EVR CH 14

Recent evidence from polar ice core analysis shows that, until now, carbon dioxide levels have never exceeded ________ ppm in the last several hundred thousand years.

300

The majority of the United States will see temperature rises of ________°C.

4.55.5

The oceans hold ________ carbon than the atmosphere.

50 times more

The most recent analyses of polar ice cores have given us the ability to profile global climate change back as far as ________ years.

800,000

Which of the following areas is most likely to have the greatest rainfall?

A region with a warm atmosphere.

What is a system in which utilities and industries seek financial gain through competing to reduce emissions?

Capandtrade

Current target goals for limiting temperature increase use which of the following as a baseline?

Industrial Revolution

Which greenhouse gas is produced by the raising of cattle?

Methane

What are the periodic variations in Earth's rotation and orbit around the sun that alter the way solar radiation is distributed over Earth's surface?

Milankovitch cycles

What happens as ocean waters warm?

The oceans absorb less CO2.

Which of the following contributes to atmospheric cooling?

aerosols (particularly sulfur compounds) and dusts

The largest source of anthropogenic greenhouse gases in the United States is ________, followed by ________.

electricity generation; transportation

The Kyoto Protocol was initiated as a response to what sorts of emissions?

greenhouse gases

Which of the following have the ability to absorb energy from Earth's surface and then emit infrared radiation in all directions?

greenhouse gases

Carbonbased fuels from lithospheric reservoirs ________.

have been slowly sequestered over many millions of years

Keeling began measuring tropospheric carbon dioxide concentrations at Mauna Loa observatory in Hawaii in 1958. This is a remote location away from urban and industrial areas. If Keeling had instead established his CO2 monitoring station near a large coalfired power plant then ________.

his measurements of CO2 levels would likely be much higher than in a place like Mauna Loa

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ________.

is an international panel that reports on how climate change influences biomes and economies

Earth's climate ________.

is changing as a result of natural and human processes

What are some of the risks involved in adding one million tons of sulfur 25 kilometers up into the atmosphere?

All of the listed choices describe the risks involved in adding sulfur to the atmosphere.

What is a situation in which NO net carbon is emitted?

Carbon-neutrality

Which country is currently the largest producer of greenhouse gases?

China

Why are over onesixth of the world's people at risk for running out of drinking water?

Glaciers in many areas are melting.

What did the climate meeting in Peru accomplish?

Global leaders agreed on language for a future meeting on climate change.

Compared to Antarctica, the percent increase in temperature in the Arctic will be ________.

Greater

Which of the following questions is best addressed by studying ice samples from Antarctica?

How have the atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide changed in the last 100,000 years?

How are warming temperatures causing a vicious cycle (positive feedback) that is leading to enhanced warming?

Ice and snow reflect light, and as they melt, Earth absorbs more of the sun's rays.

How is global warming most significantly affecting coral reefs and sea life?

Increased concentrations of carbon dioxide are being absorbed by the oceans.

What initiative or group is responsible for the most reviewed and widely accepted reports that we have on climate change?

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)

If, as some scientists predict, 2016 is like 2015, which of the following will be true?

It will be the second warmest year on record for the United States and the warmest for the world.

Growing rice results in the release of ________ into the atmosphere.

Methane

Which section of the United States will experience some significant impacts from global climate change that are NOT related to rising sea levels or the alteration of the world's oceans? What are those impacts?

Northwestdegrading forests

The region of the planet that will see the smallest rises in temperature is ________.

Oceans

Which of these would NOT contribute to a global increase in temperature?

Planting trees

If warming continues as predicted, which of the following will happen?

Sea levels will rise and the oceans will absorb more heat.

Switching from fossil fuels to _____ energy would significantly decrease the release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

Solar, nulear, and geothermal

In 20062007 there was a weak El Niño. Which of the following was most likely true?

Some heat was released from the Pacific Ocean.

What position did the United States take regarding the Kyoto Protocol?

The United States is the only industrialized nation to refuse to ratify the Kyoto Protocol.

Ice that formed thousands of years ago is often found to contain tiny bubbles of gas. This gas came from

The atmospehere

Which of the following is true?

The polar regions are warming more than all other regions.

According to scientific data, which of the following is most likely true?

The rate of global warming can speed up or slow down.

If trends continue, which of the following will occur?

There will be more intense rainfall events in the eastern United States.

