Climate Crisis 2021 Mega Quiz

The 2021 COP26 UN climate talks ended Nov. 13, 2021, with a deal that targeted fossil fuels as the key driver of global warming for the first time. India, backed by China and other coal-dependent developing nations, rejected a clause calling to “phase out” coal-fired power, which was amended to “phase down” coal use.

 What other significant agreements did COP26 reach?

Leaders of more than 100 countries, including Brazil, China, Russia, and the United States, vowed to end deforestation by 2030. The agreement covers about 85 percent of the world’s forests. More than 100 countries agreed to cut methane emissions by 30 percent by the end of this decade.

What were India’s and China’s big COP26 announcements?

India joined the growing number of nations pledging to reach “net zero” emissions, setting a 2070 deadline, and China committed to developing a plan to reduce methane emissions for the first time.

Photo: Héctor Barrera

On Monday, May 17, 2021, Darwin's Arch in the Galapagos Islands lost its top. Ecuador's Environment Ministry reported the collapse on its social streams and stated that "this event was a consequence of natural erosion."

Bonus question: What is the Darwin Arch named after its collapse?

Following the arch's collapse, locals nicknamed the remaining columns of rock "the Pillars of Evolution." The nearby Darwin Island was named after Charles Darwin, whose studies of the surrounding area's wildlife contributed to his theory of evolution.

Portland International Airport in Oregon hit a new record high temperature of 115°F (46°C) on Monday, June 28, 2021., breaking Sunday’s June 27, 2021, record high temperature of 112°F (44°C) and Saturday’s June 26, 2021, of 108°F (42°C). Records began in 1940.

What was the last time Portland had record-breaking temperatures?

Before 2021 the warmest temperature on record at the Portland International Airport was 107°F (41.6°C) set in July 1965 & twice in Aug 1981.

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), which operates the state’s electric grid, put out the call on Monday, June 28, 2021, for people to conserve electricity, asking them to set thermostats to 78°F (25°C) or higher, turn off lights and avoid using large appliances. The California Flex alert features the same recommendations.

A megadrought is a period of extreme dryness that lasts for decades. There may be occasional better, wet years within that period, but the dryness soon returns, and drought maintains its long-term grip.

Does the US suffer a megadrought?

For the US Southwest — including Arizona, Nevada, Utah, and parts of California, Colorado, and New Mexico — the megadrought has lasted two decades - as bad as or worse than long-lasting droughts in the region over the past 1,200 years.

Flash flooding is a sudden deluge after heavy rainfall. The flooding begins within six hours and often within three hours of heavy rain. Urban areas are particularly vulnerable to flash flooding because they have a lot of paved surfaces. The US Weather Service defines a flood as the inundation of a normally dry area with rising water from a river or stream. Flooding can last days or weeks, which is much longer than flash flooding.

London Flash Flooding News Fact

Flash flooding paralyzed London’s transport network on 12 July 2021, as around 70 mm of rainfall fell in a short space of time over a highly populated urban area. Flash flooding is different from floodings, such as the extraordinary floods that caused the deaths of more than 180 people in Germany and Belgium.

The Dutch town of Venlo, the Belgian town of Pepinster, and the Austrian town of Kufstein were all severely damaged during the floods of July 17, 2021 - the same floods that hit the Ahrweiler area in western Germany.

July 17, 2021, floodings in west Germany are Germany’s worst natural disaster in more than half a century.

Floods in Germany news fact:

On Sunday, July 18, 2021, German Chancellor Angela Merkel pledged quick financial aid and a redoubled political focus on curbing climate change. The death toll from floods in Western Europe climbed above 180.

Red tides are the discoloration of the sea surface caused by harmful algal blooms.

The Gruesome Florida Red Tide

A harmful “red tide” was killing hundreds of tons of fish in Florida in the summer of 2021. At least 600 tons of marine life have been washed up on the shores of southern Florida in late June 2021. The media also reported waves of dead fish in South Tampa and St Petersburg. Environmental activists said industrial waste poured into Tampa Bay in March 2021 has worsened the annual algae bloom, killing hundreds of tons of fish and ruining Florida’s waters.

For the third year in a row, residents of northeastern Siberia are reeling from the worst wildfires they can remember. In recent years, summer temperatures in the Russian Arctic have gone as high as 100 degrees, feeding enormous blazes. Last year, wildfires scorched more than 60,000 square miles of forest and tundra, an area the size of Florida. More than 30,000 square miles have already burned in Russia this year, according to government statistics published mid-July 2021, with the region only two weeks into its peak fire season.

Australia's Great Barrier Reef is the world's most extensive coral reef system, composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands, stretching over 2,300 kilometers over an area of about 344,400 square kilometers.

Is The Great Barrier Reef "In Danger"?

On Friday, July 23, 2021, Australia was able to defer an attempt by the United Nations' cultural organization UNESCO to downgrade the Great Barrier Reef's World Heritage status to "in danger" because of damage caused by climate change. The reef has suffered significantly from coral bleaching caused by hot ocean temperatures in 2016, 2017, and 2020. The bleaching damaged two-thirds of the coral.

