CH18

A scientist genetically engineers a variety of corn to grow well in warmer temperatures. This is an example of dealing with climate change through ______________.

"Adaptation involves making changes to deal with the changing climate. Thus, developing a variety of corn that grows well in warmer temperatures is a good example of this method."

"If fossil fuel burning continues to increase, what will happen to the acidity of the oceans?"

"As more fossil fuels are burned, more carbon dioxide is released. The oceans will take up more carbon dioxide, some of which will be converted into carbonic acid. Thus, the oceans will become more acidic."

"If the number of low clouds and the amount of sulfate aerosols both increase in the atmosphere, and all other variables remain the same, what will happen?"

"Because low clouds and sulfate aerosols both reflect incoming solar radiation, temperatures will decrease."

Which of the following would have the largest impact on reducing the third most important greenhouse gas?

"Because much of the world's methane emissions are the result of livestock, eliminating cattle farming would have a great impact on reducing this potent greenhouse gas."

Which of the following greenhouse gases has been impacting the climate for the least amount of time?

"CFCs, which are human-made compounds, are contributing to both the greenhouse effect and depletion of the ozone layer. Because they are human-made, they have been around for the least amount of time."

Which of the following statements regarding the relationship between global mean temperature and atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide is true?

"Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas, so as concentrations of this gas have increased, temperature has also been increasing."

"If trends continue, which of the following will happen?"

"Global mean sea level will increase, and Arctic sea ice will decrease. "

"If global average temperature were to increase between 2.8 °C and 4.0 °C, carbon dioxide emissions would have to peak _________."

"If carbon dioxide emissions were to peak between 2010 and 2060, average global temperature would be predicted to increase between 2.8 °C and 4.0 °C."

"If temperature increases 3 °C between 2000 and 2100, what will happen to Antarctic snowfall?"

"Models predict that an increase in temperature of 1 °C will increase Antarctic snowfall by 5%. Thus, an increase in temperature of 3 °C would result in an increase in snowfall of about 15%."

"According to the latest government predictions, in 40 years the Chicago, Illinois, climate will change to be most like the current climate in"

"St. Louis, Missouri. "

"You are on a ship floating northeast on a warm, shallow current. Where are you?"

"The Atlantic is known for the warm, shallow current that flows in a northeasterly fashion."

"With greenhouse gas emissions continuing to increase, which scenario predicted by the models will be least harmful to the planet?"

"The B1 model predicts the least amount of warming, which is the least harmful scenario for the planet."

What are some of the differences between the troposphere and the stratosphere?

"The troposphere goes from ground level to 10 miles, whereas the stratosphere extends from 10 miles to 40 miles. There is little vertical mixing in the stratosphere."

"Suppose less water evaporates from the world's oceans. If all other variables remain the same, what will happen to mean global temperature?"

"Water vapor is a greenhouse gas, so if less of it is present in the atmosphere, mean global temperature will decrease."

You are a meteorologist. What atmospheric layer do you study?

"Weather occurs in the troposphere. As a meteorologist, you study this layer of the atmosphere."

Current levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide are

"higher than they have been in 800,000 years. "

Which of the following activities have contributed the greatest amount of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere over the past 100 years?

"increased reliance upon coal, oil, and natural gas "

"Of the three models (A2, A1B, and B1), how many predict an increase in global surface temperature of at least 2 °C between 2000 and 2100?"

2

Which areas of the world contribute to climate change LEAST by the burning of fossil fuels?

Africa and Latin America

Which of the following states will most likely experience the greatest warming in the next 50 years?

Alaska

Which of the following have opposite effects on climate change?

An increase in low clouds would promote cooling while increased fossil fuel burning would promote warming.

Which two countries saw the highest percentage of increase in greenhouse gas emissions between 1990 and 2006?

Canada and Australia

"From 1990 to 2006, what region of the world was able to reduce its GHGs?"

European Union

Which of the following United States national parks would be mostly eliminated by a 1-meter rise in sea level?

Everglades National Park

"If you traveled along the North Atlantic Ocean conveyor system, you would most likely flow from waters near"

South Africa to Iceland.

Which of the following is true?

The greenhouse effect is a natural effect. Enhancing it is likely resulting in climate change.

The general pattern in this figure reveals increasing levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere over the past fifty years. Why is the red line wavy and the blue line steadily increasing?

The red line drops in the winter when photosynthesis decreases.

"A university in Florida wishes to investigate the feasibility of using a large wind turbine on campus to power several buildings. Wind speeds throughout the year and potential storms and hurricanes must be considered to determine if and where a wind turbine might be installed. To consider these many factors, the university would most benefit from the work of"

a meteorologist to study the regional climate.

"For more than 20 years, scientists have been analyzing expected climate change and the impact on crops grown in particular regions. For example, states that typically plant corn and soybeans may need to switch to growing cotton. Such a change is an example of"

adaptation.

"You examine an ice core sample from 10,000 years ago when global temperatures were unusually high. Based upon past studies, we expect that atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide"

and methane are unusually high.

Which one of the following best illustrates a type of adaptation to global climate change?

building taller levees to hold back storm surges along ocean coastlines

"When an automobile heats up in bright sunlight with windows rolled up, the glass in the car functions most like"

carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

The 2007 report of the Panel on Climate Change reported that global climate change is

certain and it is very likely that humans are to blame.

