EPS 7 Midterm 2

What is the timescale for a human to grow to its maximum height?

10 years

When was the universe formed

14 Gya

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 roughly the per capita consumption of coal in the united states

3 tons/ year

What is HCO3−?

bicarbonate ion

What is CaCO3?

calcium carbonate

What dies optically thick mean?

opaque

What is another way to write 300 Mya

.3 Gya

for climate studies, what are the two most important instruments inside a stevenson enclosure

min temperature and max temperature thermometers

What is the likely amount of carbon contained in methane clathrates?

1,000-10,000 GtC

What is an acid

a molecule that adds H+ ions to water

Which of the following is not a leading source of anthropogenic methane emissions?

burning natural gas

when was most oil formed

jurassic period 150 Mya

What does optically thin mean?

transparent

If humans burn 5000 GtC in a couple centuries, roughly what will the atmospheric concentration of CO2 be in the year 12017?

750 ppm

if a sand dune's feedback parameter is -20 kg/s/m by what amount does its net rate of inflow change when there is a sudden height perturbation of -4m

80 kg/s

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?

8K

Given Earth's feedback parameter of -1 W/m^2/K what is roughly its final temperature perturbation in response to a brightening of the sun that leads to 9 W/m^2 of extra solar absorption?

9 K

What motivated the formation of the International Meteorological Organization, later renamed the World Meteorological Organization, in the 1800s?

ALL ANSWERS telegraph, large size of storm compared to size of european countries, a desire to make weather forecasts

The optical depth T for some path of light through a gas depends on

ALL OF THESE ANSWERS 1. the density of the has 2. a constant k describing how readily gas tends to absorb or scatter radiation 3. the length of the light path

With the exception of high-energy nuclear reactions, which of the following is always conserved?

ALL OTHER ANSWERS momentum, energy, mass

The purpose of a stevenson screen is to

ALL OTHER ANSWERS reflect sunlight provide shade provide a ventilated enclosure

Which of the following is required for forming ozone in smog?

ALL THE OTHER ANSWERS NOx sunlight volatile organic compounds

methane clathrate is

ALL THE OTHER ANSWERS cold white flammable

what is plankton

Any collection of microscopic organisms that drift in the sea.

what is the empirical formula for coal

C or CH

Which of these is an example of a halocarbon?

CF2Cl2

What is the empirical formula for oil

CH2

WHat is the empirical formula for gas

CH4

What is the chemical formula for methane?

CH4

What chemical formula most accurately describes the burning of natural gas?

CH4 + 2O2 → CO2 + 2H2O

Photosynthesis is described by what chemical equation

CO2 + H2O + photon → O2 + CH2O

When permafrost thaws, it releases

CO2 and CH4

which is not a contributing factor to the seasonal cycle in atmospheric CO2

CO2 is a green house gas

What chemical reaction ultimately removes the excess carbon from the atmosphere and ocean?

CaSiO3 + CO2 → CaCO3 + SiO2

When was the coal formed

Carboniferous period 300 Mya

Who is credited with altering 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

Who is credited with alerting the public to global warming with his congressional testimony

James Hansen

Who is credited with identifying the gases responsible for the greenhouse effect

John Tyndall

Who is credited with postulating the existence of a greenhouse effect and thereby kicking off the field of climate science

Joseph Fourier

As Earth cools, the atmosphere holds ---- water vapor and that tends to cause the Earth to emit ---- radiation into space

Less and more

who created the cloud classification scheme that we still use today?

Luke Howard

What is the chemical formula for nitrous oxide?

N2O

Which of these is an example of a NOx?

NO2

Which of the following is a violation of conservation of energy

NONE

Which of the following is a violation of the conservation of mass

NONE

Which of the following is a violation of the conservation of momentum

NONE

Which of the following is not a greenhouse gas?

Nitrogen

atmospheric Co2 decreases most rapidly in

Northern Hemisphere summer

Respiration is described by what chemical equation

O2 + CH2O → CO2 + H2O + photon

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

How deep into a gas does the gas emit radiation like a solid surface?

T= 1

From what optical depth into the Sun does the Sun emit light to space?

T=1

Which of the following federal agencies does not have its own climate model?

USPS

The IPCC was founded by

WMO and UNEP

What is so super about a supercomputer?

What is so super about a supercomputer?

what is GtC

a billion tons of carbon

the radiative forcing by extra greenhouse gases is best described as causing

a decrease of outgoing power

roughly hoe much of the recoverable coal have the humans used

a few percent

methane clathrate is

a methane- ice lattice that encases water molecules

What is ASMU

advanced microwave sounding unit

What is the primary source of anthropogenic nitrous oxide?

agriculture

Which causes the greater amount of the additional warming

an increase of CO2 from 300 to 400 ppm

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

change in temperature for doubling of CO2

which of the following carbon pools has the largest amount of carbon at present

coal

What do we call a fundamental law of physics that says that stuff is neither created nor destroyed?

conservation law

if the earth suddenly becomes warmer than its steady state temperature, the planck feedback to make the Earth

cooler

what is the most certain way to date glacial ice

counting layers

The acidified ocean is returned to its original pH by

dissolution of calcium carbonate

halocarbons are still found in aerosol spray cans

false

coal is

fossilized peat

natural gas is

fossilized plankton

oil is

fossilized plankton

Why is the sky blue

gas molecules scatter short wavelengths more than long wavelenghts

Overall, the land surface and the top layers of soil tend to ____ with warming.

