EPS 7 Final real study guide
How is a Watt defined in terms of other units?
J/s
The number of what particle determines what element an atom is?
PROTON
Which of the three has the longest wavelength? a) green b) red c) blue
RED
What is appropriate clothing for 300 K?
SHORTS AND T-SHIRT
Cirrus
above 18,000ft, high wavy clouds.
Which way do storms move in the continental United States?
west to east
Utility-scale solar power costs roughly how much to install per watt of rated power?
$1/W
When wind turbines are distributed over a property to maximize the electrical power generated per land area, roughly what amount of electrical power per area can we hope to generate?
1 W/m2
At the current rate of global warming of 3 K/century, how long does it take to get an additional committed sea-level rise equal to the height of a Cal basketball player?
10 years
Methane in the atmosphere oxidizes to CO2 on what timescale?
10 years
What is the timescale for a human to grow to its maximum height?
10 years
How far does a person go if they jog at 3 m/s for 1 hour?
10.8 km
When the planet has warmed by 3 K, roughly what is the committed sea-level rise?
20m
What is 30 ◦C in Kelvin?
303 K
Roughly how much coal is available for humans to burn?
5 TtC
If a laser delivers 30 W of energy to a target over 2 seconds, how much energy does it deliver to the target?
60 J
How much kinetic energy is in a 2-kg ball traveling at 3 m/s?
9 J
Which of the following is responsible for the industrial revolution?
James Watt, the Scientific Revolution, and Abundant Coal
What is HCO3−?
bicarbonate ion
ectotherm
cold blooded
Which of the following is a mechanism built into the Kyoto Protocol to allow countries to avoid reducing their own emissions?
joint implementation
When water vapor condenses, this is an example of
latent converting to sensible
`A coal-fired power plant converts _____________ -grade energy into __________ -grade energy
low / high
nimbostratus
low to mid level below 6,000ft; lower fluffy taller rain clouds on the low level.
altocumulus
mid level 6,000 to 20,000ft; spotty mid clouds.
altostratus
mid level 6,000 to 20,000ft; transparent spread out clouds.
Which of the following is not a greenhouse gas?
nitrogen
What is an example of something that a wind mill does?
pump water and mill grain
Which of the following are examples of a gas being pressurized?
pumping up a tire, igniting a fuel-air mixture in the Diesel-engine piston, pushing a balloon downward in a pool
The climate of Venus is best described as
runaway greenhouse
Silicon is obtained from
sand
Imagine that the price of a single permit is 100 $, with each permit covering 1 tC. If a company gets 6 permits for free for the year, and the company burns 3 tC of fossil fuel in that year, what does the company do?
sells 3 permits and thereby earns 300 $
What best describes the atmospheric greenhouse effect?
the atmosphere lets shortwave pass through but greenhouse gases readily absorb longwave
What is the lapse rate?
the decrease in atmospheric temperature with height
The rate of heat conduction, in watts, from a hot place to a cold place is proportional to
the difference in temperature between the hot and cold places
What is the definition of wavelength?
the distance from a peak to an adjacent peak
Why does burning fossil fuels cause global warming?
the extra atmospheric CO2 lifts the τ = 1 layer to a colder level in the atmosphere
What is appropriate clothing for 260 K?
winter jacket and earmuffs
As the Earth cools, the atmosphere holds ____ water vapor and that tends to cause the Earth to emit ____ radiation to space.
"less" and "more"
Aerosol spray cans are responsible for how much radiative forcing?
0 W/m2
What is a typical capacity factor for a solar panel?
0.15
At the current rate of global warming of 3 K/century, roughly how much additional sea-level rise have we committed the planet to each year?
0.2 m
How long does it take to drive 5 km at 20 km/hour?
0.25 hours
To make 1 J of ethanol energy from U.S. corn, we have to expend
0.6 to 1.3 J
900 millibars equals
0.9 bar
In the business-as-usual scenario, the global mean temperature will be 4 K warmer than preindustrial in 2100. What will the rate of sea level rise be?
12 mm/year
Roughly how much wind power could we possibly extract from the global land surface?
15 TW
Averaging over all land, day/night, seasons, and weather, the power per land area of sunlight is
150 W/m2
If planet A is the same size as planet B, but is twice as hot, how much more rapidly does planet A lose energy by radiation?
16 times
In what decade did measurements on Mauna Loa first document rising concentrations of CO2?
1960s
Roughly how much higher will CAPE be when the temperature has increased by 3 K?
20 %
Roughly what fraction of Earth's atmosphere is oxygen?
20%
Imagine that the Arctic has 3 million km2 of ice in September of 2030, and that September Arctic ice area is decreasing in 2030 by 2 million km2 per decade. In what year would you project the Arctic to be ice-free in September?
2045
Assuming a 2000-year timescale for the adjustment of sea level, if sea level is rising at 10 mm/year, roughly what is the committed sea-level rise?
