EEB2222 Final

In the last 20 years, in how many years has there been a new record high atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration

20

The evolution of C4 photosynthesis was in response to what change in the Earth's atmosphere

A decrease in carbon dioxide concentration

Fossil fuels are ultimately derived from what source?

Atmospheric carbon dioxide

Greenhouse gases promote the Greenhouse Effect because of which of these characteristics

Because they trap heat in the earth's atmosphere

The most water use efficient plants are typically of what photosnthetic type

CAM

Plants with which photosynthetic pathway lose the least amount of water per amount of CO2 taken up

CAM plants

Which greenhouse gas is responsible for the largest component of radiative forcing of the earth's temperature?

Carbon dioxide

The "Band Saturation Effect" means what as carbon dioxide concentration increases in the atmosphere?

Carbon dioxide has less of a warming effect per equal amount of increase

From a global warming/climate change perspective, what is the problem with cement

Cement production produces a lot of CO2

Which of the Milankovitch Cycles determines how far the Earth is from the Sun over a period of 100,000 years?

Eccentricity

What is a major difference between current human caused global warming and the Paleocene Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM)?

Human caused global warming is occuring over a much shorter time scale than the PETM

Land use change has numerous impacts, including

Increasing land available for agricultural production, Reducing biodiversity, Causing atmospheric CO2 concentration to increase

The available evidence indicates that the "CO2 Fertilization Effect" is causing

Increasing uptake of atmospheric CO2 by plants

Which of the following is a greenhouse gas

Methane

Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs) are 4 greenhouse gas concentration trajectories that allow us to think about future climate scenarios based on different levels of carbon emissions. The RCP that we are currently on, and is sadly the worst for Earth's future climate, is:

RCP 8.5

The End Permian Extinction (aka "The Great Dying") was an example of climate change driven by what global phenomenon?

Rising atmospheric carbon dioxide and associated global warming

Rubisco, the carbon dioxide fixing enzyme of the photosynthetic Calvin Cycle, goes very slowly at the current concentration of CO2 in the earth's atmosphere. This is likely because:

Rubisco evolved under much higher CO2 concentrations billions of years ago.

Choose the word or phrase that best fills in the blank in the following statement: "Climate is the ___________ of weather over long periods of time".

Statistics

The C4 cycle of photosynthesis makes the C3 cycle (Calvin cycle) go much faster because

The CO2 concentration around Rubisco is much higher than in C3 plants.

The changes in temperature that drove the Ice Ages of the last 800,000 years were largely associated with changes in the Earth's atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration and the associated Greenhouse Effect. However, a contributing/triggering cause that suggested a false dichotomy was what phenomenon?

The Milankovitch Cycles

The concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide in the earth's atmosphere is easily increased by the burning of fossil fuels. Why?

The amount of carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere is small relative to the amount being added from fossil fuel burning

Which one of these is NOT one of the 3 phases of the Calvin Cycle

The c4 plase

Green plants and photosynthesis evolved in an atmosphere that was much different than todays. Which of the following is a correct descripion of the ancient atmosphere relative to today

The carbon dioxide concentration was much higher

The Keeling Curve shows what

The concentration of carbon dioxide in the earth's atmosphere since 1960.

What was The Great Acceleration?

The increase, beginning in the 1950's, of industrialization and associated fossil fuel use

What is "CO2 fertilization"

The increased growth of plants grown at elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations.

Where is most of the extra heat going that is trapped by rising amounts of atmospheric greenhouse gases?

The oceans

What are two current sinks for atmospheric carbon dioxide

The oceans and terrestrial vegitation

The tilt of the earth's axis is responsible for what phenomenon?

The seasons

Where is most of the earth's carbon located

The solid earth

The Calvin Cycle of photosynthesis converts atmospheric carbon dioxide into sugars using energy from what ultimate source?

The sun

The sun emits energy that we can see, whereas the Earth emits heat energy that we cannot see. What accounts for the difference?

The sun is much hotter than the Earth

How can plants growing in the shade of other plants sense this?

There is more far red light relative to red light in the shade of other plants compared to full sun

Carbon dioxide diffuses into leaves, and water and oxygen diffuse out by what pathway?

Through stomates

What country currently produces the most CO2 emissions per person

United States

What country is responsible for the most total carbon dioxide emissions produced from fossil fuel and cement since 1751?

United States

Global warming is the result of which of the following?

an alteration of the Earth's carbon cycle

Which of the following plants uses the CAM photosynthetic pathway

cactus

Essentially all organic carbon in the biosphere is derived from what inorganic carbon source

carbon dioxide

Which of these plant species uses the C4 pathway of photosynthesis

corn

Methane is an important greenhouse gas produced from a variety of sources. Which one of the answers correctly describes a major source of methane?

cows belching

C4 photosynthesis was an evolutionary response to

decreasing atmospheric CO2 concentration

What is an example of an ecosystem service?

food

What is the single largest anthropogenic source driving the rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration?

fossil fuel burning

What is the single largest source of CO2 that is driving the current increase in the concentration of CO2 in the earth's atmosphere?

fossil fuels

Hadley Cells are an important determinent of the global distribution of which of the following?

precipitation

The CO2 Fertilzation Effect on plants is the result of which of the following

rising atmospheric carbon dioxide

The good thing about science is

that its true

Approximately one-half of the energy content of solar radiation is in what part of the radiation spectrum?

visable

The Arctic is heating much faster than most of the rest of the Earth because of what phenomenon?

polar implication

Carbon dioxide is what percentage of the earth's atmosphere

0.04

The increased amount of carbon dioxide in the oceans as a result of rising atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration is leading to what change in the oceans

increasing acidification

An important net sink for atmospheric CO2 is

land plants

The appearance of oxygen in the Earth's atmosphere promoted an increase in what plant physiological process

photorespiration

The oxygen in the earth's atmosphere that is necessary for life is the result of what process

photosynthesis

What physiological process is ultimately responsible for all of the the Earth's fossil fuel reserves

photosynthesis

What is the name of the photoreceptor in plants responsible for control of flowering by sensing the length of the night?

phytochrome