Mirror Magazine

1. B: (Composed chiefly of methane, natural gas is the cleanest burning fossil fuel. It not only helps improve the quality of air and water, it’s a great substitute for other, more polluting energy sources. You see, natural gas combustion results in virtually no atmospheric emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO2) or small particulate matter, and far lower emissions of carbon monoxide (CO2), reactive hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxides (NOx) and carbon dioxide than combustion of other fossil fuels.)

2. A: (In case you’ve forgotten, earth has five ‘parts’. The first, the atmosphere is gaseous, the second, the hydrosphere is liquid, the third, fourth, and fifth, the lithosphere, mantle, and core is largely solid. The interior of the planet remains active, with a thick layer of molten mantle, and an iron core that generates a magnetic field.)

3. C: (A desert can be defined as a barren area with very little precipitation. Though covered in ice, Antarctica boasts the largest desert in the world (13 million kilometres), with an average annual precipitation of around four inches. Africa, of course, houses the largest hot desert (nine million kilometres). Interestingly, Europe actually has no deserts at all.)

4. B: (Definition: The intimate living together of two dissimilar organisms in a mutually beneficial relationship.)

5. B: (Count one wrong if you guessed Death Valley in California. On most days you would be right. However, El Azizia recorded a temperature of 136 degrees Fahrenheit on Sept. 13, 1922 – the hottest ever measured. In Death Valley, it got up to 134 Fahrenheit on July 10, 1913.)

6. A: (In a volcanic eruption, the violent separation of gas from lava produces a “frothy” rock called pumice, loaded with gas bubbles. Some of it can float, geologists say.)

7. B: (That translates to about 107,320 km per hour. Does that mean we are travelling at that speed too? The answer is yes, relative to the sun, we are moving that fast. Talk about ‘travelling at the speed of life’!)

8. C: (A 1999 study showed that African dust frequently finds its way as far as Florida! The dust is kicked up by high winds in North Africa, and carried as high as 20,000 feet (6,100 meters), where it's caught up in the trade winds and carried across the sea. Dust from China has been known to make its way to North America, too.)