Celebrate Earth Day With This Conservation Quiz

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) traces its founding back to 1807, when President Thomas Jefferson authorized a detailed survey of the U.S. coastline. Today, NOAA’s mission is to understand and predict climate changes, share that information with relevant partners, and protect and conserve the United States’ marine ecosystems.

Located in the hinterlands of Southern California, Death Valley National Park is the largest national park in the Lower 48. Although a national monument since 1933, Death Valley didn’t become an official national park until 1994. The park is one of the hottest places on Earth and experienced a record-breaking 127 degrees Fahrenheit in 2018. Despite these inhospitable temperatures, the park is home to myriad animal and plant species.

In 1995, the National Park Service reintroduced wolves to their native range in Yellowstone National Park after a 70-year absence. Experts hoped the wolves would help control the elk population that was overgrazing much of the park’s habitat, but their impact was felt far beyond that, and the wolves became a stunning example of how top predators affect the ecology.

The Kyoto Protocol was adopted in December 1997, but wasn’t put into action until February 2005. Named for the Japanese city in which it was adopted, the international treaty called for 41 countries plus the European Union to limit their greenhouse gas emissions by 2012. In December of that year, the Doha Amendment to the protocol extended the commitment to 2020.

In 1986, the International Whaling Commission placed a globe-spanning moratorium on whaling to protect the species while also creating designated sanctuaries around the world. Although the ban remains in place, some countries such as Norway, Iceland, and Japan continue to hunt whales. Despite these exceptions, whale numbers have mostly recovered, though some species remain endangered.

Rachel Carson is famous for her book “Silent Spring,” which revealed the dangers of pesticides such as DDT. Gifford Pinchot served as head of the Division of Forestry under President William McKinley, and naturalist John Muir is known as the “father of the national parks.” Enrico Fermi, however, is an Italian American physicist best known for building the very first artificial nuclear reactor.

On June 22, 1969, the Cuyahoga River near Cleveland, Ohio, caught fire due to the immense amount of trash and oil in the water. This didn’t come as much of a surprise to locals, as the river had caught fire at least a dozen times before that fateful day. Still, the event became a symbol of America’s polluted waterways and spurred the American people and the U.S. Congress to action, leading to the Clean Water Act three years later.

In 1969, President Richard M. Nixon dedicated a grove of redwoods in Redwood National Park to Lady Bird Johnson, for the First Lady’s incredible conservation efforts while in the White House. Johnson played a big role in creating Redwoods National Park as well as in passing the Highway Beautification Act in 1965.

In the late 1960s, Earth Day founder Gaylord Nelson became inspired by the “teach-ins” — student-faculty discussions at universities that often spurred protest action — that argued against the United States’ war policy in Vietnam. Nelson hoped to capture that protest spirit found in lecture halls throughout the country and focus its aim on the environmental challenges facing the planet.

The Clean Air Act, which was passed by the U.S. government in 1970, regulates air emissions from certain pollutants. The law requires the EPA to set national ambient air quality standards for six common air pollutants: carbon monoxide, ground-level ozone, lead, nitrogen oxides, particulate matter, and sulfur dioxide.

In 1928, landscape photographer Ansel Adams became an official trip photographer for the Sierra Club. He went on to become an outing manager and a member of its Board of Directors. During his time in leadership, Adams helped grow the organization into a powerful environmental lobbying group and used his photographs to further promote the organization's causes.

In 1962, Rachel Carson wrote "Silent Spring," which attacked the use of the pesticide DDT. The chemical compound was able to kill hundreds of insects at once while protecting crops and preventing people from being infected with insect-borne diseases. However, Carson argued that DDT killed animals further up the food chain and poisoned the environment through soil and water. Within a decade, DDT was banned in most of the world.

Earth Day was first celebrated on April 22, 1970. The celebration was the brainchild of U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin, a staunch environmentalist who wanted to increase ecological awareness. Earth Day is observed at different times around the world, and the U.N. officially celebrates it on the vernal equinox. In the United States, it's celebrated annually on April 22.

Dr. Seuss' 1971 children's book "The Lorax" is about the plight of the environment. In the book, the title creature "speaks for the trees" and confronts the Once-ler, who causes the destruction of the local Truffula trees. The Lorax says, "Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not." In 2012, “The Lorax” was adapted into a feature-length animated movie.

In early 1970, with the growing environmental movement sweeping across the United States, President Richard Nixon began to take concrete action toward a greener future. He presented the House and Senate with a 37-point action plan on how to protect the deteriorating planet. As a result, on December 4, 1970, the Environmental Protection Agency was born.

On January 4, 1872, newspaper editor and former governor of Nebraska J. Sterling Morton suggested that there should be a holiday for citizens to plant trees. Two years later, the day was officially proclaimed “Arbor Day.” Celebrated annually on April 10, the day was declared a legal holiday in Nebraska in 1885, and by 1920, more than 45 states celebrated Arbor Day.

The term "smog" was first used in the 1900s to describe a mix of smoke and fog. Today, smog hovers over cities where there is a lot of industrial activity or vehicular traffic. Most smog is photochemical, which means it's produced when sunlight reacts with nitrogen oxides in the atmosphere. It is common in many developing countries and can also be seen in the United States in places such as Los Angeles, California.

Henry David Thoreau was one of the United States' first environmentalists. His 1854 book, "Walden," details his experiment of living away from society on the northern shore of Massachusetts' Walden Pond. His naturalistic writing — embodied in the quote "In wildness is the preservation of the world" — laid the foundation for modern-day environmentalism.

The National Audubon Society's mission is to "protect birds and the places they need, today and tomorrow." The society emerged in 1901 and began its environmental work by helping to establish the first National Wildlife Refuge in the U.S. Since then, the society has lobbied the government to protect birds and altered their own behaviors to help sustain a future with a healthy avian population.

During his two terms as President in the early 1900s, Theodore Roosevelt established 150 national forests, 51 federal bird reserves, four national game preserves, five national parks, and 18 national monuments on over 230 million acres of land. History remembers him as the country's greatest "conservationist President," and he even has a national park named after him.