Environmental Science Exam Bank
Course Introduction
Environmental Science is an interdisciplinary course that explores the complex interactions between living organisms and their physical surroundings. Students will examine key topics such as ecosystems, biodiversity, resource management, pollution, climate change, and environmental policy. The course emphasizes scientific principles and methodologies for understanding environmental challenges, as well as the social, economic, and ethical implications of human activity on the environment. Through lectures, laboratory experiments, and case studies, students will develop critical thinking skills and investigate sustainable solutions to promote environmental stewardship and global well-being.
Recommended Textbook
Meteorology Today An Introduction to Weather Climate and the Environment 2nd Edition by C.
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Page 2
Chapter 1: Earth and Its Atmosphere
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Q1) The atmosphere of which of the following planets is composed primarily of carbon dioxide?
A)Earth
B)Mars
C)Jupiter
D)Uranus
Answer: B
Q2) Which of the following terms refers to the rate at which temperature decreases with increasing altitude?
A)thermocline
B)temperature slope
C)lapse rate
D)sounding
Answer: C
Q3) Which of the following describes water vapour?
A)It is a liquid
B)It is a raindrop
C)It is a gas
D)It is a cloud droplet
Answer: C
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Chapter 2: Energy: Warming Earth and the Atmosphere
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Sample Questions
Q1) A good absorber of a given wavelength of radiation is also a good emitter of that wavelength. Which of the following principles does this statement refer to?
A)first law of thermodynamics
B)Wien's law
C)Kirchhoff's law
D)Stefan-Boltzmann's law
Answer: C
Q2) Suppose the present concentration of CO<sub>2</sub> doubled in 100 years, and climate models predicted a 5<sup>o</sup>C increase in Earth's average temperature.
Which of the following gases must also increase in concentration?
A)oxygen
B)nitrogen
C)methane
D)water vapour
Answer: D
Q3) In what ways is the atmospheric greenhouse different from an agricultural greenhouse?
Answer: Answers may vary.
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Chapter 3: Seasonal and Daily Temperatures
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Q1) Which of the following describes what wind machines do during a radiation inversion?
A)They lift warm air away from the surface.
B)They mix the air at high altitudes
C)They mix the air near the ground.
D)They bring cool upper air to lower altitudes.
Answer: C
Q2) Explain why it is possible for the night-time minimum to occur as much as 30 minutes after the sun has risen.
Answer: Answers may vary.
Q3) Which of the following is generally most associated with longer days?
A)less insolation
B)more heating-degree days
C)fewer heating-degree days
D)more insolation
Answer: D
Q4) What types of temperature data might be appropriate to include in a short description of a city or region's climate?
Answer: Answers may vary.
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Chapter 4: Atmospheric Humidity
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Q1) Even if the relative humidity of polar air is often close to 100 percent, explain why polar air is often described as dry.
Q2) Explain why high humidity in the summer makes us feel warmer than the air temperature suggests.
Q3) To which of the following percentages is relative humidity often nearest in the polar regions?
A)70%
B)60%
C)100%
D)40%
Q4) Which of the following describes the saturation vapour pressure over water when the air temperature is below freezing?
A)equal to the saturation vapour pressure over ice
B)greater than the saturation vapour pressure over ice
C)equal to zero
D)less than the saturation vapour pressure over ice
Q5) What is meant by the terms "water vapour saturation" and "saturation vapour pressure"? Why does the saturation vapour pressure increase with increasing air temperature?
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Chapter 5: Condensation: Dew, Fog, and Clouds
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following is the main type of fog that forms off the coast of Newfoundland?
A)steam fog
B)radiation fog
C)advection fog
D)frontal fog
Q2) List one or more key identifying features for each of the ten basic cloud types. Which cloud types might have fairly similar appearances and thus be difficult to identify?
Q3) Hail is usually associated with which of the following cloud types?
