WPT Environment and Nature 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What is an ecosystem?
- A single species and its habitat
- A community of living organisms interacting with their physical environment (Correct answer)
- The area of land protected by a national park
- A system for classifying plants and animals
Correct answer: A community of living organisms interacting with their physical environment
An ecosystem is a system formed by a community of organisms (biotic factors) interacting with each other and their nonliving physical environment (abiotic factors).
Question 2: What is deforestation and why is it a concern?
- Planting trees in urban areas to reduce heat
- The large-scale removal of forests, which reduces biodiversity and increases CO₂ emissions (Correct answer)
- A natural process where old trees die and are replaced by new growth
- The process of converting forests into national parks
Correct answer: The large-scale removal of forests, which reduces biodiversity and increases CO₂ emissions
Deforestation is the clearing of forests for agriculture, logging, or development, which destroys habitats and releases stored carbon into the atmosphere.
Question 3: What does it mean for a species to be 'endangered'?
- The species is invasive and threatening other wildlife
- The species faces a very high risk of extinction in the wild (Correct answer)
- The species has been successfully reintroduced to its native habitat
- The species is protected under international trade agreements
Correct answer: The species faces a very high risk of extinction in the wild
An endangered species is one that has been categorized as likely to become extinct unless the circumstances threatening its survival improve.
Question 4: Which of the following best describes a 'watershed'?
- A storage facility for rainwater collection
- An area of land that drains water into a common river, lake, or ocean (Correct answer)
- A type of water treatment plant
- A region that receives above-average annual rainfall
Correct answer: An area of land that drains water into a common river, lake, or ocean
A watershed is a land area that collects and channels precipitation and runoff into a shared body of water such as a river or bay.
Question 5: What is the purpose of the Clean Air Act in the United States?
- To fund renewable energy research
- To regulate air emissions from stationary and mobile sources to protect public health (Correct answer)
- To establish national parks and wilderness areas
- To set energy efficiency standards for vehicles
Correct answer: To regulate air emissions from stationary and mobile sources to protect public health
The Clean Air Act, originally passed in 1963 and significantly amended in 1970 and 1990, authorizes the EPA to set and enforce national air quality standards.
Question 6: What is the main difference between weather and climate?
- Weather refers to long-term patterns while climate describes daily conditions
- Weather describes short-term atmospheric conditions while climate refers to long-term patterns in a region (Correct answer)
- Weather only applies to storms while climate covers all atmospheric phenomena
- They are the same concept described on different geographic scales
Correct answer: Weather describes short-term atmospheric conditions while climate refers to long-term patterns in a region
Weather is the day-to-day state of the atmosphere (e.g., today's rain), while climate is the average pattern of weather over decades in a specific region.
WPT Environment and Nature 2
What is an ecosystem?