SUS 103
According to Figure 11.20 in your eText, climate change is expected to make the US, Central America, the Amazon, the Mediterranean, and Australia drier by 2100. This would increase the total land area subjected to drought by _____.
12-30%
In which document is it clearly stated that human influence on the climate system is unequivocally real?
2013 IPCC report
Peak incoming solar radiation each day is at noon, but the hottest time of day is _____.
3-4 hours later
A change in 2°C is equal to:
3.6F
The average vertical temperature change with increasing altitude in the atmosphere or environmental lapse rate is about ________ °C per kilometer.
6.5
CO2 dissolution into the oceans causes ocean acidification which will impact ocean fisheries. The IPCC notes that __________ percent of people engaged in fishing are small-scale fisheries, often in developing countries.
90
About what percentage of peer-reviewed literature from climate scientists agree that human activities cause global warming?
97%
Which of the following helps to explain the role of latitude in impacting climate?
A & B, The amount of solar radiation received per ground unit area, how much atmosphere is above a location to absorb radiation
In which of the following decades was warming greater than the previous decade?
All: 1980s, 1990s, First decade of the 21st century, both the 1980s and 1990s
Which of the following is an example of how current climate has changed?
All: The atmosphere and ocean have warmed. Snow and ice have diminished, frost-free periods are longer, Earth has been warmer in the last 3 decades than in any other decade since 1850
Which of the following about sulfurous aerosols is true?
All: They have an impact opposite that of the greenhouse gases on global warming, They raise the atmosphere's albedo, They act as cloud condensation nuclei
What are common characteristics of El Niño and La Niña?
Both Significant changes in tropical Pacific Sea Surface Temperature AND Significant shifts in weather throughout the globe
Why is the Montreal Protocol such a good example of legislation that could lead to reduced emission of greenhouse gasses?
Both: It was a successful, widely accepted international agreement to benefit the environment. AND It led to reduced emissions and eventual ban on emissions of CFCs which create the stratospheric O3 hole.
Why was the record cold winter of 2014 in the eastern US NOT an indication that the globe is not warming?
Both: The global average temperature for 2014 was warmer than any in the instrument record. AND This was an isolated event, not a change in the long-term average over many years.
How do we know that the current increase in global temperatures cannot be explained by an increase in incoming solar radiation?
Both: The stratosphere is cooling while the troposphere is warming. AND Sun spots occur on ~11 year cycles and are currently decreasing the amount of incoming solar ration while global temperatures are increasing.
How do conditions during the La Niña phase of ENSO compare to El Niño?
Both: They are generally the opposite AND the La Nina stores heat in the ocean while El Nino releases heat to the atmosphere
Which of the following impacts sea-level change?
Both: Waxing and waning of land-based glaciers. AND Thermal expansion of seawater.
Skepticism and denialism differ in that skeptics have doubts that __________ be overcome by evidence.
Can
As of 2009, the greatest single emitter of CO2 was _________
China
The climate change debate has evolved into the political arena with the use of attacks on state climatologists, lawsuits to confiscate scientific data, and hacking emails to create paraphrased misleading quotes. The latter hacking event was termed __________ -gate.
Climate
___is the temperature that you expect to find in a particular season of location on the globe
Climate
The fourth National Climate Assessment report examining exposure to hazards of a changing climate in the US was released to the public in 2018. Here is a clip of the Key findings: According to this clip...
Climate change is already impacting all regions of the US, Humans are responsible for climate change, $200 billion in climate damage, Impacts are already impacting sea level property, agriculture, tourism (ski resorts), disease spread and more (All of these)
What is the key difference between climate change and climate variability?
Climate change shows a statistical difference over more than 30 years
The occurrence of weather or climate events above the threshold value of the upper range or below the lower range threshold of observed values is a(n) __________.
Climate extreme
Which of the following requires direct contact of two objects?
Conduction
Global radiative equilibrium would result in a ____________planetary temperature.
Constant
Tree-ring records show that within the last 2000 years there have been megadroughts which lasted for several ________
Decades
Proxy climate data includes _______
Deep sea cores, ice cores, corals, tree rings, soils, pollen, historical documents
The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) is a carbon trading arrangement between developing nations and the __________ to offset conventional energy projects with carbon-free sources.
European Union
Copernicus, Wegener and Callendar were all famous scientific denialists.
False
nterglacial climates occur only when there are no glacial ice formations in existence.
False
What does it mean to be carbon neutral?
Fossil fuels may be burned but they are offset by the amount of CO2 taken out of the air, generally by forests
The difference between global (or regional) climate models and local weather models is that:
Global (or regional) climate models predict changes in the average temperature for the entire globe (or region) for an entire year. These can be accurate for many years into the future because they are based on boundary conditions for the planet including: incoming solar radiation, albedo, and greenhouse gas concentrations AND Weather models predict specific temperatures for a particular location on a given day. These are generally only accurate for up to 8 days because they are based on the fine details of predictions of atmospheric circulation patterns.