A)cumulonimbus
B)stratocumulus
C)stratus
D)altocumulus
Q4) It is a cold winter night and fog forms. If it continues to cool during the night, would you expect to find that the dew point has changed overnight? If so, would you expect to find that the dew point has increased or decreased?
Q5) Discuss the factors that determine whether a cloud can have a cooling effect or a warming effect on the atmosphere.
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Chapter 6: Stability and Cloud Development
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Q1) Which of the following pr°Cesses increases the environmental lapse rate?
A)cold advection at higher altitudes and daytime solar heating
B)warm advection at higher altitudes and daytime radiational cooling
C)daytime solar heating and surface radiational cooling
D)cold advection at higher altitudes and surface radiational cooling
Q2) Which of the following terms refers to wavelike clouds that look like water breaking along a shore?
A)cloud streets
B)mammatus clouds
C)billow clouds
D)pileus clouds
Q3) If the environmental lapse rate in the figure above is 8°C/km, at what altitude will the air parcel become warmer than its environment?
A)1 km
B)2 km
C)3 km
D)4 km
Q4) List and explain the four pr°Cesses that cause rising air motions in the atmosphere.
Q5) Under what conditions can a cloud form when air is sinking?
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Chapter 7: Precipitation
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following conditions are necessary for falling snowflakes to survive in air with temperatures much above freezing?
A)unsaturated air and wet-bulb temperature above freezing
B)unsaturated air and wet-bulb temperature at or below freezing
C)saturated air and wet-bulb temperature above freezing
D)saturated air and wet-bulb temperature at or below freezing
Q2) Which of the following best describes the solute effect?
A)Cloud droplets evaporate and ice crystals grow in a cold cloud.
B)Pollutants are removed from the atmosphere by cloud droplets.
C)Water droplets are kept from freezing at temperatures below 0°C.
D)Dissolution of hygroscopic nuclei occurs as does condensation at relative humidities less than 100 percent.
Q3) In the ice-crystal process of precipitation formation, why does water vapour diffuse from liquid droplets toward ice crystals?
Q4) Which of the following changes happen as a result of freshly fallen snow?
A)Sound waves are amplified.
B)Sound waves are absorbed.
C)The intensity of visible light is decreased.
D)The intensity of visible light is enhanced.
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Chapter 8: Air Pressure and Winds
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following describes the temperature of the air at point A compared to the air at point B?
A)It is warmer than the air at point B.
B)It is colder than the air at point B.
C)It is the same temperature as the air at point B.
Q2) Explain the formation of a geostrophic wind.
Q3) Typically, corrections need to be made for which of the following factors to obtain the station pressure?
A)temperature and gravity
B)temperature and time
C)operator error and temperature
D)temperature and altitude
Q4) Explain briefly why upper-level winds at middle latitudes in the northern hemisphere blow from west to east. In what direction do upper-level winds at middle latitudes in the southern hemisphere blow?
Q5) Briefly outline the important aspects of all the forces that move air in the atmosphere.
Q6) Suppose you stand outside and feel a fresh breeze blowing against your face. Could this be a geostrophic wind? Explain.
Page 10
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Chapter 9: Wind: Small-Scale and Local Systems
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Q1) Suppose the wind speed increases from 8 km/h to 16 km/h. Which of the following expresses the factor by which the force of the wind will have increased?
A)2
B)4
C)5
D)25
Q2) How do Santa Ana winds warm as they flow down an elevated desert plateau?
A)by condensation
B)by compression
C)by evaporation
D)by expansion
Q3) Which of the following results from strong winds blowing over vegetation?
A)slow water loss
B)increased photosynthesis
C)decreased crop productivity
D)physically undamaged plants
Q4) Draw a sketch to show where eddies can form when air blows rapidly over a mountain range. Indicate where clouds might form. How would these clouds appear when viewed from the ground?
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Chapter 10: Wind: Global Systems
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Q1) Which of the following conditions likely occurs because of the low-level jet stream that forms over the central plains of the United States?