get drier

roughly how much of the recoverable oil have the humans used

half

the higher k and/or ρ of some gas in the atmosphere, the ____ the effective height of emission to space.

higher

What is H+?

hydrogen ion

a negative perturbation

is a decrease in the stock from its steady-state level

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 height of a sand dune is 50 m 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

if a sand dunes 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

An ASMU measures temperature at many heights in the atmospheric emission at multiple wavelengths on the side of an oxygen resonance that each have a different

k and so a different T=1

Which of the following is not a positive feedback

lapse-rate feedback

which of the following is not one of the primary pieces of evidence for global warming

lunar brightness records

as the Earth warms, the atmosphere holds, ---- water vapor and that tends to cause the Earth to emit --- radiation into space

more and less

An extra molecule of CH4 in the atmosphere causes ___ an extra molecule of CO2 in the atmosphere.

more warming than

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

if a sand dunes feedback parameter is +1 kg/s/m, what is the final perturbation if a forcing of -2 k/s

nonsense question because the dune is unstable

large optical depth T>> 1 corresponds to being

optically thick

small optical depth T<< 1 corresponds to being

optically thin

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

Scotch, the alcoholic drink and not the people, is made using

peat

What do we call the layer of the Sun emits light to space?

photosphere

what is earths biggest negative feedback

planck feedback

what kind of orbit do most ASMUs fly

polar

is the ice-albedo a positive or negative feedback?

positive

With respect in Earth's temperature, an increase in CO2 in the atmosphere can be described as a

positive forcing

what is peat

soggy swamp soil

permafrost

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 the sand dune, but the height of the sand dune is not changing?

steady state

The objective of the IPCC assessment reports is to

summarize the state of climate science

January during the Southern Hemisphere's

summer

What causes the seasons?

the Earth's axis of rotation is tilted with respect to Earth's orbital plane

What best describes the atmospheric greenhouse effect

the atmosphere lets shortwave pass through but greenhouse gases readily absorb longwave

why does the burning of fossil fuel cause global warming

the extra CO2 lifts the T=1 layer to a colder level in the atmosphere

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

Halocarbons were initially phased out by international law because

they generated the o zone hole

Studies of boreholes reveal that these layers of the ground are warmer than they would be in the absence of global warming.

upper layers

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

What is acidic water?

water with a high concentration of H+ ions

What is the Earth's biggest positive feedback?

water-vapor feedback

Which way do storms move in the continental United States

west to east

What color are clouds as seen from space?

white because water drops and ice scatter all wavelengths

When the Northern Hemisphere is in summer, the southern hemisphere is in

winter

is a sand dunes feedback parameter is +25 kg/s/m by what amount does its net rate of inflow change when there is a sudden height perturbation of -5 m

-125 kg/s

if a sand dunes feedback parameter is -3 kg/s/m, what is the final perturbation if a forcing of -9 k/s

-3 m

if a sand dune's feedback parameter -15 kg/s/m, by what amount does the net rate inflow change if there is a sudden perturbation of 3m?

-45 kg/s

if a sand dunes feedback parameter is -8 kg/s/m, what is the final perturbation if a forcing of 4 kg/s is applied

.5 m

Aerosol spray cans are responsible for how much radiative forcing?

0 W/m2

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 approximately how much radiative forcing?

1.0 W/m2

What is the modern estimate for the likely rage of Earth's climate sensitivity

1.5 to 4.5 K

Roughly at what rate are fossil fuels being burned today?

10 GtC/year

The acidified ocean is returned to its original pH on a timescale of

10 thousand years

Methane in the atmosphere oxidizes to CO2 on what timescale?

10 years

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

in a business per usual scenario, what is a likely concentration of atmospheric CO2 in the year 2100?

1000 ppm

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

Including all soil depths, permafrost contains how much carbon?

1500 GtC

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

roughly at what rate is the atmospheric concentration of Co2 increasing

2.5 ppm/year

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

what is roughy the per capita consumption of oil in the United States

20 barrels/ year

if the concentration of atmospheric CO2 increases by 100 ppm roughly how much more carbon is there in the atmosphere

200 GtC

What was the preindustrial concentration of carbon dioxide

280 ppm

If Earth's mean temperature increases from 288 K to 291 K when CO2 is doubled from its preindustrial concentration, what would you expect if CO2 were quadrupled from its preindustrial concentration?

294 K

By how much have Berkeley's warm season maximum temperatures increased over the past 125 years

2K

wha is 3 Gya

3 billion years ago

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

Our planet Kruftulon, 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

Given Earth's feedback parameter of -1 W/m^2/K what is roughly its final temperature perturbation in response to a doubling of CO2 which causes a forcing of 3 W/m^2?

3K

What is the modern best estimate of Earth's climate sensitivity

3K

What is the mean of 0, 4, 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

When was Earth formed?

4.5 Gya

How much fossil fuels have humans burned

400 GtC

What is the current concentration of atmospheric CO2

400 ppm

is a sand dune's feedback parameter is +24 kg/s/m by what amount does its net rate of inflow change when there is a sudden height perturbation of 2 m

48 kg/s

roughly at what rate are the oceans and plant absorbing CO2 at present

5 Gtc/ year

If the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere increases by 100 GtC, roughly how much does the concentration of CO2 increase?

50 ppm

How many GtC were there in the preindustrial atmosphere?

600 GtC

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