Incoming solar radiation (light energy) is absorbed by the Earth's surface and converted to outgoing infrared radiation (heat energy). Since energy can neither be created nor destroyed, if more energy enters the Earth's climate system than leaves it, a net disequilibrium in the Earth's energy balance would result in ______
Global Warming
The fact that clear atmosphere is nearly transparent to incoming solar radiation but less transparent to outgoing radiation is the basic principle of which of the following?
Greenhouse effect
The scientific controversy involving Nicholas Copernicus was over acceptance of his theory of ________
Heliocentrism
Which of the following is NOT an example of positive feedbacks to increase the temperature of the globe?
INCORRECT (Not None)
After the ocean, the largest reservoir of water in the Earth system is _______
Ice sheets and glaciers
Based on existing and projected crude oil reserves, U.S. production of petroleum is expected to __________ over the next decade.
Increase
If emissions of CO2 could be held at current levels, the atmospheric concentration would __________.
Increase throughout the century
Public policy is usually formulated through __________ decision making where small changes are made to existing policies. This approach can direct policy toward change that is politically acceptable.
Incremental
The IPCC stands for:
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
The US has stated their intent to pull out of the Paris agreement. When will this take affect?
It will not be in effect until after the next presidential election
What would happen to Earth without the Greenhouse Effect?
It would be too cold for humans
Absolute zero, the absence of molecular motion, is used in the definition of the ___________temperature scale.
Kelvin
On a global scale, precipitation is greater than evaporation from __________surfaces while evaporation exceeds precipitation from __________surfaces. This pattern forms the basis for the global water cycle. If there is more evaporation with global warming then there will necessarily be _________ water to precipitate out of the atmosphere in rain and snow storms.
Land/Ocean/More
Relatively recent examples of climatic fluctuations include the Medieval Warm Period and the __________
Little Ice Age
Variability of solar output is inferred from sunspot numbers. A minimum period of sunspot activity from 1460 to 1550 was named the ________
Little Ice Age
Human emitted Greenhouse gases impact ____
Loss of infrared radiation
Motivating factors in the denial of climate change are _______
Money, fear, anxiety (All of these)
The specific heat (or the amount of energy it takes to heat the substance) of water is __________ the specific heat of other common substances.
Much greater than
The thermohaline circulation is driven by sinking waters in the _____________ Ocean.
North Atlantic
The increasing heavy precipitation instances have been most prevalent in the __________ U.S.
Northeast
When compared to the sub-tropical gyres in the northern hemisphere, what is the direction of the sub-tropical gyres in the southern hemisphere?
Opposite
Paleoclimatology is the study of ___________ climates.
Past
An example of positive feedback in the pedosphere would be found in the ______
Permafrost
Latent (or "hidden") heat is involved in which of the following processes that in turn add to the complexities of calculating the Earth's energy budget and can add to the year to year temperature variation?
Phase changes of water
Plants use carbon dioxide and water to produce glucose necessary to survive in which process that also functions to take CO2 out of the air.
Photosynthesis
The most recent period of massive ice sheet formation occurred during the __________ epoch.
Pleistocene
Climate change is not geographically uniform; warming is enhanced at higher latitudes, a process called __________
Polar amplification
Sustainability is the capacity to meet needs of the ___ without compromising the needs of future generations
Present
More precipitation is expected at high latitudes but temperatures are also expected to be warmer there which would __________ stored carbon that is currently held in the frozen soils called _______.
Release/permafrost
Cap-and-trade is a market-based approach to reduce CO2 emissions similar to U.S. EPA efforts to reduce __________ emissions two decades ago in the acid deposition situation.
SO2
Trends of climate variables are increasing while trends of ___ are down.
Sea ice area and snow cover
The IPCC has collected ten variables that show the Earth has been warming. What are they besides temperature?
Sea level rising, more water vapor in air, growing seasons are longer, snow cover is decreasing, sea ice is melting, ocean heat content is rising
Snowboarders and skiers are easily sunburned because ______ . This reflected solar radiation is not impacted by greenhouse gases because it is still high energy, short wavelength solar radiation.
Snow reflects more solar radiation than it absorbs
What happens when we add more CO2 to the atmosphere?
Some CO2 dissolves into the ocean AND oceans become more acidic
The quantity of heat needed to raise the temperature of 1 gram of water one degree Celsius is a the _____
Specific heat
Isotope analysis is also possible with stalactites or dripstones known as _______
Spleothems
Which factor(s) can account for reduced incoming solar radiation?
Sulfate aerosols from volcanoes, sulfate aerosols from coal fired power plants, clouds
Peak incoming solar radiation each year is the ________, but the hottest time of year is ________.
