Problem: Burma had many tropical forests, while a sister country from a temperate climate, Belarus, had beautiful ancient temperate forests. Both countries were significant lumber exporters. Given the paragraph above, please answer correctly the following question: Which country had forests that produced more biomass? Hint: Tropical forests (rainforests) receive more insolation and rainfall over longer growing seasons than any other environment on earth. With these elevated temperatures, insolation and rainfall, biomass is extremely productive leading to the production of as much as 800 grams of carbon per square meter per year. Higher temperatures and larger amounts of water contribute to higher rates of chemical weathering. Increased rates of decomposition cause smaller amounts of fulvic acid to percolate and leach metals from the zone of active weathering. Thus, in stark contrast to soil in forests, tropical forests have little to no podzolization and therefore do not have marked visual and chemical contrasts with the soil layers. Instead, the mobile metals Mg, Fe and Al are precipitated as oxide minerals giving the soil a rusty red color.

A: Burma

Problem: The extensive grazing in Tibet lead to carbon and nitrogen loss, subject to desertification, while Nepal adopted a different approach to food production, putting nature and biodiversity first. Given the paragraph above, please answer correctly the following question: Which country experiences a higher percentage of biodiversity loss? Hint: Besides anthropogenic productivity of the land, the biodiversity of degraded land also declines, as previously mentioned.[12] With less biodiversity, this ecosystem is less adaptable to when disasters strike it[11][8] It has a smaller available food supply, in terms of plants, for animals, who then may die out or more likely may relocate. Proof of this decline is that presently 15-20% of Tibetan Plateau species are now considered endangered; and now because of this animal and plant absence, the soil quality of these degraded lands is very poor.[1] It does not hold the necessary nutrients, such as water, nitrogen, and carbon, essential to either supporting life or inviting life back to that land.[6] As a result of such carbon and nitrogen loss in the Tibetan Plateau, $8,033/ha and $13,315/ha were respectively lost in economic terms. Soils are further weakened by dust storms whose frequency increases because of degradation.[11][4] Erosion of soil becomes a bigger problem, since no longer are there as many plants to anchor in the soil. In the northern Chinese province alone, 400 million are affected every year with an associated 54 billion yuan of annual economic loss due to grassland degradation.

A: Tibet

Problem: Matt is reheating some leftover pizza in the microwave for his stepchildren, Lauren and Emily. Lauren likes her pizza at a high temperature when reheated so Matt cooks it for a long time. Emily likes her pizza at a lower temperature so Matt only puts hers in the microwave for a couple seconds. Given the paragraph above, please answer correctly the following question: Are the particles in Lauren's pizza moving faster or slower than in Emily's pizza? Hint: No doubt you already have a good idea of what temperature is. You might say that it's how warm or cool something feels. In physics, temperature is defined as the average kinetic energy of the particles of matter. When particles of matter move more quickly, they have more kinetic energy, so their temperature is higher. With a higher temperature, matter feels warmer. When particles move more slowly, they have less kinetic energy on average, so their temperature is lower. With a lower temperature, matter feels cooler.

A: faster

Problem: Two neighboring counties, Brown and Green county, had different weather patterns occur last month. The weather in Brown county was quite stable, but green county experienced atmospheric convection and other related phenomena. Given the paragraph above, please answer correctly the following question: Which county had less parcel-environment instability? Hint: Atmospheric convection is the result of a parcel-environment instability, or temperature difference layer in the atmosphere. Different lapse rates within dry and moist air masses lead to instability. Mixing of air during the day which expands the height of the planetary boundary layer leads to increased winds, cumulus cloud development, and decreased surface dew points. Moist convection leads to thunderstorm development, which is often responsible for severe weather throughout the world. Special threats from thunderstorms include hail, downbursts, and tornadoes.

A:
Brown