmental Science 20 Final Review
Unit 1: What is Environmental Science? and Climate Change
1. What are some natural resources that are common resources? Air, fish, oil, trees
2. What is the atmosphere? Thin layer of gases surrounding the Earth
3. What layer of the atmosphere is closest to the Earth? Troposphere
4. How much solar energy reaches the Earth? 50%
5. List 4 greenhouse gases. Methane, water vapour, carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, CFC’s
6. What is the relationship between carbon dioxide and global temperatures? carbon dioxide increases
so does temperature
7. List several ways scientists get their data on carbon dioxide levels from the past? Ice cores, tree
rings,
8. How are hurricanes affected by global warming? There is no evidence of a link but in the last 30 years
duration and strength have increased about 50%. Studies are looking at link between ocean surface
temperature and hurricane intensity.
9. Where is most of the world’s sheet ice located? Antarctica and Greenland
10. What are the 3 effects of melting of sheet ice at the poles? oceans levels rising 3 mm a year,
penquin population down, polar bears declining
11. What are 2 effects of increased surface temperatures has on the water cycle? Higher rate of
evaporation from land and sea, Warmer atmosphere is able to hold more water vapor, higher likelihood of
heavy precipitation weather events (rain/snow)
12. Describe the cap and trade system used with carbon dioxide emissions. Limit the amount of carbon
dioxide any specific factory or power plant can produce, use permits for amount carbon dioxide an
organization can emit.
13. Give two examples of Global warming prevention strategies. Inject sulfur dioxide into stratoshield to
block sunlight, sequester CO2 into deep underground, remove CO2 from smokestack and vehicle emissions
14. In order to have permanent safe storage of CO2 using CO2 sequestion, list 3 qualities that must be
1)Sufficient depth (typically deeper than 800 meters)
2)Adequate capacity
3)An overlying sealing system to ensure containment of fluids met.
Depleted hydrocarbon reservoirs, such as oil and gas fields
Unit 2: Terrestrial Ecosystems
15. Describe the different layers of a rainforest.
The emergent layer, the canopy, the understory, the forest floor
16. Why do snow geese travel all the way to the arctic tundra? Lots of food and very little predators, so
they can breed eggs on ground.
17. What 2 factors were responsible for the decline of the American Bison? Over-hunting and habitat
degradation
18. List three human activities that cause desertification? Overgrazing, overcultivation, defprestation,
poorly drained irrigation systems
19. Describe Desertification. Land degradation in in arid, semi-arid and sub-humid areas resulting from
various factors including climatic and human activities.
20. Where in the World are areas of Drylands located? Tropic of Cancer /Capricorn, North American
Great Plains, some European countries, parts of Central Asia (rainshadow of mountains)
21. List 3 causes of forest exploitation. Clear land for farming, for wood for construction and building
shelters , for fire wood, and selling wood for money.
22. Desertification is both a cause and a consequence of poverty. Describe what this means with an
example given in class. Cause- communities need land or wood to grow food or sell wood to get money.
Consequence- because they have taken down the trees this causes more land to grow crops but the
wind/irrigation can cause soil to move downhill making land unable to support crops. Ex) Haiti/ Eritreacut trees for firewood and more crop lands, once trees gone no more money for firewood and soil
degraded unable to support crops for food.
23. How do monocultures relate to the Dust Bowl? Destroys root structure of plants, causing soil to be
destroyed and then wind blew soil away
24. How does the use of pesticides and herbicides become necessary with monoculture farming? Robs
the soil of nutrient’s , planting one crop leaves crop vulnerable to pests requiring pesticides to be
sprayed to ensure loss of all crops
25. What happens to forest that are cut and burned? Burns the roots of trees that hold the soil in
place, cause soil erosion and soil no good for planting new trees.
26. What three nutrients did we test for in our Soil Lab? Potassium, nitrogen and phosphorus
27. What type of material holds the most water in our soil? clay
28. What is soil made up of? Sand, silt, clay, and organic matter
29. List the 4 soil layers. O-Ground level, A- top soil, B- Subsoil, C- Weathered Parent Material/ Bedrock
30. What percentage of the Earth is Ocean and Soil that is used for food production? 43% or 5 Billion
ha
31. Be able to list a problem and solution for these issues:
Soil Erosion-Overgrazing, clearing vegetation S- have rotational grazing of cattle and notill farming to
leave soil protected with roots of plants
Chemical Fertilizers-over-use , S-Use integrated pest management
Wetlands-draining or filling up of wetlands S- have laws or tax advantage to leaving wetlands in place.
32. What are the 3 major food staples produced in the world? Rice, Corn, wheat
33. What are the symptoms of Colony Collapse Disorder? Bee cannot find hive, No dead bees near or in
hive, no mites or pathogens only queen and young bees are left
34. Describe the difference between Holistic and Migratory Bee keeping?
Holistic- bees live on organic farm
Migratory- Bees are moved around from crop to crop and away from crops during pesticide spraying
Unit 3: Aquatic Ecosystems
35. Describe the characteristics of water at the mountain source. Fast moving, cold water, full of
oxygen
36. How much of the Earth’s surface is covered by water? 70-75%
37. What percentage is fresh water? 3%
38. Where does Regina’s water come from? Buffalo Pound
39. How many people in the World lack safe drinking water? 1 in 6
40. Which two continents have the least amount of freshwater available? Australia, Africa
41. What is most of the world’s fresh water used for? Agriculture
42. What are three important functions that wetlands provide? Absorption of excess rainwater to help
prevent flooding, habitat for animals, and filtration of pollution
43. Describe Eutrophication. Is an increase in the amount of nutrients in an aquatic ecosystem
44. Point and Non-point source pollution.
Point- Know the source of pollution Ex) Industry
Non-point- Can not point out the source of pollution Ex) Farm runoff, household
45. What are some of the long term effects of draining water off of land? Flooding down stream, Loss
of migratory habitat, lack of water during dry periods
46. Describe 5 factors that reduce the dissolved oxygen in a body of water. Respiration of water, high
levels of turbidity, warm water, colored water, excessive organic material, thermal pollution by power
plants and some industry
47. What is the best biological indicator of pollution? Index species
48. List 5 organisms that are index species? Fish, bottom fauna, algae, bacteria, zooplankton
49. What is the relationship between temperature and Oxygen and Carbon Dioxide? Warmer water holds
less dissolved oxygen, triggers plant growth and respiration rates.
50. List pros and cons of drinking bottled water. (6 points)
Pros –convenience, good for travel to other countries where water quality is suspicious
Cons- use plastic bottles that more than half end up in landfill, water quality not as regulated as tap
water, uses more resources than tap water