envierment
Instructions:
A.) You may use any source of information except human resources ( you are to complete Critical Thinking--Part 1 of the exam without consulting any other person ). This includes live, text, email, social media, all communication platforms, etc. Textbook, web sources, library sources, etc. are fine. Please list the sources that you have used at the end of each question, and use proper citations for any figures or key information that you may have used to formulate your answers. The rule of thumb is that the grader should be able to find the information you have cited from your citation.
b.) Please type your responses. Please remove the exam questions from your submission to Turnitin. This will reduce your similarity score. Feel free to write in figures, drawings, and equations if necessary by hand. Photos of your figures or handwritten calculations are fine. These should be incorporated into your submitted PDF document.
c.) As a rule of thumb, you are not expected to spend more than 1.5 hours per question. This means that you might spend ~1 hour researching the question and 30 minutes writing your answers.
d.) Please provide detailed support for any of your statements or answers. In other words, a simple “yes” or “no”, “agree” or “disagree”, or “I think it is clean”, is not a complete answer and will not receive credit. A complete answer takes the form of “Yes, because … and therefore...” or “I think it is healthy because ….”.
e.) There are not necessarily any right or wrong answers to these questions. You will be graded on your ability to think and write critically in addressing these environmental issues. More detailed, supportive responses will be more valued than generalizations.
f.) Please use your NAME (as it appears in WISER or accepted Preferred Name) as your submitted document (title) and write your name on the submitted document.
Work 1—Critical Thinking--Part 1-- 5 questions, 10 points each
1.) Atmospheric Carbon
The concentration atmospheric carbon dioxide has been increasing since 1958 through today (September 25, 2022).
a.) Measurements of CO2 concentration are in parts per million (ppm volume; 1 molecule of CO2 per 1 million molecules of air) over time. Will the CO2 concentration continue to rise exponentially for the next 50 years? Why or why not? Will the seasonal “wiggles” continue or not? Please explain. (6 points)
b.) If we tried to remove some of the atmospheric CO2 and sequester (store) it somewhere for over a century (100 years), where could we put it? In what form? And why would it not return to the atmosphere in a few years? (4 points)
2.) Deer Island
The Boston Harbor Recovery is a huge environmental success story.
a.) The Deer Island Sewage Treatment Plant removes about 80% of the organic matter in sewage before it is discharged into Massachusetts Bay. Explain how this organic matter is removed. Where does it go? (6 points)
b.) Describe two ecosystem services (e.g. benefits or uses) that have resulted from cleaning up Boston Harbor, the “dirtiest harbor in the country”, to its current state? In other words, how can the current uses of a clean estuary justify the $5 Billion cost of cleaning up Boston Harbor. (4 points)
3.) Water
(A) (B) (C)
a.) A rain gauge (A) has an opening at the top with an area of 20 cm2. A brief, intense rainstorm dumps 10 cm (0.1 m) of rain in the water directly into the rain gauge. How much water (volume) accumulates in the rain gauge (cylinder) during this rainstorm? Show your work. Make sure you have included the proper units for volume. (2 points)
b.) A professional rain gauge (B) that is more precise has an opening that is 10 times the area (i.e. 200 cm2). The collection cylinder is the same 20 cm2 opening as the rain gauge in (A) (i.e. 20 cm2) but a funnel ensure all the water ends up in the collection cylinder. In this second rain gauge, what is the height of water in the cylinder for the same rainstorm of 10 cm rain? (2 points)
c.) Annual rainfall in New England including the Quabbin Watershed is 130 cm/yr. The Quabbin Watershed is 600 km2 in area. How much water due to rain (which drains the entire watershed) flows into the Quabbin Reservoir each year? Please assume all the rainwater in the Quabbin Watershed ends up in the Quabbin Reservoir. Show your work. Hint: It might help to draw a picture of this annual rain on the land. Hint 2: Make sure your units are converted to be consistent. (3 points)
d.) If the Quabbin Reservoir is 15 x 1011 liters in volume, what is the residence time with respect to rain of the Quabbin Reservoir? Please first set up the equation for residence time in words, then attempt to out in the correct numbers to calculate your answer. (3 points)
4.) Make an Ecosystem
a.) Suppose you made your own ecosystem in a mason jar like the one described at the following website:
https://www.shaverscreek.org/2020/04/08/create-your-own-mini-ecosystem-at-home/
The bottle is sealed. Describe the organisms inside that occupy at least two different trophic levels. (4 points)
b.) Now open the jar, add six (6) ants, and reseal the jar. How long will they survive and why? What is the trophic level of the ants? (2 points)
c) Now to the original jar ecosystem, add six (6) ants and one (1) lizard, and reseal the jar. What is the trophic level of the lizard assuming it eats ants? How long will the lizard survive and why? (2 points)
d.) Explain how the water cycle might behave differently during the day and night and explain why.
(2 points)
5.) Primary Productivity
Lichen is a composite organism comprised of an algae and a fungus in a mutualistic relationship.
a.) Describe three adaptations that lichen has developed to survive in extreme environments. (6 points)
b.) With no roots, how does lichen get water to support its growth? (2 points)
c.) With no roots, how does lichen get nitrogen (a nutrient) to support its growth? (2 points)
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