๐
Environmental Trivia
Discover mind-blowing environmental facts that will amaze you! From the 71% of Earth covered by water to the keystone wolves that reshaped Yellowstone - prepare to be stunned by incredible secrets of our planet you never knew existed.
Filter by Difficulty
Questions (150 of 150)
๐ขeasy
What is compost mainly made from?
๐กmedium
What term describes a city that is noticeably warmer than the countryside around it?
๐ขeasy
What is the term for clearing or cutting down large areas of forest?
๐ดhard
Which 1956 outbreak in Japan was caused by industrial mercury poisoning of a bay?
๐กmedium
Which warm ocean current keeps northwest Europe milder than it would otherwise be?
๐ดhard
Which greenhouse gas, also known as 'laughing gas,' is largely produced by farming and fertilizer use?
๐กmedium
What is the world's largest coral reef system?
๐ขeasy
What word describes water that is safe for humans to drink?
๐ดhard
What does the 'albedo' of a surface describe?
๐ดhard
In what year was the influential report 'The Limits to Growth' published?
๐กmedium
Which naturalist founded the Sierra Club in 1892?
๐ขeasy
Which part of a plant takes in water and nutrients from the soil?
๐กmedium
Wetlands are famous for providing which natural service?
๐กmedium
What is the term for fertile land gradually turning into desert?
๐กmedium
What word describes a species that has completely died out, with no members left alive?
๐กmedium
The IUCN publishes a famous list assessing which species are threatened. What is it called?
๐ดhard
Which 1854 book by Henry David Thoreau reflects on simple living in nature?
๐ขeasy
What human activity is the main cause of modern climate change?
๐ขeasy
Which gas makes up about 78% of the air in Earth's atmosphere?
๐กmedium
Which country emits the most carbon dioxide per year in the 2020s?
๐ดhard
What is the scientific term for the dangerously low oxygen levels that create ocean 'dead zones'?
๐กmedium
In 1985, scientists discovered a large seasonal hole in the ozone layer above which continent?
๐ขeasy
What is 'litter'?
๐ขeasy
What name is given to trash that breaks down naturally over time?
๐ดhard
What economic model aims to eliminate waste by keeping materials in use indefinitely?
๐ดhard
The 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster spilled oil into which Alaskan waterway?
๐ขeasy
What do we call an unusually long period with little or no rainfall?
๐กmedium
What is the common name for photovoltaic panels that produce power from light?
๐ขeasy
Which shopping bag choice is the most eco-friendly?
๐ดhard
In what year was the Kyoto Protocol adopted?
๐ขeasy
What word describes the huge variety of living things on Earth?
๐กmedium
Fertilizer runoff into rivers and oceans causes a type of pollution known as what?
๐กmedium
The drilling technique called 'fracking' is mainly used to extract what?
๐ขeasy
What is the long-term rise in Earth's average temperature called?
๐ขeasy
What do we call a type of animal at serious risk of dying out forever?
๐ดhard
What unit measures the total amount of ozone in a column of the atmosphere?
๐กmedium
What is the name for the ocean becoming more acidic as it absorbs carbon dioxide?
๐กmedium
Which 1987 treaty successfully phased out ozone-depleting chemicals?
๐ดhard
What was the approximate atmospheric carbon dioxide level, in ppm, before the Industrial Revolution?
๐กmedium
Which 2015 international treaty set a global goal to limit warming well below 2 degrees Celsius?
๐ขeasy
Coral reefs act as a home and shelter for what kind of creatures?
๐กmedium
Roughly what percentage of Earth's surface is covered by water?
๐ขeasy
Which everyday activity adds carbon dioxide to the air?
๐กmedium
What is the term for toxins building up in greater concentrations as they move up the food chain?
๐ขeasy
Which sea animal is often harmed by swallowing plastic bags and straws?
๐ดhard
The 1979 partial nuclear meltdown in Pennsylvania occurred at which plant?
๐กmedium
What name is given to electricity generated by the rise and fall of ocean tides?
๐ดhard
Greenhouse gas accounting divides a company's emissions into how many numbered 'scopes'?
๐ขeasy
What is the name of the process where water evaporates, forms clouds, and falls as rain?
