Discuss the conventional alternatives to fossil fuels. Why are we not using more renewables?
What will be an ideal response?
Many renewable energy sources depend on technologies that are not yet fully developed and are more costly than fossil fuel use in the short term. Wind power, hydroelectric power, and energy from bioenergy are three conventional alternative energy sources that are currently the most developed and widely used. These alternatives currently play substantial roles in the energy and electricity budgets of many nations. They exert considerably less environmental impact than fossils fuels, and wind, an example of the "new renewable" alternatives, exert still smaller environmental impacts. Finally, in some nations, particularly the US, corporate interests with heavy investments in fossil fuels have used political pressure and media campaigns to delay the development of renewable energies.
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The boundaries between biomes are usually abrupt and related to rapid environmental changes, such as in climate or topography
Indicate whether the statement is true or false
Compare and contrast Rayleigh scattering, Mie scattering, and nonselective scattering, and then explain why the sky is blue, sunsets are red, and clouds are gray
What will be an ideal response?
Satellite imagery sometimes shows aerosol plumes. These plumes carry pollution and dust high into the atmosphere around Earth. What is NOT an effect of these plumes?
A) They provide condensation nuclei for the making of precipitation. B) They reflect some solar energy. C) They modify storm tracks. D) They are likely masking some aspects of global warming. E) They are responsible for most of the pollution in big cities.
What indicates that the lava that flowed north from SP Mountain was very fluid?
Look at the following volcanoes (note that the maps are of several different scales): • Mount Vsevidof (53°07'35"N, 168°41'16"W), a composite volcano in Alaska (shown on Map T-2, Map T-21b, and Figure 34-2) • Crater Mountain (37°52'42"N, 119°00'25"W), the highest peak of the Mono Craters, a chain of rhyolitic plug dome volcanoes in California (shown on Maps T-23a and T-23c) • SP Mountain (35°34'56"N, 111°37'55"W), a basaltic cinder cone in Arizona (shown on Maps T-22a and T-22b and Figure 34-3) • Mauna Loa (19°28'17"N, 155°35'41"W), a large shield volcano on the Big Island of Hawai‘i (shown on Maps T-1 and T-21a) What will be an ideal response?