OCEAN 102 Quiz 1

The globally averaged land and ocean surface temperature have risen by approximately ______ since 1850. Fill in the blank.

1 degree celcius

Which of the following statements about Nunavut are correct? Select all that apply.

1. Nunavut means "Our Land". 2. Nunavut has a population of approximately 30,000 people. 4. Nunavut is about four times the size of the state of Texas. 5. The official languages if Nunavut are English, French and Inuktitut.

Select all that apply. Which of the following statements about change in the Arctic are correct?

1. The end of summer sea extent in 2020 was the second lowest in the 42-year satellite record. 3. August mean sea surface temperatures in 2020 were 1-3°C warmer than the 1982-2010 August mean over most of the Arctic Ocean. 4. Regional ocean primary productivity in parts of the Arctic was ~2 times higher for July and ~6 times higher for August compared to their respective monthly averages.

The new normal Arctic is characterized by:

1. long-term losses in the extent and thickness of the sea ice cover 3. loss of mass of ice in the Greenland Ice Sheet and Arctic glaciers 4. warming sea surface

The graph at right comes from the EPA's Inventory of GHG emissions and sinks. According to the graph below, what is the combined total of greenhouse gas emissions released by residential, commercial, and agriculture sectors combined?

1.<2000 million metric tons of CO2e

Over the past 600 million years, average global temperatures ranged between ________ and ________. Fill in the blanks with the best word choice from the list below.

12-22 degrees celcius.

Global average sea level has risen by approximately ______ since the 1900's. Fill in the blank with the best choice from the list below.

200 mm

In the plot above, what is shown on the y-axis?

Atmospheric CO2 in parts per million

Based on relative concentrations and time spent in the atmosphere, _______________ is the most important greenhouse gas. Fill in the blank with the best word choice from the list below.

CO2

Extreme weather threatens human health in all of the following ways except:

Extreme weather events can lead to increases in the spread of disease

True or False: Indigenous communities in the Arctic make up the majority of the Arctic population.

False

[TRUE OR FALSE] Based on the figure at right, the data in the figure is not reliable since there is observed inter-annual variation.

False

True or False: The commercial shipping industry would suffer from an ice-free Arctic because the shipping route between the North Pacific and North Atlantic would be much longer.

Flase

Which of the following statements about the IPCC is incorrect?

IPCC members are paid by the United Nations to conduct research on climate change.

Which one of these things is not true about the IPCC?

It is mainly run by the U.S. government

The figure at right was taken from the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report on Climate Change (2013). Which statement below best describes the pattern or trend in the data in the figure?

Land and ocean surface temperature has been warming since 1850 and the rate of warming has increased in the last few decades.

What causes glacier ice to retreat?

More ice melts in the summer than accumulates in the winter.

Currently, the concentration of carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere is about 400 parts per million. During the Cretaceous Period, about 110 million years ago, the concentration of carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere was about 2,000 parts per million. Based on your knowledge of the greenhouse effect, how do you think the average temperature on Earth 110 million years ago compared to the temperature in modern times?

Temperatures were warmers 110 million years ago than they are in modern times

The figure below shows sea surface temperature anomaly (change, or difference) in comparison to the sea surface temperature trends, patterns, and temperatures of 1971-2000. How was the data in the figure prior to 1900 likely collected or measured?

Thermometers

True or False: According to the IPCC, it is extremely likely that human influence has been the dominant cause of the observed warming since the mid-20th century.

True

True or False: As Earth has warmed over the last century, the oceans have absorbed most of that heat.

True

True or False: Projections suggest that the rate of sea level rise is likely to increase during the 21st century.

True

True or False: To date, most climate-related sea level rise is attributed to thermal expansion.

True

True or False: The difference between weather and climate is a measure of time.

True.

Which country has the highest CO2 emissions PER CAPITA?

United States

The global ocean conveyor belt could slow down if:

a large influx of fresh water entered into the Atlantic from glacial melting

On average, how long does it take for a parcel of water to travel around the world as part of the global conveyor belt?

about 700-1000 years

What is special about water?

all three states of matter are found at normal temperature/pressure, polar, ice is less dense than water, high specific heat content.

The arrangement of the hydrogen and oxygen atoms in a water molecule causes the water molecule to ________.

be polar

All of the following are predicted by models of a future warmer world except:

decreasing sea level at the equator

Using ice core data, scientists can reconstruct the historical record of all of the following except:

frequency of earthquakes

Economic disaster losses are ___ in developed countries and fatalities are ____ in developing countries. Fill in the blank.

higher; higher

As global temperatures increase and sea ice melts, the albedo (reflectivity) of the planet is decreased. This will cause temperatures to _____________ and is an example of a ___________ feedback. Fill in the blanks with the best word choice from the list below.

increase; postive

What causes glacier ice to retreat?

more ice melts in the summer than accumulates in the winter

In the tropics, high evaporation of water from the surface of the ocean causes surface waters to become ____________ salty and _________ dense. Fill in the blanks with the best word choice from the list below.

more; less

Which of the following is not a greenhouse gas?

oxygen

The ocean affects climate through all of the following processes except:

production of chlorofluorocarbons

Why are oceans important to climate?

provide oxygen, large and contain a lot of water, store anthropogenic carbon, store heat.

Which of the following does not affect global climate?

small earthquakes

Which of the following is not used as a proxy to reconstruct past climate change?

snow melt

Arctic sea ice provides all of the following ecosystem functions except:

source of pristine drinking water

Why does deep water form at the poles?

the water becomes more dense as it is cooled by the atmosphere

the two main causes for sea level rise are:

thermal expansion of water and melting of land ice