Earth Day Quiz: How much do you know about climate change?

Have you followed the climate news headlines in the past year?

People around the world will mark Earth Day on 22nd April - a chance to focus on the planet and threats to the natural world.

From plastic pollution to biodiversity collapse, extreme weather events and still-rising emissions, there’s a dizzying array of subjects to keep up-to-date on. Since last Earth Day, climate scientists have released more urgent warnings that humanity is running out of time to meet net-zero targets and avert catastrophe.

How well have you followed news coverage of the climate crisis in the last 365 days? Take our quiz below to find out.

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1. On Earth Day 2021, President Joe Biden pledged a dramatic cut in US greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. What is the targeted reduction for the year 2030?

A) 30 per cent

B) 50 per cent

C) 80 per cent

2. In May, a Dutch court ruled that which company must reduce its GHG emissions?

A) Shell

B) Amazon

C) BP

3. Last summer, a deadly heatwave hit the US Pacific Northwest and western Canada. What was the record temperature recorded in Lytton, British Columbia?

A) 45.6 degrees Celsius (114.1 Fahrenheit)

B) 47.6 C (117.7 F)

C) 49.6 C (121.3 F)

A home burns during a wildlife in California, August 2021 (AP)

4. What was the name of the largest single-source blaze in California history, burning over 960,000 acres last summer?

A) Caldor Fire

B) Dixie Fire

C) Antelope Fire

5. Hurricane Ida pummelled stretches of the US South and East Coast in August and September. It dropped a record 3.15 inches of rain in one hour - on which city?

A) New York

B) Boston

C) Atlanta

6. Which international organization has released three chapters of its seminal climate report in the last year?

A) United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

B) Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

C) The World Health Organisation

The Thwaites Glacier, West Antarctica (Nasa/OIB/Jeremy Harbeck)

7. Scientists are concerned about Antarctica’s Thwaites Glacier whose potential collapse could raise global sea level by two feet. This hypothetical scenario has led to what nickname for the mass of ice?

A) The Doomsday Glacier

B) The Apocalypse Glacier

C) The Bad News Glacier

8. 2021 tied with 2018 on a temperature record. How hot was it?

A) Third hottest year on record

B) Sixth hottest year on record

C) Tenth hottest year on record

9. In November, the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) took place in which city?

A) Glasgow

B) Barcelona

C) Los Angeles

10. In 1960, the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere was 315 parts per million (ppm). By 2022, CO2 concentration reached roughly what level?

A) 350 ppm

B) 400 ppm

C) 415 ppm

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Find the answers below....

An Extreme Heat Danger sign in Death Valley, California, June 2021 (AFP via Getty Images)

1) 50 per cent . 2) Shell 3) 49.6 C (121.3 F) 4) Dixie Fire 5) New York 6) Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change . 7) The Doomsday Glacier 8) Sixth Hottest Year on Record 9) Glasgow 10) 415 ppm