Climate Change midterm
The amount of global average surface temperature warming generally thought to have occurred since 1850 is about:
.8 c
Earth's 'climate sensitivity' is now judged to be in the range of:
1.5 to 4.5 oC
The last glacial period ended about ________ years ago.
10,000
The Holocene is a geological time period that began:
12 thousand years ago
How long ago was the peak of the last major glaciation?
20,000 years
How many ice ages occurred in the past two billion years of Earth's history?
5
To date, how many IPCC Assessment Reports have there been?
5
According to the Southeast Climate reading on precipitation trends, what is the annual precipitation total (in inches) for the Southeast as a whole?
50
The long-term pattern of global cooling during the Cenozoic period began:
55 million years ago
About how far back in time does the proxy record of changing climate from ice cores extend?
800,000 yrs
What confidence level do scientists typically require to conclude that a result of a given experiment or study did not occur purely by chance?
95%
According to recent studies (Doran, 2009 and Cook et al., 2013), what fraction of climate scientists agree that global average temperatures have increased in the past century due to increases in man-made atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations?
97%
What probability level does the IPCC require to conclude that a climate change prediction or observation is virtually certain to occur?
99%
Which of the following is NOT true about chlorofluorocarbons (CFC-11 and CFC-12)? they cause long-term depletion of stratospheric ozone ALL of these are true their damage to the ozone layer is accelerated by global warming They are non-toxic refrigerants they are greenhouse gases
ALL of these are true
Variations in climate over the past 8000 years are due to: solar variability greenhouse gas concentration ocean-atmosphere oscillation All of these caused variations in climate over the past 8000 years
All of these caused variations in climate over the past 8000 years
Which of the following played NO role in controlling global climate prior to the rise of human? amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere plate tectonic movement of the continents changes in the Earth's orbit amount of ice covering Earth's surface All of these play a role
All of these play a role
Which of the following is NOT one of the major organizations that assemble global instrumental surface temperature data into models showing global temperature variation over the past century? American Meteorological Society Climate research center UK Meteorological Office Climate Research Unit (CRU) NOAA National Climatic Data Center NASA Goddard Institute for Space Sciences
American Meteorological Society Climate research center
Which of the following is TRUE? Earth's atmospheric CO2 concentration is higher now than it has ever been in the past half million years. There is less ice volume now than there has ever been in the past half million years solar intensity is greater now than it has ever been in the past half million years Earth's global temperature is higher now than it has ever been in the past half million years. surface ocean temperature is greater now than it has ever been in the past half million years
Earth's atmospheric CO2 concentration is higher now than it has ever been in the past half million years.
Which of the following is an example of a short-term climate feature?
El Nino
According to the Southeast Climate reading on drought, hydrologic drought is characterized by its severe and sudden impacts.
False
All C cycles only between the atmosphere and plants and animals that take it up then respire it, releasing it back to the atmosphere.
False
Reconstruction using a variety of climate proxies show that, temperatures have been continuously rising since the end of the last ice age.
False
Scientific understanding of the world around us comes about only by performing controlled experiments.
False
Where is the office of the National Weather Service located that provides weather forecasts to the area where the University of Florida is located?
Jacksonville, Fl
According to the Southeast Climate reading on rainfall, which region of the U.S. has experienced the greatest increase in very heavy precipitation
Northeast
Which index is used to display the global pattern of drought in Dire Predictions?
Palmer Drought Severity Index
We are currently living in which geological period?
Quaternary
Which of the following statements best illustrates how climate has changed in the past 800,000 years?
Rapid climate swings occurring on thousand year timescales
In AR5, potential future human CO2 emissions are called:
Representative Concentration Pathways
Credence should be given only to scientific assertions that satisfy ALL EXCEPT:
are agreed upon by the vast majority of scientists
According to Dire Predictions, where was the 2003 heat wave that killed 35,000?
Southern Africa
Which region of the United States would be mostly likely to experience the greatest drought due to climate change?
Southwest
Which of the following is true of experimental control groups?
The control group is identical to each test group except for one variable.
Air bubbles in the Antarctic ice sheet show that
carbon dioxide was relatively low during cold periods
Which of these does NOT suggest human causation for global warming? the increase in atmosphere CO2 matches the pattern of human usage of fossil fuels atmosphere CO2 concentrations increased continuously since 1850's increased temperatures can only be simulated by models when increased atmosphere CO2 is included carbon in atmosphere CO2 is getting younger
carbon in atmosphere CO2 is getting younger
Which of the following is NOT a greenhouse gas? carbon dioxide carbon monoxide methane water ozone (O3)
carbon monoxide
What are Milankovitch cycles?
changes in Earth's orbit and orientation to the Sun
Milankovitch cycles include all of the following, except:
changes in the distance between the earth and the Moon.
The Earth has a greater albedo than the Moon because of the presence of:
clouds
According to the Southeast Climate reading on temperature trends, the temperature trend for the Southeast as a whole from 1895 to 2012 is near zero.
True
In precipitation mode, a Doppler radar used by the National Weather Service can produce nearly 1 billion points of data per day.
