Environmental Science Final Essay Example

Environmental Science Final Essay Example Environmental Science Final Paper Environmental Science Final Paper In general, natural resources ________. should be used efficiently and conserved Microbes in our digestive tract that help us digest food demonstrate a(n) ________ association. symbiotic Coal, oil, and natural gas are ________. symbiotic Which of the following is true about top predators They are likely to be keystone species. A climax community always remains in place until a disturbance restarts succession Which of the following is true? Species on Earth today are but a fraction of all species that ever lived. Sustainable development ________. means consuming resources without compromising future availability ________ believe that within a market economy, economic sustainability is achieved through reduction of growth and by more efficient resource use. Environmental economists A small section of prairie grasses, over a year, produces enough biomass to feed insects, mice, rabbits, birds, deer, antelope, and a host of decomposers. The amount of food potentially available to the herbivores is the ________. net primary production A hypothesis is ________. a testable proposition that explains an observed phenomenon or answers a question The origin of all nitrogen in biological tissues is ________. atmospheric N2 gas A system receiving inputs and producing outputs without undergoing any changes in size or function is said to be in ________. dynamic equilibrium The San Andreas Fault in California is an example of a(n) ________. transform plate boundary Ecology is ________. the study of organisms and their interactions with each other and with the environment Zebra mussels ________. are an invasive exotic species that clogs water intake pipes at factories, power plants, and wastewater treatment facilities ________ are the primary water?insoluble components of cell membranes. Lipids Taiga and tundra both ________. have comparatively low temperatures throughout the year Macronutrients ________. are required in large amounts for organisms to survive River water held behind a dam is best described as a form of ________. potential energy Type of rock formed when magma or lava cools ________. igneous The functional role of a species in its community is its ________. distribution Skin, hair, muscles, and enzymes are classified as ________. proteins Which of the following describes mass wasting? downslope movement of soil and rock due to gravity If domestic fuel prices rise to $5 per gallon, conservation will increase, alternative fuels will be developed, and energy efficiency and our quality of life will improve. This philosophy is consistent with ________ economics. environmental The scientific process and knowledge is based on ________. testing hypotheses that are built on observations ________ are typical primary consumers in a temperature deciduous forest. Deer Ecosystem services include ________. pollination of crop plants ________ is best defined as the study of how we decide to use scarce resources in the face of demand. economics A coyote, which can alter its food intake to match seasonal abundance of plants, fruits, or small animals, is considered to be ________. a generalist, able to be flexible Detritivores include ________. millipedes, soil insects, many ants Unregulated populations tend to increase by ________. exponential growth Rock that has undergone heat or pressure that causes it to change form is called ________. metamorphic An example of greenwashing is ________. creating the illusion of green or sustainable practices Endemic species ________. are found only in one place on the planet Grazing animals such as deer are ________. primary consumers or herbivores Ecotones are the ________. transitional zones between ecosystems A paradigm ________. is a means of evaluating scientific hypotheses The fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income, with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies are the premises of ________. environmental justice Which of the following would be most vulnerable to extinction? an orchid endemic to a forest where logging is occurring A population is a (the) ________. group of individuals of a single species that live and interact in one area Which of the following is accurate? when we damage ecosystems we lose both biodiversity and valuable ecosystem services Geothermal energy, wind and solar radiation are all examples of ________. renewable environmental factors Extinction is ________. a natural process ________ is best defined as the knowledge, beliefs, values, and learned ways of life shared by a group of people. culture Aquifers are ________. underground water reservoirs The eutrophication that has taken place in the Gulf of Mexico and other locations appears to be due to ________. excess nutrients from fertilizers Age pyramids, used to show the age structure of a population, generally ________. indicate the relative numbers (frequency, or percentage) of individuals in each age class The force driving plate tectonics is ________. heat in the deepest layers of the earth An example of a density-independent factor would be ________. cold weather causing the lake to freeze The biosphere consists of the ________. sum of all the planets living organisms and the abiotic portions of the environment Paleontologists and ecologists agree that ________. 