20m
Given Earth's feedback parameter of -1.1 W/m2/K, what is roughly its final temperature perturbation in response to a doubling of CO2, which causes a forcing of 3.7 W/m2?
3 K
What is the modern best estimate of Earth's climate sensitivity?
3 K
At the current rate of sea-level rise, how much higher will global mean sea level be in 10 years?
3 cm
At roughly what rate is global mean sea level rising currently?
3 mm/year
Which of the following is a typical temperature on Earth?
300 K
What force keeps neutrons and protons bound together?
STRONG
Which people played a role in discovering the power per area of radiation emitted by an object?
Stefan & Boltzmann
Which of the three has the shortest wavelength? a) infrared b) ultraviolet c) visible
b) ultraviolet
The temperature of Mercury is most similar to which of the following? a) ice cube b) oven c) Berkeley d) liquid nitrogen e) blowtorch
b)oven
Endotherm
warm blooded
From what optical depth into the Sun does the Sun emit light to space?
τ= 1
As the Earth warms, the atmosphere holds ____ water vapor and that tends to cause the Earth to emit ____ radiation to space.
"more" and "less"
Parties to the UNFCCC commit to the UNFCCC objective of
"prevent[ing] dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system"
Utility-scale wind power costs roughly how much to install per watt of rated power?
$1/W
If a sand dune's feedback parameter is +25 kg/s/m, by what amount does its net rate of inflow change if we apply a sudden height perturbation of −5 m?
-125 kg/s
The IPCC was founded in___and issued its first assessment report in___
1988 and 1990
What are the units of kinetic energy?
kg m2/s2
CAPE is the _____________ amount of kinetic energy per mass of air that a cloud could theoretically get by rising through the atmosphere with ___________ and no drag.
maximum / no entrainment
For climate studies, what are the two most important instruments inside a Stevenson enclosure?
min-temperature and max-temperature thermometers
Which of the following is a violation of conservation of momentum? car races, ball races, tree grows
none of these answers
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 RH = 1, then a
nothing happens
If constructed, the Keystone XL pipeline will carry
oil from Albert tar sands
If constructed, the Dakota Access Pipeline will carry
oil past Native-American land
If a sand dune's feedback parameter is −3 kg/s/m, what is the final perturbation if a forcing of −9 kg/s is applied?
-3m
If a sand dune's feedback parameter is −15 kg/s/m, by what amount does its net rate of inflow change if we apply a sudden height perturbation of 3 m?
-45 kg/s
Roughly how much sea-level rise do we get from melting the Arctic sea ice?
0 m
To make 1 J of ethanol energy from Brazilian sugarcane, we have to expend
0.1 to 0.25 J
What is a typical capacity factor for a wind turbine?
0.3
How much higher is global mean sea level today than it was in the preindustrial?
0.3 m
If a sand dune's feedback parameter is −8 kg/s/m, what is the final perturbation if a forcing of 4 kg/s is applied?
0.5 m
Ocean acidification puts 60% of the carbon burned by humans into the ocean on a timescale of
1 thousand years
Proven reserves of uranium could provide the needed 60 TW of power for how long?
1 year
To generate the needed 60 TW of power, roughly what percentage of Earth's land surface would we need to cover in solar cells?
1%
Roughly how much is 1.075?
1.35
What is roughly the maximum potential global power generation from hydroelectric dams?
1.5 TW
Taken altogether, methane, nitrous oxide, ozone, and halocarbons are responsible for how much radiative forcing?
1.5 W/m2
What is the modern estimate for the likely range of Earth's climate sensitivity?
1.5 to 4.5 K
Using the minus-thirty-and-halve approximation, what is 50 ◦F in Celsius?
10 C
In a dry atmosphere, what is the numerical value of the lapse rate?
10 K/m
Consider a metal rod that has 10 W of heat conduction between its two ends, which are maintained at temperatures of 200 K and 400 K. If we raise the temperature of both ends by 100 K, what is the new rate of heat conduction along the rod?
10 W
If a lightbulb produces 100 J of heat and light while on for 10 seconds, how much electrical power does the lightbulb consume?
10 W
Towards the end of this century, the human population will be roughly
10 billion
What is the rate of gravitational acceleration on Earth, often represented by g?
10 m/s^2
Using Wien's law, what is the peak wavelength of radiation emitted by an object with a temperature of 300 K?
10 micronS
The acidified ocean is returned to its original pH on a timescale of
10 thousand years
At Earth's surface, atmospheric pressure is equivalent to
10 tons per square
Roughly what fraction of land area is suitable for wind power, i.e., has a wind class of 3 or higher?
10%
If a 2-kg weight is lifted 5 meters, how much gravitational potential energy has it been given?
100 J
If a 5-kg weight is lifted 2 meters, how much gravitational potential energy has it been given?
100 J
Using the approximate Stefan-Boltzmann law, Power per area = 6[T/100]4, what is the temperature of a planet that radiates 6 W/m2?
