Environmental Science MCQs
Environmental Science MCQs
Answer these 300+ Environmental Science MCQs and see how sharp is your knowledge of Environmental Science.
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1: Environmental science is a __________.
A. Systematic approach in learning about the environment
B. Both a local and an international issue
C. Biocentric preservationist; pragmatic utilitarian conservationist
D. Development can proceed with minimal costs to the environment
2: Light-colored surfaces __________ than dark-colored surfaces.
A. The atmosphere
B. Supercell storms
C. Have higher albedo
D. Troposphere
3: Science is best described as a(n) ____ enterprise.
A. Quantity
B. Collaborative
C. Same questions
D. Central tendency
4: Surface mining _____.
A. Is formed from plant remains
B. Is a method of obtaining coal
C. Releases fewer toxins than coal
5: When looking up at the clouds, you can usually make out different shapes and figures with _____.
A. Cumulus clouds
B. Stratus clouds
C. Cirrus clouds
D. Altostratus clouds
6: The role of an administrative agency is that of _______.
A. The legislative branch
B. The World Trade Organization (WTO)
C. Gave citizens the right to see and comment on proposed government projects through the creation of environmental impact statements
D. Enforcement and elaboration of laws passed by Congress
7: Warm air _____
A. Sinks
B. Rises
C. Both of these
D. None of these
8: Advances in agriculture ________.
A. Did not increase the amount of food per person from a global perspective
B. Have resulted in a smaller global population
C. Have often resulted in alteration and destruction of natural systems
D. Are always sustainable, since they are based on natural ecosystems
9: A steep pressure gradient _____.
A. Would be depicted by widely spaced isobars
B. Produces strong winds
C. Is only possible in the tropics
D. Produces light winds
10: Divergence is most closely associated with ________.
A. Surface air in cyclones.
B. Surface air in anticyclones.
C. Cold air circulations
11: Oil wells are usually able to extract ______ of the petroleum present in an oil reservoir.
A. 30-40%
B. 40-60%
C. 50%
D. 30
12: Louis guillette is most famous for his studies ________.
A. On gonadal abnormalities in frogs
B. About the dangers of second-hand smoke
C. About the dangers of DDT
D. Describing reproductive and developmental abnormalities in alligators Florida lakes
13: The worldwide drop in sperm counts among men has been attributed to ________.
A. Teratogens
B. Allergens
C. Endocrine disruptors
D. DDT
14: The white Australia policy favored immigration from ________, followed by ________.
A. Western Europe; Eastern Europe
B. Eastern Europe; Western Europe
C. Northern Europe; Southern Europe
D. Southern Europe; Northern Europe
15: Warm fronts and stationary fronts can bring _____.
A. Severely bad weather
B. Clear skies
C. Light precipitation
D. Mid-latitude cyclone
16: The warm air being lifted in this map is mostly located in the __________ portion of the map.
A. Northern
B. Southern
C. Eastern
D. Western
17: Air travel, the internet, cheap fossil fuels and television all have allowed people to ________.
A. Consume less energy and materials
B. Live more densely packed into urban areas
C. Live in less centralized communities
D. Return to an agricultural society
E. Live within the UDB's demanded by smart city design
18: Shelterbelts are to ________ as terraces are to ________.
A. Salinization; stratification
B. Stratification; salinization
C. Leaching; desertification
D. Wind erosion; water erosion
E. Water erosion; wind erosion
19: In a mercury barometer, when air pressure increases, the mercury in the tube _____.
A. Rises
B. Falls
C. Rises, then falls
D. Falls, then
20: In the northern hemisphere, the coriolis effect shifts objects ________ their straight-line paths.
A. The polar high
B. Subtropical high
C. Aneroid barometer
D. To the right of
21: A land breeze usually originates during the ________.
A. Day and flows toward the land
B. Day and flows toward the water
C. Evening and flows toward the land
D. Evening and flows toward the water
22: An air-pressure altimeter is actually a(n) ______ barometer.
A. Mercury.
B. Aneroid
23: The release of latent heat from water molecules is called ________.
A. Vapor pressure
B. Evaporative cooling
C. Specific humidity
D. Condensation
E. Sublimation pressure
24: A super cooled liquid needs to ________ to turn into a solid.
A. Collide with an object
B. Cirrostratus
C. Form & height
D. Cumulonimbus
25: Evaporation ________.
A. Is a cooling process
B. Is a process not requiring energy
C. Has its greatest rates when the air is already humid
D. Is a heating process
E. Releases latent heat in the air
26: Liquid converts to gas when ________.
