Animals
If rates of habitat loss and fragmentation due to human development and global warming continue, combined with deaths from poaching, when could we possibly lose Africa's elephants?
A) In the next 40 years
B) In the next 60 years
A) In the next 40 years
Ecosystems may become uninhabitable for certain animals, forcing wildlife to migrate outside of their usual patterns in search of food and livable conditions, while causing other animals to die off.
Which of these counties emits the most carbon dioxide?
A) United States
B) China
B) China
According to the International Energy Agency. China is currently the top emitter of carbon dioxide, accounting for 28% of global carbon emissions. The United States ranks as the second top emitter at 15%.
The Amazon, if destroyed, could release 200 billion tons of carbon over the next ____ years.
A) 50 years
B) 30 years
B) 30 years
If forests die out, we won't benefit from how trees take carbon dioxide out of the air, which will in turn accelerate warming.
One person needs about 3,000 ____ of fresh water a day to live.
A) Liters
B) Gallon
A) Liters
We only need 50 liters for drinking and hygiene, and around 100 more for washing clothes and so on, around 2,500 liters is needed to produce the food we eat every day.
Today we face a five-fold increase, compared to 50 years ago, in climate and weather-related natural disasters such as droughts, wildfires and hurricanes.
A) True
B) False
A) True
Australia's Black Summer bushfires (2019-2020), for example, burned 186,000 square kilometers (72,000 square miles) and are estimated to have killed or displace three billion koalas, kangaroos and other animals.
How many gallons of water does it take to produce 1 gallon of cow's milk?
A) 600 gallons
B) 683 gallons
B) 638 Gallons
Factory farms are sucking the life out of cows, water reservoirs and aquafers. While it only takes 13 gallons of water to produce 1 gallon of oat milk.
What percentage of the global greenhouse gas emissions does the transportation sector emit?
A) 14%
B) 70%
A) 14%
The transportation sector emits 14% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Most of this involves fossil fuels burned for road, rail, air and marine transportation. Petroleum-based fuels (gasoline and diesel) account for almost all of the world's transportation energy.
Unused _____ runs off the fields, enters waterways and kills wildlife.
A) Fertilizer
B) Animal manure
A) Fertilizer
Rockstrom gives the example of the Baltic Sea which used to contain high quantities of cod, but now contains none because of fertilizer pollution from surrounding fields.
What other animal from the ocean helps fight climate change?
A) Killer whales
B) Sea otters
B) Sea otters
Sea otters help ecosystems capture carbon from the atmosphere and store it as biomass and deep-sea detritus, preventing it from being converted back to carbon dioxide and contributing to climate change.
Phytoplankton account for about half of the photosynthesis on the plant.
A) True
B) False
A) True
Making them one of the world's most important producers of oxygen. Like plants, phytoplankton capture large amounts of CO2 and convert it to energy, removing carbon from the atmosphere.
What type of bee are valuable insects to a functioning crop-growing agricultural system due to their ability to pollinate and improve the health of plants?
A) Bumblebee
B) Honeybee
A) Bumblebee
British scientists upset Sweden by taking 100 queen bees from them to release the bees back into the UK to revive the bumblebee population. When a country that feels forced to go to another country to steal pollinators to help its own agriculture... it's serious.
Globally, which of the following economic sectors emits the largest percentage of greenhouse gas emissions?
A) Industry
B) Electricity and heat production
B) Electricity and heat production
The electricity and heat production sector emits the largest percentage of global greenhouse gas emissions at 25%. The agriculture, forestry and other land use sector is a close second at 24%.
Which reef provides protection against flooding and erosion of coastlines?
A) Barrier reef
B) Coral reef
B) Coral reef
Without coral reefs, there will be rapid erosion of coastlines and many small island countries might even vanish from the world map.
Which has been the hottest year on record?
A) 2016
B) 2020
C) All of the above
C) All of the above
2020 has effectively tied 2016 as the hottest year on record, with the global average temperature 1.84 degrees Fahrenheit (1.02 degrees Celsius) warmer than the baseline 1951-1980 mean. The last seven years have been the warmest seven years on record.
Wasting less food is a way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
A) True
B) False
A) True
More than a third of food produced globally never makes it to the table. Some of this wasted food spoils in transit, while consumers throw some of this food out. Food loss and waste account for around 8.2% of the total humanmade greenhouse gas emissions.
Of a world without _____, would be a gigantic failure for humanity that would affect everything from coral reefs to food security and climate change.
A) Fish
B) Sharks
B) Sharks
Once sharks are gone, there is nothing we can do to replace the critical role they play in the balance of the oceans.
What was agreed to in the "Paris Agreement" that came out of COP-21, held in Paris in 2015?
A) To protect biodiversity and end the deforestation of the world's rainforests.
B) To keep global temperature rise well below 2 degrees Celsius pre-industrial levels and to pursue a path to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
B) To keep global temperature rise well below 2 degrees Celsius pre-industrial levels and to pursue a path to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
The Paris Agreement is an international treaty on climate change. It aims to keep the overall increase in global temperatures below 2 degrees Celsius, with the hope of limiting it to 1.5 degrees Celsius. Scientist believe that these are the largest increases in global temperature that we could experience without causing catastrophic change to the Earth's climate.
Which of the following is a greenhouse gas?
A) CO2
B) CH4
C) water vapor
D) All of the above
D) All of the above
Greenhouse gases may be a result of natural occurrence or human activity. Greenhouse gases act like a heat-trapping blanket, making the Earth habitable for humans. However, human activities have increased emissions of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere beyond what the Earth can support, resulting in climate change.
Which country announced in 2017 that it would withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement?
A) Sweden
B) United States
B) United States
On June 1, 2017, President Donald Trump spurred global criticism by declaring that the United States would back out of the landmark deal. Trump took additional steps in November 2019 toward withdrawal. However, on January 20, 2021, President Biden returned the United states to the agreement shortly after his inauguration.
Sea levels could rise by seven meters if we lose Greenland's ice sheet in the North Pole.
A) True
B) False
A) True
If we lost all of Antarctica's ice, sea levels would rise by a disastrous 50 meters.
What animal plays a significant role in the fight against climate change.
A) Whales
B) Dolphins
A) Whales
Whales play a significant role in capturing carbon from the atmosphere; each great whale sequesters an estimated 33 tons of CO2 on average.
Individual consumer carbon footprint is the total amount of greenhouse gasses generated by our actions. what are ways an individual can reduce their footprint?
A) Change to a plant-based diet
B) Walk, bike or take public transportation
C) Use less air conditioning and heating in the home
D) All of the above
D) All of the above
All of these answers are correct. Individual actions can lessen the impact we have on the planet.
Combined, how much mass are ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica losing annually?
A) 427 million tons
B) 427 billion tons
B) 427 billion tons
Antarctica is losing 152 billion tons of ice per year at present, and Greenland is losing 275 billion tons per year, according to NASA. Scientists have found that the rate of ice loss in Greenland has grown by a factor of six since the 1980s, and that in Antarctica a similar acceleration is underway.
Extreme heat in Siberia has caused permafrost to melt. The remains of which ancient creature are now emerging from the frozen ground?
A) Giant sloths
B) Neanderthals
C) Woolly mammoths
C) Woolly mammoths
The remains of woolly mammoths, once lodged in permafrost, are starting to appear in Siberia, one of the fastest-warming places in the world.
47% of California's water-use footprint comes from meat and dairy farming.
A) True
B) False
A) True
To help stop the drought-and-wildfire cycle by switching to environmentally friendly, cruelty-free, healthy, vegan meals.