100 K
If a hydropower plant extracts energy from 100 kg/s of water that falls 100 m, roughly how much electrical power does it generate?
100 kW
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
What is the likely amount of carbon contained in methane clathrates?
1000-10000 GtC
How much power does the average American consume?
10000 W
If the partial pressures of nitrogen, oxygen, argon, and water vapor are 780 mbars, 200 mbars, 10 mbars, and 30 mbars, what is the total pressure
1020 mbars
Roughly how thick is Earth's atmosphere?
10km thicc
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
An overshot water wheel generates power by capturing the gravitational potential energy of water as it is carried by the wheel from its top to its bottom. If a 2-m-diameter overshot water wheel processes 7 kg/s of water, roughly how much power does it generate?
140 W
Consider a metal rod that has 10 W of heat conduction between its two ends, which are maintained at temperatures of 200 K and 400 K. If we lower the temperature of the cold end from 200 K to 100 K, what is the new rate of heat conduction along the rod?
15 W
Consider a metal rod that has 10 W of heat conduction between its two ends, which are maintained at temperatures of 200 K and 400 K. If we raise the temperature of the hot end from 400 K to 500 K, what is the new rate of heat conduction along the rod?
15 W
Including all soil depths, permafrost contains how much carbon?
1500 GtC
If a 5-kg weight is lifted 2 meters on the moon, how much gravitational potential energy has it been given? On the moon, g = 1.6 m/s2.
16 J
If a mixture of nitrogen and oxygen has a total pressure of 900 mbars, and if the partial pressure of nitrogen is 720 mbars, what is the partial pressure of oxygen?
180 mbars
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 year did congressional testimony first raise public awareness about global warming?
1988
Borehole paleothermometry reveals a mean global ground-temperature increase over the past ~100 years of
1k
What is the current radiative forcing from the extra CO2 that is currently in the atmosphere?
2 W/m2
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
At what rate are humans currently consuming energy?
20 TW
Consider a 0.01-kg feather initially at rest, so vi = 0, at height hi in a vacuum. It is dropped and reaches a final speed of vf = 20 m/s at the ground, where hf = 0. What was hi?
20 m
Consider a 2-kg bowling ball initially at rest, so vi = 0, at height hi in a vacuum. It is dropped and reaches a final speed of vf = 20 m/s at the ground, where hf = 0. What was hi?
20 m
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
Which of the following is a typical temperature of a blowtorch?
2000 K
A typical building has 3 meters between floors and the average American adult weighs 80 kg. How much energy does it take to lift 5 average American adults up 2 floors in a typical building?
24 kJ
Using the minus-thirty-and-halve approximation, what is 80 ◦F in Celsius?
25 C
If a planet's total solar irradiance, or TSI, is 1000 W/m2, what is the average incident sunlight per planetary surface area?
250 w/m^2
What is 0 ◦C in Kelvin?
273 K
What was the preindustral concentration of carbon dioxide?
280 ppm
What is the average temperature of Earth?
288 K
What is 20 ◦C in Kelvin?
293 K
If Earth's mean temperature increases from 288 K to 291 K when CO2 is doubled from its preindustrial concentration, what mean temperature would you expect if CO2 were quadrupled from its preindustrial concentration?
294 K
In an atmosphere with water, approximately what is the temperature at a height of 4 km if the temperature at a height of 2 km is 283 K?
296 K
By how much have Berkeley's warm-season maximum temperatures increased over the past 125 years?
2K
If planet A is the same temperature as planet B, but has twice the area, how much more rapidly does planet A lose energy by radiation?
2x
Roughly how much power will a 10-MW wind turbine generate?
3 MW
Using Wien's law, what is the peak wavelength of radiation emitted by an object with a temperature of 100 K?
30 MICRONS
Averaging over all land, day/night, seasons, and weather, and assuming a typical solar-cell efficiency, the electrical power per land area generated by PV panels is
30 W/m2
If a town is underlain by 3 m of permafrost, and if the permafrost is thawing there at a rate of 10 cm/year, in roughly how long will the town have no permafrost?
30 years
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
If a planet's TSI is 2000 W/m2 and its albedo is 0.4, how much power per area must the planet radiate?
300 W/m^2
How many Joules of heat are generated by a heater that outputs 500 W for 10 minutes?
300 kJ
Which causes the greater amount of additional warming? an increase of CO2 from 300 to 400 ppm or 400 to 500ppm
300 to 400
On 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
Roughly how much more water vapor is in an atmosphere once it warms up by 5 K?
35%
The human body produces about 100 W of heat. How much heat does the human body emit in an hour?
360 kJ
How many gas giants are there in our Solar System
4
How many rocky planets are there in our Solar System
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
Using the minus-thirty-and-halve approximation, what is 110 ◦F in Celsius?
40 C
Roughly how much power will a 300-W solar panel generate?
45 W
Which of the following is a typical temperature of an oven?