A. Molecules break loose from the liquid
B. It is good and ready
C. A crystalline structure is created
D. The liquid heats to freezing
E. Cooling reaches the dewpoint
27: Warm air ____ and cool air ____.
A. Expands and rises; contracts and sinks
B. Cools and expands
C. 30° N&S and 90° N&S
D. The denser air mass slides beneath the lighter air mass forming a front
28: An observation is _______
A. A possible explanation for events using prior knowledge
B. Always quantitative
C. Made using any of the five senses
D. Always qualitative
29: A land breeze is generally ______ than a sea breeze.
A. Stronger
B. Weaker
C. A and B both
D. None of these
30: A trophic cascade is the effect of ________ on ________.
A. Detritivores; decomposers
B. Producers; first level consumers
C. Top consumers; one another
D. Top consumers; abundance of lower consumers
E. Flooding; terrestrial ecosystems
31: The effects of increased recycling will, other factors being equal, ________.
A. Increase the lifetime of economically recoverable minerals.
B. Decrease the lifetime of economically recoverable minerals.
C. Trees that do best with low precipitation
D. Deep lakes
E. Mammals that thrive in dry habitats
32: A transmission electron microscope would be the best microscope choice to study _______.
A. Structures smaller than cells
B. Single celled organisms
C. Plant leaves
D. Amphibian organs
33: Of the following, ________ are pioneer species.
A. Plankons
B. Fungi
C. Bacteria,
D. Lichens
E. All of the above
34: A rock on the top of a mountain contains ________ energy.
A. Potential
B. Kinetic
C. Both
35: The initial consequence of falling water tables would be the loss of ________.
A. Birds that live in upland areas
B. Agricultural irrigation water
C. Trees that do best with low precipitation
D. Deep lakes
E. Mammals that thrive in dry habitats
36: The university of florida's athletic program became carbon neutral because it _____.
A. Promoted programs that reduced fossil fuel use and sequestered carbon
B. Eliminated consumption of all plastics throughout its program and athletic events
C. Recycled all paper used in its program and at football games
D. Replaced all vehicles with electric cars
37: ________ temperature changes are those that do not involve the addition or subtraction of heat.
A. Adiabatic
B. Dew Point
C. Below freezing
38: In the lower atmosphere, any air that rises will ____ and cool.
A. Contract
B. Expand
C. Stay the same
39: In new hampshire, the length of time ice covers on mirror lake each year has declined by _______.
A. 1/2 day per year
B. 1 day per year
C. 1 1/2 days per year
D. 2 days per year
40: Wind, solar and geothermal power are called renewable energy sources because _______.
A. Tax breaks for these sources are renewed every year
B. They are continuously replenished
C. Humans can replenish these sources periodically
D. They produce few toxic byproducts
41: Wind power creates _____ pollution.
A. Noise pollution
B. Pollution
C. Purification
D. None of these
42: Wilderness areas ________.
A. Allow hunting as long as proper permits are acquired
B. Were set up under the administration of George W. Bush in the early 2000s
C. Are biosphere reserves managed by UNESCO
D. Are off-limits to development of any kind but are open to low-impact recreation
43: With an occluded front, _____.
A. Get out of the area because a tornado is coming
B. From west to east over the United States
C. Grab a sweater because it's going to be cool
D. Put on a tank top because it's warming up
44: Walking among the top canopy in a tropical rainforest requires _______.
A. Bridges suspended almost 100 feet off the ground
B. Bridges suspended almost 60 feet off the ground
C. Bridges suspended almost 20 feet off the ground
D. No special conditions
45: Warm air is _____ dense than cold air, and warm air holds _____ moisture than cold air.
A. More; less
B. More; more
C. Less; more
D. Less; less
46: Water covers about ____ of the earth's surface
A. 71%
B. 75%
C. 78%
D. 74%
47: Water in the spaces (pores) in rock and between particles of soil, sand, and gravel is called ____.
A. Persistence
B. Groundwater
C. A logged forest
D. Groundwater was overpumped
48: When water vapor condenses to form clouds, ________.
A. Form and height
B. Conduction cooling
C. The air gets warmer
D. True
49: In a surface anticyclone in the southern hemisphere, winds spiral ________.
A. Counterclockwise and outward
B. Clockwise and inward
C. To the west
D. Clockwise and outward
E. Counterclockwise and inward
50: The conservation reserve program pays farmers to ________.
A. Grow native crops such as corn and beans
B. Grow soybeans and other kinds of harvestable groundcover
C. Stop growing tobacco
D. Stop cultivating highly erodible land
E. Grow cattle feed instead of commercial crops
51: Paper parks are ________.
