What key role do sea otters play in preventing climate change?
They protect underwater kelp forests.
100
What do sea otters eat?
Sea urchins
100
What do Fuel Cell cars emit?
Only water vapor.
100
What term is used to describe vehicles that generate no pollution?
Zero-emission vehicles
100
What is "old growth"?
Trees that are hundreds of years old.
200
In what way is kelp good for the environment?
Kelp is one of the most efficient absorbers of CO-2
200
What destroys kelp forests?
Sea urchins
200
According to the speaker, what is a key disadvantage to electric cars? (You may need to infer!)
They cannot travel very far on a single charge.
200
How far can battery-electric cars travel before needing to be charged?
80 miles.
200
How do warmer temperatures threaten forests?
Promote the spread of diseases and invasive species
300
What practice, spanning from the 1700s to the early 1900s, affected sea otter populations? AND how many remained in the North Pacific in 1911?
Hunting and fur-trading; 1000 sea otters
300
What are "urchin barrens"?
Underwater deserts where sea urchins have destroyed everything.
300
What is the biggest problem with Fuel Cell cars?
There is no place to fill it up.
300
What is the "chicken and egg" problem related to hydrogen cars?
If we had more hydrogen cars, we'd have more fueling stations. If we had more fueling stations, we'd have more hydrogen cars.
300
Why are younger forests less resilient than older forests?
They are less diverse; easily impacted by climate change
400
What important project did the US government initiate in the 1960s and 1970s?
Restoring sea otter populations; releasing sea otters into the ocean.
400
Describe (in a few sentences) what happened when a group of sea otters wandered in to the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
The sea urchins were almost gone; only a few remained. The otters consumed about a million pounds of sea urchins in just a few weeks.
400
Name two ways in which hydrogen and gasoline are similar.
They cost roughly the same and both are flammable.
400
Why do hydrogen cars need electricity? Where do they get it from?
To power their electric motors; it's generated on-board inside a fuel cell stack.
400
Describe how older forests become more diverse? AND Explain what a "canopy gap" is.
Older trees fall, allowing sunlight in for other varieties of plants and young trees to grow.
Canopy gaps are artificial holes in the forest that allow sunlight in.
500
How many sea otters now live off the coast of Washington?
1100
500
The amount of carbon removed from the air each year by kelp is equal to ____________________________.
Taking 6 million passenger cars off the road.
500
What recent innovation has doubled the driving distance of Fuel Cell cars?
Storing hydrogen at high pressures.
500
Describe how fuel cell stacks make electricity.
Each cell has a membrane material that splits hydrogen into protons and electrons. The electrons go around the membrane and generate electricity.
500
According to Oshkosh, how could they make the trees in the forest last forever?
Cut selectively to the setting sun, then turn back to the rising sun.