450 K
If a sand dune's feedback parameter is +24 kg/s/m, by what amount does its net rate of inflow change if we apply a sudden height perturbation of 2 m?
48 kg/s
Consider a metal rod that has 10 W of heat conduction between its two ends, which are maintained at temperatures of 200 K and 400 K. If we lower the temperature of the hot end from 400 K to 300 K, what is the new rate of heat conduction along the rod?
5 W
Consider a metal rod that has 10 W of heat conduction between its two ends, which are maintained at temperatures of 200 K and 400 K. If we raise the temperature of the cold end from 200 K to 300 K, what is the new rate of heat conduction along the rod?
5 W
The power per area emitted by an object, in W/m2, is equal to?(Stefan & Boltzmann law)
5.67(T/100)4
Consider a 0.01-kg feather initially at rest, so vi = 0, at height hi in a vacuum. It is dropped and reaches a final speed of vf = 10 m/s at the ground, where hf = 0. What was hi?
5m
Consider a 2-kg bowling ball initially at rest, so vi = 0, at height hi in a vacuum. It is dropped and reaches a final speed of vf = 10 m/s at the ground, where hf = 0. What was hi?
5m
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?
6 K
How much kinetic energy is in a 3-kg ball traveling at 2 m/s?
6 j
What is the approximate power per area emitted by the inside wall of an oven in W/m2 ?
6 x 4.5^4
What is the approximate power per area emitted by a person in W/m2?
6(3^4)
In an atmosphere with water, what is the numerical value of the lapse rate?
6.5 K/km
To allow all 10 billion people to live like Americans, roughly how much electrical power does humanity need to generate?
60 TW
If a bank account accrues interest at a rate of 2% per year, by what percentage has the initial principal increased after 30 years?
60%
What is the temperature of the Sun where it emits light?
6000 K
Which of the following is a typical temperature of the Sun?
6000 K
Roughly how much higher is CAPE in an atmosphere once it has warmed by 1 K?
7%
According to the Clausius-Clapeyron equation, p ∗ v increases with temperature exponentially at a rate of approximately
7%/K
If humans burn 5000 GtC in a couple centuries, roughly what will the atmospheric concentration of CO2 be in the year 12017?
750 ppm
How many planets are there in our Solar System?
8
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?
8 K
If a sand dune's feedback parameter is −20 kg/s/m, by what amount does its net rate of inflow change if we apply a sudden height perturbation of −4 m?
80 kg/s
Given Earth's feedback parameter of -1.1 W/m2/K, what is roughly its final temperature perturbation in response to a brightening of the Sun that leads to 9.9 W/m2 of extra solar absorption?
9 K
At roughly what rate will sea-level be rising when the planet has warmed by 3 K?
9 mm/year
What is an AMSU?
Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit
Which of the three has the shortest wavelength? a) red b) green c) blue
BLUE
Which is not a type of photon? a) gamma ray b) radio wave c) meson d) x ray e) microwave
C)MESON
Through this program, car manufacturers are forced to sell cars that have, on average, a miles-per-gallon efficiency above some threshold.
CAFE
Which of these is an example of a halocarbon?
CF2Cl2
What is the chemical formula for methane?
CH4
What chemical formula most accurately describes the burning of natural gas?
CH4 + 2O2 → CO2 + 2H2O
When permafrost thaws, it releases
CO2 and CH4
Would most people consider 40 K cold or hot?
COLD
Would most people consider 40 ◦F cold or hot?
COLD
What chemical reaction ultimately removes the excess carbon from the atmosphere and ocean?
CaSiO3 + CO2 → CaCO3 + SiO2
When a mass exchanges energy with an adjacent mass by jiggling against it, what do we call this?
Conduction
COP stands for
Conference of the Parties
When energy moves from one place to another because a mass carries that energy there, what do we call this?
Convection
What is true about all photons? a) they are all blue b) they have the same wavelength c) they have the same frequency d) they travel at the same speed e) all of the above
D) THEY TRAVEL AT THE SAME SPEED
Who is credited with alerting scientists to global warming by documenting the rising concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere?
Dave Keeling
What of the following emits photons? a) the Sun b) the Earth c) a chair d) a person e) all of the above
E) ALL OF THE ABOVE
Through this program, consumers are told what the annual energy cost of an appliance is likely to be.
Energy Star
Overall, the land surface and the top layers of soil tend to ___ with warming.
GET DRIER
What is the first molecule that CO2 forms when dissolved in water?
H2CO3
Which chemical reaction describes ocean acidification?
H2CO3 → H+ + HCO3−
Using Wien's law, what is the peak wavelength of radiation emitted by an object with a temperature of 6000 K?
HALF A MICRON
In what form is most of the dissolved carbon in the ocean?
HCO3−
Would most people consider 40 ◦C cold or hot
HOT
What is another name for longwave?
INFRARED
Through this program, the federal government pays for a fraction of your residential solar PV installation.
ITC
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 discovered that mechanical work gets converted to heat, thereby establishing the law of conservation of energy?
