Chapter 8 Study Guide

In winter, although many parts of Europe have heavy snow falls, the sea ports remain ice-free and ships come and go. What could be a reason why the sea ports remain ice-free?

A warm ocean current flows along the coast.

Ice cores can be used to determine atmospheric gas concentrations historically. As ice freezes, it traps the gasses present in the atmosphere in the same concentrations that they represented at the time of freezing. Vostok Station is a research station located on Earth at its lowest recorded surface temperature. It has provided invaluable data from ice cores. Which letter on the map best indicates the location of the Vostok Research Station?

B

Which mode of drinking water has the most negative impact on the environment?

Bottled water

The effect of carbon dioxide on the atmospheric temperature is BEST shown by graph

C

Which greenhouse gas was created by humans?

CO2

Northern wild rice, also known as manoomin, is a staple food in Ojibwe communities across the upper Midwest, where it is also used in traditional ceremonies. And, like any wild crop, some years yield more than others, depending on the weather. Which of these is not a threat to the wild rice harvest due to climate change?

Climate warming is causing a change in the migratory patterns of many birds that breed near the rice fields.

Ocean currents are located at the ocean surface and in deep water. They can move water horizontally and vertically locally and globally. The ocean has an interconnected current, or circulation system. Of the following forces which one does NOT power the ocean's current system?

The Aurora Borealis

Consider the ocean circulation and how it influences climate. The climate along the coast of Great Britain and other parts of Northern Europe remains relatively warm and balmy compared to locations at comparable latitudes, even warmer than the coasts of Spain and Portugal, which lie in more southerly latitudes. What circulation pattern is responsible for this unexpected climate along the coast of Great Britain?

the Gulf stream in the North Atlantic

The map here shows the record-setting heatwave for the Northeast United States in the summer of 2018. What is the most likely reason for the increase in record-setting temperatures over the decade 2010-2020?

Increase in greenhouse gasses from human activity

The Duluth Complex is a geological formation that contains deposits of copper, nickel and palladium group metals. It is located at the eastern end of the Mesabi Iron Range in northeastern Minnesota. Many are concerned about plans to build an open-pit mine in the northeastern part of the state to recover those valuable metals. Sulfide mining (specifically copper-nickel sulfide mining) represents a significant departure from Minnesota's iron mining tradition. Sulfide mining can produce acid waste and sulfates that mobilize the release of heavy metals into the environment. Which of these is NOT an environmental concern related to the proposed sulfide mining operation?

increasing pH in nearby water sources

Choose the best definition of sustainability in terms of the environment.

the maintenance of factors such as renewable resource harvest and decrease in use of non-renewable resources that contribute to the quality of the environment indefinitely

A greenhouse gas is a gas that absorbs and emits radiant energy within the thermal infrared range. When we hear the term greenhouse gas, we think of carbon dioxide, an air pollutant that is the result of fossil fuel combustion. But there are others that are also considered air pollutants: methane, nitrous oxide, fluorinated gases, and ozone. The concentration of methane in the atmosphere has more than doubled since preindustrial times, reaching approximately 1,800 ppb in recent years. Identify the sources of methane in the atmosphere. All BUT ONE could apply.

chemical reactions of VOCs in the presence of sunlight

Which is NOT a negative consequence of acid rain?

gives soil a better pH for growing crops

Why is the natural greenhouse effect of Earth a cause for concern now?

The rise in the amount of greenhouse gasses has resulted in global warming, because more heat gets trapped in the atmosphere

The students in Mr. C's class were studying climate change and were doing a lab experiment to find out more about rising sea level. They were given two clear identical containers with clay (representing land). Eight ice cubes were added on top of the clay in container A representing Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets . Water was added to the container up the land (not above it). Eight ice cubes were added to the bottom of the container B(not on the clay) representing ice in the Arctic. Water was added to the container up the land (not above it). Measurement of water was taken in for both containers. A heat lamp was then placed above each container to melt the ice. Measurement was taken again at the end of the experiment when all the ice was melted. What can you infer was the result?

Container A showed an increase in water level.

