Human activities have resulted in ocean acidification due to an increase in concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and oceans, resulting in a decrease in the pH of the oceans. Corals have a more difficult time building their calcium carbonate skeletons when the water becomes more acidic. How do you predict that this affects the biodiversity of coral reef ecosystems?
Biodiversity will likely decrease as corals die, leading to physical changes in ecosystem structure as well as the collapse of coral dependent food webs.
Biodiversity will likely increase as a fresh wave of species moves in to occupy the newly available space produced by the lower number of corals.
Biodiversity will likely not change much, as new species capable of tolerating the lower pH move in to replace the corals and other species in the reef are not affected by the loss of corals.
Biodiversity will likely not change much because the corals will quickly adapt to the lower pH and continue to thrive.
What are the major benefits to replacing fossil fuels with solar panels and wind turbines to meet our energy needs?
We already have an infrastructure set up to utilize cheap fuels such as wind and solar.
We can harness the power of the sun and wind at all times, everywhere on Earth, so they are more reliable.
Wind and solar are currently much cheaper fuel choices than fossil fuels.
Wind and solar power are renewable resources and do not contribute to climate change.
What general term describes the practice of drawing conclusions from data about natural phenomena?
Marine biology
Pseudoscience
Science
Statistics
What is the primary benefit of continuing to use non-renewable oil, as opposed to using renewable sources of energy instead?
Burning fossil fuels releases carbon dioxide, which is essentially plant food that will lead to much greater productivity and quality of life on Earth.
It is not possible to run vehicles on renewable fuels, so there is no way to switch from using oil for that purpose even if renewable sources can be used for other things.
Oil is cheap and harmless to people and the environment, so it is an excellent source of energy over the long term and there is no need to develop renewable sources.
The infrastructure for using oil is already in place and there are costs associated with changing the energy infrastructure.
As a fishery scientist, you notice that very few cod fish have been caught in the past year. You still see very young and larval cod fish in the water, but very few adults. Explain three actions you would include in a plan for the recovery of the cod fish. Explain how you would need to address the Tragedy of the Commons to encourage those using the resource to use it appropriately.