๐ดhard
What term describes the cooling caused by pollution particles reflecting sunlight back to space?
๐กmedium
Demand for which crop oil drives much of the rainforest clearing in Indonesia and Malaysia?
๐ดhard
The international body assessing climate science, founded in 1988, is known by which acronym?
๐ขeasy
What renewable energy comes from heat deep inside the Earth?
๐กmedium
Which striped marsupial predator was declared extinct in 1936?
๐ดhard
A widely cited 2011 study estimated Earth is home to roughly how many species?
๐ดhard
Which polluted Ohio river famously caught fire in 1969, spurring clean-water laws?
๐ขeasy
Which black-and-white animal is the logo of the World Wildlife Fund?
๐กmedium
The CO2 measurement 'ppm' stands for what?
๐ขeasy
What do solar panels turn sunlight into?
๐กmedium
In what year was the very first Earth Day held in the United States?
๐ขeasy
The melting of what large bodies of ice contributes to rising sea levels?
๐กmedium
What is the nickname for the huge collection of floating plastic between California and Hawaii?
๐ขeasy
Which of these is NOT a fossil fuel?
๐กmedium
A deadly 1984 industrial gas leak devastated which Indian city?
๐ดhard
During which 1991 conflict were hundreds of oil wells deliberately set on fire?
๐กmedium
Which 1969 oil spill off the California coast helped inspire the creation of Earth Day?
๐ดhard
The first major UN environmental conference was held in 1972 in which city?
๐กmedium
What is the largest hot desert in the world?
๐กmedium
What 'carbon' term measures the total greenhouse gases caused by a person or activity?
๐ขeasy
What happens to coral when ocean water becomes too warm?
๐ดhard
Which 2016 amendment to the Montreal Protocol targets the phase-down of HFCs?
๐ดhard
In 2013, atmospheric carbon dioxide first crossed which symbolic threshold?
๐กmedium
Which 1962 book by Rachel Carson is credited with launching the modern environmental movement?
๐ดhard
Which 1949 book by Aldo Leopold introduced the idea of a 'land ethic'?
๐ดhard
The 2010 Deepwater Horizon blowout released oil into which body of water?
๐กmedium
Which renewable energy source currently generates the most electricity worldwide?
๐กmedium
Which industrial gas, used in electrical equipment, has one of the highest global warming potentials?
๐กmedium
Which large whale species rebounded strongly after the 1986 commercial whaling moratorium?
๐กmedium
What term describes a company falsely marketing itself or its products as environmentally friendly?
๐กmedium
What does the term 'e-waste' refer to?
๐กmedium
What word describes a community of living things interacting with their physical environment?
๐ดhard
Which marine mammal, hunted nearly to extinction for its fur, is a keystone species of kelp forests?
๐ดhard
What term describes the band of calm, windless waters near the equator long dreaded by sailors?
๐ขeasy
What gas do trees release into the air that humans need to breathe?
๐ขeasy
What does the greenhouse effect mainly do to our planet?
๐ขeasy
Which ecosystem is extremely dry and gets very little rainfall?
๐ขeasy
In the phrase 'reduce, reuse, and ___,' what is the missing word?
๐ดhard
Which keystone predator, reintroduced to Yellowstone in 1995, transformed its ecosystem?
๐กmedium
What is the largest national park in the United States by area?
๐ขeasy
Which layer of the atmosphere shields Earth from harmful ultraviolet rays?
๐ดhard
The Aichi Biodiversity Targets were established under which United Nations convention?
๐กmedium
Which 1992 summit in Brazil produced major global environmental conventions?
๐ขeasy
What does 'overfishing' mean?
๐กmedium
Which home design uses sunlight for heating without any mechanical systems?
๐ขeasy
Which natural disaster is growing more frequent and intense due to climate change?
๐ดhard
In what year was Yellowstone established as the world's first national park?
๐ดhard
Which pesticide, banned in the US in 1972, caused bird eggshells to thin dangerously?
๐ดhard
Which ecologist popularized the phrase 'the tragedy of the commons' in a 1968 essay?
๐ดhard
The greenhouse gas with the longest atmospheric lifetime, over 50,000 years, is which fluorinated compound?