Consider the model above. It may be used to assess the effect of human activity on the environment. Moreton Bay on the coast of Australia is known for coral reefs, seagrasses, and mangroves but the growth of the human population along the coastline has had negative effects on this environment. Of great concern is the huge increase in nitrogen pollution from sewage discharge into the ocean water. If we consider the Moreton Bay situation, we know the driver, human population, and the stress, the discharge of sewage into the ocean, and the increase of nitrogen in the ocean waters. Elaborate on the resulting impact(s). All BUT ONE may apply.

Decreased algal growth and increased seagrasses

Volcanic eruptions, changes in Earth's orbit, meteorite impact, and even the combustion of fossil fuels all contribute directly or indirectly to climate change by

Changing the amount of solar radiation that reaches Earth

The principles of sustainability are key factors to how humans will be able to coexist with the Earth for years to come. Which of these is a key principle of sustainability?

Chemical cycling allows for nutrients and important life-sustaining chemicals to be used by organisms, returned to the Earth when the organisms cease to exist, and then reused by the same, or different, organisms in order to survive.

South Florida receives its water from the Biscayne aquifer. There was concern about brackish water infiltrating the freshwater in the aquifer due to several factors. When designing a computer program to stimulate future demands on the aquifer, what combination of the criteria identified below are most important to include in the stimulation? I. Projected population growth II. Impact on usage of increased cost to consumers for water III.Cost of implementing engineering solutions IV. Rising sea levels

I and IV

Scientists have used computer models to create a series of maps that show how susceptible coastal cities and island countries are to the sea rising at different levels. The maps show that a 1-meter rise would swamp cities all along the U.S. eastern seaboard. A 6-meter sea level rise would submerge a large part of Florida. Thermal expansion has already raised the oceans 10 to 20 centimeters. The MOST likely cause, directly and indirectly, for such a rise in sea level is

Global warming

Fossil fuels are energy sources often used to generate electricity in power plants or provide fuel for vehicles. Of the choices shown above, which would be considered an external cost associated with petroleum and oil extraction and combustion?

I and III only

Area D on the map shows where climate is being affected the most by global warming. What facts support this?

Larger weather systems are impacting smaller areas; such as this one. More of the sun's energy is being absorbed rather than reflected back into space.

The oceans absorb carbon through three processes that draw atmospheric carbon dioxide into the oceans: the physical carbon pump, the biological carbon pump and the carbonate pump. In which scenario would a carbon sink be the result of the physical carbon pump mechanism?

More CO2 is diffusing into sea surface water than is diffusing from sea surface water out to the atmosphere.

The graph above shows global surface temperatures from 1845 to 2005. Describe the relationship between time and surface temperature change between 1950 and 2005.

Positive relationship where surface temperature increases with time.

Greenhouse gasses help...

Regulate Earth's temperatures

How is solid waste disposed of?

Solid waste is disposed of by burning, recycling and being buried in landfills.

Which of these will increase as the human population increases?

Species extinction

According to the theory of global warming, which statement is the MOST LIKELY reason for the current climate change?

The atmosphere is reradiating more heat to Earth.

Which of these would provide a scientist with the ability to date the age of an ice core?

The use of radiometric isotope analysis on the uranium-containing particulates trapped in the ice core

There's a harbor and the water in that harbor is able to stay unfrozen throughout the year and boats are able to come in and out. Why is the water unfrozen?

The warm currents are hitting the coastline which cause the water to not freeze over.

What is the collective role of water vapor, carbon dioxide, ozone, and methane in the atmosphere?

They regulate Earth's climate by trapping heat and holding it within Earth's atmosphere.

What is the role of the greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere?

They trap some of the Sun's heat energy within the atmosphere, helping to maintain Earth's average temperature.

In a typical system without human influence, as the surface of the Earth warms, it will emit greater amounts of infrared radiation back into space. This is a phenomenon known as Planck feedback. In the absence of anthropogenic influence, this system would be classified as what?

This is a negative feedback loop, as the warming of the Earth's surface causes greater infrared radiation to be emitted into space, which decreases the greenhouse effect.

