GES Exam 2
Under what conditions do we see formation of the type of front illustrated in the previous question?
a rapidly moving cold front overtakes a warm front and forces the warm air entirely away from the surface
Air masses moving inland from the Gulf of Mexico typically belong to which group?
mT
Which of the following is NOT one of the things that happens to shortwave radiation absorbed at the earth's surface?
some is emitted upward by the surface as shortwave radiation
Which of the following is NOT one of the five factors of soil formation?
tectonic activity
All but which of the following are potentially among the major sources of phosphorus to natural waters?
atmospheric deposition of byproducts from fossil fuel combustion
Which of the following statements about subarctic taiga climates is not true?
The ground is frozen throughout the year and forest vegetation therefore cannot survive there; only mosses, lichens and herbaceous vegetation occur in these climates.
Which statement is most accurate?
The likelihood of extreme rainfall increases as a warmer atmosphere can hold more water vapor The intensity of the rainfall in events like the 2016 Baton Rouge flood, the 2017 flooding in Houston caused by Hurricane Harvey, and the 2018 Ellicott City flood is attributable to the effects of climate change B is true and some scientists are arguing that C is also true
Between 400 and 300 million years ago there was a dramatic reduction in the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide, from 3000 parts per million to a few hundred parts per million. What accounts for this change?
The spread of forest vegetation over the surface of the continents
Why are some of the world's great deserts located in the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn?
They are associated with subsiding air in the subtropical high-pressure belts
How do soil profiles form?
They develop over time, beginning at the surface and growing downward into the unweathered material at the earth's surface
Where would you find the greatest seasonal variation in monthly precipitation?
Tropical monsoon climate
As base cations are replaced on the surface of soil colloidal particles by exchange with ions from plant root hairs, there is a tendency for soil pH to go down.
True
Earth's climate is affected by variations across all time scales ranging from years to millions of years, but many of those variations follow cycles whose causes can be explained.
True
Isotherms over land bend toward the equator in winter and toward the poles in summer. True or False?
True
Which answer best describes climatic conditions in Florida?
Wet throughout the year - maritime tropical air is pumped onshore by clockwise circulation around the subtropical high in summer and heating over land causes frequent convective precipitation; frontal precipitation is common in winter
Which of the following statements is true? -Where there is a rainshadow, temperatures at the surface are generally warmer on the rainshadow side than on the windward side of a mountain range -Where there is a rainshadow, surface temperatures are generally warmer on the windward side of the mountain and cooler in the rainshadow area -Where there is a rainshadow, surface temperatures generally are the same on both sides of the mountain range -Where there is a rainshadow, surface atmospheric pressure is generally much higher on the windward side of the mountain and much lower on the rainshadow side
Where there is a rainshadow, temperatures at the surface are generally warmer on the rainshadow side than on the windward side of a mountain range
Which of the conditions in the previous question is the most likely description of what happens along the coast of Florida on a summer afternoon?
a (convection)
If the ice-albedo feedback loop described in the textbook is a correct description of nature, what should happen with the disappearance of Arctic sea ice?
a positive feedback effect that accelerates the rate of warming
Cooling of the land surface on a clear night may cause _____ by just before dawn
a temperature inversion
What is an easterly wave?
a tropical weather system in the trade-wind belt that has convergent flow and rising air with thunderstorm development on its east side and sinking, divergent air and clear conditions on its west side
Major ocean currents in the North Atlantic include
a warm-water current moving north along the east coast of North America and a cool-water current moving south along the coasts of Spain and North Africa
Average global sea level 19-20,000 years ago was
about 120 m lower than it is today
The types of cyclones that are most common in the midlatitudes typically develop
along a section of the polar front
What is regolith?
any layer of loose, unconsolidated material at the earth's surface
Highland climates
are characterized by vertical zonation that in some cases can encompass the range between tropical rainforest and tundra conditions, with lower temperatures and (sometimes) wetter conditions at higher altitudes
Temperature differences between equatorial and polar latitudes
are greatest in winter
Which of the following is NOT a greenhouse gas whose concentration in the atmosphere has been increased by human activity?
