Environmental Science - Chapter 16 Study Guide
The side that wind first passes over
Windward
What killed 35,000 people in Europe is 2003?
Heat wave
Warm water is drawn away from the equator toward the poles by what?
Thermohaline circulation
How do volcanic eruptions affect weather?
They act as a cooling effect.
Scientists determine current climate conditions by doing what?
They measure conditions, such as temperature and precipitation, directly. they also look at past conditions.
How can planting of trees help reduce climate change?
They take in carbon dioxide from the atmospher during photosynthesis.
Elevation and the presence of features such as mountains and rivers make an areas what?
Topography
What is the main cause for global warming patterns?
Unequal heating for different parts of the earth
What can reduce the greenhouse gas emissions caused by driving?
Using public transportation
Amount of carbon emissions a person or group is responsible for is called what?
Carbon footprint
The death or expulsion of the algae that lives in coral reefs and give the coral it's bright color; often caused by a change in temperature or other conditions
Coral bleaching
what human activity contributes the most carbon dioxide to the atmosphere?
Deforestation, land use changes, and burning fossil fuels
A change in global weather patterns; includes changes in temperatures, wind patterns, rainfall, and the frequency of storms
Global climate change
A natural process in which certain gases in the atmosphere trap heat near earth, preventing the heat from radiating back into space
Greenhouse effect
gases such as water vapor and carbon dioxide that trap heat near earth are known as what?
Greenhouse gases
What percentage of fuel burned by a car actually moves it down the road?
14%
What is the greatest source of greenhouse gas in the US?
Burning fossil fuel for electricity
A system the US gov. Uses first to determine an acceptable amount of a specific pollutant and the assigns (via permits) a fraction of that amount to industrial sources of the pollutant
Cap-and-trade
Factory A is allowed to release 100 units of carbon dioxide but it only needs to release 75 units, so it plans to sell its extra 25 units to Factory B. What is this an example of?
Cap-and-trade
Global warming refers specifically to what?
Earth's average surface temperature
A periodic change in air pressure, wind patterns, ocean temperature and ocean circulation in the Pacific Ocean.
El Niño
What happens as a result of the ocean's abortion of carbon dioxide?
It causes a cooling effect
How was the Kyoto Protocol an improvement over the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change?
It was binding, not voluntary
If earth did not have an atmosphere, what would most of the energy from the sun do?
It would reflect back into space
An international agreement drafted in 1997 to limit greenhouse gas emissions
Kyoto protocol
What do prevailing winds move?
Moisture from one location to another
A voluntary payment made to compensate for greenhouse gas emissions
Offset
Global climate may be affected employees by factors such as topography, volcanic eruptions, regional vegetation, and changes in earth's _______.
Orbit.
To learn what climates were like is the past, scientists investigate what types of indirect evidence that serve as substitutes for direct measurement?
Proxy indicator
Type of indirect evidence that serves as a substitute for direct measurement
Proxy indicator
What is one of the criticisms of the Kyoto Protocol?
Required developed nations to reduce emissions but did not require the same of developed nations
What is the biggest danger posed by global warming to people living in costal areas?
Rising in sea levels
How has global warming made it difficult for polar bears to hunt seals?
Sea ice melts earlier and freezes later
As a result of global warming, some plant species in the mountains of California have done what?
Shifted their locations higher not the mountains
What has happened to global precipitation patterns in the last 100 years?
Some places are seeing much more while others are seeing drastically less.
