eps 7 final
At Earth's surface, atmospheric pressure is equivalent to
10 tons per square meter
Methane in the atmosphere oxidizes to CO2 on what timescale?
10 years
What is the average temperature of Earth's surface air?
288 K
If we hold the concentrations of greenhouse gases constant at the levels anticipated in 2100 for the RCP8.5 scenario, roughly how much globally averaged warming would we get if we waited long enough?
8 K
Who is credited with identifying the gases responsible for the greenhouse effect?
John Tyndall
Which of these is an example of a NOx?
No2
A negative perturbation
is a decrease in the stock from its steady-state level
If the temperature of air in a sealed jar is doubled without changing the number of air molecules, how does the pressure in the jar change?
it doubles
If a sand dune's feedback parameter is −5 kg/s/m, what happens if we suddenly add 4 m of sand?
it will go back to its original steady state
When talking about the wavelengths of radiation from the Sun and Earth, it is most convenient to use which unit?
micrometer
Which of the following is a violation of conservation of momentum?
none of the other answers
Is the ice-abedo feedback a positive or negative feedback?
positive
After ocean acidification and dissolution of calcium carbonate, silicate weathering removes the remaining 20% of the extra carbon still in the atmosphere on a timescale of
100 thousand years
2^4 equals
16
By how much have Berkeley's warm-season maximum temperatures increased over the past 125 years?
2 K
The carbon contained in peat down to 1 meter is equivalent to how many years of fossil-fuel burning at the current rate of emissions?
20
Roughly what fraction of Earth's atmosphere is oxygen?
20%
Which of the following is a typical temperature of a blowtorch?
2000 K
Using the minus-thirty-and-halve approximation, what is 80 °F in Celsius?
25 °C
Given Earth's feedback parameter of -1 W/m2/K, what is roughly its final temperature perturbation in response to a doubling of CO2, which causes a forcing of 3 W/m2?
3 K
Where does convection move energy into, out of, or within the Earth?
within the atmosphere
900 millibars equals
0.9 bar
For climate studies, what are the two most important instruments inside a Stevenson enclosure?
min-temperature and max-temperature thermometers
If a sand dune's feedback parameter is +1 kg/s/m, what is the final perturbation if a forcing of -2 kg/s is applied?
nonsense question because the dune is unstable
If a sand dune's feedback parameter is +3 kg/s/m, what is the final perturbation if a forcing of 3 kg/s is applied?
nonsense question because the dune is unstable
What is the modern estimate for the likely range of Earth's climate sensitivity?
1.5 to 4.5 K
Including all soil depths, permafrost contains how much carbon?
1500 GtC
If a planet's total solar irradiance, or TSI, is 1000 W/m2, what is the average incident sunlight per planetary surface area?
250 W/m2
In an atmosphere with water, approximately what is the temperature at a height of 4 km if the temperature at a height of 2 km is 283 K?
270 K
What is Earth's biggest negative feedback?
Planck feedback
Which of the following is an example of conduction?
burn hand on hot pan
Which of the following is not a leading source of anthropogenic methane emissions?
burning natural gas
Which of the following is a violation of conservation of mass?
none of the other answers
If humans burn 5000 GtC in a couple centuries, roughly what will the atmospheric concentration of CO2 be in the year 12017?
750 ppm
How many planets are there in our Solar System?
8
If a sand dune's feedback parameter is −20 kg/s/m, by what amount does its net rate of inflow change if we apply a sudden height perturbation of −4 m?
80 kg/s
3^4 equals
81
Given Earth's feedback parameter of -1 W/m2/K, what is roughly its final temperature perturbation in response to a brightening of the Sun that leads to 9 W/m2 of extra solar absorption?
9 K
What is an AMSU?
Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit
Which of these is an example of a halocarbon?
CF2Cl2
What is the chemical formula for methane?
CH4
What chemical formula most accurately describes the burning of natural gas?
CH4 + 2O2 → CO2 + 2H2O
When permafrost thaws, it releases
CO2 and CH4
What chemical reaction ultimately removes the excess carbon from the atmosphere and ocean?
CaSiO3 + CO2 → CaCO3 + SiO2
Who is credited with alerting scientists to global warming by documenting the rising concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere?
Dave Keeling
What is the first molecule that CO2 forms when dissolved in water?
H2CO3
Which chemical reaction describes ocean acidification?
H2CO3 → H+ + HCO3−
In what form is most of the dissolved carbon in the ocean?
HCO3−
The IPCC stands for
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
How is a Watt defined in terms of other units?