A)nighttime thunderstorms
B)onset of a chinook
C)development of El Niño
D)influx of cold polar air
Q2) Which of the following describes the prevailing wind at Vancouver, British Columbia (latitude 50° N),
A)easterly
B)southwesterly
C)westerly
D)northwesterly
Q3) Consider the single-cell model of the general circulation of the atmosphere. Which of the following statements describes an assumption of this model?
A)The Earth's surface is covered with land and water.
B)The Earth is not perfectly spherical in shape.
C)The sun is always overhead at the North Pole.
D)The Earth does not rotate.
Q4) Explain why upwelling occurs along the California coast.
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Chapter 11: Air Masses and Fronts
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Q1) Which of the following air masses shows the most dramatic change in both temperature and moisture content as it moves over a large body of very warm water?
A)mP in winter
B)cT in summer
C)cP in winter
D)mT in summer
Q2) Squall lines most often form ahead of which of the following types of weather fronts?
A)cold-type occluded front
B)warm-type occluded front
C)cold front
D)warm front
Q3) Which of the following explains why thunderstorms along cold fronts are more severe than thunderstorms along warm fronts?
A)Uplift is more rapid along cold fronts.
B)Cold air has a greater capacity for moisture.
C)Cold fronts move more slowly than warm fronts.
D)There is greater turbulence ahead of cold fronts due to the higher air pressure.
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Chapter 12: Middle-Latitude Cyclones
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Q1) On a surface weather map that shows an open wave cyclone, where can the warm sector be observed?
A)ahead of an advancing cold-occluded front
B)behind an advancing cold front
C)behind an advancing cold-occluded front
D)ahead of an advancing cold front
Q2) Which of the following is an accurate statement about the dry conveyor belt?
A)It is associated with the clouds within a middle-latitude cyclone.
B)It is the cause of a middle-latitudes precipitation.
C)It brings calm conditions to the surface.
D)It can bring down air from the lower stratosphere.
Q3) Which of the following terms refers to a small, moving disturbance embedded in a longwave?
A)wave cyclone
B)lee-side low
C)frontal wave
D)shortwave
Q4) On a 500 hPa chart, why does middle-latitude cyclone development occur beneath troughs rather than ridges?
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Chapter 13: Weather Forecasting
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Q1) Which of the following gives the name for the bluish halo that may appear above pointed objects underneath a thunderstorm?
A)heat lightning
B)St.Elmo's fire
C)sheet lightning
D)fluorescence
Q2) Which of the following defines an ordinary thunderstorm?
A)a storm that does not produce lightning or thunder
B)a scattered or isolated storm that is not severe
C)a storm that has a tilted updraft and downdraft
D)a storm that does not produce hail
Q3) On a surface weather map, which of the following marks the boundary where a warm, dry air mass encounters a warm, moist air mass?
A)wall cloud
B)storm front
C)dryline
D)gust front
Q4) List and describe the sequence of events that occur during a cloud-to-ground lightning discharge.
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Chapter 14: Thunderstorms
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Q1) Which of the following statements describes the similarity between hurricanes and middle-latitude cyclones that occur in the northern hemisphere?
A)They both have surface weather fronts.
B)They both have winds that blow counterclockwise around their centres.
C)They both intensify with increasing height above the ground.
D)They will both generally move from west to east.
Q2) Why are the measurements made by reconnaissance aircraft so important to forecasting a hurricane's movement?
Q3) Which of the following is the main source of energy for a hurricane?
A)upper-level jet stream
B)warm ocean water and the release of latent heat of condensation
C)ocean currents and tides
D)warm air rising and cold air sinking in the vicinity of weather fronts
Q4) What approach do recent computer models of hurricanes use in their predictions of a hurricane's intensity?
A)They compare water temperature.
B)They compare latent heat content.
C)They compare present storms to similar tropical storms in the past.
D)They compare wind direction.