๐ดhard
What is 'permafrost'?
๐ดhard
In which atmospheric layer does nearly all of Earth's weather occur?
๐กmedium
Which type of energy accident occurred at Chernobyl in 1986?
๐ดhard
What is the name of the 2009 framework defining nine 'safe operating' limits for humanity?
๐ดhard
The 2021 UN climate conference, COP26, was held in which city?
๐ขeasy
Instead of throwing away a glass jar, what eco-friendly action can you take?
๐ดhard
Which primatologist began her landmark study of wild chimpanzees at Gombe in 1960?
๐ขeasy
Which form of transport produces no exhaust emissions?
๐ดhard
Which biome, dominated by coniferous forest across the far north, is the world's largest land biome?
๐ขeasy
What ocean problem is caused by bottles, bags, and straws floating in the sea?
๐กmedium
Which inland sea in Central Asia largely dried up after Soviet-era irrigation projects?
๐ดhard
Which landmark 1973 US law protects species at risk of extinction?
๐ดhard
The Paris Agreement's most ambitious goal is to limit warming to how many degrees Celsius?
๐กmedium
Which greenhouse gas is released in large amounts by cattle and rice farming?
๐กmedium
What ecological term describes the maximum population an environment can sustainably support?
๐ขeasy
Smog is a visible form of what?
๐กmedium
Which class of refrigerant gases, used in air conditioners, are potent greenhouse gases now being phased down?
๐ขeasy
What color recycling bin is most commonly used in many countries?
๐ขeasy
Which type of light bulb uses the least electricity?
๐ขeasy
What is melting at the North and South Poles because of global warming?
๐กmedium
Which animal, the largest to ever exist, is endangered and threatened by ship strikes?
๐ดhard
The last male of which subspecies, a rhino named Sudan, died in 2018?
๐ดhard
What is the name of the current geological era's human-driven mass extinction event?
๐กmedium
Roughly what percentage of the air we breathe is oxygen?
๐ขeasy
What important job do bees do for flowering plants?
๐ขeasy
What is the practice of planting new trees to restore a forest called?
๐ดhard
The Keeling Curve is a famous graph showing the steady rise of what?
๐ขeasy
Which renewable energy source comes directly from sunlight?
๐ดhard
Which Kenyan environmentalist won the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize and founded the Green Belt Movement?
๐ขeasy
Which metal can be recycled again and again without losing quality?
๐ดhard
Atop which Hawaiian volcano has carbon dioxide been continuously measured since 1958?
๐ขeasy
What word means protecting nature and using resources wisely?
๐ขeasy
On what date is Earth Day celebrated each year?
๐ขeasy
Which renewable energy source uses moving air to spin turbines?
๐กmedium
What is the name for farming that avoids synthetic pesticides and fertilizers?
๐กmedium
Which class of chemicals, once used in spray cans, badly damaged the ozone layer?
๐ดhard
Which Swedish scientist first calculated, in 1896, how carbon dioxide affects global temperature?
๐ดhard
What is the name of the Arctic facility that stores backup copies of the world's crop seeds?
๐ขeasy
What gas do green plants absorb from the air to make food during photosynthesis?
๐ขeasy
What do we call rain made acidic by air pollution?
๐ดhard
Completed in 2012, which Chinese dam is the world's largest power station?
๐ขeasy
What is the largest tropical rainforest on Earth?
๐ขeasy
What do we call an area of land set aside to protect wildlife?
๐ดhard
In what year did the Paris Agreement officially enter into force?
๐กmedium
What do we call energy sources, like coal and oil, that will eventually run out?
๐กmedium
Wood harvested from responsibly managed forests is considered what kind of resource?
๐กmedium
Which naturally occurring radioactive gas can build up dangerously in home basements?
๐ดhard
Which 1968 book by Paul Ehrlich warned of catastrophic global overpopulation?
๐ขeasy
What do we call non-native animals or plants that harm a new environment?
๐ขeasy
What frozen habitat do polar bears rely on for hunting?
๐ดhard
What is the name of the 1987 UN report that popularized the term 'sustainable development'?
Explore More Trivia
Find other topics and categories to test your knowledge