Globalization and Diversity, 5e (Rowntree et al.)
Chapter 2 Physical Geography and the Environment
1) What shapes the fundamental form of Earth’s surface?
A) geology
B) anthropology
C) politics
D) economics
E) social development
2) The geophysical theory that Earth is comprised of large geologic platforms that move slowly
across its surface is referred to as
A) upthrust.
B) fault lines.
C) geologic movement.
D) sea-floor spreading.
E) plate tectonics.
3) Chile is particularly vulnerable to earthquakes because
A) it is a rift valley.
B) it intersects diverging tectonic plates.
C) it sits upon major areas of transform faulting.
D) it sits upon a mid-ocean ridge.
E) it is in a major subduction zone.
4) The San Andreas Fault is an example of
A) converging plates.
B) diverging plates.
C) transform faulting.
D) subducting plates.
E) volcanic activity.
5) According to plate tectonics theory, large ________ circulate molten rock in different
directions within Earth’s mantle.
A) waves
B) convection cells
C) conductive cells
D) magnetic cells
E) subduction cells
6) An estimated 20,000 people died in March 2011 from the combination of an earthquake and a
tsunami in coastal
A) The Philippines.
B) Japan.
C) Indonesia.
D) China.
E) Guatemala.
7) The circum-Pacific zone of activity, from the western Americas (both North and South) to
East Asia, is particularly active and is often referred to as the
A) Pacific Rim of Fire.
B) Subduction zone.
C) massive fault line.
D) Transform zone.
E) Atlantic Instability Area.
8) During the twentieth century an estimated ________ people were killed by volcanic eruptions
A) 10,000
B) 40,000
C) 60,000
D) 75,000
E) 100,000
9) Convergent plate boundaries tend to be found
A) near continents.
B) deep in the middle of the oceans.
C) underneath continents.
D) near the North and South poles.
E) where the new crust is being added to the Earth’s surface.
10) Divergent plate boundaries tend to be found
A) near continents.
B) deep in the middle of the oceans.
C) underneath continents.
D) near the North and South poles.
E) where the Earth’s crust is the oldest.
11) Rift valleys are examples of
A) convergent plate boundaries.
B) divergent plate boundaries.
C) transform boundaries.
D) subduction zones.
E) none of the above
12) The Himalaya Mountains were formed by
A) converging plates.
B) diverging plates.
C) transform faulting.
D) subducting plates.
E) volcanic activity.
13) 250 million years ago the world’s land masses were all part of a supercontinent called
A) Juan De Fuca.
B) Scotia.
C) Nazca.
D) Pangaea.
E) Eurasia.
14) Incoming short-wave solar energy is called
A) the greenhouse effect.
B) solar intensity.
C) differential heating.
D) insolation.
E) orographic effect.
15) What example of international cooperation works to protect Antarctica?
A) NAFTA
B) Kyoto Protocol
C) IPCC
D) ATS
E) UN Climate Change Committee
16) Antarctica‘s ice sheets have an average depth of
A) less than 100 feet.
B) about 7,900 feet.
C) more than 16,500 feet.
D) about 1,000 feet.
E) about 5,500 feet.
17) Upland and mountainous areas are usually wetter than the adjacent lowland areas because of
the ________ whereby rising air is cooled and loses its ability to hold moisture as it flows up and
over
mountains, resulting in rain and snowfall.
A) adiabatic lapse rate
B) subsolar point
C) rain shadow effect
D) rate of condensation
E) orographic effect
18) Anthropogenic emissions are caused by
A) people.
B) animals.
C) climate.
D) rocks.
E) volcanoes.
19) What pair of countries contributes the most greenhouse emissions into the atmosphere?
A) England and Ireland
B) Germany and France
C) United States and China
D) Japan and South Korea
E) Russia and India
20) The United States opposed the Kyoto Protocol in part because
A) the United States is not a significant contributor to greenhouse gas emissions.
B) while the United States has contributed greatly to greenhouse gas emissions in the past, in
recent years it has made substantial efforts in reducing these emissions.
C) there is no scientific evidence whatsoever supporting a correlation between greenhouse
emissions and climate change.
D) atmospheric emission reductions could potentially harm the U.S. economy.
E) no other industrialized country supports the Kyoto Protocol.
21) Which of the following is a fossil fuel?
A) petroleum
B) wood
C) hydrogen/fuel cell
D) ethanol
E) nuclear energy
22) Which country’s GHG emissions surpassed those of the United States in 2008, which until
that year had historically been the world’s largest emitter?
A) China
B) Germany
C) Brazil
D) Canada
E) Japan
23) Which of the following statements regarding the production of greenhouse gases is TRUE?
A) China’s annual GHG emissions now surpass those of the United States.
B) Russia produces the highest amounts of greenhouse gases.
C) India produces the same amount of greenhouse gases per capita as the United States.
D) Brazil ranks second only to France in its production of greenhouse gases.
E) All of the answer choices are correct.
24) Topography can affect weather and climate in what way?
A) It creates the greenhouse effect.
B) It can create varied precipitation patterns in higher elevations.
C) It is responsible for differential heating.
D) It varies the solar intensity.
E) It is responsible for the differences between continental and maritime climates.
25) What wind or global pressure system borders the equator?
A) the westerlies
B) subtropical high
C) trade winds
D) jet stream
E) polar easterlies
26) By signing the Kyoto protocol, Western industrialized countries agreed to reduce their
emissions back to ________ levels by the year 2012.
A) 1975
B) 1980
C) 1990
D) 1996
E) 2000
27) Which of the following is NOT one of Earth’s climate controls?