Euboea (or Evia) is Greece’s second-largest island, the closest to Athens, and a favorite holiday destination for the Greek capital’s residents.

Evia News Fact

According to EU wildfire data and satellite imagery provided Tuesday, August 10, 2021, more than 49,000 hectares (121,000 acres) have burned up on the northern section of Evia — by far the worst damage from any recent fires in Greece. Greece has the longest coastline on the Mediterranean Basin, featuring numerous islands (anywhere between 1,200 and 6,000, depends on how you define an island), of which 227 are inhabited.

July 2021 became the hottest month in 142 years of recordkeeping, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced Friday, Aug. 13, 2021. The globe averaged 62.07 degrees Fahrenheit (16.73 degrees Celsius) in July 2021, beating previous records set in July 2016, July 2019,  and July 2020. The last seven Julys, from 2015 to 2021, have been the hottest seven Julys on record.

North Dakota is the top-producing US state of bee honey.

American honey and almonds shortage 2022

The hot weather conditions are badly hurting North Dakota's honey production, which puts West Coast crops like almonds, plums, and apples at risk. One in five of the 2.7 million managed honey bee colonies in the United States is in North Dakota. Midwestern beekeepers bring their honey-making insects to California almond farms - the top global producer of almonds - to pollinate orchards in the winter, which means the world faces an almonds shortage in 2022.

Ana, Elsa, Grace, and Ida are all storm names of the 2021 Atlantic hurricane season. The others, so far, being: Bil, Claudette, Danny, Fred, and Henry.

Hurricane Ida news fact

Hurricane Ida pushed into Louisiana as a Category 4 storm on Sunday, Aug. 29, 2021 (pictured), with 150 mile-per-hour winds, torrential downpours, and surf that swamped much of the shoreline under several feet of water. The utility company Entergy Louisiana reported that the storm knocked out power to the entire New Orleans metropolitan area. U.S. President Joe Biden declared a major disaster in Louisiana.

The komodo dragon is the world's most giant lizard.

Are Komodo Dragons nearing extinction?

The Komodo dragon is threatened with extinction as rising water levels shrink its habitat, driven by climate change. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) changed the lizard's status from vulnerable to endangered on Sept. 4, 2021.

New Zealand had the warmest southern winter ever recorded in 2021. For the three months through August, the average temperature was 9.8 Celsius (50 Fahrenheit), 1.32C above the long-term average and 0.2C higher than the previous record posted last year, according to New Zealand’s National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research. Scientists say that climate change is driving temperatures ever higher.

Any product can display the triangular “chasing arrows” recycling symbol in the US, even if it isn’t recyclable.

What is the California "chasing arrows" symbol law?

A bill passed on Wednesday, Sept. 8, 2021, by the California state assembly would ban companies from using the chasing arrows symbol unless the material is used to make new products. Products would be considered recyclable if CalRecycle, the state’s recycling department, determines they meet specific design criteria, including not using toxic chemicals.

What are the other US States doing about the misleading recycling logo?

In 2021, Maine and Oregon passed laws requiring corporations to pay for the cost of recycling their packaging. In Oregon, the law includes a task force to evaluate “misleading or confusing claims” related to recycling. Legislation is pending in New York that would also ban products from displaying misleading claims.

The koala is a marsupial native to Australia - Just like the Kangaroo. These mammals are distinguishable for their maternal pouch, in which females carry their newborns. Koalas are not bears.

How many Koalas are there in 2021?

Australia has lost about 30% of its koalas since 2018 to drought, bushfires, land clearing by property developers, and road builders, the Australian Koala Foundation said, Sept. 20, 2021. The independent non-profit group estimated the koala population has dropped to less than 58,000 this year from more than 80,000 in 2018.

The African penguin is a species of penguin confined to southern African waters. Because they do not require very low temperatures, these penguins are popular with zoos.

Are African penguins at risk of extinction?

African penguins are on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s red list, meaning they face a high risk of extinction.

Are bees a natural enemy of the African Penguin?

A swarm of bees has killed 63 endangered African penguins on a beach outside Cape Town, the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds said Monday, Sept. 20, 2021. Postmortems showed all the penguins had multiple bee stings. That said, experts consider a bee attack on penguins a rare event.

Insulate Britain is an environmentalist protest group campaigning to force the British government to insulate Britain's leaky homes. The group argues that since the UK has the oldest and least energy-efficient housing stock in Europe, improving the quality of British homes is fundamental to achieve the Government’s climate change targets.

How did Insulate Britain activists disrupt traffic in the UK?

Insulate Britain activists stopped traffic on the British M25 road multiple times during the Sept. 13, 2021, week. The protestors targeted the UK's busiest motorway, and sat on the road, while stranded drivers beeped their horns. Police arrested a few dozens of protesters.