James Joule
Who is credited with starting the industrial revolution with their invention?
James Watt
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
What is the unit for energy?
Joule
What are a set of appropriate units for the lapse rate?
K/km
When talking about the wavelengths of radiation from the Sun and Earth, it is most convenient to use which unit?
MICROMETER
What is the most abundant molecule in Earth's atmosphere?
N2
Why is there abundant nitrogen in Earth's atmosphere?
N2 does not like to stay in magma so is emitted by volcanoes & does not readily react chemically
What is the chemical formula for nitrous oxide?
N2O
Which of these is an example of a NOx?
NO2
If a bank account accrues interest at a rate of 4% per year, by what percentage has the initial principal increased after 50 years?
NOT: 200%, 20%, 1.25%, 12.5%
What is special about 0 K?
NOTHING MOVES
Which of the following is required for forming ozone in smog?
NOx, volatile organic compounds, sunlight
What is the chemical formula for ozone?
O3
Which of the following gases is transparent to longwave radiation?
Oxygen
Scotch, the alcoholic drink and not the people, is made using
PEAT
Through this program, the federal government pays some number of dollars for each joule of electricity generated from the first 10 years of a wind turbine's life?
PTC
Order the Phanerozoic eras from oldest to most recent.
Paleozoic Mesozoic Cenozoic
What is Earth's biggest negative feedback?
Planck feedback
Snowball Earth has occurred
Precambrian
Through this program, a state requires that a fraction of the electricity sold by utilities comes from renewable sources like wind and solar.
RPS
What book is credited with kicking off the U.S. environmental movement in 1962?
Rachel Carson's Silent Spring
By what process does energy from the Sun get to Earth's surface?
Radiation
When a mass exchanges energy with a faraway mass by sending photons to it, what do we call this?
Radiation
International coordination on climate change began in 1992 with a document adopted in
Rio de Janeiro
Who first predicted global warming and made a calculation of Earth's climate sensitivity?
Svante Arrhenius
CAPE is proportional to
The amount of water vapor in the air
Which of the following federal agencies does not have its own climate model?
USPS
The document adopted in 1992 is called the
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
What industrialized country did not join the Kyoto Protocol?
United States
What is the only country that plans to not be a party to the Paris Agreement?
United States
How is a Joule defined in terms of other units?
W x s
The IPCC was founded by
WMO and UNEP
What is the unit for power?
Watt
The optical depth(τ)for some path of light through a gas depends on
a constant k describing how readily the gas tends to absorb or scatter radiation, the length ∆z of the light path, and the density ρ of the gas
The radiative forcing by extra greenhouse gases is best described as causing
a decrease of outgoing power
Ethanol fuel is made from the stuff found in
a glass of beer
Biodiesel is made from the stuff found in
a jug of vegetable oil
What is an acid?
a molecule that adds H+ ions to water
A negative perturbation is
a negative amount of net incoming flow
Methane clathrate is
a water-ice lattice that encases methane molecules; WHITE COLD AND FLAMMABLE
Which of the three has the longest wavelength? a) infrared b) visible c) ultraviolet
a) infrared
cirrocumulus
above 18,000ft; mackeral sky, spotty high clouds.
What is the primary source of anthropogenic nitrous oxide?
agriculture
Which of the following is not one of the three major sectors of energy consumption?
agriculture
Parties to the UNFCCC include
all nations on Earth
A positive perturbation is
an increase in the stock from its steady-state level
Which of the following is not a rocky planet? a) Mercury b) Neptune c) Venus d) Mars e) Earth
b) neptune
What is another name for cyanobacteria?
blue-green algae
Which of the following is an example of conduction?
burn hand on hot pan
Which of the following is not a leading source of anthropogenic methane emissions?
burning natural gas
Imagine that the price of a single permit is 100 $, with each permit covering 1 tC. If a company gets 0 permits for free for the year, and the company burns 3 tC of fossil fuel in that year, what does the company do?
buys 3 permits and thereby loses 300 $
Imagine that the price of a single permit is 100 $, with each permit covering 1 tC. If a company gets 3 permits for free for the year, and the company burns 6 tC of fossil fuel in that year, what does the company do?
buys 3 permits and thereby loses 300 $
Imagine that the price of a single permit is 100 $, with each permit covering 1 tC. If a company gets 0 permits for free for the year, and the company burns 6 tC of fossil fuel in that year, what does the company do?
buys 6 permits and thereby loses 600 $
Which of the following is not the same as the rest? a) micron b) millionth of a meter c) thousandth of a meter d) micrometer e) µm
c) thousandth of a meter
Which of the following is not a gas giant? a) Neptune b) Jupiter c) Venus d) Saturn e) Uranus
c) venus
What is CaCO3?
