AP Environmental Science Test: Global Change

The correct answer is (E). Different chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) can remain in the atmosphere for different lengths of time, some for as long as about 140 years. They have a global warming potential ranging from less than 5,000 to over 13,500.

The correct answer is (C). A greenhouse gas is a gas in the atmosphere that absorbs and emits radiation within the thermal infrared range. This process causes the greenhouse effect. The primary greenhouse gases in our atmosphere are water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone. Nitrogen, oxygen, and argon are not greenhouse gases.

The correct answer is (D). Both UVA and UVB can damage the skin and cause skin cancer. UVC, which has the potential to be the most damaging of the three types of radiation listed here, is filtered out of the atmosphere by the ozone layer. The ozone layer also filters out the majority of the UVB radiation entering the atmosphere.

The correct answer is (D). Fluorinated gases (such as HFCs and PFCs) are a group of man-made gases used in a range of industrial applications. Because they do not damage the ozone layer, they are often used as substitutes for ozone-depleting substances. However, fluorinated gases are powerful greenhouse gases, with a global warming effect that can be thousands of time times greater than that of carbon dioxide.

The correct answer is (D). In 2014, China was responsible for 30% of greenhouse gas emissions. The United States, 15%; European Union, 9%; India 7%, Russian Federation, 5%; and Japan 4%.

The correct answer is (E). Increased average air temperatures can cause these, and many other effects, on the Earth.

The correct answer is (E). In addition to the list above, glacial melting also increases the variation in the water flows into rivers.

The correct answer is (C). The Marine Mammal Protection Act established federal responsibility to conserve marine mammals.

The Multiple-Use Act directed that the national forests be managed for timber, watershed, range, outdoor recreation, wildlife and fish purposes.

The Paris Agreement addresses greenhouse gas emissions and sets forth a global action plan to put the world on track to avoid dangerous climate changes.

The Endangered Species Act provided a program for the conservation of threatened and endangered plants and animals and the habitats in which they are found.

CITES is an international agreement between governments to ensure that international trade in wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival.

The correct answer is (E). The least concern status is for species that are widespread and abundant. Data-deficient species have no reliable data to assess their status. Extinct species are those that were known to exist as recently as the year 1500 but no longer exist. Threatened species have a high risk of extinction in the future. Near-threatened species are very likely to become threatened in the near future.

The correct answer is (B). Honeybees are exotic (also known as alien species) species because they live outside their historical range. Native species have lived in their historical range for thousands of years. Threatened species have a high risk of extinction in the future. Invasive species and invasive alien species are the same thing. They are non-native species capable of causing significant harm to the environment, the economy or to society.

The correct answer is (A). The IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature) maintains a list of threatened species know as the Red List.

The correct answer is (E). All of the following have contributed to the worldwide loss of biodiversity: overharvesting, pollution, habitat loss, and climate change.

The correct answer is (A). Carbon dioxide comes from burning coal and oil, as well as deforestation and cellular respiration. Chlorofluorocarbons are from air conditioners, refrigerators, foam products and insulation. Nitrous oxide is from burning fossil fuels, fertilizers, livestock wastes, and plastic manufacturing. Methane is from rice cultivation, cattle/sheep raising, landfills, natural gas leaks, and coal production. Sulfur hexafluoride is from the electrical industry as a replacement for PCBs.

The correct answer is (B). Over the past 100 years average global temperatures have risen by a little more than 1°C. The trend of increasing temperatures began in the late '70s. Seventeen of the 18 warmest years in the 136-year record all have occurred since 2001.

The correct answer is (D). The Montreal Protocol is an international agreement designed to protect the stratospheric ozone layer.

The Clean Air Act was passed in 1963 was designed to control air pollution on a national level.

The Kyoto Protocol is a plan created by the United Nations that tries to reduce the effects of climate change.

Paris Agreement set out a global action plan to put the world on tract to avoid dangerous climate changes.

The Air Pollution Control Act addressed air pollution as a national problem and announced that research and additional steps to improve the situation needed to be taken.

The correct answer is (B). The Kyoto Protocol was a United Nations plan to fight global warming by reducing greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere. The agreement put the obligation to reduce emissions on developed countries, mandating that 37 industrialized nations plus the European Community cut their greenhouse gas emissions. More than 100 developing countries, including China and India, were not required to reduce emissions. The United States never ratified the agreement and Canada withdrew from it in 2011.

The correct answer is (C). The Paris Agreement states that the threat of climate change is "urgent and potentially irreversible," and can only be addressed through "the widest possible cooperation by all countries" and "deep reductions in global emissions." The goal of the agreement is to hold the increase in global average temperature to well below 2 degrees C above pre-industrial levels. Each country submitted a voluntary pledge to reduce emissions beginning in 2020. In June 2017, President Trump announced his intention to withdraw the US from the agreement.

The correct answer is (C). There are no know naturally occurring sources of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs).

The correct answer is (A). The “command-and-control approach” is a method for pollution control that focuses on regulations and enforcement mechanisms. The word “command” describes the specific laws and regulations that are enforced, and the word “control” refers to the actual means of enforcement.