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Human Impact on the Environment
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Living Environment Regents June 2008 Question 26 |
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Thursday, 23 April 2009 06:49 |
A trade-off (or tradeoff) is a situation that involves losing one quality or aspect of something in return for gaining another quality or aspect. It implies a decision to be made with full comprehension of both the upside and downside of a particular choice.
Conservation is an ethic of resource use, allocation, and protection. Its primary focus is upon maintaining the health of the natural world: its forests, fisheries, habitats, and biological diversity.
A technological fix refers to solving a problem by using technology.
Correct Answer: Option 2
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Living Environment Regents June 2008 Question 29 |
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Thursday, 23 April 2009 06:55 |
"Survival of fittest"
Human beings are equipped with and continuously develop the skills, knowledge and the advancements in technology to modify their surroundings to suit their needs. This refers to the theory of the survival of the fittest by Charles Darwin.
Plants only can remove carbon dioxide.
Finite resources cannot be increased and are available only in a limited quantity.
Humans do not reproduce faster than most other species.
Hence option 1 is the best answer for thequestion.
Correct Answer: Option 1
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Living Environment Regents June 2008 Question 47 |
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Thursday, 23 April 2009 07:53 |
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Coal, consists largely of carbon and hydrogen. The process that we call "burning" actually is chemical reactions with oxygen in the air. For the most part, the carbon combines with oxygen to form carbon dioxide (CO2), and the hydrogen combines with oxygen to form water vapor (H20). In both of these chemical reactions a substantial amount of energy is released as heat. Since heat is what is needed to instigate these chemical reactions, we have a chain reaction causing generation of heat used to produce electricity.
The Earth's atmosphere contains molecules that absorb infrared radiation. But a fraction of the infrared emitted by the Earth is absorbed by these molecules which then reemit it, frequently back to the Earth. That is what provides the extra heating. This is also the process that warms the plants in a greenhouse — the glass roof does not absorb the visible light coming in from the sun, but the infrared radiation emitted from the plants is absorbed by the glass and much of it is radiated back to the plants. That is how the process got its name — greenhouse effect.
Molecules in the atmosphere that absorb infrared and thereby increase the Earth's temperature are called greenhouse gases. Carbon dioxide is an efficient greenhouse gas. As the rate of burning coal escalates, so too does the rate of increase of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and the increase in temperature leading to Global Warming.
Correct Answer: Greenhouse Effect leading to Global Warming
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Last Updated on Thursday, 23 April 2009 07:59 |
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Living Environment Regents June 2008 Question 58 |
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Thursday, 23 April 2009 09:46 |
The most of the observed effects have been detrimental and irreparable by displacing native species, and altering tropic level structure. Introduced species often prey on many parts of an already established food web or compete with indigenous species for resources such as food or space. Without any natural predators, invaders can threaten or even eliminate indigenous species. They also carry with them the threat of new diseases which can destroy vulnerable native inhabitants.
Correct Answer: Negative effect of importing Exotic species to the United States would be the displacement of native species and threat of new diseases.
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Living Environment Regents June 2008 Question 67 |
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Thursday, 23 April 2009 10:23 |
Correct Answer: The grass clippings and leaves can be recycled to provide nutrients to the lawn. However if they are moved to landfills, they will not only take up the space of the landfills but also the nutrient value of this is not put into the right use.
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