99% of all species that have ever existed are now extinct The human population is approximately ________. 6.9 billion Worldwide, the fastest growing cities today are mostly ________. cities in developing nations, including Cairo, Egypt, and Mumbai (Bombay), India Deforestation ________. has the greatest impacts in tropical areas and arid regions Forests reach their greatest ecological complexity when ________. they are mature and exhibit a multi-level canopy Organic farming ________. has increased in the United States, Canada and Europe in recent years Any consideration of the true costs of sprawl must include ________. increased use of fossil fuels Not surprisingly, the nation with the highest rate of contraceptive use (90%) is ________. Australia The first national park was ________. Yellowstone The buildup of salts in soils as a result of overirrigation is ________. salinization The loss of more than 10% productivity in arid areas due to erosion, soil compaction, forest removal, and an array of other factors is called ________. desertification Bullfrog tadpoles are often sold as fish bait, even in areas where they do not occur naturally. When people buy 10 of them and dont use them all, they often dump the remainder into the lake or river. This is an example of ________. introduced species Monoculture ________. is an agricultural practice of growing large stands of a single species According to the IPAT model, technology that enhances our acquisition of minerals, fossil fuels, timber, and ocean fish ________. increases environmental impact During most of our species 160,000-year existence, and until about 10,000 years ago, we depended on ________. hunting and gathering The breakdown of large rocks into smaller pieces is ________. affected by rainfall, freezing and thawing ________ is the worlds most populous nation, home to ________ of the people living on Earth. China; one-fifth A population which is not growing will have a TFR of ________. 2.1 In general, successfully introduced species experience ________. increased competition from other organisms The practice of planting large areas with a single type of crop, monoculture ________. is a development of industrial agriculture Ecosystem-based timber harvesting uses methods that ________. leave seed-producing or mature trees uncut to provide for future forests Relative to agriculture, insects are usually ________. essential pollinators and predators for sustainable systems Agricultural practices, where the members of a farming family produce only enough food for themselves and do not make use of large-scale irrigation, chemical fertilizer, or machinery and technology, is called ________. subsistence agriculture Researchers have demonstrated that organic farming ________. decreased organic soil losses while giving yields comparable to conventional farming Americas age?structure diagram ________. reflects a population with a high growth rate ________ are best defined as substances that cause birth defects. Teratogens What drives the move to the suburbs from cities? desire to live in less stressful, more peaceful park-like conditions Clear-cutting ________. removes all trees from an area Leaching ________. removes water soluble nutrients from soil ________ are best defined as substances that cause cancer. Carcinogens The new urbanism tries to ________. develop walkable communities, with homes and businesses close together A country with ________ is not expected to grow quickly in the near future. high female literacy It is more energetically efficient for us to to eat more ________. plant-based foods Over the past 50 years, most U.S. citizens who could afford to do so ________. left the cities for the suburbs Toxicants that cause harm by affecting the immune system include ________. allergens The ecological footprint of a large city is ________ than/as the surrounding rural area. slightly higher Why do developing nations impose few or no restrictions on logging? They are desperate for economic development. Raising ________ requires the most land and water. beef cattle The O horizon is ________. primarily composed of organic materials A species of lizard has gone extinct. This could be due to any of the following reasons except ________. increased genetic diversity within the species Controlled burns would be used in forests ________. that are subject to severe wild fires to remove fuel load and stimulate new growth The greatest diversity (numbers of different species) of organisms can be found in ________. insects The effect of toxicants on fetuses and young children ________. is greater because of their developmental immaturity, rapid growth and smaller biomass Biodiversity enhances human food security because it ________. is a potential source of new food items or new genetic varieties of existing foods The worlds urban populations are ________. growing faster than the population as a whole Which of the following is a method that governments use to improve urban transportation? Designate carpool lanes and carpool parking spots in many public places. The worldwide drop in sperm counts among men has been attributed to ________. endocrine disruptors The consequences of overfertilization can include ________. eutrophication in nearby waters Some indoor chemical hazard(s) are ________. Radon and asbestos Carcinogens may be