Water vapor is classified as a greenhouse gas, with an even greater ability to convert outgoing infrared radiation into thermal energy. However, water vapor cycles quickly through the hydrologic cycle, so it is not ranked as high on the list of molecules leading to global climate change. Since global temperatures are increasing, this will result in more water vapor in the atmosphere. Since water vapor and carbon dioxide levels are both increasing, what would this phenomenon be classified as?

This is a positive feedback loop, as more water vapor will lead to increasing temperatures, which will cause higher evaporation rates.

With climate change trending toward a warmer overall global average temperature in the atmosphere, land surface, water temperature, many impacts will be felt across the globe. Which explanation best describes why droughts can be more frequent due to global warming?

Warmer temperatures result in increased evaporation of water in an area, resulting in less rainfall long-term.

Which greenhouse gas is found in the highest concentration in the atmosphere?

Water Vapor

The Upper Big Branch Mine disaster occurred on April 5, 2010 roughly 1,000 feet underground in Raleigh County, West Virginia at Massey Energy's coal mine. 29 out of 31 miners at the site were killed. The coal dust explosion occurred at 3:27 pm. The explosion ignited from an unknown source with high methane levels being a contributing factor. One survivor reported he first felt a rush of air, followed by a blast of hurricane-force winds. He encountered flying debris as he escaped the mine. The blast was heard and felt for miles. It was the worst accident in the United States since 1970. An investigation found Massey Energy directly responsible for the blast. Which type of energy production involves coal mining?

burning fossil fuels

Oceans play an important role in determining climate change. Ocean circulation affects the climate through the atmospheric concentration and movement of _________ into or out of the atmosphere.

Carbon dioxide

Factories and cars release pollutants into the atmosphere. These pollutants can dissolve in the water vapor in the atmosphere. What is a LIKELY result of the mixing of pollutants with water vapor?

Acid rain

Climate change and agriculture are interrelated processes on a global scale. How does agriculture contribute to the rising climate?

Agriculture animals produce methane gas, the need for more crops forces clear cutting, and the use of agricultural machinery.

__________ is NOT a cause for this increased global sea level.

An increase in the water present in the water cycle

Arctic Sea ice grows through the winter each year and melts through the summer, typically reaching its minimum extent sometime in September. The extent can vary considerably from year to year, sometimes above the long-term average and sometimes below. Extent is defined as the total area in which the ice connection is at least 15 percent. What can be inferred about the two images?

Arctic ice has melted due to greenhouse gasses concentration and soot deposited onto the ice.

Which of these explain how ice cores can be used to correlate atmospheric makeup and climate changes overtime?

As snow packs freeze and build up gradually over time, gasses from the atmosphere are within the ice and can be analyzed.

Usually, it is observed that climates in coastal regions are moderate as compared to climates in the interiors of continents. Why is this so?

Conditions over the oceans change slowly because water takes more time than land to gain or lose heat.

Jill has decided that she wants to start conserving gasoline. Jill is concerned about the rising price of gas, as well as how the by-products from gas engines pollute the atmosphere. What solution would help Jill solve this problem?

Deciding to ride her bicycle to and from work, instead of driving.

There is much debate about whether or not global warming exists and whether people and their actions are to blame. High levels of carbon dioxide tend to increase Earth's temperature. Which of these is a biased statement about carbon dioxide in the atmosphere?

Humans and their activities do not affect the natural cycles of the Earth.

The map shows the Earth's average global temperature from 2013 to 2017, as compared to a baseline average from 1951 to 1980. What can you infer from the map?

Temperature anomalies to date have been primarily in northern latitudes and over land masses.

Because of the connection between greenhouse gasses and climate change, there seems to be a concerted effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. What does this second graph, published by the EPA, tell us about how Hansen and Lacis' model will change?

The Hansen and Lacis model will continue as it is now, with an increase in the Earth's average temperature because the EPA model shows no real change in gaseous emissions.