"If the precautionary principle had been applied to the evidence of the dangerous health effects of smoking tobacco from the 1950s to the 1970s,"

cigarette manufacturers would have been required to demonstrate that smoking was safe and government regulations would have come much earlier.

Scientists use proxies to study climate to measure

climates hundreds and thousands of years ago.

Which of the following would most likely have the greatest impact on the ocean conveyer system in the Atlantic Ocean?

complete melting of the polar ice cap in the summer

Which of the following have positive radiative forcing effects?

decreasing low clouds and increasing fossil fuel burning

The thinning of the troposphere away from the equator is primarily a result of

differences in solar energy striking the Earth.

"If you rode a helium balloon to the top of the stratosphere, you would notice that the temperatures"

dropped and then started to rise about halfway up your trip.

A high-pressure system is moving easterly into a region with low pressure. In which direction is the wind blowing?

east

"Between 1990 and 2004, which two ocean basins had more category 4 and 5 hurricanes than the west Pacific did between 1975 and 1989?"

east Pacific and south Indian

"At an international conference on global climate change, a representative of a developing country admits that each year, his country contributes the same amount of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere as the United States. However, he argues that because his country has only 10% of the wealth of the United States, the United States should pay much more of the costs of adaptation. This representatives arguments illustrate the"

equity principle.

Which one of the following is not an example of geoengineering?

erecting large fields of wind turbines to generate electricity to power automobiles

"As climate change continues, we expect that the countries with the"

fewest resources will experience the greatest impacts.

Model predictions of global climate change show _________.

general agreement on trends but little agreement on values

"To prevent the tipping point after which catastrophic environmental change will happen, what needs to be done?"

global greenhouse gas levels must peak and start declining by 2015.

The gradual increase in global carbon emissions since 1980 most closely parallels the

global surface temperatures over this same period.

"In his movie An Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore warns of increasing levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere which suggest that"

global temperatures will also continue to rise.

Additional increases in ocean levels beyond those already expected may be most affected by

greater than expected melting of ice sheets on Greenland and Antarctica.

Rising GHGs in the 21st century most confidently predict

increases in global temperatures and sea levels.

"Some people place a windshield reflector in the front of their cars in the summer, to reduce the buildup of heat inside the car. In the greenhouse effect, this would be most like"

increasing sulfate aerosol in the sky.

Farming in North America in the next 50 years will likely result in

less predictability in the weather.

Global warming will raise sea levels because of

melting ice and thermal expansion.

Climatologists warn of a tipping point when global temperatures trigger catastrophic events and sea levels rise more than 50 feet. What would cause the sea level to rise so greatly?

melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet

"The two highest levels of the atmosphere contain only small amounts of oxygen, nitrogen, and ozone. These layers are the"

mesosphere and thermosphere.

"The city of Arcata, California, is committed to decreasing locally generated greenhouse gases by increasing the use of vehicles that run on alternative fuels and by not venting methane from wastewater treatment plant into the atmosphere. This is an example of dealing with climate change through _______________."

mitigation

Which of the following will increase the planetary albedo?

more volcanic eruptions and the formation of more low clouds

Natural climate variability ranging over months to decades is primarily the result of

ocean-atmospheric interactions.

Which one of the following has been declining globally over the past several decades?

pH of the worlds oceans

Biomes are primarily identified by their

precipitation and temperature patterns.

Current data from satellite measurements of temperature in the troposphere reveal

remarkable agreement with surface temperatures.

"In our world, something with the greatest heat capacity is able to"

retain its heat the longest.

The jet streams in the United States generally flow from west to east because of

rotation of the Earth.

Which of the following has the highest albedo?

snow on top of ice on a pond

The global temperature pattern seen in this figure

suggests that mitigation of carbon dioxide is urgently needed.

"Examining your flight plans for a trip from Atlanta, Georgia, to Seattle, Washington, and back, you notice that the total time in the air for the flight to Seattle is much longer than the flight back to Atlanta. Then it occurs to you that this is probably because of the impact of"

the jet stream.

Winds we experience in our daily lives are mainly the result of

the movement of air between lower pressure and higher pressure regions.

"Discussing the consequences of global climate change at a conference, representatives of a developing nation suggest that those nations that contribute the most greenhouse gases (GHGs) to the atmosphere should contribute the most to paying for adaptive responses worldwide. Further, this representative pointed out that her poor country contributes less than 1% of the annual GHGs and has less than 0.1% of the world's wealth. This representative's appeal represents"

the polluter pays and equity principles.

"In 2008, the United States was able to reduce its GHGs from the prior year 2007 level. How did the United States do this?"

the recession of 2008 impacted the use of energy

"The best computer models of global climate change indicate that in the next 50 years,"

the world will warm up by 2-3 C.

This image of Hurricane Katrina represents events occurring in the

troposphere

The stabilization wedge approach attempts to

use multiple mitigation methods to stabilize carbon emissions at 2005 levels by 2055.

"In a Hadley cell,"

warm air rises and cool air falls.

Cap-and-trade programs

were already in use by the European Union before 2010.