J/s
Who is credited with alerting the public to global warming with his congressional testimony?
James Hansen
Who discovered that mechanical work gets converted to heat, thereby establishing the law of conservation of energy?
James Joule
Who is credited with starting the industrial revolution with their invention?
James Watt
Who is credited with postulating the existence of a greenhouse effect and thereby kicking off the field of climate science?
Joseph Fourier
What is the unit for energy?
Joule
What are a set of appropriate units for the lapse rate?
K/km
The Curiosity rover is on which planet?
Mars
What is the most abundant molecule in Earth's atmosphere?
N2
What is the chemical formula for nitrous oxide?
N2O
Which of the following is not a rocky planet?
Neptune
What is the chemical formula for ozone?
O3
What book is credited with kicking off the U.S. environmental movement in 1962?
Rachel Carson's Silent Spring
Who first predicted global warming and made a calculation of Earth's climate sensitivity?
Svante Arrhenius
Relative humidity is the vapor pressure in the air divided by the saturation vapor pressure.
True
Which of the following federal agencies does not have its own climate model?
USPS
Which of the following is not a gas giant?
Venus
The IPCC was founded by
WMO and UNEP
What is the unit for power?
Watt
Which person did not play a role in discovering the power per area of radiation emitted by an object?
Watt
How is a Joule dened in terms of other units?
W⋅s
What is an acid?
a molecule that adds H+ ions to water
Methane clathrate is
a water-ice lattice that encases methane molecules
What is the primary source of anthropogenic nitrous oxide?
agriculture
Methane clathrate is
all of the other answers
The purpose of a Stevenson screen is to
all of the other answers
What is the cloud base?
all of the other answers
What motivated the formation of the International Meteorological Organization, later renamed the World Meteorological Organization, in the 1800s?
all of the other answers
What of the following emits photons?
all of the other answers
Where does radiation move energy into, out of, or within the Earth?
all of the other answers
Which of the following is required for forming ozone in smog?
all of the other answers
Which of the following was responsible for the industrial revolution?
all of the other answers
The optical depth τ for some path of light through a gas depends on
all of these answers
Which of the following describes the planet Mercury?
all of these answers
Why is there abundant nitrogen in Earth's atmosphere?
all other answers
With the exception of high-energy nuclear reactions, which of the following is always conserved?
all the other answers
The radiative forcing by extra greenhouse gases is best described as causing
an decrease of outgoing power
Which causes the greater amount of additional warming?
an increase of CO2 from 300 to 400 ppm
Which of the following radiates the most power?
an object with Area = 1 m2 and T = 1000 K
What is HCO3−?
bicarbonate ion
Which of the three has the shortest wavelength?
blue
What is another name for cyanobacteria?
blue-green algae
What is CaCO3?
calcium carbonate
Between a blue berry and a red berry, which has the higher temperature?
cannot tell because their color is scattered light
Which of the following gases is relatively opaque to longwave radiation?
carbon dioxide
What is CO3−−?
carbonate ion
What is H2CO3?
carbonic acid
Climate sensitivity is the
change in temperature for a doubling of CO2
Low atmospheric surface pressure usually corresponds to
cloudy and rainy weather
Compared to the Earth, is Mars cold or hot?
cold
Would most people consider 40 K cold or hot?
cold
Would most people consider 40 °F cold or hot?
cold
By what process does air that is in contact with the Earth's surface get heat?
conduction
When a mass exchanges energy with an adjacent mass by jiggling against it, what do we call this?
conduction
What do we call a fundamental law of physics that says that stuff is neither created nor destroyed?
conservation law
By what process does a blob of hot air move its heat from Earth's surface up into the atmosphere?
convection
When energy moves from one place to another because a mass carries that energy there, what do we call this?
convection
Why does a small piece of burning paper float up into the air?
convection
If the Earth suddenly becomes warmer than its steady-state temperature, the Planck feedback tends to make the Earth
cooler
What is the most certain way to date glacial ice?
counting layers
What caused the Great Oxygenation Event 2.4 billion years ago?
cyanobacteria
The acidified ocean is returned to its original pH by
dissolution of calcium carbonate
If we could somehow double the albedo of Mars, would its temperature go up or down?
down
Halocarbons are still found in aerosol spray cans.
false
Pressure decreases as we move downwards in a fluid like the ocean or atmosphere
false
Compared to the Earth, is Mars farther from the Sun or closer to the Sun?
farther
Where does conduction move energy into, out of, or within the Earth?
from the surface to the atmosphere
Which way do storms move in the continental United States?
from west to east
Why is the sky blue?
