Natural Hazards: Causes and Effects - Disaster Management Center ...

Lesson 8 - Self-Assessment Test
Multiple Choice
Circle the best answer(s):
1. Two of the four primary areas of
desertification are:
a) Asia and the Atlantic
b) The Sahara Desert and the
Mediterranean Basin
c) the Kalihari Desert and the Gobi
Desert
d) the Mediterranean Basin and sub-
Saharan Africa
e) southwestern United States and
western Russia
2. The real problem in the desertification
of the southern edge of the Sahara is:
a) severe drought
b) naturally ocurring thermodynamics
of climate
c) an overgrowth of livestock
d) a wood shortage
e) erosion
3. An area’s susceptibility to
desertification is:
a) a function of climatic cycles
b) a function of land-use pressure
c) a function of the soil-water energy
use
d) the result of inadequate irrigation
systems
e) a function of atmospheric heating
4. Scanty vegetation found in arid regions:
a) provides protection for the surface
of the ground
b) provides no protection for the
surface of the ground
c) has little attraction for grazing
livestock
d) always consists of species with
short life cycles
e) is made up of perennial ephemerals
5. Nomadic herding of several kinds of
animals is an example of:
a) an outdated way of life
b) a traditional system that lightens the
grazing load
c) a lack of flexibility in dealing with
desertification
d) a highly specialized ecosystem
e) a system that adapts well to deepwell
technology
6. Indirect large-scale climatic changes
upon an arid region are:
a) less destructive than human-made
upsetting of the soil-water balance
b) more destructive than human-made
upsetting of the soil-water balance
c) certain to follow a two to four year
cycle
d) a way to introduce stress that will
desertify the area
e) undesirable since they upset the
ecosystem
7. The first step in desertification of
rangelands is:
a) thinning of vegetation due to
grazing
b) severe drought
c) an increase in edible perennial
plants
d) water runoff due to sun-hardened
soil
e) an increase in groundwater level
due to runoff
8. Desertification in areas of farming
begins on:
a) land exposed to overgrazing
b) land exposed to soil stripping and
gully extension
c) original ground cover exposed to
accelerated wind erosion
d) land with the original land cover
removed
e) redoposited silts that are
susceptible to wind erosion
9. A primary need for early warning of
desertification is:
a) a comprehensive study of land-use
regulations