Why do environmentalists and scientists advocate immediate action, including stricter laws to limit power plant carbon dioxide emissions and subsidies for renewable energy?

These industries produce the most greenhouse gases.

Which of the following statements about the sun's energy is true?

Thirty percent of the sun's energy is reflected off Earth and back into space.

The greenhouse effect involves warming of Earth's surface and the ________.

Troposphere

What is the difference between weather and climate?

Weather occurs over hours and days, and climate occurs over seasons and years

What is the greenhouse effect?

a warming of Earth's atmosphere by greenhouse gases that trap reflected heat rather than allow it to escape into space

Keeling's reports from Mauna Loa demonstrated ________.`

an increase in tropospheric CO2 from the 1950s to present

Milankovitch cycles ________.

are changes in Earth's rotation and orbit around the sun that may trigger climate variation

When we compare the catastrophic eruption in Sumatra 71,000 years ago and the 1991 eruption of Mt. Pinatubo, we find that _________

both eruptions caused a drop in the average temperatures across the Earth

Which of the following is an example of mitigation rather than adaptation for global climate change?

building more solar panels to generate electricity instead of more coalfired power plants

Of the following, ________ are market mechanisms for addressing climate change.

capandtrade and carbon offsets

The predominant greenhouse gas produced by human use of fossil fuels is __________.

carbon dioxide

What are sophisticated computer programs that allow scientists to understand how climate systems function and to make predictions for the future?

climate models

Which one of the following types of scientists would most likely be interested in the information we can learn from ice cores from Antarctica?

climatologists interested in climate change

Increasing sulfur levels in the upper atmosphere would have the same effect as __________

decreasing the carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere

In 1991, the massive eruption of Mt. Pinatubo caused global temperatures to __________.

drop, because sulfur in the stratosphere reflects solar radiation

What two processes emit the most carbon in the United States?

electricity generation and transportation

Scientists evaluate concentrations of gases and other atmospheric constituents from the distant past by examining which of the following?

gas bubbles trapped in ice

Hydroelectric power generation ________.

is an alternative to fossil fuels that produces fewer greenhouse gases

The U.S. Senate has so far opposed emissions reductions on the grounds that ________.

it might hurt the economy

What is the planet's albedo?

its ability to reflect light

In legislation, the precautionary principle applied to climate change states that ________.

lack of full scientific certainty shall not be used to postpone measures to prevent major environmental degradation

Which of the following is an example of mitigation?

making legislation to reduce our use of fossil fuels

The atmosphere around Earth can cause global warming because ________.

molecules in the atmosphere are warmed by radiation from Earth and retain that heat

The atmospehere If we take a sample of ice from 10 meters beneath the surface and find that it is 1,000 years old, where would we need to look for ice that is about 10,000 years old?

much deeper, about 100 meters below the surface

Which greenhouse gas has a global warming potential that is approximately three times that of methane?

nitrous oxide

The use of public transportation is ________.

one of the best options for decreasing the use of fossil fuels for transportation

One factor contributing to U.S. resistance to legal intervention regarding global climate change is ________.

political influence of the petroleum, coal and automobile industries

Which type of indirect evidence can substitute for direct measurements of past climate change?

proxy indicators

All of the following will likely be impacts of global climate change on sea levels except ________.

receding coastlines

Hydrogen fuel cells, biodiesel, and longterm electric batteries are potential solutions to ________.

reducing carbon emissions from cars and trucks

The Clear Skies Initiative may have helped somewhat with the problem of global climate change because it would have ________.

required reduced nitrogen oxide emissions

Which lifestyle choice would cause the greatest reduction in greenhouse emissions?

riding a bike

According to the map, the area that will experience the greatest increase in temperatures is ________.

the Arctic and subarctic

The United States should enact laws slowing global climate change because ________.

the United States is a major producer of greenhouse gases

Electricity in a wind turbine is generated __________. Carbon dioxide is ________.

the main anthropogenic greenhouse gas produced in the United States

Which three factors have the greatest effect on Earth's climate?

the sun, the atmosphere, and the ocean

Environmentalists advocate immediate intervention regarding global climate change because ________.

they favor the precautionary principle

Soot particles ("black carbon aerosols") generally cause ________ of Earth's atmosphere by ________ solar energy.

warming; absorbing

The Kyoto Protocol ________.

was intended to reduce emissions of six greenhouse gases to levels lower than those of 1990