gas molecules scatter short wavelengths more than long wavelengths
Overall, the land surface and the top layers of soil tend to ____ with warming.
get drier
When a gas is depressurized, its temperature
goes down
When a gas is pressurized, its temperature
goes up
Condensation of water vapor does the following?
heats the air
What is appropriate clothing for 260 K?
heavy winter jacket and earmuffs
The higher the k and/or ρ of some gas in the atmosphere, the ______ the effective height of emission to space.
higher
Would most people consider 40 °C cold or hot?
hot
Which of the following is an example of convection?
hot air balloon rises
Which emits water molecules at a faster rate?
hot water
What is H+?
hydrogen ion
What is another name for longwave?
infrared
Which of the three has the longest wavelength?
infrared
A positive forcing
is an externally applied increase in the net inflow
A negative forcing
is an externally applied reduction in the net inflow
A positive perturbation
is an increase in the stock from its steady-state level
If the number of air molecules in a sealed jar is doubled without changing the temperature, how does the pressure in the jar change?
it doubles
If the number of water molecules in a fixed volume of air is doubled without changing the temperature, what happens to the water vapor pressure pv?
it doubles
What is so super about a supercomputer?
it has many ordinary computers connected together
If the height of a sand dune is 50 meters and the net inflow of sand is 10 kg/s, what can we say about this sand dune?
it is not in steady state
If a sand dune's feedback parameter is +8 kg/s/m, what happens if we suddenly reduce the height of the dune by 2 m?
it will disappear
An AMSU measures temperature at many heights in the atmosphere by measuring atmospheric emission at multiple wavelengths on the side of an oxygen resonance that each have a different
k and so a different τ=1 level
Which of the following is not a positive feedback?
lapse-rate feedback
If RH < 1, then
liquid water evaporates
What do we call the radiation emitted by a planet?
longwave
Which of the following is not one of the primary pieces of evidence for global warming?
lunar brightness records
What was James Watt's primary contribution?
making the steam engine much more efficient
An extra molecule of CH4 in the atmosphere causes an extra molecule of CO2 in the atmosphere.
more warming than
Which of the following is not a greenhouse gas?
nitrogen
Do suction cups work in space?
no
Which of the following countries uses Fahrenheit?
none of the other answers
Which of the following is a violation of conservation of energy?
none of the other answers
If RH = 1, then
nothing happens
What is special about 0 K?
nothing moves
What does optically thick mean?
opaque
Large optical depth τ ≫ 1 corresponds to being
optically thick
Small optical depth τ ≪ 1 corresponds to being
optically thin
The temperature of Mercury is most similar to which of the following?
oven
Which of the following gases is transparent to longwave radiation?
oxygen
Why is the amount of oxygen in the atmosphere decreasing?
oxygen is being reacted with carbon to make carbon dioxide
Which of the following is the ideal gas law?
p ∝ NT
What is appropriate clothing for 280 K?
pants and a sweater maybe a light jacket
Dalton's law states that
partial pressures add
Scotch, the alcoholic drink and not the people, is made using
peat
What do we call the layer of the Sun that emits light to space?
photosphere
By what process do cyanobacteria release oxygen?
photosynthesis
What kind of orbit do most AMSUs fly?
polar
With respect to Earth's temperature, an increase in CO2 in the atmosphere can be described as a
positive forcing
Which is not a type of photon?
proton
By what process does energy from the Sun get to Earth's surface?
radiation
When a mass exchanges energy with a faraway mass by sending photons to it, what do we call this?
radiation
Which of the three has the longest wavelength?
red
What is appropriate clothing for 300 K?
shorts and t-shirt
What do we call the radiation emitted by the Sun?
shortwave
Permafrost is
soil that is frozen all year long
What is serial computing?
solving a single problem on a single computer
What is parallel computing?
solving a single problem on multiple computers at the same time
What word do we ascribe to a sand dune that has no grains of sand being added or removed?
static equilibrium
What do we call a situation where wind is actively blowing sand onto and off of the sand dune, but the height of the sand dune is not changing in time?
steady state
The objective of the IPCC assessment reports is to
summarize the state of climate science
What is another name for shortwave?
sunlight
Which of the following was not a consequence of the Great Oxygenation Event?
swarms of earthquakes
According to the Clausius-Clapeyron equation, the saturation vapor pressure pv* is a function only of
temperature
What best describes the atmospheric greenhouse effect?
the atmosphere lets shortwave pass through but greenhouse gases readily absorb longwave
Between a blue star and a red star, which has the higher temperature?
the blue star by Wien's law
What is the lapse rate?
