Mastery Test Environmental Final

The graph to the right shows human population in billions of people. According to the graph, Earth's current human population is approximately ____________________ people.

• a. 1 billion

• a. 3 billion

• a. 7 billion

• a. 8 billion

Primary Succession is a series of changes, in a community that follows a _______________ so severe that no vegetation or soil life remains, can take hundreds of years.

• Fire

• Flooding

• Disturbance

• Logging

Secondary Succession is the somewhat __________________ series of changes in a community that follows something that dramatically alters the community but does not destroy all vegetation or soil life.

• Farming

• Unexpected

• Natural

• Predictable

Which of the following will result in secondary succession?

• Hurricanes wipe out substantial portions of the New England forests every 80 years or so

• A volcanic eruption destroys every living thing on the volcano’s slopes

• A massive landslide leaves bare rock cliffs on a mountain slope

• A forest remains undisturbed for many years and approaches a fully mature state

The following are all evidence of a warming earth except:

• Changes in precipitation patterns

• Melting glaciers and sea ice

• Falling global surface temperatures

• Rising sea levels

The most likely cause to our rapidly rising global temperatures is the:

• Increase in greenhouse gases

• Change in earth’s orbit

• Change in earth’s tilt

• Communism

What are the two main types of gases responsible for absorbing heat in the atmosphere?

• Sulfur dioxide and water vapor

• Water vapor and oxygen

• Sodium chloride and carbon dioxide

• Water vapor and carbon dioxide

All of the following are reasons why we need to develop alternative energy sources EXCEPT:

• Fossil fuels won’t last forever

• Oil, coal, and natural gas will be replenished in a century

• Our country will be less dependent on other fuels

• Renewables will decrease air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions

The Yucca Mountain complex, in Nevada was chosen by the U. S. Government in the 1980’s as a storage site for nuclear waste. But as of 2010, the Yucca Mountain Project is no longer under development. Nuclear waste must be held in long-term storage sites that must be distant from population centers, protected from sabotage, have a deep water table, and be geologically stable because nuclear waste is very:

• Expensive

• Corrosive

• Radioactive

• Pungent

Energy in motion is __________ energy while energy at rest is __________ energy.

• Potential, kinetic

• Kinetic, resting

• Moving, resting

• Kinetic, potential