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Carbon Literacy Quiz

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Global warming is primarily caused by

  1. Natural climate variations
  2. Sunspots
  3. Volcanoes
  4. Cows’ flatulence
  5. Human-caused greenhouse gases acting like one-way�mirrors and trapping heat from the sun

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Annual human-caused global greenhouse gas (GHG)�emissions now stand at

  1. 59 million tons of CO2e
  2. 590 million tons of CO2e
  3. 5.9 billion tons of CO2e
  4. 59 billion tons of CO2e
  5. 59 trillion tons of CO2e
  6. Humans do not cause GHG emissions

Courtesy CAIT Climate Data Explorer via. Climate Watch

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Carbon dioxide concentration in our atmosphere�is currently

  1. 4.19 parts per million
  2. 41.9 parts per million
  3. 419 parts per million
  4. 4,190 parts per million
  5. There is no CO2 in our�atmosphere

Courtesy www.co2.earth

Safe level

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The average annual carbon impact (in metric tons of CO2e) per American is:

  1. 6 metric tons
  2. 17 metric tons
  3. 600 metric tons
  4. Negligible

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Can you save our warm-water coral reefs? Take a spin…

Least harm

Most harm

1.5 Degree�Wheel of�Misfortune

2 Degree�Wheel of�Misfortune

Least harm

Most harm

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The number of fully-grown trees needed to offset one American’s annual�emissions is:

  1. 1 tree for 92 people
  2. 1 tree per person
  3. 92 trees per person
  4. 920 trees per person
  5. 9,200 trees per person

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The most credible scientific authority on climate change is

  1. The International Energy Agency (IEA)
  2. The U.S. Department of Energy
  3. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)
  4. The U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
  5. Your local Political Action Committee
  6. CNN
  7. Fox News
  8. Bloomberg

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In how many days do we cause emissions equal to our�own body weight on average?

  1. Every hour
  2. Less than 2 days
  3. About 1 month
  4. About 1 year
  5. A lifetime

CO2e

180 lb.

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According to the IPCC*, I should reduce my carbon impact in half by

  1. 2025
  2. 2030
  3. 2035
  4. 2040
  5. 2050
  6. 2100

*United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

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Can you save low-lying cities/islands from sea-level rise? Take a spin…

Least harm

Most harm

1.5 Degree�Wheel of�Misfortune

2 Degree�Wheel of�Misfortune

Least harm

Most harm

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Worldwide annual subsidies for the fossil fuel industry total

  1. $10M per year
  2. $10M per month
  3. $10M per week
  4. $10M per day
  5. $10M per hour
  6. $10M per minute
  7. $10M per second

Courtesy International Monetary Fund, Coady, Parry, Sears and Shang, May 2015

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In Croton, the average daily carbon emissions total to

  1. 7.38 tons of CO2e
  2. 73.8 tons of CO2e
  3. 738 tons of CO2e
  4. 7,380 tons of CO2e
  5. 20,000 tons of CO2e
  6. Zero due to Croton100’s efforts

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How big a mature forest is required to offset Croton’s (zip�code 10520) CO2 emissions?

  1. 1/70 of Croton’s area
  2. 1/7 of Croton’s area
  3. All of Croton’s area
  4. Double Croton’s area
  5. 7x Croton’s area
  6. All of New York State

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In Croton, the highest contribution of emissions comes from

  1. Transportation
  2. Heating
  3. Electricity
  4. Goods and services
  5. Food and waste
  6. Public services

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Can you save Arctic summer ice? Take a spin…

Least harm

Most harm

1.5 Degree�Wheel of�Misfortune

2 Degree�Wheel of�Misfortune

Least harm

Most harm

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In Croton, an average savings of ~10 tons of CO2e is achieved by

  1. Switching to EVs
  2. Heating your house with heat pumps
  3. Grazing goats in your lawn
  4. Signing up for an energy audit
  5. Planting 100 trees
  6. Recycling
  7. Turning vegan

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Electric vehicles in Croton that run on “dirty” grid electricity are

  1. Good for the environment because they are 3 to 4 times more efficient than a gas vehicle
  2. Bad for the environment because the energy source is dirty
  3. Bad for the environment because of the materials in the batteries
  4. Good for the environment because they are fun to drive

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Regenerative braking is

  1. A way of breaking coconuts
  2. How EVs recapture energy for the battery while slowing down the vehicle
  3. Slowing down birth rates of deer
  4. A way of making vehicles without brakes

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Croton schools should move to a fully�electric bus fleet because

  1. It achieves significant carbon reduction
  2. It is better for particulate pollution
  3. It is better for kids’ health
  4. It will save us money over the�lifetime of the bus
  5. The community wants it
  6. All of the above!

