From feral pigs to windfarms: how good is your green knowledge? – quiz

Feral pigs roam near LaBelle, Florida. The state is second only to Texas in the number of non-native wild pigs. Composite: Guardian/AP

1. When was atmospheric CO2 last this high?

   1. 30 years ago

   2. 10,000 years ago

   3. More than 4m years ago

2. In which decade did the first electric cab arrive in London?

   1. 1980s

   2. 1890s

   3. 2010s

3. Which actor urged collective action on the climate crisis in their 2016 Oscar acceptance speech? And which film was the award for?

   1. Joaquin Phoenix

   2. Leonardo DiCaprio

   3. Timothée Chalamet

4. The Great Barrier Reef has experienced five mass bleaching events. What percentage of its 3,000 individual reefs were severely bleached in the most recent, in 2020?

   1. 10%

   2. 50%

   3. 25%

5. 

   At this time of year, polar bears on the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard are waiting for the sea ice to refreeze so they can hunt. Under worst case scenarios, by how much are average temperatures expected to rise by 2100?

   1. 2C

   2. 5C

   3. 10C

6. What absorbs the majority of Earth’s excess heat?

   1. The ocean

   2. Deserts

   3. Forests

7. Which country recorded the most deforestation in 2020?

   1. The Democratic Republic of the Congo

   2. Brazil

   3. Bolivia

8. Up to 1 million species are threatened with extinction, scientists estimate. But how many animal and plant species (including insects) are estimated to live on the planet?

   1. 8 million

   2. 14.5 million

   3. 19 million

9. In September, the base of the world’s biggest tree, General Sherman in Sequoia national park, was wrapped in a fire blanket to protect it from intense heat during the latest California wildfires. What did the tree used to be called?

   1. Robert E Lee

   2. Karl Marx

   3. John F Kennedy

10. 

    What proportion of the Earth’s atmosphere is composed of carbon dioxide?

    1. 2%

    2. 0.04%

    3. 28%

11. What was the key goal of the 2015 Paris climate agreement?

    1. Limit global warming to well below 1.5C

    2. Limit global warming to well below 2C

    3. Stop all use of fossil fuels

12. This week, Tesla became a $1tn company after it received a major order. Who made the purchase and what did they buy?

    1. Goldman Sachs bought 300,000 solar panels for their employees

    2. Car rental firm Hertz bought 100,000 Model 3 cars

    3. The US military bought 3,000 Model Y SUVs for a new net-zero regiment

13. Feral pigs are one of the most damaging invasive species, partly because of the way they uproot soil. What is their climate impact equivalent to?

    1. 1.1m cars

    2. One year of emissions from three coal power stations

    3. Charging 100m mobile phones

14. Once emitted, how long does CO2 remain in the atmosphere?

    1. Between 100 and 120 years

    2. Between 30 and 50 years

    3. Between 300 and 1,000 years

15. 

    Which of these countries has ratified the Paris agreement?

    1. Iran

    2. Russia

    3. Libya

16. At the beginning of October, the largest undersea power cable in the world began bringing energy to the UK from Norway. But which undersea creature is reportedly mesmerised by the cables?

    1. Sperm whales

    2. Sea snails

    3. Brown crabs

17. Which UK TV presenter has vowed to continue their activism after their house was targeted by arsonists, causing thousands of pounds’ worth of damage?

    1. Jeremy Clarkson

    2. Kate Humble

    3. Chris Packham

18. What is the world’s second largest rainforest?

    1. Sundaland, found on Borneo, Sumatra and Java

    2. The Congo

    3. The Amazon

19. Which country won an Earthshot prize ​this month ​for its efforts to protect its forests and ecosystems?

    1. Costa Rica

    2. Guatemala

    3. Panama

20. 

    Which of these birds is most threatened in Europe?

    1. Eurasian magpie

    2. Common snipe

    3. Carrion crow

21. The offspring of which megafauna formerly owned by a drug lord have been recognised as people by a US court?

    1. Frank Lucas' musk ox

    2. Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán's rhinos

    3. Pablo Escobar's hippos

22. The highest temperature in European history is believed to have been set in August this year. What was it and where was it set?