A) incoming solar energy
B) anthropogenic systems
C) latitude
D) interaction between land and water
E) global pressure systems and wind patterns
28) Which of the following is NOT one of the Earth’s climatic controls?
A) topography
B) latitude
C) 11 year sunspots
D) interaction between land and water
E) global pressure systems
29) Graphic representations of monthly average temperatures and precipitation are called
A) orographics.
B) climate regions.
C) lapse rates.
D) climographs.
E) topography.
30) As a general rule, the atmosphere cools by 3.5°F for every 1,000 feet gained in elevation.
This is called
A) the environmental lapse rate.
B) the subsolar point.
C) the rate of condensation.
D) orographic effect.
E) the rain shadow effect.
31) A standard scheme, called the ________, devised in the early twentieth century, is used to
describe the world’s diverse climates.
A) Vön Thunen model
B) Zelinsky’s classification
C) Baron la Salle’s model’s
D) Alfred Wagener‘s system
E) Köppen system
32) What is weather?
A) local areas that possess extreme temperature variability over extended periods of time
B) the long-term condition of the Earth’s atmosphere at a given location
C) the atmospheric conditions that are responsible for the formation of regions such as deserts
D) the short-term day–to-day expression of atmospheric processes
E) monthly average precipitation and temperature
33) Which of the following is an example of the possible effects of climate change?
A) The U.S. wheat belt may receive more rainfall.
B) Grain production is likely to increase.
C) Canada and Russia may experience shorter growing seasons.
D) Sea level will rise.
E) New islands will appear as sea level decreases.
34) The increase in greenhouse gases during the last 130 years is primarily a result of
A) the excessive burning of fossil fuels by humans.
B) the escape of these gases from plate boundaries and volcanoes.
C) increased sunspot activity that accelerates plant photosynthesis rates.
D) the release of excessive amounts of carbon from the oceans.
E) widespread use of chemical fertilizers in agriculture.
35) Which of the following is NOT one of the natural greenhouse gases?
A) methane
B) carbon dioxide
C) ozone
D) water vapor
E) helium
36) Which of the following statements about greenhouse gases is most accurate?
A) Greenhouse gases have never been very stable, and have increased dramatically in the past
130 years.
B) Greenhouse gases were fairly stable throughout most of human history, but have decreased
dramatically in the past 130 years.
C) Greenhouse gases have never been very stable, but have decreased dramatically in the past
130 years.
D) Greenhouse gases were fairly stable throughout most of human history, but have increased
dramatically in the past 130 years.
E) Greenhouse gases increased steadily through most of human history, but have remained stable
over the past 130 years.
37) In which city did representatives from the countries of the world meet and create the first
international agreement on climate change?
A) Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
B) Paris, France
C) Kyoto, Japan
D) Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
E) Calcutta, India
38) If climate change occurs to a significant degree, it is likely to have all of the following
consequences, EXCEPT
A) melting of the polar ice caps.
B) lower sea levels.
C) changing rainfall patterns.
D) more intense tropical storms.
E) longer growing season in Canada.
39) Which of the following is NOT a significant greenhouse gas?
A) carbon dioxide
B) methane
C) chlorofluorocarbons
D) molecular nitrogen
E) nitrous oxide
40) What is the major source of carbon dioxide?
A) aerosol sprays and refrigerants
B) by-product of cattle and sheep digestion
C) burning fossil fuels
D) widespread use of chemical fertilizers in agriculture
E) burning associated with rainforest clearing
41) What did countries that ratified the Kyoto Protocol agree to do?
A) eliminate their emissions of major greenhouse gases
B) reduce their emissions of major greenhouse gases below 1990 levels
C) keep their emissions of major greenhouse gases at current levels
D) allow their emission of major greenhouse gases to go no higher than 10% above current levels
E) eliminate their emissions of greenhouse gases and all other pollutants by 2010
42) Why are less developed countries (LDCs) reluctant to sign the Kyoto Protocol?
A) Restricted emissions from most–developed countries (MDCs) created the problem.
B) Emissions accumulated in the atmosphere from less developed countries since the nineteenth
century and is the major culprit of today’s problem.
C) Signing the Kyoto Protocol could limit the economic future of LDCs.
D) Up to now, LDCs such as China and India, have added very little to the build-up of
greenhouse gases and have stable or decreasing emission rates.
43) This term refers to the position taken by developing countries such as China and India, which
argue that, because Western industrial countries in North America and Europe have been burning
large amounts of fossil fuels since the mid-19th century and because CO2 stays in the
atmosphere for hundreds of years, these countries caused the global warming problem and
therefore should fix it.
A) carbon inequity
B) carbon sequestration
C) social justice
D) economic rationalism
E) rational equity
44) The natural process of the Earth’s atmosphere heating through the trapping of reradiated
infrared radiation is known as
A) the greenhouse effect.
B) thermal inversion.
C) solar heating.
D) climate change.
E) subduction.
45) The Koppen classification system is a standard system used to classify
A) climate.
B) landforms.
C) tectonic activity.
D) vegetation.
E) languages.
46) Which substance is of great concern to scientists studying human-generated greenhouse
gases, and is thought to increase such that the earth’s climate will be irrevocably changed by
2020?
A) chlorofluorocarbons
B) carbon dioxide
C) methane
D) nitrous oxide
E) ozone
47) Climographs do NOT contain information about
A) average high temperatures.
B) average low temperatures.
C) average relative humidity.
D) average precipitation.
E) annual precipitation.