argon
Air rises spontaneously
as long as its temperature is higher than that of the surrounding air
Tropical air masses
can influence on weather at higher latitudes both through incursion of tropical air masses and through the influence of warm ocean currents
An increase in the amount of carbon dioxide dissolved in the ocean
changes the pH of the ocean and threatens coral reef habitat as well as the ability of shellfish to build their shells
Which location is most likely to have a humid continental hot-summer climate?
chicago
Which kind of soil texture is most likely to retain water or to drain slowly?
clay
Microscopic particles that can be suspended in water indefinitely and that attract and retain base cations in soil are
colloids
Transmission of heat energy between one material substance and another by direct contact, or from one part of an object to another, is ___________.
conduction
Which is the least efficient means of transmitting heat energy?
conduction
Which of the following features is NOT typical for tropical cyclones and hurricanes?
convergence at the surface and divergence aloft sinking air at the center over the eye spiral rain bands and extremely high clouds along the eyewall extremely low central barometric pressure fueled by latent heat (All of the above are true)
The Atacama desert along the coast of Chile and Peru is one of the world's driest deserts. Which of the following describes conditions that play a role in keeping this desert so dry?
cool water offshore due to cold-water currents and upwelling of cold bottom water creates a temperature inversion in the atmosphere that suppresses any tendency of air to rise and generate condensation
Which of the following cloud types is least likely to be associated with a warm front?
cumulonimbus
Which of the following cloud types is most likely to form as a result of convection?
cumulus
What is the process that converts nitrate into nitrogen gas?
denitrification
What drives the thermohaline circulation?
density differences controlled by differences in temperature and salinity
Which statement is correct?
during the last 800,000 years the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere never rose above 300 parts per million until after the Industrial Revolution
Which of the following typically is associated with the E horizon and to some extent with the A horizon in a soil?
eluviation
Increased frequency of warm, wet weather conditions is leading to reduced frequency of wildfire in western forests
false
Cation exchange capacity is most often associated with what characteristic of the soil?
fertility and nutrient availability
Which of the following statements is NOT true? - precipitation generally cannot occur unless there is a rising air mass and it reaches the lifting condensation level - once the dew point is reached, condensation occurs preferentially around microscopic particles called condensation nuclei - formation of cloud droplets in a rising air mass is the last step required before precipitation begins - the average raindrop has a radius 100 times larger than the average cloud droplet and contains about a million times as much water -in order for precipitation to occur, it is necessary first for cloud droplets to combine into larger droplets that are heavy enough for their weight to overcome the upward force of the rising air
formation of cloud droplets in a rising air mass is the last step required before precipitation begins
What do we call the circulation of air parallel to the isobars around a low or a high in the upper troposphere?
geostrophic wind
The vast majority of the earth's FRESH water is where?
glaciers and ice sheets
Which mechanism is dominant in raindrop formation in midlatitude clouds?
ice-crystal process
Convective storms occur most frequently
in areas that are affected by maritime tropical air masses
Where is chemical weathering most effective?
in tropical wet environments
The annual cycle of temperature variation near an east-coast location in the midlatitudes
is fairly similar to the pattern observed at a continental location and not as mild as the pattern observed at a west-coast location
Adiabatic cooling
is independent of the temperature of the surrounding air and is entirely a result of the expansion of an air mass as it rises and is exposed to lower atmospheric pressure
The amount of water vapor in the atmosphere
is only about 1/1000 of 1% of the total volume of water on the globe, but is important because it cycles through the atmosphere very rapidly with an average residence time of only 7 to 9 days
Which one of the following statements about the Coriolis effect is correct?
it is strongest at the poles and decreases in strength approaching the equator
Which of the following is a geostrophic wind?
jet streams
Hadley cells are
large-scale atmospheric convection cells in the tropics, extending between the ITCZ and the tropics of Cancer or Capricorn
Which of the following statements about the global energy balance is correct?
large-scale motions of the atmosphere and oceans are driven by the imbalance between latitudinal regions with energy surpluses and others with energy deficits
Which most accurately describes the geographic distribution of earth's major pressure belts?