calcium carbonate
A carbon-pricing scheme in which 100 permits are given out for free and 2000 permits are auctioned with proceeds divvied up among all households is best described as
cap & trade and everyone gets the money
A carbon-pricing scheme in which 2000 permits are given out for free and 100 permits are auctioned with proceeds divvied up among all households is best described as
cap & trade and polluters get the money
A carbon-pricing scheme in which 2000 permits are given out for free and 100 permits are auctioned with proceeds spent on renewables research and development is best described as
cap & trade and polluters get the money
A carbon-pricing scheme in which 100 permits are given out for free and 2000 permits are auctioned with proceeds spent on renewables research and development is best described as
cap & trade and victims get the money
A carbon-pricing scheme in which 100 permits are given out for free to companies in proportion to their past emissions and 2000 permits are auctioned with proceeds spent on renewables research and development is best described as
cap & trade and victims get the money
In this carbon-pricing scheme, the market sets the price of carbon emissions.
cap-and-trade
Which of the following gases is relatively opaque to longwave radiation?
carbon dioxide
In this carbon-pricing scheme, the government sets the price of carbon emissions.
carbon tax
A carbon-pricing scheme in which 100 permits are given out for free to companies in proportion to their past emissions and 2000 permits are auctioned with proceeds divvied up among all households is best described as
carbon tax and everyone gets the money
A carbon-pricing scheme in which 2000 permits are given out for free to companies in proportion to their past emissions and 100 permits are auctioned with proceeds divvied up among all households is best described as
carbon tax and polluters get the money
A carbon-pricing scheme in which 2000 permits are given out for free to companies in proportion to their past emissions and 100 permits are auctioned with proceeds spent on renewables research and development is best described as
carbon tax and polluters get the money
What is CO3−−?
carbonate ion
What is H2CO3?
carbonic acid
Climate sensitivity is the
change in temperature for a doubling of CO2
A natural-gas-fired power plant is powered by
chemical reactions
Which of the following is a mechanism built into the Kyoto Protocol to allow countries to avoid reducing their own emissions?
clean development mechanism
Low atmospheric surface pressure usually corresponds to
cloudy and rainy weather
Compared to the Earth, is Mars cold or hot?
cold
What is the source of a storm cloud's buoyancy?
condensation
By what process does a blob of air move its heat from Earth's surface up into the atmosphere?
conduction
By what process does air that is in contact with the Earth's surface get heat?
conduction
What do we call a fundamental law of physics that says that stuff is neither created nor destroyed?
conservation law
Why does a small piece of burning paper float up into the air?
convection
If the Earth suddenly becomes warmer than its steady-state temperature, the Planck feedback tends to make the Earth
cooler
What made the Cenozoic the Age of Mammals rather than the Second Age of Dinosaurs?
cooler climate in the Cenozoic
What happens to the temperature of your skin when you exercise?
cools down
What is the most certain way to date glacial ice?
counting layers
What caused the Great Oxygenation Event 2.4 billion years ago?
cyanobacteria
Which of the following describes the planet Mercury? a) no atmosphere b) smallest planet c) closest to the Sun d) all of the above
d) all of the above
Which of the following is not an SI unit? A)second b) kilogram c) Kelvin d) foot e) Joule
d) foot
The Climate Science Legal Defense Fund
defends climate scientists being threatened or harassed
The divvying up of the world into Annex-I and Annex-II countries broadly reflects
different economic conditions in North America and Western Europe compared to the former Soviet Socialist republics
The divvying up of the world into Annex-I and non-Annex countries broadly reflects
different economic conditions in North America and Western Europe compared to the former Soviet Socialist republics
What were the Mesozoic megafauna?
dinosaurs
The acidified ocean is returned to its original pH by
dissolution of calcium carbonate
Fossil Free UC is trying to get UC to
divest from fossil-fuel companies
If we could somehow double the albedo of Mars, would its temperature go up or down?
down
What force holds electrons in orbit around the nucleus?
electromagnetic
What force prevents you from pushing one hand through your other hand?
electromagnetic
What is a sink of a storm cloud's buoyancy?
entrainment
Biomass energy has the potential to provide all of humanity's current energy needs.
false
Biomass energy has the potential to provide all of humanity's future energy needs.
false
Halocarbons are still found in aerosol spray cans.
false
Hydropower has the potential to provide all of humanity's current energy needs.
false
Hydropower has the potential to provide all of humanity's future energy needs.
false
Observations prove that global warming has made hurricanes more frequent:
false
Observations prove that global warming has made hurricanes more intense
false
Observations prove that global warming has made tornadoes more frequent:
false
Pressure decreases as we move downwards in a fluid like the ocean or atmosphere
false
Compared to the Earth, is Mars farther from the Sun or closer to the Sun?
farther
Cumulonimbus
from near the ground to above 50,000ft, rain, long thick clouds.