During the Permian extinction, approximately 250 million years ago, nearly 96% of marine species and 70% of terrestrial species were lost. Scientists theorize that massive volcanic eruptions released methane into the atmosphere. The oceans became anoxic, a condition where a lack of oxygen occurred. This likely reduced the species of anaerobic organisms. In contrast, anaerobic bacteria thrived. However, a byproduct of anaerobic bacteria metabolism is methane and dihydrogen sulfide release. This further toxified the environment. The catastrophic events in the 4-6 million years around the Permian mass extinction exemplify what type of process?

This is a positive feedback loop, as harmful atmospheric conditions from volcanic gas releases lead to higher levels of toxic atmospheric gas buildup in subsequent years.

Peat is accumulated dead and decaying organic matter, often found in high quantities in bogs and wetlands. These areas are being affected by climate change, as levels of evaporation are increasing. The evaporation of water exposes additional peat, which then further decomposes. The release of methane occurs from this decomposition, which is released into the atmosphere. What type of feedback is being exemplified by this global system?

This is a positive feedback loop, as stored carbon is converted to methane, which acts as a greenhouse gas, trapping more heat and increasing more global temperatures.

Desertification is the transition of an area of relatively dry soil into a desert, containing little to no humus (soil with organic matter). Global climate change is creating areas of drier conditions in some regions including the Mediterranean region. What type of feedback system is shown in this example of an impact of climate change?

This is a positive feedback loop, as the loss of water and plants in the area of desertification will lead to further water vapor loss and atmospheric carbon increases. These will result in warmer temperatures and drier areas.

Above is a bar graph showing how the average family uses water. Fresh water is a vitally important resource and its supply is limited. You want to try and help conserve this resource by cutting the usage of one of the fixtures above in half. To conserve the most water, which fixture should you choose?

Toilet

The NASA image provided above shows the impact on the ozone layer if chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) were not banned under the Montreal Protocol and if they were still used today. What can be inferred about the images provided?

If CFCs were not replaced with hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) under the Montreal Protocol, the ozone concentration would be under 100 dobson units. This would in return mean a very thin ozone layer and more ultraviolet radiation on Earth.

Climate change is a cyclical event in the history of the Earth. In recent years, increased greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere have accelerated the rate of climate change across the globe. Predict the most likely impact that climate change effects in the tropical rainforest regions will affect humans.

Increased regional temperatures may increase the likelihood of fires in the regions, reducing the forest's biodiversity. This will decrease humans' availability to obtaisions from the rainforests.

As scientists advise about potential risks due to climate change, many coastal areas are preparing for a higher risk of impact. Predict which of these has a greater impact on human health in coastal areas due to climate change.

Increased severity of tropical storms and rainfall due to increased evaporation and warmer ocean waters.

Reactive sediments deep in the oceans are circulated and brought to the surface when deep, cold ocean water rises to the surface. In this instance, the water warms and some of the dissolved CO2 from these sediments is released back to the atmosphere. What is this process called?

Upwelling

Why is the natural greenhouse effect of Earth a cause for concern now?

The rise in the amount of greenhouse gasses has resulted in global warming, because more heat of the Sun is now trapped within the atmosphere.

In order to mitigate the effects of loss of groundwater in a drought season, local and state governments often act in the best interest of their citizens to prevent long term, lasting damage. Homeowners can also minimize the effects of water use on groundwater depletion. Which action(s) on the part of the government or the citizens would NOT mitigate groundwater depletion?

Growing crops that require daily irrigation on agricultural fields

It is projected that an increase in carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere will most likely lead to

Higher-than-average sea levels.

Ocean temperature plays an important role in the Earth's climate system. Explain how this slow but consistent rise in the ocean heat content seen above will influence Earth's climate.

Ocean heat content influences the ocean surface temperature. Heat from ocean surface waters provides the energy for storms and thereby influences weather patterns on Earth.

The climate of Hawaii is cooler than the climate of other places in the same latitudes. This is MOST LIKELY a direct result of

Ocean temperature

Human activity has a great impact on the quantity and quality of local water supplies. Humans can try to increase awareness and understanding with studying paths, pathogen, pollutants, etc. Which will not change as a result of human activity and awareness?