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Can we mitigate and adapt to extreme weather events? Take a spin…

Least harm

Most harm

1.5 Degree�Wheel of�Misfortune

2 Degree�Wheel of�Misfortune

Least harm

Most harm

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The fastest way to decarbonize our school�fleet is to electrify the big buses first

  1. True
  2. Usually not the case

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How many EVs are registered in zip 10520?

  1. 32,210
  2. 3,210
  3. 321
  4. 32
  5. None

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Natural gas’s impact on climate change is

  1. Helpful, because it burns cleaner than coal
  2. Helpful, because the natural gas industry is very concerned about climate change
  3. Helpful, because it keeps energy prices low
  4. Helpful, because it is extracted cleanly
  5. Harmful, because although it burns cleaner than coal or oil, even a small amount of unburned methane leakage negates the benefits

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The energy source for heat pumps that can efficiently heat and cool your home is

  1. Electricity
  2. Gas
  3. Diesel
  4. Propane
  5. Coal
  6. Flowing water
  7. Goat poop
  8. Heat pumps do not require an energy source

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Can you prevent catastrophic species loss?

Least harm

Most harm

1.5 Degree�Wheel of�Misfortune

2 Degree�Wheel of�Misfortune

Least harm

Most harm

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The annual carbon impact of one red meat eater converting to vegan is

  1. +1 ton of CO2e
  2. +0.1 tons of CO2e
  3. –0.1 tons of CO2e
  4. –0.2 tons of CO2e
  5. –1.8 tons of CO2e
  6. –20 tons of CO2e

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Which of the following did António Guterres, UN Secretary General, NOT say?

  1. We are using the atmosphere like an open sewer
  2. The climate crisis is a code red for humanity
  3. The climate time bomb is ticking
  4. Our world needs climate action on all fronts: everything, everywhere, all at once!
  5. Humanity is on thin ice and that ice is melting fast
  6. We are on a highway to climate hell with our foot still on the accelerator

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Which President signed a “one trillion trees” executive order?

  1. Teddy Roosevelt
  2. Franklin Roosevelt
  3. Jimmy Carter
  4. Barack Obama
  5. Donald Trump
  6. Joe Biden

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The earth has warmed 1.1oC so far. How much�have land and oceans warmed?

  1. Land = 1.1oC, oceans = 1.1oC
  2. Land = 0.9oC, oceans = 1.2oC
  3. Land = 0oC, oceans = 2oC
  4. Land = 2oC, oceans = 0oC
  5. Land = 1.6oC, oceans = 0.9oC

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Emissions reductions this decade will largely determine if warming can be limited to 1.5oC or 2oC

  1. True
  2. False

Sustained warming of 2oC to 3oC will cause complete and irreversible loss of the Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets, resulting in 2 to 6 m (7 to 20’) of sea-level rise

  1. True
  2. False

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Can you prevent widespread wildfire damage?

Least harm

Most harm

1.5 Degree�Wheel of�Misfortune

2 Degree�Wheel of�Misfortune

Least harm

Most harm

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Backup

  • Different color schemes for the Wheel of Misfortune

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2 Degree�Wheel of�Misfortune

Can you save our warm-water coral reefs?

1.5 Degree�Wheel of�Misfortune

Less loss

More loss

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Can you save our warm-water coral reefs?

Least harm

Most harm

1.5 Degree�Wheel of�Misfortune

2 Degree�Wheel of�Misfortune

Least harm

Most harm

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Can you save our warm-water coral reefs?

Least harm

Most harm

1.5 Degree�Wheel of�Misfortune

Least harm

Most harm

2 Degree�Wheel of�Misfortune