Although humans are primarily land dwellers, the Earth’s surface is largely water. The world’s oceans make up 99% of the planet’s biosphere and contain the greatest diversity of life. Even the most biologically rich tropical rain forests cannot match the biodiversity (measured by the number of species) found in a coral reef community.
Also Read:
- Environmental Science MCQ Questions with Answers – Part 1
- Environmental Science MCQ Questions with Answers – Part 2
- Environmental Science MCQ Questions with Answers – Part 3
- Environmental Science MCQ Questions with Answers – Part 4
- Environmental Science MCQ Questions with Answers – Part 5
Rain forests, deserts, coral reefs, grasslands, and a rotting log are all examples of ecosystems.
Are you searching for multiple-choice questions or quiz on Environmental Science? Are you worried and couldn’t find the solution? Here in this article, we’re going to give you the solution by showing some MCQ questions on Environmental Science.
1. The length of time that water spends in the groundwater portion of the hydrologic cycle is known as the
(a) Carbon cycle
(b) Krebs cycle
(c) Cenozoic era
(d) Residence time
2. Africa, Antarctica, Australia, Eurasia, North America, and South America make up the
(a) Hot continents
(b) Prime vacation spots for families
(c) Six major landmasses
(d) Six wonders of the world
3. Nitrogen’s residence time in the environment is approximately
(a) 40 years
(b) 4000 years
(c) 4 million years
(d) 400 million years
4. Hazardous waste is all of the following except
(a) Highly flammable
(b) Corrosive
(c) Nontoxic
(d) Reactive
5. The 1979 Hollywood movie called The China Syndrome was about
(a) Nuclear power
(b) Geothermal power
(c) Solar power
(d) Wind power
6. The middle layer of the three ocean density layers is known as the
(a) Pycnocline
(b) Thermocline
(c) Deep layer
(d) Halocline
7. When water soaks into the ground, it’s called
(a) Evaporation
(b) Transpiration
(c) Infiltration
(d) Precipitation
8. What simple mode of power generation was once used to grind grainnand pump water?
(a) Gnat power
(b) Nuclear power
(c) Windmills
(d) Hamster power
9. Fair weather cumulus clouds look like
(a) Elvis
(b) Horses’ tails
(c) Floating cotton balls
(d) Hanging fruit
10. Water is
(a) Lighter than air
(b) Heavier than air
(c) Drier than air
(d) About the same as air
11. The layer of rock that drifts slowly over the supporting, malleable upper mantle layer is called
(a) Magmic rock
(b) A guyout
(c) A geological plate
(d) Bedrock
12. What is thought to create the most greenhouse gases?
(a) Cattle burping
(b) Jet contrails
(c) Fertilizers
(d) Burning of fossil fuels
13. When tributary streams link up with a larger stream at 90° angles, it is known as
(a) Dendritic drainage
(b) Radial drainage
(c) Rectangular drainage
(d) Trellis drainage
14. What is it called when rainfall or snow melt has no time to evaporate, transpire, or move into groundwater reserves?
(a) No problem
(b) Runoff
(c) Infiltration
(d) Permeation
15. When plants absorb carbon dioxide and sunlight to make glucose and other sugars for building cellular structures, it is part of the
(a) Biological carbon cycle
(b) Astrological cycle
(c) Unicycle
(d) Remediation cycle
16. On a per capita basis, which country is the world’s largest nuclear power producer?
(a) Argentina
(b) Spain
(c) India
(d) France
17. Pollutants that come from agriculture, storm runoff, lawn fertilizers, and sewer overflows are
(a) Point source
(b) Open source
(c) non–point source
(d) Easy to trace
18. The middle layer separating the lower stratosphere from the thermosphere is called the
(a) Troposphere
(b) Ionosphere
(c) Mesosphere
(d) Outer space
19. When marine animals create light through a chemical reaction, it is called
(a) Ozone
(b) Bioluminescence
(c) Radioactivity
(d) Photosynthesis
20. All of the Earth’s frozen water, found in colder latitudes and at higher elevations in the form of snow and ice, is known as the
