Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Environment Your enviro-PANIQuiz for the week of Aug. 30
Posted by Jim Poyser on Tue, Sep 7, 2010 at 9:41 AM
The ApocaDocs, Jim and Michael, present the Pre-Apocalypse News & Info Quiz (PANIQuiz)
for the week beginning Monday, Aug 30, 2010, to test your knowledge of current environmental news.
New Free Book, "Humoring the Horror of the Converging Emergencies"
http://apocadocs.com/book/
This Week's PANIQuestions (Answers below):
1. What was discovered about the Athabasca River, near the "oil sands"?
a. "enough silver could be extracted each day to produce a bust of Stephen Harper"
b. "that smell is the smell of money."
c. "tar sands run through it."
d. "oil sands industry substantially increases loadings" of toxins into the river.
e. "fish were found adapting lead and copper levels to produce armor."
2. Why is China building a research base on its east coast?
a. To explore deep-sea energy resources.
b. To explore impacts of airborne pollution on clams.
c. To study why it has an east coast but not a west coast.
d. To study effects of ocean acidification.
e. Because it does not have a west coast.
3. What is coal trading poised to do?
a. Decline precipitously.
b. Be drummed out of business by solar and wind.
c. Stay about the same.
d. Be drummed out of business by the EPA.
e. Rise to a record high.
4. What is the current state of Lake Erie?
a. It's choking on quagga mussels.
b. It's drowning in spilled oil.
c. It's continuing to flourish.
d. It's sick again, due to algae blooms.
e. It's strange and kind of mysterious.
5. Who is to blame for the disastrous floods in Pakistan?
a. Satan.
b. Coyote.
c. The "timber mafia" who denuded what normally would have been buffer zones.
d. Siva.
e. God.
6. What is the newest theory for the cause of Colony Collapse Disorder?
a. Bees lack chutzpah.
b. Neonicotinoid insecticides.
c. Bees use their tiny cellphones too much.
d. Bears.
e. Drones sick of having sex all the time.
7. What does Bjorn Lomborg, the "skeptical environmentalist," now believe?
a. Global warming is the name of my cat.
b. Global warming is real but not a big deal.
c. Global warming is real and we are in big trouble.
d. Global warming is cooked up by scientists seeking funding.
e. Global warming is bogus.
Answers:
___________________________________
1. What was discovered about the Athabasca River, near the "oil
sands"?
Correct Answer: (d): "oil sands industry substantially increases
loadings" of toxins into the river.
See "Elevated levels of toxins found in Oil Sands' Athabasca River"
(Globe and Mail)
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/prairies/elevated-levels-of-toxins-found-in-athabasca-river/article1689578/
2. Why is China building a research base on its east coast?
Correct Answer: (a): To explore deep-sea energy resources.
See "China sets up base to explore deep-sea energy" (Xinhua, via
China.org.cn)
http://www.china.org.cn/environment/2010-08/27/content_20803758.htm
3. What is coal trading poised to do?
Correct Answer: (e): Rise to a record high.
See "Low prices stoke coal sales, despite pollution concerns"
(Bloomberg News)
http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2010/08/30/low_prices_stoke_coal_sales_despite_pollution_concerns/
4. What is the current state of Lake Erie?
Correct Answer: (d): It's sick again, due to algae blooms.
See "Toxic algae blooms choking Lake Erie" (Toledo Blade)
http://toledoblade.com/article/20100829/NEWS16/8280386/0/NEWS
5. Who is to blame for the disasterous floods in Pakistan?
Correct Answer: (c): The "timber mafia" who denuded what normally
would have been buffer zones.
See "Pakistan: A land left to drown by the 'timber mafia'" (Herald
Scotland)
http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/world-news/a-land-left-to-drown-by-the-timber-mafia-1.1051230
6. What is the newest theory for the cause of Colony Collapse
Disorder?
Correct Answer: (b): Neonicotinoid insecticides.
See "Insecticide implicated in bee decline" (IOP, via
EnvironmentalResearchWeb)
http://environmentalresearchweb.org/cws/article/news/43568
7. What does Bjorn Lomborg, the "skeptical environmentalist," now
believe?
Correct Answer: (c): Global warming is real and we are in big
trouble.
See "Noted anti-global-warming scientist reverses course" (Upshot)
http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_upshot/20100831/sc_yblog_upshot/noted-anti-global-warming-scientist-reverses-course
___________________________________
For this week's news on Climate Chaos, Resource Depletion,
Infectious Disease, Species Collapse, Biology Breach, and Recovery
(with punchlines and mal mots), visit http://apocadocs.com
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