difficult to identify because ________. there is a long lag time between exposure to the agent and disease The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ________. is an international panel that reports on how climate change influences biomes and economies Xeriscaping can save water by ________. planting native or drought-resistant plants with little or no water requirements El Nino and La Nina ________. produce changes of opposite direction in global temperature and precipitation patterns In the wake of the U.S. failure to ratify the Kyoto Protocol ________. cities and states are setting their own programs for reducing greenhouse gas emissions Seasons are a result of ________. differences in the amount and intensity of sunlight brought about by the tilt of Earths axis About 80% of the oceans water exists in the ________. deep zone Milankovitch cycles ________. are changes in Earths rotation and orbit around the sun that may trigger climate variation The most obvious cause of industrial smog is ________. burning fossil fuels The area that underlies the shallow water bordering continents is called the ________. continental shelf An artesian aquifer occurs when ________. a water?bearing layer is trapped between two layers that are less permeable Tropospheric ozone ________. is produced through the interaction of heat and UV light, with nitrogen oxides and carbon-containing compounds Approximately ________% of the typical American city is devoted to use by cars. usually be used from sinks for irrigation and watering lawns As of 2010, the saga of the Colorado Rivers water resource allocation is being complicated by ________. several years of drought coupled with the rapid growth of Las Vegas Overpumping groundwater in coastal areas can cause ________ to move into aquifers, making the water undrinkable. salt water The Coriolis effect contributes to ________. global wind patterns The Kyoto Protocol ________. was intended to reduce emissions of six greenhouse gases to levels lower than those of 1990 Lead enters the atmosphere as a particulate pollutant. This is a problem because it ________. causes central nervous system damage in humans Photochemical smog differs from industrial smog in that it ________. is formed only in the presence of sunlight As water warms, it ________. expands Precipitation that falls on Earths surface ________. may take a variety of pathways through surface water or groundwater flow A recent study has revealed that chlorinated hydrocarbons, gasoline and other volatile organic compounds (VOCs) have become significant pollutants in ________ from ________. ground water / leaking storage tanks One of the problems that occurs as a consequence of CFC pollution is ________. increasing skin cancer in humans Marine reserves ________. are no?take areas in the oceans Which of the following best describes floodplains? a region of land that is periodically flooded when a river overflows Today, _______ has the worst acid deposition problem, primarily because of _______. China / coal-fired electrical and industrial plants _______% of U.S.citizens live in coastal counties, thus vulnerable to rises in sea level. 53% Carbon dioxide is ________. the main anthropogenic greenhouse gas produced in the United States One-fifth of Earths total freshwater supply is in ________. groundwater Radon ________. may cause lung cancer when inhaled The rapid melting of Greenlands ice cap could disrupt the NADW formation by ________. adding huge amounts of less dense fresh water to the surface of the system Ocean water is saltiest ________. where there is high evaporation and low precipitation The largest portion of atmospheric gases is ________. nitrogen 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 Kelp are ________. large algae that protect shorelines from erosion, and supply shelter and food for invertebrates and fish Which one of the following is not yet regulated by the EPA? carbon dioxide Most present?day fisheries managers ________. wish to set aside areas of ocean where systems can function without human interference. Keelings reports from Mauna Loa demonstrated ________. an increase in tropospheric CO2 from the 1950s to present The exceptionally strong warming of the eastern Pacific is referred to as ________. El Nino The relative humidity is the ________. amount of water vapor in the atmosphere Natural sources of air pollution come from ________. soil dust and volcanic dust You have been hired by a rapidly growing small city to improve the air quality, which has deteriorated in the past 10 years. Your first suggestion is to ________. improve transportation options, including carpool lanes, buses, and light rail Hydroelectric power generation ________. is an alternative to fossil fuels that produces fewer greenhouse gases We build dams to ________. generate electricity, prevent flooding and provide irrigation Currently, the greatest ecological crisis facing marine food webs is ________. overharvesting Of the following greenhouse gases, ________ concentrations have increased the most since 1750. methane Sinkholes result from ________. overconsumption of water from aquifers weakening the substrate Carbon monoxide ________. blocks oxygen transport in human blood Bathymetry is best defined as the study of ________. ocean depths The greenhouse effect involves warming of Earths surface and the ________. troposphere