1 – The Mystery of Easter Island

1.Environemntal damage. The people there cut down treesindiscriminately to make canoes, clear land for farming, firewood andsliders to transport statues. This resulted into soil erosion hencelow crop yields and hindered canoe making hence reduced fishingactivity as major source of food. In the end, the society collapsedand died.

2. Sustainability is an approach that balances consumption of resourcesand their integration back into the ecosystem to ensure availabilityof these resources to future generations and protect life of nextgeneration. The use of available resources must also not jeopardizethe lives of next generations (EPA 2014).

3. No. The society failed to recognize the importance of using theirenvironment in a sustainable manner. The effect was that they couldnot survive for long without a supportive environment. Indiscriminatecutting down of trees without replenishing them made the societycollapse.

4.One experiment conducted by Pavel Pavel, Thor Heyerdahl and the KonTiki Museum in 1986 sought to walk the statues in an uprightposition. One rope was tied at the head and another at the base. Thestatue was rocked forward-backwards and sideways. However, excessivedamage to the base during the ‘walking’ ruled out the method.

In1999, Jo Anne Van Tilburg conducted another experiment to demonstratethe walking statues using lubricated rollers. However, the rollersjammed owing to uneven terrain. She made modifications by makingembedded terrain which succeeded. Another experiment in 2003 led byCharles love placed a sample statue on two sled runners atop logrollers which allowed a few people to pull on the statue and supportupright walking.

Themost conclusive experiment was conducted by Carl Lipo and colleagues(2012) at Kualoa Ranch in Hawaii. Using a three meter tall statue,the scientists showed that tying a statues head with three ropes eachon either side and one behind could move statue forward by rocking itsideways/forward and the back rope providing balance. This procedurerequires a small number of people with the experiment using only 18.

B. 2 – Power surge

1.To drive innovation in sustainable energy development and createawareness of climate change

2. In that period, the atmosphere had a significant amount of CO2which kept temperatures at the modern day Antarctica at 25oC.A drop in the level of CO2and greenhouse gases over a 100,000 year period near theEocene-Oligocene boundary resulted in rapid drop in temperatures andgave way to glaciations. On the contrary, today, there is sharp risein CO2andgreenhouse gases that has resulted in increased atmospherictemperatures and consequently melting and retreating of glaciers.

3.This is a team-based game that teaches players about greenhousegases’ effect and the existing measures to cut emissions to fightclimate change. The wedges represent eight different strategies tofight emissions that fit into stabilization triangle.

4. Switchgrass is used to produce cellulosic ethanol. This is obtainedfrom the high content of cellulose from the plants. Beer is alsobeing used to develop biofuel by producing ethanol through afermentation process that relies on a specific strain of bacteria(EPA 2014).

5. Powering power stations to produce electricity

Runningengines such as huge power ships and submarines

6.Unsustainable as it will be eventually depleted. It takes billions ofyears to replenish reserves.

Poordistribution of resources emanating from drilling and oil wells eg.In Saudi Arabia, majority of wells are family owned

Thefuel contains harmful emissions that affects such as greenhousegasses such as CO2and sulfur.


7.Renewable sources of energy have very low emission of greenhousegases

Renewablesources are equally distributed around the world and can be accessedby many eg solar.

Renewablesources are cheaper in the long run

Renewablesource do not destroy environment

C.s 3 &amp 4 –

1.CAFOconfining animals in inadequately small spaces for more than 45 days.2.cows- confined in small spaces and intensive feeding to increase milkproduction

Chicken-confinedin small spaces and light and shortened nights to encourage feedingand high productivity

Pigs-Lockedin squeezed unhygienic pens and fed fattening products

3. Space is utilized well than in other methods

Easiermanagement of animals located in one place4. Infringes onanimal rights by restricting movement

Increasecases of animal diseases spreading

5.The seeds are patented by Monsanto

6.A rod shaped strain of bacteria found in lower intestines in warmblooded animals. The bacteria can infect meat at time of slaughter.Infected animals should be culled and animals handlers should avoiddirect contact or consumption of infected carcasses.

7. Cattle feed

Producevegetable oil

D. 5

1.IceAges caused tropical rainforest around the world to retreat intosavanna and pockets of rainforest. The prolonged ice age period ledto genetic differentiation of the forest leading to island forests.

2. Submerged lands destroy habitats for animals eg. earth worms

Affectssalinity of the water

3.Black bears- pose danger to people

Destroylawns and threat to pets

Raccoons-destroy yards and crops


4.Disappearance of aspen trees

Vanishingof river bank vegetation and river widening

5.Very high population of elk browsing on young aspen shrubs followingelimination of their predator, wolves, by bounty hunters.

Aspentrees and vegetation fare better where wolves flourish

6.Controlling population of elk

Controllingpopulation of aspen

Controllingsoil erosion

7. Extra proliferation of certain species/prey

Competitionfor food amongst prey

8.Keystone predator control population of herbivores such as elk,high/low population affects vegetation, vegetation controls erosion,erosion affects marine ecosystem through sediments.

F. 7

1.​nitrogen indicator​



2.An index indicating the amount of nitrogen,phosphorus, and other biologically useful nutrients in water

3.Run-off nutrients from rocks/soil

Wastefrom fish

Atmosphericdeposition of nitrogen

4.Run-off fertilizers


Householddetergents and cleaners

5.Social, political, scientific, economic and other activitiesconcerning a lake aiming to sustain or improve the system.

G. 7

1.An underground collection or layer of rock permeated by water whichcan be accessed via a well.


2.Sipping of precipitation or rainfall

Rivers3. Wells

Lakesand rivers

4.Planting vegetation

Avoidfarming and contamination

5. Proper storage


H. 8 –

1Waveerosion- building dykes

Submergedlands-building dykes

I. 9 – Gasland

1.Theprocess of drilling and injecting fluid into the ground at a highpressure in order to fracture shale rocks to release natural&nbspgas2.Shale formations lie far below the water table and pose a minimalthreat to groundwater

Enablesaccess to locked gas resources 3. Potential pollution ofground water

Consumeshigh volumes of fresh water

4.Increased independence from foreign gas reserves

Increasedjob opportunities

Increasedpollution on us soil

J. 10

1. Production of human energy leads to increase in CO2 production. ThisCo2 has a greenhouse effect hence affects atmospheric temperatures.

2.In the last 50 years, temperatures in Alaska have increased by anaverage of 3.4°F while winter temperatures have increased by 6.3°F.This has caused decline in Caribou population which feeds onlichens.3. High sea surface temperature decreases krillpopulation while lower one support high population 4.What is a “tipping point”?

Changefrom one climate stable state to another stable state after which atransition is experienced. 5. High asthma cases are caused bya pathogen contained in seasonal African dust that settles in theareas. The same dust also carries with it contaminants (pesticides)that hinder coral development.

6. El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) changes in the Indian oceanaffected the same I the North Atlantic. This influenced the directionof wind and sea water towards Trinidad &amp St. Johns Bay. The windcarried with African dust.

7.Planting trees

Reducingemissions 8. High incidence of diseases



Environmentalprotection agency. 2014. Web. 2014.


Lipo,Carl, Terry Hunt and Sergio Haoa. The walking megalithic statues(moai) of Easter Island.

Journalof Archaeological Science (2012).Web. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2012.09.029

Nationalgeographic. 2014. Web. 2014.