ENVS Midterm
Which of the following statements about Antarctica is true?
Contains 90% of world's freshwater
Which of the following scenarios would lead to lower pressure at the surface? (hint: Think equator)
Convergence at surface with divergence aloft
Based on the drought monitor chart, what is the level of dryness in southwestern Colorado?
Extreme Drought
2019 was the warmest, but the decade was the second warmest on record. True or False?
False
According to the Illinois State Climate Assessment report, both springs and summers have gotten much warmer. (T/F)
False
Earth's climate system only includes atmosphere, ice, and oceans.
False
Higher than normal Lake Michigan levels can always be attributed to climate change. True or false?
False
Melting Arctic and Antarctic sea ice has contributed to significant sea level rise. (hint: consider the difference between sea ice and land based ice)
False
The Climate System diagram represents a "closed system" since this occurs only on earth.(T/F)
False
Which statement best describes this graph.
Global temperatures will rise and fall annually but have generally increased regardless of TSI
What happened in California in 1849?
Gold
What national monument was recently opened by the Trump Administration to drilling for oil and natural gas?
Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument
(MOVIE) What did much of North America look like 15,000 years ago?
Great Inland Sea
Who is Craig McLean?
NOAA's acting chief scientist who later filed a complaint with the agency alleging the unsigned statement violated its scientific-integrity policy,
How much trash does NYC actually recycle?
New York City recycles only about a fifth of its garbage — 18 percent of trash from homes and about 25 percent from businesses —
Which statement is correct regarding the chemical make-up of the atmosphere?
Nitrogen 78%, Oxygen 21%, Water Vapor 1-3%
Which current is responsible for creating a mild oceanic climate for Western Europe?
North Atlantic Drift
Using the ClimateRe-Analyzer Map, the data over the US (lower 48) indicates the warmest above normal surface temps over which region?
OK and MO
The best indicator of the impact of climate change on sea ice is a change in:
Sea Ice Volume
Chicago receives nearly 40" snowfall annually, mainly due to the influence of Lake Effect Snowfall. (T/F)
True
Climate change can cause both drought and floods.
True
Climate positive feedback is any mechanism that increases the climate change already underway.
True
El Ninos and volcanoes can alter the climate in a very short period of time. (T/F)
True
Greenhouse gases heat the atmosphere by absorbing outgoing solar radiation.
True
Ice sheets grow in the Northern Hemisphere when eccentricity (size of earth's orbit and increasing distance from sun) changes from small to large
True
Ice sheets grow in the Northern Hemisphere when eccentricity (size of earth's orbit and increasing distance from sun) changes from small to large.
True
Ice sheets grow in the Northern Hemisphere when eccentricity is large, Earth is at aphelion in summer, and obliquity is small.
True
If sunspots caused climate change, we would observe a change in climate every 11 years.
True
In the Frontline documentary HEAT, cement is the 3rd largest producer of greenhouse gases that add to the overall C02 level of the atmosphere. (T/F)
True
In the Frontline documentary HEAT, it was stated that 80% of the earth's glaciers could disappear by 2035 (T/F)
True
January 2020 will end up +6.3 degrees F in Chicago. Most of the Great Lakes experienced warmer than normal temperatures. From the two graphs shown, is it safe to say that the warm overnight lows were more responsible for the warmth, compared to the afternoon highs? True or False.
True
Melting permafrost can act as a positive climate feedback
True
Observations from this map are at airports which are quality controlled 24 hours a day/365 days a year and represent excellent climate diagnostics. (T/F)
True
Of the carbon dioxide emitted by human activities, a majority is absorbed by oceans and the terrestrial biosphere.
True
Recent damage along the lakefront can be attributed to near record high lake levels and lack of sea ice exposing shoreline beaches to high winds and waves. True or false?
True
Solar energy is responsible for the majority of energy that is within the climate system.
True
The area of blue near the equatorial Pacific represents below normal sea surface temperatures. This is representative of a La Nina event.
True
The current best estimate of climate sensitivity is about 1 to 1.5°C or nearly 1.8 to 2.3 deg F.
True
The global increase in temperature closely matches the global increase in Carbon Dioxide
True
The greatest uncertainty in projecting global temperatures for the year 2100 is due to economic and technological unknowns.
True
The recent Yale University Climate Opinion Poll shows that nearly 70% of the nation believes that Global Warming exists.(T/F)
True
The super continent Pangea created a very dry climate that allowed the center of the landmass to become quite warm. (T/F)
True
This graph shows a slight increase in temperature for Illinois winter since 1895. (T/F)
True
This map shows where large scale tropical weather systems such as hurricanes and typhoons form due to the movement of the earth's ocean currents.
True
Using this map, typhoons form in the Western Pacific while hurricanes form in the Western Atlantic:
True
Chicago is a large urban area that can change weather conditions, especially during the summer. This is called:
Urban Heat Island
The map shows the normal onset of the Indian Monsoon. Given that over 1 billion people live in this country why is a changing climate more important to them?
Water resources are dependent on the arrival of monsoonal rain so understanding climate change is imperative
Weather and climate differ in that
Weather is day to day while climate is long-term averages in weather
Scientists refer to man-made climate change as:
anthropogenic
Using the information provided below, how much precipitation has fallen in Grand Junction, Colorado (western COLORADO) since June 1st?