Rainwater runoff into local stream

The oceans absorb carbon through three processes that draw atmospheric carbon dioxide into the oceans: the physical carbon pump, the biological carbon pump and the carbonate pump. Molecules of CO2 enter the ocean by diffusing into the sea surface waters and dissolving as part of the physical carbon pump. All BUT ONE variable influences how much CO2 will diffuse in any given location. That is

Salinity

Along coastlines, population growth has led to over-population. This has caused aquifer depletion and the subsequent contamination of the groundwater with ______________.

Saltwater

After analyzing the graph above, you can see that ocean temperatures increase more slowly than land temperatures. What is the greatest contributor to this temperature difference?

Water has a high specific heat capacity.

Copper is a metal that is used for many purposes. It is mined from the earth using various methods. Though the amount of copper in the Earth's crust is very large, it will eventually run out if the mining of copper continues. Jim thinks that conserving copper is important, and says that the best way to do this would be to stop all copper mining at once. Is there a problem with this solution?

Yes, the need to conserve copper must be balanced with use.

There are some greenhouse gasses that are found naturally in the atmosphere such as carbon dioxide, methane, and water vapor. There are also greenhouse gasses that are not found naturally; they are released from anthropogenic sources only. Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) are greenhouse gasses that also contribute to ozone depletion. Although these chemicals have been banned, they will continue to remain in the atmosphere for many more years. Which anthropogenic sources contributed to CFCs being released into the atmosphere?

CFCs were released from refrigerants, solvents, and aerosols.

Oceans play an important role in determining climate change. Ocean circulation affects the climate through the atmospheric concentration and movement of__________into or out of the atmosphere.

Carbon dioxide

Reduce, reuse, and recycle. By monitoring your consumption and waste habits, you'll find lots of opportunities to conserve on a personal level and reduce your ecological footprint which is a measure of human demand on the Earth's ecosystems. What is NOT a way to reduce your ecological footprint?

Drink bottled water

Ice cores can be used to determine atmospheric gas concentrations historically. They can also be a recorded history of volcanic activity on Earth due to the presence of particulate matter in the cores. According to the graph, when was there a high level of volcanic activity in the Antarctic region?

425,000 years ago

A. decrease in biodiversity B. negative impact on agricultural land C. negative impact on freshwater of Lake Gatun D. increased salinization of Pacific and Atlantic Oceans The fifty-one mile long Panama Canal connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean. The canal was completed in 1914 and an estimated 1,000 vessels passed through in the next year. In 2008, 14,702 vessels passed through and although this seems like a huge number, efforts were taken to expand the canal. In 2016, the Panama Canal Expansion Project was completed, adding a third lane for vessels that doubled the canal's capacity. Read the prompt. What might be environmental concerns due to the expansion of the canal?

A, B, C

Methane has a particular molecular structure that enables it to trap more heat than carbon dioxide. However, methane does not exist as long as carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. All of the following are sources of anthropogenic methane EXCEPT: I. ruminant digestion II. agricultural practices III. fertilizers IV. municipal solid waste landfills V. deforestation VI. fossil fuel extraction

III and V

The Clean Air Act requires the EPA to set National Ambient Air Quality Standards for six common air pollutants, also known as criteria air pollutants. These pollutants are found all over the U.S. and can harm both your health and the environment. These criteria air pollutants include ground-level ozone, lead, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, and particulate matter. Although all air pollutants are potentially harmful, lead is especially dangerous to life forms, including humans. As a result of its harmful effects, lead was removed from motor vehicle gasoline and lead levels in the air decreased by 98% between 1980 and 2014. Identify ALL the effects lead has on human health.

Lead exposure affects the oxygen carrying capacity of the blood. Adults can suffer from cardiovascular effects, increased blood pressure and incidence of hypertension. Children are sensitive to low levels of lead, which contribute to behavioral problems and learning deficits. Lead stored in bones along with calcium is released into the mother's breast milk, resulting in health risks to newborns.