A. Areas protected on paper but not in reality due to lack of funding
B. Private nonprofit groups
C. Removes all trees from an area
D. They are mature and exhibit a multi-level canopy
52: The los angeles smog problem is made much worse by ________.
A. The foggy climate, which leads to acidic deposition
B. Nearby mountains and the warm sunshine, which cause inversion layers
C. Convection cells, which bring pollutants from other cities
D. High cloud levels, which deplete the local ozone layer
53: A greenway ________.
A. Is the merging of DNA from unrelated organisms
B. Is the link that provides pathways for wildlife to travel between parks and preserves
C. Redesign industrial systems to minimize physical inefficiency and maximize economic efficiency
D. Can bring economic benefits and food security to many developing regions
54: Terracing, contour farming, intercropping, and crop rotation all ________.
A. Is a development of industrial agriculture
B. Are techniques for conserving soil resources and fertility
C. Inserted genes can spread to non-target species.
D. They are ingredients in processed foods, so they are more easily accepted.
55: In appalachia, many miners are out of work because ________.
A. Of a moratorium on mountaintop removal
B. Of local protests that shut down mining operations
C. Coal extraction has decreased because the region is beginning to run out of coal
D. Mountaintop removal is highly mechanized, and thus they are not needed
56: Negative feedback processes tend to function within ecosystems to ________.
A. Cause further ecological destruction
B. Stabilize the ecosystem
C. Cause ecological relationships to flourish
D. Reinforce harmful changes
57: In the wake of the u.s. failure to ratify the kyoto protocol, ________.
A. Cities and states are setting their own programs for reducing greenhouse gas emissions
B. The United States has shown that it is a leader in carbon emission reduction without having signed the Protocol
C. Oil exporting nations have refused to sell to the United States
D. Many nations have severed diplomatic relations with the United States
58: Infectious disease accounts for ________% of deaths globally.
A. ~ less than 1
B. ~ almost 50
C. ~ 40
D. ~ nearly 25
59: Planting ________ between regular crops will help replace depleted nitrogen.
A. Aquatic plants
B. Wheat
C. Legumes
D. Pineapples
60: The effect of toxicants on fetuses and young children ________.
A. Higher for allergens than for teratogens
B. Less than on adults because their metabolism is higher
C. Higher in females than males
D. Greater than on adults
61: The primary effect of thermal pollution on aquatic ecosystems is ________.
A. Lowering the water table
B. Causing a large increase in plant productivity
C. Increased evaporation
D. Depleting dissolved oxygen
62: The state of water that is the most important yet least obvious in the atmosphere is ________.
A. Water vapor
B. Ice crystals
C. Rain
D. Evaporation
63: Together, a high-pressure center and the coriolis effect produce ________.
A. Anticyclones
B. Cyclones
C. Hadley cells
D. Hurricanes.
64: Tuvalu and the maldives are in the international spotlight because they ________.
A. Is an international panel that reports on how climate change influences biomes and economies.
B. Cap-and-trade and carbon offsets
C. Cities and states are setting their own programs in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
D. May be the first nations to be completely flooded by rising sea levels.
65: U.s. hydropower dam construction was greatest during the ________.
A. Industrial revolution.
B. 1930s to 1960s.
C. 1970s to 2000.
D. Late 1800s
66: Until about 10,000 years ago, our species depended on ________.
A. Crops and cattle
B. Crops
C. Cattle
D. Hunting and gathering
67: Irregular heating of the air can produce thermals, which are ________.
A. Pockets of cold air that rise
B. Pockets of warm air that rise
C. Pockets of cold air that sink
D. Pockets of warm air that sink
68: Coriolis effect is not closely related to ________.
A. Trade
B. Wind speed
C. Both of these
D. None of these
69: Cyclogenesis occurs along the________.
A. Edge of a hurricane
B. Occluded front
C. Polar front
D. Center of the subtropical high
70: High-quality energy can best be characterized as ____.
A. Pure
B. Electromagnetic
C. Kinetic
D. Concentrated
71: If stormy weather were approaching, the pressure tendency would probably be ________.
A. Falling
B. Rising
C. Steady
D. None of these
72: It can be said that along all the fronts in a middle latitude cyclone, ________.
A. Cold air sinks
B. Precipitation is unlikely
C. Heavy rain occurs
D. The pressure is high
E. Air rises
73: Most of the eastern united states was originally covered with ________.
A. Grasslands
B. Savanna
C. Midlatitude forest
D. Boreal forest
74: Of the air masses below, the coldest, driest ones are termed ________.