low pressure in the vicinity of the equator, high pressure in the subtropics, low pressure along the polar front, and high pressure at the poles
Which climate type is associated with the climograph shown below?
mediterranean
What kind of weather pattern is the most important source of moisture throughout most of the year in the climate described in the previous question?
midlatitude cyclone
Which of the following is NOT one of the lifting mechanisms that are important ways of generating precipitation from an air mass?
monopoelic
Jet streams are
narrow bands of high-velocity winds at the top of the troposphere; typically there are two in each hemisphere
What quantity is calculated by summing insolation and downward longwave radiation, then subtracting reflected shortwave and emitted upward longwave radiation?
net radiation
The limiting nutrient for algal growth and the one most likely to cause algae blooms and water-quality problems in estuarine and marine ecosystems is
nitrogen
Which type of front is associated with the symbol shown below?
occluded
Which phenomena are associated with Ekman transport?
ocean surface currents driven by trade winds in the northern hemisphere veer to the right, producing currents that move offshore and are replaced by upwelling of cold bottom water
Where on the globe would you expect to see the largest annual range of temperatures?
over the high-latitude continental interiors
Where are we most likely to see precipitation generated by convergence?
over warm tropical oceans and tropical rainforests
The figure below shows the annual pattern of precipitation in a location in the northern hemisphere. Which location do you think is the most likely place to see a pattern like this one?
partway between the equator and the Tropic of Cancer
What controls semiarid and arid climates of the midlatitudes?
rainshadow from mountain ranges or remoteness from sources of moisture at continental interior locations
Assume that the actual amount of water vapor in the air does not change over a 24-hour period in the summer. How does relative humidity change over this same time period?
relative humidity should rise in the evening, reach a maximum in early morning, and gradually decline to a minimum in mid-to-late afternoon
What process is shown in the equation below? C6H12O6 + 6 O2 6 CO2 + 6 H2O + energy
respiration
Which of the following is NOT an example of carbon sequestration?
respiration
Which of the following would you find in eastern Wyoming and Colorado?
semmiarid steppe
Which of the following statements about soil is NOT true?
soil is any loose unconsolidated material at the earth's surface and does not need to have any organic matter or water or any differentiation into horizons
Which of the following is a step that is involved in the development of a tornado?
stronger winds aloft and weaker winds at the surface cause spinning of air along ahorizontal axis
Crumb or granular, platy, block, and prismatic or columnar are all adjectives that we use to describe what characteristic property of a soil?
structure of aggregates or "peds"
Which climate type and/or associated vegetation pattern corresponds to number 4 on the map in the previous question?
subtropical desert
What kind of climatic conditions would you expect to see in the areas marked with the number 2 on the map of Africa below?
summer wet season and winter dry season
Which answer best describes the pattern of winds in the figure below?
surface winds associated with an anticyclone in the northern hemisphere
The major gyres discussed in class are
systems of ocean surface currents driven by the anticyclonic circulation of winds associated with the subtropical high pressure belts
What do we call the region of low pressure and high precipitation that is a persistent feature of the tropical latitudes, and how does it behave over a typical annual cycle?
t's called the intertropical convergence zone and it tends to migrate seasonally toward the zone of greatest heating, i.e. it "follows the sun" but moves farther over land than over water
Which of the following best explains the timing of daily maximum temperature?
temperature continues to rise as long as net radiation is positive and begins to decline when net radiation becomes negative
The limiting factor for living organisms is
the factor that is in shortest supply relative to what an organism needs
Which of the following statements about global climate change is NOT true?
the only greenhouse gas affecting atmospheric temperatures is carbon dioxide
Saturation vapor pressure is
the portion of total atmospheric pressure due to the weight of water vapor in the airwhen relative humidity is 100%
The dew point is
the temperature at which air becomes saturated and condensation begins
The Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum is the biggest change in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration in the shortest amount of time that we know of in the geologic record. Which of the following statements is NOT true?
this event was associated with one of the two greatest extinction events in earth history
What accounts for the thunder that follows lightning?
thunder is the audible expression of a shock wave created by rapid expansion of a narrow channel of superheated air
All but which of the following is supposed to be managed and prevented from entering natural waters draining to Chesapeake Bay under the terms of the Chesapeake Bay TMDL ?