Summer solstice, 2 months later
Which of the following is a measure of the average motion of particles contained in a substance?
Temperature
A constraint on politicians for policy creation is the issue that climate timescales are longer than __________.
Term and election scales
Potential tipping points include all except __________.
The rain shadow effect
Sea levels are rising due to _______
Thermal expansion of the ocean as water warms, melting of land ice
Which land surfaces are typically warmer?
Those with a low albedo
Merchants of Doubt chronicles the strategies used to attack harmful evidence and delay public policy action involving the __________ industry.
Tobacco
Compared to the amount of radiation received on the surface of the Earth from the Sun, the Earth receives ________ re-radiated back from greenhouse gases (use Fig 4.14 from your eText to answer, see below). Note that this is why we consider the greenhouse effect to be like a blanket around the Earth. While it is freezing cold on the top of Mount Everest even when there is full sun - this is because there is no atmosphere to hold the heat in. By comparison, we could stay much warmer even in the night if we retain our heat inside a sleeping bag. When we are lower in elevation with the greenhouse gases above us, they help regulate the temperature of the Earth by holding the heat in - as shown in the CO2 in a bottle videos.
Twice as much
UNFCCC treaty representatives met in 1997 in Kyoto, Japan, to conclude in principle to cut CO2 emissions by 5.2%. One chief emitter with 36% of annual global totals that did not ratify the treaty was the __________.
United States
Evapotranspiration refers to ______
Vapor loss from plant leaves and evaporation from soil and water surfaces
___is the temperature and precipitation that you actually find in a particular season or location on the globe.
Weather
When does climate change occur?
When incoming radiation and outgoing radiation are not in balance.
Making communities more resistant to harmful impacts of climate change involves _______
adaptation
Which of the following are factors that can account for variation in the temperature record over the past century:
all
Positive feedbacks act to __________ initial changes in a climate process.
amplify
Black carbon is a(n) _____________ that produces warming of the system.
atmospheric aerosol
The atmospheric concentration of a gas depends on its emission into the atmosphere and its rates of physical, chemical and biological removal. The time to lower the concentration of the gas to 37% of its original amount is its __________. Figure 10.13 shows that this is __________ for CO2
atmospheric lifetime / 200 years
A trusted potential spokesperson for delivering authentic scientific information to the general public on climate change, called a station scientist, is the ________
broadcast meteorologist
The radiative forcing agent that has had the greatest impact on Earth's climate is ________
carbon dioxide
The public understanding of climate change is made difficult by the confusion between weather and climate which you should now be able to explain. Instead, possible future climate conditions are now confined by the average temperatures we have seen over the past 30 years which have been significantly warmer than the temperature envelope we saw in the early 1900s. This future climate is already present to Canadian Inuits experiencing _________
changed animal migration patterns, melting permafrost, receding sea ice cover (all of these)
The Worldwide Threat Assessment from the US Intelligence community lists _____________ as a global threat to Human Security. The 2019 "Report on Effects of a Changing Climate to the Department of Defense"outlines the impacts of Climate Change on ________ US mission assurance priority military installations. These impacts are either current or expected within the next 20 years.
climate change/78 of 79
Subtropical gyres of the North Pacific and North Atlantic rotate in a ____________ sense.
clockwise
The greatest energy source for electricity production in the U.S. in 2012 was from ___________ but is now from __________. This is helpful because _____________ produces about half the half the CO2 emissions.
coal / natural gas/ natural gas
The law of energy conservation implies that the solar radiation received by Earth can be _____
converted to other forms
An object that emits more radiation than it receives from its surroundings will undergo radiational __________.
cooling
The albedo of a flat water surface as the Sun rises higher in the sky ______
decreases
While not directly caused by climate change, human-caused deforestation in the Amazon would impact the climate system by ________
decreasing oxygen production, increasing droughts, decreasing carbon dioxide removal (all of these)
According to John Cook, public perception of the scientific disagreement over causes for global warming __________ the progress toward policy actions.
delays
Climate variability and climate change _________ affect all areas uniformly in trend and magnitude.
do not
Tropical trees ____________ have well-defined growth rings.
do not
Because climate change affects the entire Earth system through forcings and feedbacks, it is appropriate to apply a holistic perspective in considering actions. This approach __________ conflict with the political process where government actions favor public opinion, strong interest groups and value systems that are not necessarily scientific.
does
Solar energy inputs to Earth that change over time due to the Sun's output or Earth's orbital variations would be ___________ climatic forcing factors.
external to Earth
Carbon capture and storage is a __________ strategy where energy producers would inject their liquid CO2 into geologic storage locations.