A. Continental Polar
B. Continental Tropical
C. Maritime Polar
D. Maritime Tropical
75: Since 1980, arctic sea ice has ____.
A. Not changed in volume or surface area
B. Not changed in volume, but decreased in surface area
C. Decreased in volume and surface area
D. Decreased in volume but not changed in surface area.
76: Speed of the wind is unaffected by ________.
A. Wind speed
B. The Earth rotates
C. Polar front
D. Coriolis effect
77: Relative to sustainable agriculture, insects' roles are as ________.
A. Harmful herbivores that need to be eliminated
B. Essential pollinators and predators
C. Genetically modified species
D. Keystone species
78: Midlatitude cyclones and anticyclones function as migratory features in the ________.
A. Westerlies
B. Cyclones
C. Convective
D. One week
79: A population which is not growing will have a tfr of ________.
A. Zero.
B. 1.2.
C. 2.1.
D. 5 or higher
80: Normal borlaug, who passed away in 2009, pioneered the development of ________.
A. GM crops
B. IPM
C. High-yield wheat
D. Monoculture farming
81: Carbon-based fuels from lithospheric reservoirs ________.
A. Have been slowly sequestered over many millions of years
B. Will be lost before the end of the decade
C. Are formed from the deposition, partial decay, and compression of inorganic matter
D. Cannot be lost to the atmosphere by human processes once stabilized on Earth's surface
82: Synergistic effects of toxicants ________.
A. Are greater than the sum of the effects of the components
B. Allergens trigger an immune response when one is not necessary.
C. Reproductive and developmental abnormalities in alligators
D. None of these
83: The wind-chill index ____.
A. Relates body heat loss with wind to an equivalent temperature with no wind
B. Called smudge pots
C. Oil heaters placed in orchards
D. Are primarily the result of vertical temperature variations
84: Green revolution techniques ________.
A. Focus on organic farming
B. Have contributed to an increased diversity of foods in the human diet
C. Have increased crop yields but may not be sustainable
D. Focus on preserving biodiversity
E. Focus on sustainability
85: Fronts are located ________.
A. With respect to motion, to the rear of air masses
B. Underneath air masses
C. Near air masses
D. At the edges of air masses
E. In the middle of air masses
86: Water in the air is in the form of _____, and water in clouds is in the form of ________?
A. Water vapor, liquid
B. Liquid, water vapor
C. Both a and b
D. None of the above
87: 650. j is the same amount of energy as ________.
A. 155 cal
B. 2720 cal
C. 650. cal
D. 1550 cal
E. 2.72 cal
88: ____ is the mass of water vapor in a given amount of air expressed in grams per cubic meter (g/m3).
A. Absolute humidity
B. Dew point
C. Condensation
D. None of these
89: A(n) ________ is a linear zone of lower pressure between two areas of high pressure.
A. Trough
B. Crust
C. Through
D. None of the above
90: All of the following instruments are used to measure air pressure except for ________.
A. Barograph
B. Anemometer
C. Mercurial barometer
D. Aneroid barometer
91: At the same pressure, warm and humid air is ______ equally warm and dry air.
A. Less dense than
B. More dense than
C. Station elevation
D. Much smaller than
E. About the same as
92: Circulation in the troposphere is mainly a(n) ________ system.
A. Open
B. Closed
C. Clockwise
D. Anti clockwise
93: In an average year, more people die from ____ than from any other natural disaster.
A. Heat
B. Cold
C. Outgassing
D. None of these
94: Latent heat that is the energy source for many storms can be transported by ________.
A. Water vapor
B. Carbon dioxide
C. Aerosols
D. Ozone
95: Not only does topsoil erosion lead to loss of soil fertility, it can also cause ________ .
A. Genetic modification
B. Waterlogging
C. Water pollution
D. Cross-pollination
E. Soil salinization
96: Of the following, ________ is (are) an abiotic factor.
A. Temperature
B. Snails
C. Grasses
D. Oak trees
E. Butterflies
97: Oil _____.
A. Is made from buried remains of plants and animals
B. Is made from buried remains of human bodies
C. Is a method of obtaining coal
D. None of these
98: Sinking air exerts a downward force to form ____ regions.
A. High-pressure
B. Low-pressure
C. Rainy
D. Cyclonic
99: Undersea earthquakes and volcanic eruptions may produce ________.
A. A tornado
B. A tsunami
C. A flood
100: Upper air winds ________.
A. Are generally slower than surface winds
B. Are generally faster than surface winds
C. Are unaffected by the Coriolis force
D. Are greatly influenced by friction
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