Where does radiation move energy into, out of, or within the Earth?
from the Sun to the Earth from the surface to the atmosphere within the atmosphere from the Earth to space
Where does conduction move energy into, out of, or within the Earth?
from the surface to the atmosphere
Why is the sky blue?
gas molecules scatter short wave-lengths more than long wavelengths
What is an example of something that a wind mill does not do?
generate electricity
Tilting PV panels towards the Sun allows them to
generate more power per panel area
When a gas is depressurized, its temperature
goes down
When a gas is pressurized, its temperature
goes up
curve of binding energy
graph with 1/x shape on 2nd quadrant with fusion coming from the left and fission coming from the right with energy per proton and neutron on the y-axis and number of neutron and protons on the x-axis
Condensation of water vapor does the following.
heats the air
A toaster converts __________ -grade energy into _________ -grade energy.
high / low
A toaster converts________-grade energy into_________-grade energy.
high / low
The higher the k and/or ρ of some gas in the atmosphere, the___the effective height of emission to space.
higher
Which of the following is an example of convection?
hot air balloon rises
Which emits water molecules at a faster rate?
hot water
What climate state was Earth in at the time of the dinosaurs?
hothouse
What is H+?
hydrogen ion
climate is earth in now
icehouse
If someone claims to be generating biofuel energy at a rate of 10 W per square meter of cropland, you would say that is
impossible
What motivated the formation of the International Meteorological Organization, later renamed the World Meteorological Organization, in the 1800s?
invention of the telegraph, large size of storms compared to European countries, & a desire to make weather forecasts
A positive forcing
is an externally applied increase in the net inflow
A negative forcing is
is an externally applied reduction in the net inflow
If the number of air molecules in a sealed jar is doubled without changing the temperature, how does the pressure in the jar change?
it doubles
If the number of water molecules in the air is doubled without changing the temperature, what happens to the water vapor pressure pv?
it doubles
If the temperature of air in a sealed jar is doubled without changing the number of air molecules, how does the pressure in the jar change
it doubles
What is so super about a supercomputer?
it has many ordinary computers connected together
If the height of a sand dune is 50 meters 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 dune's 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
Which countries uses Fahrenheit?
just the U.S.
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
Which of the following is not a positive feedback?
lapse-rate feedback
What do we call energy hidden in a particular phase of matter?
latent heat
Lifting a 20-kg weight a height of 0.5 m a total of 7 times requires ____________ lifting a 5-kg weight a height of 1 m a total of 15 times.
less energy than
Lifting a 20-kg weight a height of 0.5 m a total of 7 times requires________lifting a 5-kg weight a height of 1 m a total of 15 times.
less energy than
If RH < 1, then
liquid water evaporates
What do we call the radiation emitted by a planet?
longwave
Imagine that the carbon tax is 100 $/tC. If a company burns 3 tC of fossil fuel in that year, what does the company do?
loses 300 $
Imagine that the carbon tax is 100 $/tC. If a company burns 6 tC of fossil fuel in that year, what does the company do?
loses 600 $
A coal-fired power plant converts_____-grade energy into_____-grade energy
low / high
stratocumulus
lower level below 6,000ft; puffy clouds.
cumulus
lower level below 6,000ft; rain clouds puffy with vertical development.
stratus
lower level below 6,000ft; spread out thicker hazy clouds.
Which of the following is not one of the primary pieces of evidence for global warming?
lunar brightness records
What was James Watt's primary contribution?
making the steam engine much more efficient
The Curiosity rover is on which planet?
mars
Which of the following was a consequence of the Great Oxygenation Event
mass extinction due to toxic oxygen, oxygen is added to the atmosphere, Earth freezes over
With the exception of high-energy nuclear reactions, which of the following is always conserved?
momentum, mass, energy
Pulling a seed out of molten silicon is a way to generate
monocrystalline silicon
How many COPs have there been?
more than 20
An extra molecule of CH4 in the atmosphere causes___an extra molecule of CO2 in the atmosphere.
more warming than
Plastering all residential roofs with solar panels would generate
much less than 60 TW
A cap and trade scheme with auctioning of all permits preferentially favors
neither
Through this program, you are allowed to effectively sell your surplus solar electricity to the utility during the daytime.
net metering
Do suction cups work in space?
no
Which of the following is a violation of conservation of energy? car races, ball races, tree grows
none of these answers
Which of the following is a violation of conservation of mass? car races, ball races, tree grows
none of these answers
If a sand dune's feedback parameter is +1 kg/s/m, what is the final perturbation if a forcing of -2 kg/s is applied?
nonsense question because the dune is unstable
Americium in your smoke detector releases energy by
nuclear fission
Existing nuclear power plants are powered by
nuclear fission
A hypothetical tokamak power plant is powered by
nuclear fusion
The Sun is powered by
nuclear fusion
A cap and trade scheme with free distribution of permits based on historical emissions preferentially favors
old companies
A carbon tax with proceeds divvied up among all households preferentially favors
old companies
A carbon tax with proceeds returned to companies based on historical emissions preferentially favors
old companies
What does optically thick mean?
opaque
Large optical depth (τ>1) corresponds to being
optically thick
Small optical depth (τ<1) corresponds to being
optically thin
Why is the amount of oxygen in the atmosphere decreasing?