the decrease in atmospheric temperature with height
Which is a valid definition of wavelength?
the distance from a peak to an adjacent peak
Why does burning fossil fuels cause global warming?
the extra atmospheric CO2 lifts the τ=1 layer to a colder level in the atmosphere
What is albedo?
the fraction of sunlight reflected to space
The Clausius-Clapeyron equation tells us
the pressure of water molecules leaving a liquid surface
The timescale for a process is
the time it takes for the process to be mostly done
The active layer is
the top layer of soil that thaws out at least once every year
In the ocean and in the atmosphere, pressure is equal to
the weight per area of overlying fluid
Halocarbons were initially phased out by international law because
they generated the ozone hole
Which radiates the most power, a wall with a total area of 2 m2 and temperature of 310 K, or a chair with a total area of 2 m2 and temperature of 310 K?
they radiate the same power
What is true about all photons?
they travel at the same speed
Which of the following is not the same as the rest?
thousandth of a meter
What does optically thin mean?
transparent
In a house, hot air rises and cold air sinks
true
In a pot of water heated from below, hot water rises and cold water sinks
true
In the atmosphere, hot air rises and cold air sinks
true
Which of the three has the shortest wavelength?
ultraviolet
Studies of boreholes reveal that these layers of the ground are warmer than they would be in the absence of global warming.
upper layers
Which of the following is not an example of a gas being pressurized?
using a can of air duster to clean a computer
Which of the following is an example of radiation?
warm hands by the fireplace
If the Earth suddenly becomes cooler than its steady-state temperature, the Planck feedback tends to make the Earth
warmer
AMSU records show the atmosphere
warming at low altitudes and cooling at high altitudes
The unique fingerprint of CO2-induced global warming is
warming at low altitudes and cooling at high altitudes
Which more strongly absorbs longwave radiation?
water vapor
If RH > 1, then
water vapor condenses
What is acidic water?
water with a high concentration of H+ ions
What is the Earth's biggest positive feedback?
water-vapor feedback
What happens when we calculate the average temperature of Earth the same way that we did for Mercury and Mars?
we get too cold a temperature
What color are clouds as seen from space?
white because water drops and ice scatter all wavelengths
Do suction cups work in the deep ocean?
yes
From what optical depth into the Sun does the Sun emit light to space?
τ = 1
How deep into a gas does the gas emit radiation like a solid surface?
τ = 1
As the Earth cools, the atmosphere holds ____ water vapor and that tends to cause the atmosphere to emit ____ radiation to space.
"less" and "more"
As the Earth warms, the atmosphere holds ____ water vapor and that tends to cause the Earth to emit ____ radiation to space.
"more" and "less"
If a sand dune's feedback parameter is +25 kg/s/m, by what amount does its net rate of inflow change if we apply a sudden height perturbation of −5 m?
-125 kg/s
If a sand dune's feedback parameter is −3 kg/s/m, what is the final perturbation if a forcing of −9 kg/s is applied?
-3 m
If a sand dune's feedback parameter is −15 kg/s/m, by what amount does its net rate of inflow change if we apply a sudden height perturbation of 3 m?
-45 kg/s
Aerosol spray cans are responsible for how much radiative forcing?
0 W/m2
How long does it take to drive 5 km at 20 km/hour?
0.25 hours
If a sand dune's feedback parameter is −8 kg/s/m, what is the final perturbation if a forcing of 4 kg/s is applied?
0.5 m
Using Wien's law, what is the peak wavelength of radiation emitted by an object with a temperature of 6000 K?
0.5 micron
Borehole paleothermometry reveals a mean global ground-temperature increase over the past ~100 years of
1 K
Ocean acidification puts 60% of the carbon burned by humans into the ocean on a timescale of
1 thousand years
Taken altogether, methane, nitrous oxide, ozone, and halocarbons are responsible for how much radiative forcing?
1.0 W/m2
In a dry atmosphere, what is the numerical value of the lapse rate?
10 K / km
If a lightbulb produces 100 J of heat and light energy while on for 10 seconds, how much electrical power does the lightbulb consume?
10 W
Roughly how thick is Earth's atmosphere?
10 km
Using Wien's law, what is the peak wavelength of radiation emitted by an object with a temperature of 300 K?
10 micron
The acidified ocean is returned to its original pH on a timescale of
10 thousand years
What is the timescale for a human to grow to its maximum height?
10 years
Using the minus-thirty-and-halve approximation, what is 50 °F in Celsius?
10 °C
Using the approximate Stefan-Boltzmann law, Power per area = 6[T/100]4, what is the temperature of a planet that radiates 6 W/m2?