(a) Thermosphere
(b) Atmosphere
(c) Cryosphere
(d) Ionosphere
21. Which gas is the second-biggest additive to the greenhouse effect at around 20%?
(a) Methane
(b) Propane
(c) Carbon dioxide
(d) Neon
22. When flowing water creates energy that can be turned into electricity, it is called
(a) Rafting power
(b) Hydroelectric power
(c) Solar power
(d) Dispersion power
23. Infectious, pathological, and chemotherapy waste are types of
(a) Fossil fuel waste
(b) Agricultural waste
(c) Biological waste
(d) Radioactive waste
24. Who invented SCUBA (self-contained underwater breathing apparatus) equipment?
(a) Ralph Nader
(b) Jack Showers
(c) Jacques Cousteau
(d) Richard Smalley
25. Which of the following is a layer of the atmosphere?
(a) Blue sphere
(b) Cryosphere
(c) Lithosphere
(d) Stratosphere
26. When certain elemental isotopes are lost and there is an emission of energy in the form of radiation (alpha, beta, and gamma particles), it is called
(a) A solar flare
(b) Fireworks
(c) Chemical erosion
(d) Radioactive decay
27. How many oxygen atoms does ozone have?
(a) 1
(b) 2
(c) 3
(d) 4
28. The chemical 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-paradioxin (TCDD) comes from a family of toxic chemicals called
(a) Hydrogenated fats
(b) Dioxins
(c) Surfactants
(d) Dimethyl butanes
29. Roughly what percentage of chlorine in the stratosphere comes from manmade sources?
(a) 22%
(b) 45%
(c) 75%
(d) 84%
30. All of the following are water pollution contaminants except
(a) Heat
(b) Radioactive waste
(c) Rainbow trout
(d) Oil spills
31. Made of semiconducting materials, these convert sunlight directly Into electricity:
(a) Magnifying lenses
(b) Photovoltaic cells
(c) Nuclear fuel rods
(d) Mood rings
32. Which of the following absorbs the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide in a big way?
(a) Cattle
(b) Forests
(c) Champagne
(d) Streams
33. Most streams follow a branching drainage pattern, which is known as
(a) Dendritic drainage
(b) Radial drainage
(c) Rectangular drainage
(d) Composite drainage
34. What are hurricanes called in the northwestern Pacific Ocean and Philippines?
(a) Tsunamis
(b) Blue northerns
(c) Really big blows
(d) Typhoons
35. When harnessing wind power, propeller-like turbine blades are used to generate
(a) Tourism
(b) Electricity
(c) Oxygen
(d) Heat
36. The Aurora Borealis and Aurora Australia are found in which atmospheric layer?
(a) Troposphere
(b) Stratosphere
(c) Mesosphere
(d) Thermosphere
37. A seamount is
(a) An extinct undersea volcano
(b) A tall coral reef
(c) Another name for a seahorse
(d) A cliff overlooking the ocean
38. The amount of open space in the soil is called soil
(a) Aridity
(b) Porosity
(c) Crystallization
(d) Lithification
39. Radioactive waste materials, created by mining, includes
(a) Biomedical waste
(b) Boat sewage
(c) Oil spills
(d) Uranium dust
40. In 1755, Immanuel Kant offered the idea that the solar system was formed from a rotating cloud of gas and thin dust called
(a) Nebulae
(b) Gaia
(c) Pangaea
(d) The South Atlantic Anomaly
41. Rainfall and streams on the east side of the Rocky Mountains drain to the Atlantic Ocean, while flowing water from the Rocky Mountain’s western slopes runs to the
(a) Gulf of Mexico
(b) North Sea
(c) Pacific Ocean
(d) Indian Ocean
42. Global warming works a lot like
(a) A guesthouse
(b) A greenhouse
(c) An electric blanket
(d) A waffle maker
43. A place where water is stored for some period of time is called a
(a) swimming pool
(b) Reservoir
(c) Pitcher
(d) Hose
44. When rainfall flows down from the top of a mountain peak, it is called
(a) Trellis drainage
(b) Rectangular drainage
(c) Radial drainage
(d) Dendritic drainage
45. Denudation takes place when
(a) All the seeds of a dandelion are blown away
(b) Mercury is extracted from cinnabar
(c) Permafrost melts
(d) Rock disintegrates and is removed from the surface of continents
46. What is found at the upper edge of the zone of saturation and the bottom edge of the zone of aeration?
(a) Bedrock
(b) Water table
(c) Mantle
(d) Epicenter
47. A first-order stream has how many tributaries flowing into it?
(a) 0
(b) 2
(c) 5
(d) 10
48. The Tonga Trench drops the ocean depth nearly
(a) 1000 meters in depth
(b) 5000 meters in depth
(c) 11,000 meters in depth
(d) 14,000 meters in depth
49. Which atmospheric layer can reach temperatures of nearly 2000°C?
(a) Lithosphere
(b) Mesosphere
(c) Thermosphere
(d) Troposphere
50. In 1998, the United Nations declared
(a) The war on poverty
(b) International Year of the Fruit Fly
(c) That all meetings must end after one hour
(d) International Year of the Ocean
51. The measurement of the number of hydrogen ions in water is called
(a) PH
(b) Hydrogenation
(c) Total carbon content
(d) Dissolved oxygen
52. The ban on what group of compounds in 1996 turned the tide on falling Ozone levels?
(a) Hydrocarbons
(b) Chlorofluorocarbons
(c) Narcotics
(d) Analgesics
53. A major air pollutant formed in the atmosphere from nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds is
(a) Argon
(b) Water vapor
(c) Benzene
(d) Ozone
54. The specific focus of radiology that uses minute amounts of radioactive materials to study organ function and structure is called
(a) Sedimentary medicine
(b) Solar medicine
(c) Metamorphic medicine
(d) Nuclear medicine
55. When high levels of nitrates and phosphates cause the overgrowth of aquatic plants and algae, high dissolved oxygen consumption, and fish death, it is called
