EPS #8
What is so super about a supercomputer?
it has many ordinary computers connected together
Which of the following is not one of the primary pieces of evidence for global warming?
lunar brightness records
For climate studies, what are the two most important instruments inside a Stevenson enclosure?
min-temperature and max-temperature thermometers
Roughly what fraction of the carbon burned by humans is still in the atmosphere as CO2 after 10,000 years?
20%
What is HCO3−?
bicarbonate ion
With the exception of high-energy nuclear reactions, which of the following is always conserved?
momentum
Which of the following is a violation of conservation of momentum?
none of the other answers - car races - ball falls - tree grows
Which of the following is a violation of conservation of energy?
none of the other answers - car races - ball falls - tree grows
Which of the following is a violation of conservation of mass?
none of the other answers - car races - ball falls - tree grows
What is an AMSU?
Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit
What chemical reaction ultimately removes the excess carbon from the atmosphere and ocean?
CaSiO3 + CO2 → CaCO3 + SiO2
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−
Which of the following federal agencies does not have its own climate model?
USPS - NASA - NSF - NOAA - DOE
What is an acid?
a molecule that adds H+ ions to water
The purpose of a Stevenson screen is to
all of the other answers - provide shade - reflect away sunlight - provide a ventilated enclosure
What is CaCO3?
calcium carbonate
What is CO3−−?
carbonate ion
What is H2CO3?
carbonic acid
What do we call a fundamental law of physics that says that stuff is neither created nor destroyed?
conservation law
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
The higher the k and/or ρ of some gas in the atmosphere, the ______ the effective height of emission to space.
higher
What is H+?
hydrogen ion
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
What kind of orbit do most AMSUs fly?
polar
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
The timescale for a process is
the time it takes for the process to be mostly done
Studies of boreholes reveal that these layers of the ground are warmer than they would be in the absence of global warming.
upper layers
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
What is acidic water?
water with a high concentration of H+ ions
Ocean acidification puts 60% of the carbon burned by humans into the ocean on a timescale of
1 thousand years
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
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
Borehole paleothermometry reveals a mean global ground-temperature increase over the past ~100 years of
1K
By how much have Berkeley's warm-season maximum temperatures increased over the past 125 years?
2K
If humans burn 5000 GtC in a couple centuries, roughly what will the atmospheric concentration of CO2 be in the year 12017?
750 ppm