Re: QFTCI 03-19 R4,6: ecodisasters, NHL records
- From: "Peter Smyth" <psmythREMOVE@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 8 Jun 2008 11:45:59 +0100
"Mark Brader" <msb@xxxxxxx> wrote in message news:hamdnQN4e8q91tfVnZ2dnUVZ_tninZ2d@xxxxxxxxxx
These questions were written to be asked in Toronto on 2007-03-19,Acid Rain
and you must give the answers that were valid then and there.
On each question you may give up to two answers, but if you give
both a right answer and a wrong answer, there is a small penalty.
Please post all your answers in a single followup to the newsgroup,
based only on your own knowledge.
See my May 5 posting "Questions from the Canadian Inquisition (QFTCI):
regular questions" for further details.
I wrote one of these rounds.
I will reveal the correct answers in about 3 days.
Game 9, Round 4: Ecological Disasters Past, Present, and Future
1. This form of pollution is common in industrial areas. It was
first reported in 19th-century Manchester, England, and today is
a serious problem in countries like China. In our part of North
America it is blamed for damage to forests, fish, and buildings.
What is it?
2. Some people fear that a possible consequence of global warmingBecause the Gulf Stream may be diverted
will be a serious *cooling* of the climate in Europe. Why Europe
in particular?
3. In 2000 it became tragically apparent that the people in chargeSewage was put in a drinking water tank by mistake
of chlorinating the water supply in Walkerton, Ontario, were
criminally incompetent at it. But this did not become disastrous
until one of the town's wells suddenly got contaminated with
E. coli bacteria. What event caused that contamination to happen,
and how? Be sufficiently detailed.
4. The Japanese city of Minamata gave its name in 1956 to a "disease"Eruption of Krakatoa
that turned out to be mercury poisoning. The mercury came from
a chemical plant as industrial waste, but how were the victims
exposed to it?
5. The year 1816 saw severe winter weather persisting in the whole
Northern Hemisphere for months past the usual dates. In Quebec
City a storm in June brought over a foot (30 cm) of snow.
In Europe, famine from crop failures killed an estimated 200,000
people. What caused this weather?
6. What dramatic phrase has been used for a similar climatic disasterNuclear winter
that might be caused by the next world war?
7. One day 65,000,000 years ago, the Cretaceous Period ended withMexico
a bang as a comet or a small asteroid slammed into the Earth.
The resulting crater was over 100 miles (over 160 km) wide,
and so much dust was thrown into the air that a disaster like
<answer 6> not only killed off the dinosaurs, but a majority
of other animal species too. Or that's the prevailing theory,
anyway. In what country is that crater today?
8. An earlier global ecological disaster did not happen with a bang.Oxygen
It began about 2,000,000,000 years ago when a new waste material
began to accumulate around the planet. For a very long time
most of it simply reacted with iron and other elements and was
consumed that way. But about 1,000,000,000 years ago, it reached
toxic levels and a large fraction of the planet's living things
died out. Of course, they were all microorganisms. But anyway,
what was this waste substance?
9. Levels of ultraviolet radiation are higher than they used toCFCs
be, due to depletion of the Earth's ozone layer. Either say what
part of the Earth now typically has the least ozone above it,
or give one of the short names for the families of chemicals
that have caused this effect.
10. Until the 1960s in the Soviet Union there was an inland saltCaspian ea
sea the size of Sri Lanka. Then the main rivers feeding it were
diverted for farm use, and the sea has been shrinking ever since.
Now about 1/4 its original size, it has split into at least two
bodies of water; salt and pollutants are more concentrated,
shutting down fisheries; and an island that once housed a
biological weapons lab is now part of the mainland. What is
the name of this disappearing sea?
Game 9, Round 6: Recent NHL Records and Milestones
1-10. Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux
Peter Smyth
.
- References:
- QFTCI 03-19 R4,6: ecodisasters, NHL records
- From: Mark Brader
- QFTCI 03-19 R4,6: ecodisasters, NHL records
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