(a) Aeration
(b) Calcification
(c) Eutrophication
(d) Fossilization
56. What disinfectant is used in many water treatment plants?
(a) Toluene
(b) Chlorine
(c) Vinegar
(d) Arsenic
57. When chemical reactions dissolve limestone over a long period of time, creating a cave or cavern, the area is called a
(a) Hot spot
(b) Karst
(c) Point source
(d) Mud slide
58. Which of the following is the energy and heat source for the ocean’s food chain?
(a) Chlorine
(b) Cold fusion
(c) Sunlight
(d) Wind
59. The categories extremely arid, arid, and semiarid describe
(a) Deserts
(b) Oceans
(c) Tornadoes
(d) Glaciers
60. What measures the rate of heat loss from exposed skin to that of surrounding air temperatures?
(a) A thermometer
(b) Wind chill factor
(c) Wind shear
(d) Your mother
61. Residence time is the
(a) time you spend at home after school
(b) Amount of time water spends in the groundwater part of the hydrologic cycle
(c) Growth time of kelp beds
(d) Time magma spends in the mantle
62. Circulating air and water patterns affected by the Earth’s rotation are known as the
(a) Geomorphic cycle
(b) Carbonization effect
(c) Geosynclinal cycle
(d) Coriolis effect
63. What weather process has become the “bad boy” of the world’s weather shift?
(a) Nimbus clouds
(b) Glaciation
(c) El Niño
(d) High humidity
64. Aquifers that lie beneath layers of impermeable clay are known as
(a) Unconfined aquifers
(b) Confined aquifers
(c) Dry aquifers
(d) Vase aquifers
65. Ozone has a distinctive odor and is what color?
(a) Yellow
(b) Tan
(c) Blue
(d) Purple
66. Groundwater is stored in large, underground water reservoirs called
(a) Swimming pools
(b) Aquariums
(c) Karma
(d) Aquifers
67. Pathogenic microorganisms cause
(a) Disease
(b) Bad traffic
(c) Diabetes
(d) Hiking trails
68. Species that live exclusively in the total darkness of caves are called
(a) Calcites
(b) Stalagtites
(c) Troglobites
(d) Trilobites
69. Which of the following is not known to cause water turbidity?
(a) Clay
(b) Solar flares
(c) Silt
(d) Plankton
70. Before the 1970s, photovoltaic cells were mostly used in
(a) Flashlight batteries
(b) Rock concert lighting
(c) Providing electricity to orbiting satellites
(d) Cell phones
71. Water covers roughly what percentage of the Earth’s surface?
(a) 25%
(b) 45%
(c) 60%
(d) 70%
72. Evaporation is when
(a) Water freezes
(b) Water changes from a liquid to a gas or vapor
(c) Plants turn toward the sun
(d) Rainfall leads to runoff
73. Seventy percent of greenhouse gases are made up of
(a) Methane
(b) Carbon dioxide
(c) Nitrous oxide
(d) Carbon monoxide
74. The displacement of sand and particles by the wind is called
(a) A real problem for contact lens wearers
(b) The Coriolis Effect
(c) Metamorphism
(d) Eolian movement
75. The boundary between two watersheds is called a
(a) Divide
(b) Continental margin
(c) Water table
(d) Soggy place
76. Groundwater is found in the
(a) Saturation zone
(b) Aeration zone
(c) Ablation zone
(d) Beach zone
77. Total organic carbon is used by hydrologists to
(a) Standardize No. 2 pencils
(b) Size metamorphic rock particles
(c) Check the health of fresh water
(d) See if their fire-roasted marshmallows are ready
78. Solar cycles and changes in the sun’s radiation levels naturally increase the Earth’s
(a) Acidity
(b) Water levels
(c) Radius
(d) Temperature
79. Carbon in the lithosphere is stored in
(a) Colas
(b) Both inorganic and organic forms
(c) Pencils
(d) The Aurora Borealis
80. Rain shadow deserts are formed near
(a) Cities
(b) Puddles
(c) Mountains
(d) Golf courses
81. Fecal coliform bacteria are naturally found in
(a) Iron mines
(b) Glaciers
(c) Petrified wood
(d) Feces and intestinal tracts of humans and warm-blooded animals
82. Which of the following factors is not used to classify deserts?
(a) Volcanism
(b) Humidity
(c) Total rainfall
(d) Wind
83. Which greenhouse gas is about 145% higher now than it was in the 1800s?
(a) Butane
(b) Octane
(c) Methane
(d) Nitrogen
84. Which of the following is a significant marker of a lake’s ability to support aquatic life?
(a) Ozone
(b) Gravel bottom
(c) Local fish hatchery
(d) Dissolved oxygen
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