Practice Exam 2 - Environmental Science - page 262

100. Creates and enforces regulations based on established laws pertaining to the environment.

If you finish before time is called, check your work on this section only. Do not work on any other section in
the Test.

Section II: Free-Response Questions

Time: 90 minutes
4 questions
Directions: Each question is equally weighted. Plan to budget your time and allow yourself approximately 20
minutes per question. Write clearly to show any calculations when computations are necessary. Calculators are
not allowed. Where an explanation or discussion is required, support your answers with relevant information,
facts, and/or specific examples.

Question 1 refers to the following article from Reuters (PARS International Corp.).

U.S. Coral Reefs under Threat, Report Finds
ReefsintheCaribbean,inparticular,areundersevereassault,andcoralintheU.S.VirginIslandsandoff
Puerto Rico had not recovered from 2005, when unusually warm waters that led to massive bleaching and
disease killed up to 90 percent of the marine organisms on some reefs.
"Theevidenceiswarningusthatmanyofourcoralreefecosystemsareimperiledandweasacommunity
must act now," said Kacky Andrews, program manager of the Coral Reef Conservation program at the Na-
tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The new NOAA report on the state of coral reefs in the United States and Pacific territories, including
Palau and Guam, was presented at a meeting of coral reef scientists in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Itwasthe third suchreport andthe second tobebased onactual monitoring ofreefs. The reefs were clas-
sified as excellent, good, fair, or poor based on such things as water quality, fish population, and the threats
they faced.

1. Answer the following questions:
A. Explain two reasons why coral reefs are being threatened worldwide.
B. Discuss the process of coral bleaching and its impact on coral reefs.
C. What are two ways in which coral reefs can be protected from future destruction?
D. Explain the importance of protecting coral reefs.

2. Populations continually experience growth or decline. The human population continues to increase ex-
ponentially, with environmental and societal consequences. Following is a table representing the growth
rates of a few countries.

Country Growth Rate

Turkey 1.0

Brazil 1.2