toxic organic chemicals
the surface winds that blow toward the ITCZ are called
trade winds
Arctic and subarctic climates may have much lower precipitation totals than lower-latitude humid climates simply because cold air cannot hold as much moisture; but in some cases they may still have wet conditions at the surface because the subsurface has permafrost and drainage is poor.
true
If we could squeeze all the water from the atmosphere at any one time and measure the average depth around the globe, it would be about one inch.
true
The last time global temperature was more than 4 degrees Celsius above the temperature in 1900 was between 5 and 10 million years ago.
true
Unusually cold temperatures and unseasonably warm temperatures in the midlatitudes in winter are actually both caused by the same large-scale circulation pattern in the atmosphere.
true
Which climate type is dominant in the region outlined in purple on the map below?
tundra climate
You look at the sky and see high, wispy cirrus clouds that gradually get lower and thicker over the next 12 to 24 hours. What kind of front is approaching?
warm front
El Nino/Southern Oscillation involves
weakening of the trade winds in the Pacific and "sloshing" of warm water from the western to the eastern Pacific, cutting off upwelling and causing wet conditions along the coast of South America
Why is the dry adiabatic lapse rate different from the moist adiabatic lapse rate?
when an air mass reaches the lifting condensation level, condensation begins to occur and latent heat is converted back to sensible heat, slowing down the rate of adiabatic cooling
The storm track for a tropical cyclone
- almost always involves westward drift in the trade-wind belt -may include a turn to higher latitudes and steering by the westerlies -is highly variable from one tropical cyclone to the next (all of the above are true)
Average atmospheric pressure at sea level is
1013.2 millibars
What is the magnitude of global temperature change from the last glacial maximum (18-20,000 years ago) to today?
4.5 degrees Celsius
A temperature of 10 degrees Celsius is equivalent
50 degrees Fahrenheit
How much of the world's water is fresh water?
<3%
How much of the world's fresh water is stored in ice sheets and glaciers?
>75%
What is a cyclone?
A low pressure system with closed, concentric isobars
Which of the Koppen climate classes described in the textbook is commonly associated with the region discussed in the previous question?
Af
Which soil horizon is characterized by illuviation and accumulation of materials transported downward from upper horizons?
B
The largest hailstones are produced by the most intense thunderstorms. Why?
Because more intense thunderstorms have more intense vertical circulation and morepowerful updrafts that can resuspend hailstones multiple times until they are too largeto be carried by the updraft.
Color often is diagnostic of conditions in the soil. Which of the following statements is NOT correct?
Blue-green colors are associated with arid environments
What process leads to frontal lifting?
Contact between warm and cool air masses.
The "global conveyor belt" is
Density-drive deep ocean currents with upwelling and downwelling affected by thermohaline circulation
What makes the wind blow?
Differences in atmospheric pressure between one location and another
What is the connection between El Nino and hurricanes?
El Nino leads to a lower probability of Atlantic hurricanes
What do we call the large-scale pattern of atmospheric circulation between the equatorial region and the subtropics?
Hadley cells
Which climate type would be associated with the climograph shown below?
Humid subarctic (boreal forest) (Dwd)
What climate type would be associated with the climograph shown below?
Humid subtropical
What feature of the general circulation dominates weather conditions in the area marked with a "1" on the map cited in the two preceding questions?
ITCZ
The amount of moisture that air can hold
Increases by a factor of 2 with each 10 degrees C increase in temperature
What is the definition of the pressure gradient force?
It is the net force created by a difference in atmospheric pressure between one location and another; the pressure gradient is calculated as the difference in pressure divided by the distance, and the direction is perpendicular to the isobars from high to low pressure.
Which of the following does NOT have an important influence on the spatial pattern of global moisture regimes?
Latitude Continental vs. maritime location Seasonal shifts in major pressure belts East vs. west coast location Ocean currents (ALL of the above affect the global spatial pattern of precipitation)
What conditions are associated with the marine west coast climate?
Mild seasonal variations in temperature, with frequent cyclonic storms and abundant moisture particularly in winter
Which of the following statements is not true?