.56"
What percentage of the atmosphere by volume do greenhouse gases make up?
1%
Based on this temperature graphic, although Chicago can be INCREDIBLY COLD, the rest of the northern hemisphere can be:
1.0 Deg C above normal which is 1.8 deg F
The top 10 warmest years have occurred in the last:
15
Using the NY Times link, Which statement is true?
18 of the 19 warmest years have occurred since 2001.
The Feb 18 2018 Ice Analysis Update shows:
2017-2018 showing below average ice cover
What was the approximate age of stromatolites?
3.5 billion years
Using the recent NY Times article, how warm was the year 2018, compared to historical data?
4th warmest
How warm did it get in Antarctica during the first week of February 2020? (Approximate temperature)
65F
Using this link from the NY Times, what can be said about this bill.
Although the Trump Administration has not been friendly to environmentalists, a Republican led Senate passed a very friendly bill for the environment bill by a large margin.
Using the same map, the highest anomalies are over which area?
Arctic, 5-6 Deg C
The region in the Northern Hemisphere showing the greatest evidence of climate change is:
Artic
Which of the following is NOT considered part of the Earth's climate system?
Astehnosphere
Radiative Forcing is best defined as:
Difference between incoming and outgoing radiation at the top of the atmosphere
What is the best statement that correctly describes this image:
El Nino patterns, when strong, are capable of producing above normal temperatures in the northern US.
Which statement best describes this diagram?
Energy imbalance establishes a temperature gradient between the tropics and the poles resulting in a net gain of energy at low latitudes and net loss at high latitudes.
If incoming vs. outgoing radiation at the top of the atmosphere is balanced, then climate change is likely due to:
Internal Variability
Based on the map provided, how would you describe the dryness in the western parts of the Chicagoland area?
Moderate Drought
These two maps indicate what type of weather scenario on a large scale:
Large area of low pressure is transporting warm, moist air northward while a large area of High Pressure is transporting cold, dry air southward
Using the global circulation map, which statement best describes this image:
Large scale circulation of the earth's atmosphere helps creates biomes and ecosystems
Earth will likely not find itself in a runaway greenhouse gas effect like Venus because:
Life and other biological activity remove CO2 from the atmosphere.
In the movie Making of North America PT2, why did the scientists go to the Bahamas?
Look for stromatolites
Which gas is released when permafrost melts?
Methane
Using the Climate Re-Analyzer Map, the greatest Sea Surface Temperature Anomaly is over which region?
Southern California and Baja California
Choose the best statement that describes this diagram:
Strong El Nino's can help in sustaining long term dryness in Australia and parts of Indonesia.
Which of the following organizations does NOT report global temperature anomaly data?
The Weather Channel
Can a tsunami impact the PAC NW coast?
True
This temperature graph is a concern to climate scientists since:
The global temperature change has been rapid since the late 1970s
President Trump recently unveiled a plan that would fulfill one of his signature campaign promises: a $1.5 trillion, once-in-a-generation proposal to rebuild, restore and modernize the nation's aging infrastructure. What is a major concern to climate scientists?
The impact of not considering climate change when planning infrastructure means you end up building the wrong thing, in the wrong place, to the wrong standards.
Category 5 hurricanes have shown a dramatic increase in frequency in the last 20 years in the Atlantic.
True
The Trump infrastructure blueprint is almost certain to call for expensive new roads, bridges, airports and other projects in areas that are increasingly vulnerable to rising waters and other threats from a warming planet. Engineers and researchers are concerned about which aspect of this plan?
Their concern is that a plan led by a White House that has both discounted climate science and weakened climate change regulations could mean that costly projects may be vulnerable to damage or, in a worst-case scenario, quickly rendered obsolete by the changing environment.
What was so important about these organisms to the beginning of life?
They helped create oxygen
What is the importance of this fossil in Western Kansas?
This large fish was once part of a great inland sea due to a "naturally occurring" warmer earth
Changes in the earth's orbit can create changes in climate on the order of:
Thousands of Years
The lowest portion of the atmosphere is known as:
Troposphere
A greater number of sunspots increases total solar irradiance.
True
A positive feedback can actually speed up global warming (T/F)
True
According to the Illinois Climate Assessment Report, both summers and springs have received above average rainfall over the past two decades. (T/F)
True
Aerosols can both absorb and reflect energy.
True
Although a powerful greenhouse gas, water vapor is not causing global warming because it does not remain in the air for very long.
True
An example of a positive feedback is the melting of arctic sea ice due to warmer air temperatures as well as warmer ocean waters. (T/F)
True
As one chief scientist states......."natural forcings are not capable of explaining the trends we've seen since the 19th century." True or False?
True
Both positive and negative feedbacks can create change. (T/F)
True
The general climate at the surface between the Hadley and Ferrel cells is typically:
cool and dry
Greenhouse gases get their name because they:
decrease outgoing radiation from the top of the atmosphere
What are the four main reasons for natural climate change?
plate tectonics, orbital cycles, ocean-atmosphere circulation, greenhouse gas increases
As the global climate becomes increasingly warmer, ice caps and glaciers have been melting at accelerated pace. This lowers the global albedo and has a __________ effect. This mechanism therefore works as a ________ feedback to climate change.
warming; positive