why is preserving biodiversity in the galápagos islands an important worldwide concern ?
the tourist trade on the islands will decrease without biodiversity.
the world's fish markets depend mainly on fish from these islands.
many species unique to the islands may become extinct.
the galápagos islands contain more different species than any comparable place on the earth.
what do the endangered species act and the convention on biological diversity have in common?
they are u. s. laws.
they prohibit logging and other controversial activities.
their aim is to prevent extinctions.
the european union and 192 nations signed them.
what is a greenhouse gas?
a gas that people can breathe safely
a gas that absorbs and re-releases heat radiated by the earth
a gas that is created by artificial means
a gas that is used in growing tropical plants to increase biodiversity
lowering sulfur dioxide emissions would have the greatest impact upon which of the following environmental phenomena?
ozone hole
tropospheric ozone
acid rain
global climate change
which of the following is beneficial to human health and the environment? tropospheric ozone
acid rain
sulfur dioxide
stratospheric ozone
which of the following contributes to global warming?
ozone hole
greenhouse gases
cid rain
tropospheric ozone
an incident in donora, pennsylvania, led to which of the following actions? banning the use of cfcs
enacting air pollution laws
banning the burning of coal
conducting cost-benefit analyses
which of the following is not a greenhouse gas?
carbon dioxide
water vapor
methane
sulfur dioxide
what is the most common method of solid waste disposal in the united states? composting
waste-to-energy combustion
recycling
landfill
which device is used to reduce gaseous emissions from a mobile source? scrubber
catalytic converter
filter
column of liquid

1) Answer is: Many species unique to the islands may become extinct.

The Galapagos Islands has some of the highest levels of endemism (species found nowhere else on Earth).

About 80% of the land birds, 97% of the reptiles and land mammals and more than 30% of the plants are endemic. More than 20% of the marine species in Galapagos are found nowhere else on earth.

For example, Galapagos tortoise, marine iguana, flightless cormoran and the Galapagos penguin.

2) Answer is: Their aim is to prevent extinctions.

The Endangered Species Act (1973) is USA law to protect species from extinction, because it prohibits:

1) harming or killing endangered species.

2) the import and export of endangered species.

Biodiversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth; more diversity, more species.

The Convention on Biological Diversity is a multilateral treaty for the conservation and use of biological diversity.

3) Answer is: a gas that absorbs and re-releases heat radiated by the Earth.

Most often greenhouse gases are carbon dioxide and methane. They come from burning multiple substances: coal, petroleum, natural gas.

Carbon dioxide (CO₂) and energy (heat) is produced by combustion of fossil fuels, that energy is used for producing electricity (the heat energy of combustion is converted into mechanical energy).

For example, coal power plants use coal to heat water into steam, that steam.

Carbon credits is a component of national and international attempts to lower the growth in concentrations of greenhouse gases.

One carbon credit is equal to one tonne of carbon dioxide.

4) Answer is: acid rain.

Fossil fuel combustion increases the acidity of rain because the sulfur dioxide is produced.

Because of fuel combustion,  sulfur dioxide goes up into the atmosphere as the hot gases rise, than it reacts with water and oxygen in the air and form sulfuric  acid:

Balanced chemical reaction: SO₂(g) + 2O₂(g) + 2H₂O → 2H₂SO₄.

pH (potential of hydrogen) is a numeric scale used to specify the acidity or basicity an aqueous solution.

When pH is less than seven (pH<7), solution is acidic.

5) Answer is: stratospheric ozone.

Moving upward from ground level, layers of Earth's atmosphere are: the troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere and thermosphere.

The stratosphere extends from the top of the troposphere to about 50 km above the ground.

The Ozone layer is a region of Earth's stratosphere that absorbs most of the Sun's ultraviolet radiation.  

Molecular formula of ozone is O₃.

Ozone is allotrope of oxygen and he is less stable. Because his unstability in high concentration, ozone decaying to diatomic oxygen.

6) Answer is: greenhouse gases.

A greenhouse gas is a gas that absorbs and emits radiant energy within the thermal infrared range.

Global warming is rise in the average temperature of the Earth's climate system.

Most often greenhouse gases are carbon dioxide and methane. They come from burning multiple substances: coal, petroleum, natural gas.

Greenhouse gases are so difficult to measure, because carbone dioxide, methane, chlorofluorocarbons comes from multiple sources, some of which are relatively hard to measure.

7) Answer is: enacting air pollution laws.

An incident in Donora (1948) was air inversion that resulted in a wall of smog that killed 20 people.

An incident in Donora is credited for helping to trigger the clean-air movement in the United States, whose crowning achievement was the Clean Air Act of 1970.

The Clean Air Act is a United States federal law designed to control air pollution on a national level.

8) Answer is: sulfur dioxide.

Sulfur dioxide (SO₂) is very common volcanic gas.

The greenhouse gases in Earth's atmosphere are water vapor (H₂O(g)), carbon dioxide (CO₂), methane (CH₄), nitrous oxide(N₂O) and ozone (O₃).

The average temperature of Earth's surface, without greenhouse gases would be about −18°C.

9) Answer is: landfill.

About 262 million tons of solid waste disposal were generated in the United States:

1) 52.5% of waste is landfilled.

2) 25.8% of waste is recycled,

3) 12.8% waste-to-energy combustion.

4) 8.9% composted.

Landfills should be created in places with low groundwater level and far from sources of flooding.

10) Answer is: catalytic converter.

Reactions occur faster  with a catalyst because they require less activation energy.

Catalytic converter splitts up the molecules after they leave a a mobile source (for example car's engine) and before they get released into the air.

It reduces emissions rather than eliminate them completely.

Usually converter is made from platinum, palladium or rhodium.