EPS 7 Homework 8
Ocean acidification puts 60% of the carbon burned by humans into the ocean on a timescale of
1,000 years
What is the timescale for a human to grow to its maximum height?
10
The acidified ocean is returned to its original pH on a timescale of
10,000 years
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
100,000 years
Borehole paleothermometry reveals a mean global ground-temperature increase over the past 100 years of
1K
Roughly what fraction of the carbon burned by humans is still in the atmosphere as CO2 after 10,000 years?
20%
By how much have Berkeley's warm-season maximum temperatures increased over the past 125 years?
2K
If humans burn 5000 GtC in a couple centuries, roughly what will the atmospheric concentration of CO2 be in the year 12017?
750ppm
What chemical reaction ultimately removes the excess carbon from the atmosphere and the ocean?
CaSiO3 + CO2 → CaCO3 + SiO2
What is the first molecule that CO2 forms when dissolved in water?
H2CO3
What chemical reaction describes ocean acidification?
H2CO3 → H+ + HCO3−
In what form is most of the dissolved carbon in the ocean?
HCO3-
Which of the following federal agencies does not have its own climate models? (DOE, NASA, NSF, NOAA, USPS)
USPS
What is an acid?
a molecule that adds H+ ions to water
What is an AMSU?
advanced microwave sounding unit
What is HCO3-
bicarbonate ion
What is CaCO3
calcium carbonate
What is Co3--
carbonate ion
What is H2CO3?
carbonic acid
The acidification of ocean is retired to its original pH by
dissolution of calcium carbonate
The higher the k and/or p of some gas in the atmosphere, the ___ the effective height of emission to space
higher
What is H+?
hydrogen ion
What is so super about a supercomputer?
it has many ordinary computers connected together
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 T=1 level
For climate studies, what are two most important instruments inside a Stevenson enclosure?
min and max temperature thermometers
With the exception of high-energy nuclear reactions, which of the following is always conserved?
momentum, energy, mass
What kind of orbit do most AMSUs fly?
polar
The purpose of a Stevenson screen is to
reflect away sunlight, provide shade, provide a ventilated enclosure
What is serial computing?
solving a single problem on a single computer
The timescale for a process is
the time it takes for the process to be mostly done
Studies of boreholes reveal that these layers of the sound are warmer than they would be in the absence of global warming
upper layers
What are primary pieces of evidence for global warming?
vanishing tropical glaciers, borehole paleothermometry, Stevenson-screen thermometers, AMSU data
AMSU records show the atmosphere
warming at low altitudes and cooling at high altitudes
What do we call a fundamental law of physics that says that stuff is neither created nor destroyed?
conservation of energy
What is the most certain way to date glacial ice?
counting layers
Which of the following is a violation of conservation of momentum? (tree grows, ball falls, car races)
none
Which of the following is a violation of conservation of energy? (tree grows, ball falls, car races)
none of the answers
What is parallel computing?
solving a single problem on multiple computers at the same time
The unique fingerprint of CO2 induced global warming is
warming at low altitudes and cooling at high altitudes
What is acidic water?
water with a high concentration of H+ ions