    1. 45.7C in Germany

    2. 48.8C in Italy

    3. 51.9C in France

23. Which of these does the UK government want people to install in their home to help cut carbon emissions?

    1. Gas cooker

    2. Wood-burner

    3. Heat pump

24. Where is the world’s biggest offshore wind farm?

    1. US

    2. UK

    3. Germany

25. Why do many female elephants in Gorongosa national park, Mozambique, no longer have tusks?

    1. Nutrient deficiency

    2. To protect themselves from poachers

    3. Inbreeding

Solutions

1:C - Scientists at NOAA’s Mauna Loa Atmospheric Observatory in Hawaii measured the level of atmospheric CO2 at a monthly average of 419 parts per million (ppm) in May 2021. That is the highest level since accurate measurements began 63 years ago and is comparable to between 4.1m and 4.5m years ago, when it was about 400 ppm. , 2:B - In 1897, the London Electrical Cab Company operated a fleet of electric vehicles but closed two years later due to the high cost of batteries; 100% electric cabs only returned to the streets of London in 2019. , 3:B - In his 2016 Oscar acceptance speech for the Revenant, actor Leonardo DiCaprio emphasised the importance of tackling the climate crisis, calling for immediate action. He said: "It is the most urgent threat facing our entire species, and we need to work collectively together and stop procrastinating." , 4:C - One quarter of the Great Barrier Reef was severely bleached in the summer of 2020, aerial analysis revealed. Coral bleaching is caused by rising ocean temperatures driven by global heating. In February 2020 the sea surface temperatures around the reef were the hottest since records began in 1990. Source: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/apr/07/great-barrier-reefs-third-mass-bleaching-in-five-years-the-most-widespread-ever, 5:C - There has been a permanent weather station in the Svalbard region since 1911. Projections suggest warming in this area could be three times stronger leading up to the year 2100 than they have been in the past 100 years. This would result in average winter temperatures 10C higher than they currently are. Source: https://www.miljodirektoratet.no/globalassets/publikasjoner/m1242/m1242.pdf, 6:A - Oceans absorb more than 90% of excess heat. Oceans control the planet’s weather, and when the water heats up it evaporates, which then warms the atmosphere, creating more powerful storms, heavier rainfall and flooding. , 7:B - Brazil lost 1.7m hectares (4.2m acres) of forest in 2020 - 25% more primary forest compared to the previous year, according to the World Resources Institute. The data also showed an increase in fires, which rarely occur naturally in the Amazon. Source: https://research.wri.org/gfr/forest-pulse, 8:A - There are an estimated 8 million animal and plant species on Earth, including 5.5 million insect species. More than 40% of amphibian species and more than a third of marine mammals are threatened with extinction, many within decades, according to the IPBES., 9:B - It was originally named after Karl Marx by a utopian socialist community called the Kaweah Colony, who controlled the land between 1886 and 1892. The community was disbanded when Sequoia national park was created and the tree was renamed for American civil war general William Tecumseh Sherman. The tree is believed to be between 2,300 and 2,700 years old. , 10:B - The atmosphere is 0.04% carbon dioxide, 78% nitrogen and 21% oxygen. It also has small amounts of other gases such as neon and hydrogen. , 11:B - The aim of the Paris agreement is to keep global warming well below 2C and pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5C in a bid to avoid dangerous climate change. The Paris agreement was adopted at COP21 in December 2015. , 12:B - Hertz said it plans to build the largest electric vehicle rental fleet in North America., 13:A - Researchers estimate that feral pigs around the world release 4.9m metric tonnes of carbon dioxide each year by uprooting soil, which is the equivalent of 1.1m cars. In regions with non-native wild pigs it is estimated they uproot around 36,000 sq km (14,000 sq miles) of land a year. , 14:C - Half of the increase in atmospheric CO2 has occurred since 1980. Because CO2 hangs around for between 300 to 1,000 years, emissions endure for far longer than the human being who releases them. , 15:B - Russia formally signed up to the agreement in 2019, four years after it was agreed. Iran, Iraq and Libya, Yemen and Eritrea have not ratified the agreement. , 16:C - Underwater cables for offshore energy emit an electromagnetic field which attracts brown crabs and causes them to stay where they are, according to a study at St Abbs marine station in Scotland. This causes cellular changes within the creatures and could have an impact on their migration habits, scientists warn. , 17:C - BBC Springwatch presenter Chris Packham says his car was set alight and his front gate burned down at his home in the New Forest. The presenter said the masked attackers had been caught on CCTV and that Hampshire constabulary was investigating. , 18:B - The Congo Basin contains the world's largest rainforest after the Amazon. At 202m hectares (500m acres) it spans a number of central African countries including Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Republic of Congo. , 19:A - Costa Rica won £1m in Prince William's Earthshot awards, which aim to recognise and reward those trying to tackle the climate crisis and Earth’s most pressing challenges over the next 10 years. , 20:B - Common snipe are now considered vulnerable due to sharp declines since 2015, when they were placed on Europe's red list as of least concern. For species to be placed in the near threatened category the population has to have declined by 25% over three generations., 21:C - Escobar's “cocaine hippos” are descendants of animals that the drug lord illegally imported to his Colombian ranch in the 1980s. Their numbers are growing rapidly, posing a threat to biodiversity. The ruling has come as a part of a lawsuit against the Colombian government over whether to kill or sterilise the hippos., 22:B - The temperature of 48.8C (119.85F) was measured at a monitoring station in Syracuse, Sicily, in August. The finding came amid a heatwave stretching across Italy, with fires blazing in much of the region for more than a week., 23:C - The government is encouraging people to install heat pumps with £5,000 grants to help 90,000 homes over the next three years. It is part of efforts to cut Britain’s reliance on fossil fuels. , 24:B - The world’s largest offshore wind farm is Hornsea One off the coast of Yorkshire. It produces enough electricity to power more than a million homes and covers an area of more than 400 sq kms, which is five times the size of the nearest city, Hull. , 25:B - Researchers have found that humans are “literally changing the anatomy” of wild animals. A previously rare genetic mutation causing tusklessness has become very common in some groups of African elephants after a period in which many were killed for their tusks.

Scores

1. 11 and above.

   A bit of a Kermit … you know it's not easy being green but you're getting on with it

2. 21 and above.

   Go Greta! You know your Paris agreement from your Cop26 and are probably tucking into a plant-based snack as you read this!

3. 0 and above.

   Flailing Fred. Oh dear, you're back in the stone age with Fred Flintstone for company.