100 K
What is the likely amount of carbon contained in methane clathrates?
1000-10000 GtC
If the partial pressures of nitrogen, oxygen, argon, and water vapor are 780 mbars, 200 mbars, 10 mbars, and 30 mbars, what is the total pressure?
1020 mbars
If we hold the concentrations of greenhouse gases constant at the levels anticipated in 2100 for the RCP8.5 scenario, roughly how much land warming would we get if we waited long enough?
12 K
If planet A is the same size as planet B, but is twice as hot, how much more rapidly does planet A lose energy by radiation?
16 times
If a mixture of nitrogen and oxygen has a total pressure of 900 mbars, and if the partial pressure of nitrogen is 720 mbars, what is the partial pressure of oxygen?
180 mbars
In what year was the greenhouse effect postulated, thereby initiating the field of climate science?
1824
The first prediction of global warming was made in what year?
1896
In what decade did measurements on Mauna Loa first document rising concentrations of CO2?
1960s
In what year did congressional testimony first raise public awareness about global warming?
1988
The IPCC was founded in and issued its first assessment report in .
1988 and 1990
What is the current radiative forcing from the extra CO2 that is currently in the atmosphere?
2 W/m2
If planet A is the same temperature as planet B, but has twice the area, how much more rapidly does planet A lose energy by radiation?
2 times
Roughly what fraction of the carbon burned by humans is still in the atmosphere as CO2 after 10,000 years?
20%
How much carbon is there in peat worldwide down to one-meter depth?
200 GtC
What is 0 °C in Kelvin?
273 K
What was the preindustral concentration of carbon dioxide?
280 ppm
What is 20 °C in Kelvin?
293 K
If Earth's mean temperature increases from 288 K to 291 K when CO2 is doubled from its preindustrial concentration, what mean temperature would you expect if CO2 were quadrupled from its preindustrial concentration?
294 K
What is the modern best estimate of Earth's climate sensitivity?
3 K
How far does a person go if they jog at 1 m/s for 1 hour?
3.6 km
Using Wien's law, what is the peak wavelength of radiation emitted by an object with a temperature of 100 K?
30 micron
On planet Zorkon, the effective height of longwave emission to space is at 9 km where the temperature is 210 K. If the lapse rate in Zorkon's dry atmosphere is 10 K/km, what is the surface temperature?
300 K
Which of the following is a typical temperature on Earth?
300 K
If a planet's TSI is 2000 W/m2 and its albedo is 0.4, how much power per area must the planet radiate?
300 W/m2
How many Joules of heat are generated by a heater that outputs 500 W for 10 minutes?
300 kJ
What is 30 °C in Kelvin?
303 K
On planet Cruftulon, the effective height of longwave emission to space is at 3 km where the temperature is 310 K. If the lapse rate in Kruftulon's dry atmosphere is 10 K/km, what is the surface temperature?
340 K
The human body produces about 100 W of heat energy per time. How much heat energy does the human body emit in an hour? Recall that an hour has 3600 seconds.
360 kJ
How many gas giants are there in our Solar System?
4
How many rocky planets are there in our Solar System?
4
What is the mean of 0, 4, and 8?
4
If we hold the concentrations of greenhouse gases constant at the levels anticipated in 2100 for the RCP4.5 scenario, roughly how much globally averaged warming would we get if we waited long enough?
4 K
Using the minus-thirty-and-halve approximation, what is 110 °F in Celsius?
40 °C
Which of the following is a typical temperature of an oven?
450 K
If a sand dune's feedback parameter is +24 kg/s/m, by what amount does its net rate of inflow change if we apply a sudden height perturbation of 2 m?
48 kg/s
The power per area emitted by an object, in W/m2, is equal to
5.67(T/100)^4
What is the approximate power per are emited by a person in W/m2?
6 x 3^4
What is the approximate power per area emitted by the inside wall of an oven when baking a cake in W/m2?
6 x 4.5^4
In an atmosphere with water, what is the numerical value of the lapse rate?
6.5 K/km
If a laser delivers 30 W of power to a target over 2 seconds, how much energy does it deliver to the target?
60 J
What is the temperature of the Sun where it emits light?
6000 K
Which of the following is a typical temperature of the Sun?
6000 K
If we hold the concentrations of greenhouse gases constant at the levels anticipated in 2100 for the RCP4.5 scenario, roughly how much land warming would we get if we waited long enough?
7 K
According to the Clausius-Clapeyron equation, pv * increases with temperature exponentially at a rate of approximately
7%/K