Model projections further suggest that the Antarctic ice sheet will disappear entirely within the next 250 years if we do not control greenhouse-gas emissions
N 2 makes up almost 80% of our atmosphere by weight. Nitrogen is an essential plant nutrient. Which of the following statements is true?
N 2 is a form of nitrogen that cannot be assimilated by most plants; only a few types of organisms can "fix" nitrogen chemically in a form that is available for uptake as a nutrient
Which statement about the global carbon cycle is not true?
Net CO2 contributions to the atmosphere have been increasing throughout most of earth history
From the land surface downward to the weathered bedrock, which is he correct order of the different horizons in a soil?
O, A, E, B, C
What accounts for the difference in climatic conditions between the northeast and northwest coasts of the U.S.?
Prevailing westerly winds bring maritime air and mild conditions onshore along the west coast and bring continental air and more severe conditions from the interior toward the east coast
Which of the following is true? Rising air is associated with low pressure and sinking air is associated with high pressure Rising air is associated with high pressure and sinking air is associated with low pressure Rising air and sinking air are not necessarily associated only with low or with high pressure
Rising air is associated with low pressure and sinking air is associated with high pressure
How is the pH of soil related to environmental conditions?
Rock type may play a role, but generally pH is lower where there has been a longer period of more intense weathering and replacement of base cations by H +; this is particularly common in very humid environments
What type of climate would you expect to see in the area associated with the climograph below? Look at the graph carefully before selecting your answer.
Savanna
As we add carbon dioxide to the atmosphere,
- It reacts with water to produce H2CO3 - H2CO3 dissolves in water and dissociates to produce H+ and HCO3- - The addition of hydrogen ions is now exceeding the ocean's buffering capacity and reducing the pH of ocean water - Acidification of ocean water may prevent marine organisms from being able to form shells and coral reefs All of the above are true
Phase changes in water
- are associated with breaking of the bonds linking water molecules when ice melts and when liquid water evaporates - involve the absorption of latent heat in both melting and evaporation - involve the release of latent heat in both condensation and freezing - may include the direct conversion of ice to water vapor or water vapor to ice (all of the above are true)
Which of the following is associated with the daily cycle of summer heating and cooling at the coast
- sinking air over the land caused by cooling of surface temperatures in the evening, which in turn leads to higher pressure and a wind blowing from the land toward the ocean by early morning -greater heating of the land surface compared with the ocean surface during the day, generating rising air, low pressure, and a pressure gradient driving wind from the ocean toward the land by late afternoon (both a and b are part of this cycle)
Hazards associated with tropical cyclones include
- storm surge and coastal flooding -inland flooding from intense rainfall -extreme wind velocities that may tear the roofs off houses or flatten buildings (all of the above are true)
Tornadoes
- typically develop in association with an advancing cold front in contact with a maritime tropical air mass - occur more often in the south-central US than anywhere else in the world - are most commonly associated with supercell storms with a deep rotating updraft known as a mesocyclone - can be spawned by tropical cyclones (all of the above are true)
Sand, silt and clay are the three end members of the soil texture triangle. What range of particle sizes would be described as silt? (Values in parentheses are alternative definitions of each size class.)
0.002-0.05 mm (or 0.004-0.062 mm)
The area of lowest pressure, thickest clouds, and most intense precipitation is typically associated with which location in the figure shown below?
1
What is the difference between climate and weather?
An accurate description of climate includes average conditions over time, seasonal patterns of variation, and the range of variation in temperature and precipitation in a region, including extremes. Weather refers to specific atmospheric conditions at a particular point in time.
What is the Coriolis effect?
It is the tendency of a moving object or air mass to veer to the right of its original direction in the northern hemisphere and to the left of its original direction in the southern hemisphere
Humid subtropical and humid continental climates in China have a much more pronounced seasonal pattern of precipitation than comparable climates in the U.S. What is the reason for this?