geoengineering
Large-scale intervention to produce forcings in the climate system to offset climate change consequences is a goal of _______
geoengineering
Sulfurous haze produced by volcanic eruptions has lowered Earth's temperature for a year or so. Proposals to inject such aerosols into the stratosphere in an on-going basis for this effect is one example of _______
geoengineering
El Niño conditions have been ___________ to the Peruvian fishing industry.
harmful
The Milankovitch cycles ___________ been corroborated by deep-sea cores.
have
Denialists' attacks focus on the key viewpoints of climate change that it is ________
human-caused, serious, solvable, real (all of these)
One area to efficiently decrease CO2 emissions without having a lifestyle impact is _________
increase vehicle gas mileage
Brine rejection during the freezing of seawater _____________ the salinity of underlying ocean waters. This makes the water heavier so the water sinks which starts the Great Ocean Conveyor Belt (also known as thermohyline circulation). Increase melting of Arctic ice with global warming reduces this salinity and slows ocean circulation which leads to greater heat build up in surface waters.
increases
Climate change may alter precipitation patterns and amounts impacting water supplies for __________.
irrigation, regional ecosystems, drinking water sources (all of these)
Pollen grains found in lake sediments provide data on changes in local vegetation which __________ assumed to have changed when the climate changed.
is
The Coriolis Effect deflects objects to the _________in the Southern Hemisphere.
left
Human fingerprints on the warming of the Earth include:
less heat escaping to space, measurements of the cooling of the stratosphere while the troposphere is warming, measurement of more infrared heat energy returning to Earth
The scientific method is a process that entails...
measurement and experimentation, formation, testing, and modification of hypothesis, systematic observation
Climate change is projected to threaten species' biodiversity through loss of ______
mix of existing species, natural habitat (both of these)
For marginally dry regions of the U.S., a warmer climate would likely lead to __________ droughts.
more
A warming climate may produce __________ hurricanes.
more strong but fewer weak
The law of conservation of energy states that energy can ______
neither be created or destroyed, change form
The global temperature record shows ___________ temperature increase between 1940 and 1970, likely due to increased human emission of aerosol pollutants (SO4- and NO3-) in the absence of pollution regulation during this period.
no overall or even a decline in
Fossil fuels are so called because natural geologic processes bury, compress and heat _______
organic plant and animal materials from the carboniferous epoch
Deep-sea sediments containing remains of marine organisms are studied for variation in the isotopic concentrations of _____________ atoms of atomic weights 16 and 18 to assess past temperatures.
oxygen
_____ isotope signatures in annual lake sediment layers (the annual layers are called varves) can be correlated with glacial melt water runoff and thus past temperatures.
oxygen
Ice cores provide paleoclimate information through _________
oxygen isotope analyses which tell pat temperatures, CO2 nd CH4 concentrations from gas bubble trapped in the ice cores
The Montreal Protocol of 1987 is viewed as a model of international cooperation to alleviate the destruction of stratospheric __________.
ozone
The primary natural factor that pulls CO2 out of the air is ___
photosynthesis
The ice-albedo feedback is an example of a ___________ feedback.
positive
A principle for international policy development such as with climate change, adopted by the 1992 Rio UN Conference on Environment and Development was: "When an action causes a threat to human health or the environment, precautionary measures should be taken even if some cause-and-effect relationships are not fully established scientifically." This is called the __________ principle.
precautionary
Milankovitch and others demonstrated that solar energy received by Earth changed during the most recent Ice Ages due to the _______
precession of the Earth's axis, Earth's orbital eccentricity around the Sun, tilt of the Earth's axis
An ethical dimension is embedded in the definition of sustainability as those "developments that meet the needs of the __________ without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs."
present
he 2007 report, updated in 2014, on National Security and the Threat of Climate Change stated that climate change posed a __________ threat to international security.
present
Loss of mountain glaciers and ice fields would have a disastrous impact on _________
rapid local warming, planetary albedo, local water supplies from runoff (all of these)
In addition to isotope analysis of coral structures, many corals are like trees in having annual growth ________
rings
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) concluded at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1992 proposed "__________ of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system."
stabilization
A climate tipping point is the change of the climate system from one relatively __________ state to another, very different one.
stable
The potentially most devastating impact of tropical cyclones in the coastal zone is due to the _________
storm surge
The protective layer in the atmosphere formed by the ozone is located in the ___
stratosphere
Volcanic activity producing ____________ can lead to cooling of Earth over a several year period.
sulfur dioxide and ash
The average kinetic energy of the atoms or molecules of a material determines its _____
temperature
These are examples of ______________ where it takes time for heat to build up in a system. These lags in the Earth's climate system together with the thermal inertia of the ocean help to explain why it takes time for heat to build up in the Earth's climate system.
thermal inertia
Renewable energy sources include __________
tidal power, geothermal, solar power, wind (all)
More precipitation occurs on the ______________sides of mountain ranges. This is because the air rises and ________ as the air mass passes over the mountain.
windward/cools
