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Population Effects
Physical Problems
California
Growth and Formation of Peat
Miscellaneous
100
How many people live in Deltas worldwide?
500 million
100
Name one visible indicator of peat soil loss.
Levitating rivers/boats and exposed power pole foundations
100
Why is the California aqueduct so energy intensive?
Water must travel uphill
100
Explain how peat soils are formed.
Wetland plant life partially decomposes and packs down over time.
100
What is an estuary?
Mix of saltwater and freshwater
200
Name two non-CA regions on Earth that are threatened by Delta mismanagement
Nile, Amazon, Bangladesh, Everglades
200
When tules decompose, which two greenhouse gases are emitted?
Carbon dioxide and methane
200
How old are peat cores in the San Joaquin Delta?
3000-5000 years old
200
What structures are most crucial to containing and maintaining deltas?
Levees
200
Name two industrial machines that contributed to early soil reclamation.
Tractors and dredgers
300
What side effects of watering lawns and golf courses in SoCal cause most waste?
Evaporation
300
(Within +/- 50%,) How much peat soil has been lost in the last 150 years?
10 meters
300
True or False: Reclaiming some of the regions in the San Joaquin Delta would drop levee maintenance costs
True
300
What is the major structural concern with draining deltas?
Collapse and subsequent flooding
300
What is the largest and most notable delta in the U.S.?
Everglades
400
Name two adverse health effects of draining the Delta.
Mercury in water, Methane, and West Nile Virus
400
In some parts of the deltas, what is the largest range of peat remaining?
5-15 meters
400
Which is larger, outflow from the San Joaquin Delta to the San Francisco Bay, or shipments to Southern California?
Outflow from the SJ Delta to the SF Bay
400
True or False: Several islands in the San Joaquin Delta have not flooded, but are at a high risk of doing so.
False
400
Who is Paul Watson?
Founder of the Sea Shepherds and Greenpeace
500
Name two elements that harm water quality.
Selenium and Mercury
500
What era had the highest rate of peat soil loss, 1930's, 1970's, or 2000-present?
1930's
500
What major event caused massive flooding that created the San Francisco Bay?
End of the Ice Age
500
True or False: planting rice on peat produces less methane than restored wetlands?
False
500
When did most of the water projects in the U.S. occur?
1910's-1930's