The influence of the ITCZ associated with the monsoon extends far enough north in Asia to affect even midlatitude climates in China, and the enormous winter high pressure centered over Siberia causes strong dry conditions extending over a broad region
In class we calculated the amount of energy needed to (1) melt a gram of ice at 0 degrees C; (2) raise the temperature of the water to 100 degrees C; and (3) convert that gram of liquid water into water vapor. What percent of the total energy involved in these three processes goes into latent heat rather than sensible heat?
about 85%
Rossby waves
are large-scale undulations in the upper-air flow of the westerlies occur primarily in winter when temperature contrasts across the polar front are strongest can bring tongues of Arctic air to subtropical latitudes are associated with the fluctuating position of the polar-front jet stream (all of the above are true)
Atmospheric pressure patterns in the northern hemisphere
are more variable in the higher latitudes compared with the southern hemisphere, because of the configuration of alternating continents and oceans surrounding the pole in the northern hemisphere
What is the cause of "lake-effect" snow?
cold polar air masses moving over warmer lake water pick up moisture and latent heat, become unstable, and are chilled again over the leeward shore of the lake
Which of the following conditions generally has to occur first before condensation can occur?
cooling of a moist air mass
What factor is MOST responsible for the "dead zone" that develops in the Gulf of Mexico every year? (Note: Chesapeake Bay suffers from the same problem.)
excessive discharge of nutrients in runoff from agricultural land in the Mississippi River basin
Temperature more than about 80 cm below the ground surface
experiences almost no temperature change during a typical daily cycle of heating and cooling at the surface.
Which of the following statements is true? - the energy source that fuels both extratropical cyclones and hurricanes is the strong temperature contrast between air masses coming from different regions -extratropical cyclones are less common at our latitude in summer than in winter and spring, because the polar front is located further north in summer - extratropical cyclones are triggered most often by thermal convection -extratropical cyclones are almost never seen in the higher midlatitudes
extratropical cyclones are less common at our latitude in summer than in winter and spring, because the polar front is located further north in summer
Which of the following circulation patterns is associated with a cyclone in the northern hemisphere?
general counterclockwise flow around a center of low pressure, spiraling in at the surface and rising at the center
The Holocene, the time period including all of recorded human history,
has been an interglacial period following the rapid retreat of continental glaciers from much of the northern hemisphere
Contour lines on a map representing locations with equal atmospheric pressure are called
isobars
Which of the following statements about the phosphorus cycle is NOT true?
it occurs most commonly in dissolved form and only very rarely in particulate form or in a chemical form attached to solid particles
Temperature inversions
occur when sinking air from above warms adiabatically and is warmer than air at the surface occur when upwelling of cold bottom water along the coast leads to temperatures that are always cooler than the air above occurs when a cool air mass moves in from offshore and pushes its way underneath warmer surface air may trap a layer of air at the surface where pollutants can accumulate (all of the above are true)
Climates with cold winters, warm summers and precipitation throughout the year are most strongly associated with what feature of the general circulation of the atmosphere?
polar front
Which of the following is associated with a zone in the upper midlatitudes where warm air from the subtopics is forced upward as it meets cold air from polar regions?
polar front
What happens in an aquatic ecosystem if we increase the abundance of the limiting nutrient?
stimulation of excess growth of algal cells, often leading to blooms that are not consumed by other organisms and that sink into bottom waters where they are broken down by bacteria
Which of the following is likely to have the highest emission of sensible heat on an annual basis?
subtropical deserts (i.e. close to the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn)
Which answer most closely describes annual variations in the general circulation of the atmosphere?
the ITCZ follows the annual migration of the zone of greatest heating, moving further over land than it does over water
What happens to rising air under the conditions illustrated in the figure below? (Quiz5,Q#22)
the air mass rises spontaneously and clouds form beginning at altitude A, but the air mass stops rising at altitude B
Which of the following statements about latent heat and sensible heat is incorrect?
the amount of energy leaving the earth's surface as latent heat is equal to the amount of shortwave radiation absorbed at the earth's surface
Which of the following best explains what we know about patterns in earth's climate over the last 2.6 million years?