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Chapter 15: Tornadoes
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Q1) Which of the following describes a situation for which the Canadian Meteorological Service would release a warning for a severe thunderstorm?
A)Conditions are favourable for wind gusts of 90 km/h or more
B)Conditions are favourable for less than 50 mm of rainfall.
C)Hail less than 2 cm in diameter is occurring.
D)Winds gusts of 90 km/h or more are occurring.
Q2) Which of the following forecast methods is used to predict weather by weather types?
A)steady-state forecast
B)persistence forecast
C)analogue method
D)probability forecast
Q3) At which location represented by the four positions on the map would you expect to hear the following 12-hour forecast: "Cloudy and cold this morning with snow this afternoon and tonight"?
A)position 1
B)position 2
C)position 3
D)position 4
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Chapter 16: Hurricanes
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Q1) Describe the climate of your neighbourhood and the microclimatic variations within it.
Q2) Which of the following climate types refers to a region that has long, very cold winters and average temperatures that exceed 10°C only during one or two months of the summer?
A)subpolar (Dfc) climate
B)alpine (An) climate
C)polar tundra (ET) climate
D)polar ice cap (EF) climate
Q3) In general, is there more rainfall on the western side or the eastern side of subtropical high-pressure centres? How does this affect climatic conditions along the East and West Coast of Canada?
Q4) Which of the following factors represents a climatic control?
A)ocean temperature
B)intensity of sunshine at different longitudes
C)prevailing winds
D)types of aerosols
Q5) Why can regions with a desert climate be found next to an ocean, which is generally an abundant source of moist air?
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Chapter 17: Earths Changing Climate
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Q1) Which of the following statements applies to the biogeophysical feedback mechanism that occurs in the Sahel?
A)Reduced cloud cover relates to an increase in both surface temperatures and rainfall.
B)Reduced vegetation relates to a lower surface albedo and an increase in rainfall.
C)Reduced vegetation relates to a decrease in both surface temperatures and rainfall.
D)Increased vegetation relates to an increase in surface temperatures and a decrease in rainfall.
Q2) Describe some of the techniques used to infer past climates. About how far into the past are these different methods able to reconstruct past climatic conditions?
Q3) What is meant by the term positive feedback? What role could positive feedback play in the atmospheric greenhouse effect? Would this enhance or reduce global warming? What is an example of a "negative feedback" mechanism?
Q4) In what ways might climate change benefit the planet?
Q5) What are some of the possible consequences of climate change?
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Chapter 18: Global Climate
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Q1) Describe some of the measures that are being taken to reduce the problem of acid precipitation.
Q2) Which of the following describes the main source of smoke in London prior to and during the industrial revolution?
A)coal combustion
B)exhaust from diesel engines
C)trash fires
D)factories in Eastern Europe
Q3) Which of the following gases will replace oxygen in the blood pigment hemoglobin and thereby reduce the transport of oxygen to the brain?
A)carbon dioxide
B)carbon monoxide
C)methane
D)sulphur dioxide
Q4) List several atmospheric pollutants. What are the most important sources, and what are the environmental and health effects of these pollutants?
Q5) How did the conditions in the atmosphere over Antarctica lead to the formation of the ozone hole?
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Chapter 19: Air Pollution
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Sample Questions
Q1) When a beam of white light passes through a glass prism, it is separated into its component colours. Which of the following terms refers to this process?
A)iridescence
B)dispersion
C)diffraction
D)selective scattering
Q2) On average, which of the following occurs as a cloud grows thicker (taller)?
A)Less sunlight is reflected from the cloud.
B)More sunlight is transmitted through the cloud.
C)Less light is scattered by the cloud.
D)More sunlight is absorbed by the cloud.
Q3) Which of the following phenomena can sometimes be seen near the upper rim of a setting or rising sun?
A)corona
B)green flash
C)sun pillar
D)glory
Q4) Why does adding particles to the atmosphere affect visibility?
Q5) Distinguish between the formation of a halo and the formation of a corona.
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