oxygen is being reacted with carbon to make carbon dioxide
Which of the following is the ideal gas law?
p ∝ NT
What is appropriate clothing for 280 K?
pants and a sweater
Dalton's law states that
partial pressures add
What do we call the layer of the Sun that emits light to space?
photosphere
By what process do cyanobacteria release oxygen?
photosynthesis
What kind of orbit do most AMSUs fly?
polar
Freezing silicon in a vat is a way to generate
polycrystalline silicon
Is the ice-abedo feedback a positive or negative feedback?
positive
With respect to Earth's temperature, an increase in CO2 in the atmosphere can be described as a
positive forcing
Which of the following is not a step in enacting a new treaty?
reconciliation
The purpose of a Stevenson screen is to
reflect away sunlight, provide shade, and provide a ventilated enclosure
Burning a significant portion of the recoverable fossil fuel will push Earth into what climate state?
runaway greenhouse
The energy budget of a wet-bulb thermometer is described by power being delivered to the bulb as__________ heat and power being removed from the bulb as ___________ heat.
sensible / latent
When liquid water evaporates, this is an example of
sensible converting to latent
What do we call regular heat that you can feel?
sensible heat
Phil Tagami is trying to
ship coal to Asia through an Oakland port
What do we call the radiation emitted by the Sun?
shortwave
Order the four global climate states from coldest to warmest.
snowball / icehouse / hothouse / runaway greenhouse
Permafrost is
soil that is frozen all year long
Which of the following is not synonymous with the others?
solar power tower
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 fossil-fuel industry employs scientists and public-relations firms primarily to
spread doubt about the state of climate science
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 of the sand dune, but the height of the sand dune is not changing in time?
steady state
The objective of the IPCC assessment reports is to
summarize the state of climate science
According to the Clausius-Clapeyron equation, the saturation vapor pressure p ∗ v is a function only of
temperature
What is albedo?
the fraction of sunlight reflected to space
What is the cloud base?
the height at which the rising air first condenses water vapor, the height at which rising air hits a relative humidity of one, the height at which the saturation vapor pressure first equals the rising air's vapor pressure
As you move from the equator to one of the poles, the land tends to get less solar power per land-surface area. This is because
the higher latitudes receive sunlight at a more glancing angle
The Clausius-Clapeyron equation tells us
the pressure of water molecules leaving a liquid surface
Lifting a 10-kg weight a height of 0.5 m a total of 5 times requires____________ lifting a 5-kg weight a height of 1 m a total of 5 times.
the same energy as
Lifting a 10-kg weight a height of 0.5 m a total of 5 times requires_______lifting a 5-kg weight a height of 1 m a total of 5 times.
the same energy as
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
Relative humidity is
the vapor pressure in the air divided by the saturation vapor pressure.
In the ocean and in the atmosphere, pressure is equal to
the weight per area of overlying fluid
Halocarbons were initially phased out by international law because
they generated the ozone hole
Which radiates the most power, a wall with a total area of 2 m^2 and temperature of 310 K, or a chair with a total area of 2 m^2 and temperature of 310 K?
they radiate the same power
Many of those who deny the science of climate change today also previously denied the science of
tobacco and cancer the ozone hole acid rain
What does optically thin mean?
transparent
In a house, hot air rises and cold air sinks
true
In a pot of water heated from below, hot water rises and cold water sinks
true
In the atmosphere, hot air rises and cold air sinks
true
What is another name for shortwave?
ultraviolet
Studies of boreholes reveal that these layers of the ground are warmer than they would be in the absence of global warming.
upper layers
Denoting wind speed by v, the kinetic energy of a blob of air is proportional to
v2
Denoting wind speed by v, the power generated by a wind turbine is proportional to
v3
Which of the following is an example of radiation?
warm hands by the fireplace
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? a) oxygen b) water vapor
water vapor
If RH > 1, then
water vapor condenses
What is the Earth's biggest positive feedback?
water vapor feedback
What is acidic water?
water with a high concentration of H+ ions
What happens when we calculate the average temperature of Earth the same way that we did for Mercury and Mars?
we get too cold of a tempeture
What color are clouds as seen from space?
white because water drops and ice scatter all wavelengths
Where does convection move energy into, out of, or within the Earth?
within the atmosphere
Which is the correctly labeled curve of binding energy?
x-axis: number of neutrons and protons; y-axis: energy per neutron and proton; fusion down and left, fission down and right
Do suction cups work in the deep ocean?
yes
If the dry-bulb temperature and wet-bulb temperature are much greater than normal skin temperature, then
you are dying
If the dry-bulb temperature and wet-bulb temperature are much less than normal skin temperature, then
you are not sweating
If the dry-bulb temperature is much greater than normal skin temperature and the wet-bulb temperature is much less than normal skin temperature, then
you are sweating
How deep into a gas does the gas emit radiation like a solid surface?
τ= 1