the cycles of glacial and interglacial periods can be explained as a result of cyclical variations in the shape of earth's orbit and the angle of tilt and "wobble" of the earth's axis
Humus is
the finely divided, dark-colored residue left behind by gradual decay of organic matter in the upper layer of the soil
Which of the following is NOT an accurate description of the nature of air circulation in a tropical cyclone? -convergent flow at the surface feeds powerful updrafts in the massive wall clouds surrounding the eye, but surface winds never actually reach the eye -the highest wind velocities occur in the center of the eye itself -air diverges aloft but some of it is pulled back down into the eye, sinking and heating adiabatically and keeping the eye mostly free of clouds -the cyclonic circulation is strengthened by the conversion of latent heat into sensible heat as warm moist air rises in powerful updrafts and the moisture condenses into liquid water
the highest wind velocities occur in the center of the eye itself
Why are isotherms generally more irregular in the northern hemisphere and more concentric and simple in the southern hemisphere?
the southern hemisphere is mostly covered by oceans with a continent on the pole, whereas the northern hemisphere has ocean at the pole but has continents alternating with oceans through most of the hemisphere
How can we best characterize atmospheric circulation in the subtropical latitudes?
the subtropics have general sinking of air from above, associated with high pressure and broad anticyclonic flow diverging outward at the surface
If we look at a vertical temperature profile of the ocean,
the warmest water is at the surface and most of the water column is only a few degrees above 0 degrees C
In the mature phase of thunderstorm development,
there often are powerful updrafts and downdrafts in separate parts of the same cloud
Temperatures at maritime locations tend to be milder than at continental locations because
- water has much higher specific heat than soil - solar energy can penetrate through the water column - vertical mixing of the water column by waves and currents causes absorbed solar energy to be spread through a greater depth below the surface than would occur on land - more of the solar radiation absorbed by water bodies goes into latent heat than would be observed on land (all of the above are true)
A temperature of 20 degrees Celsius is equivalent to
68 degrees Fahrenheit
Which of the following is not a true statement about sea level rise?
If we meet the emissions targets under the Paris Agreement (RCP 2.6), sea-level rise will level off at about 2 feet after 2100 with no further increases
The last time atmospheric carbon dioxide levels exceeded 1000 parts per million was between 50 and 100 million years ago.
True
What is a monsoon?
a seasonal reversal of dominant winds, bringing tropical moist air over the land in one season and dry continental air from the land to the ocean in the other, associated with migration of the ITCZ
When isotherms are closer together on a map there is
a steeper temperature gradient
What evidence do we have for long-term variations in global climate?
as glaciers move over the landscape they leave both erosional and depositional evidence of their presence in places where we do not find them today fluctuations in the ratio of oxygen isotopes 18 and 16 that are preserved in marine microfossils buried in sediment layers on the ocean floor can be used to reconstruct variations in global ice volume and global temperature over tens of millions of years changes in the relative abundance of different kinds of pollen in lake sediments can be used to draw conclusions about changes in climate that controlled patterns of terrestrial vegetation fluctuations in the ratio of oxygen isotopes 18 and 16 that are preserved in ice cores from Greenland and Antarctica can be used to reconstruct variations in global ice volume and global temperature over most of the last million years all of the above are true
At what time of day do we usually experience minimum daily temperature?
at or shortly after dawn
How much of a global temperature increase is currently predicted by 2100 under IPCC scenario RCP8.5 ("business as usual")?
between 3 and 5.5 degrees Celsius
What climate type is illustrated in the climograph below?
bwh (hot desert)
Where you see this kind of feature in a radar image, what kind of front is responsible? (Picture with a line of thunderstorms moving across central Maryland)
cold front
Tropical cyclones tend to form
over warm tropical waters at least 5-10 degrees away from the equator
Which of the following is NOT an anticipated side effect of global climate change?
rising sea level increased likelihood of extreme weather increased frequency of wildfire and increased length of the fire season in forests of the western U.S. changes in Arctic albedo owing to loss of sea ice all of the above either have been observed or can be expected to occur
If the earth had no oceans,
seasonal temperature variations would be much larger than they are now
What happens to the annual cycle of temperature with increasing latitude?
temperature generally becomes cooler seasonal variations become more pronounced temperature contrasts between continents and oceans become more pronounced (all of the above are true)