True
What is an interglacial?
a period when glacial ice volume is relatively low
Which of these is NOT an example of a 'primary source'?
a review of recent papers published on a topic
Which is the appropriate time-scale that describes the cycles of climate change that occur in response to the Milankovitch cycles?
about 10,000 to 100,000 years
The planetary albedo of the earth is:
about 30%
The percentage of energy reflected by an object or substance is called its:
albedo
Which is correct? Climate is: determined using collections of daily observations a historical agglomeration of weather data a statistical rendering of the earth's atmosphere
all of these are true
According to Kelley (Art of Innovation), a brainstorming session is stunted by all of these EXCEPT: allowing silly ideas to be presented doing it at a site away from the office having everyone take a turn writing everything down
allowing silly ideas to be presented
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is mandated to do all EXCEPT: report on the human and environmental impacts of climate change conduct research to better understand the causes and effects of climate change recommend mitigation strategies to deal with climate change assess the present state of knowledge concerning climate change
conduct research to better understand the causes and effects of climate change
Which of the following phenomena is thought to have controlled the timing of glacial and interglacial periods during the Pleistocene epoch?
cycles of change in Earth's orbit and orientation towards the sun
All systems are characterized by all of the following EXCEPT: display linear behavior can be driven by external forcing have tipping points defined by its boundaries have interactions amongst multiple components
display linear behavior
More dust will be found in ice layers that formed during...
dryer periods
Which of these does NOT suggest the occurrence of global warming over the 20th century?
eastern Pacific ocean surface has been warmer during the past ten years
With what confidence level does the AR5 IPCC assessment state that the increase in global average surface temperature from 1951 to 2010 was caused by the anthropogenic increase in greenhouse gas concentrations and other anthropogenic forcings?
extremely likely
Why do we think the cooling over the Cenozoic Era might have occurred?
formation of the Himalayan mountains
When a research proposal is funded, half the amount granted by the federal agencies will generally
go to the researcher's institution
Which is NOT true? The input of anthropogenic carbon dioxide into the atmosphere: comes primarily through fossil fuel burning matches record of fossil fuels burning has only occurred since the mid-20th century comes primarily from the Northern Hemisphere
has only occurred since the mid-20th century
Of the excess energy stored by the Earth during the past half century, the majority of it has gone toward
heating the ocean
Greenhouse gases:
help maintain Earth at temperatures at which life can exist
The primary external drivers of a planet's climate involve all EXCEPT:orrect! how much of the solar energy is received in the northern versus southern hemisphere of the planet how much solar energy is reflected by the planet how much of the energy emitted by the planet is absorbed by the atmosphere how much solar energy is received by the planet
how much of the solar energy is received in the northern versus southern hemisphere of the planet
Which of the following has not been used as a source of paleoclimate information?
igneous rock
When it gets warmer and more water evaporates, it is likely to:
increase cloud formation which is a negative temperature feedback
Which of the following are NOT considered likely to cause the crossing of a climate system tipping point?
increased frequency of very hot days in North America
Which of these global climate changes has NOT been observed?
increased hurricane frequency
Which of these is an example of a positive skew of data when compared to a normal probability curve?
increasing the tail of the distribution only on the right side of the curve
Which is TRUE? Albedo:
is high for ice, snow and thick clouds
The radiation emitted by Earth:
is primarily absorbed by the atmosphere
Which is NOT one of the reasons the Vostok ice core is so famous and scientifically important? it lies over a lake that has been cut off from Earth surface conditions for perhaps 15 million years scientists are certain the cores have remained relatively undisturbed it is the only record of variations in atmospheric CO2 concentrations through a number of glacial/interglacial cycles it provides the longest continuous record of Antarctic climatic history it sits over one of the thickest (> 4 km) portions of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet
it is the only record of variations in atmospheric CO2 concentrations through a number of glacial/interglacial cycles
A pattern or relationship that generalizes a large body of observations but do not propose to explain them is a:
law
Satellite observations of recent decreases in stratospheric temperatures are important because they:
lend further support to the GHG causation of global warming
Greenhouse gases warm the atmosphere by absorbing and re-radiating ________ energy emitted by the _________.
long wave infrared, earth
Which of the following is FALSE? global average surface ocean temperature has increased over the past several decades nearly all regions of Antarctica ice sheets have decreased in thickness over the last few decades extent and thickness of Arctic sea ice has decreased over the last few decades nearly all mountain glaciers are retreating
nearly all regions of Antarctica ice sheets have decreased in thickness over the last few decades
A system that regulates itself depends upon:
negative feedbacks
If one wants to know the oxygen isotope signature of seawater in the past they could examine:
oxygen isotopes in marine plankton skeletons
The process by which scientific journals select the best papers to publish is called:
peer review
Approximately how far back in time can one investigate climate change on Earth using oceanic sediment cores?
several hundred million years
Approximately how far back in time can one investigate climate change on Earth using tree rings?
several thousands of years
An actual "greenhouse" works because:
short wave lengths of energy pass through the glass but longer ones can't
The majority of the energy received by the Earth from the Sun is _____, whereas that emitted by the Earth is ______ radiation.
shortwave, longwave
Which of does NOT characterize the act of proper critical thinking? should try to prove one's viewpoint is correct should recognize one's own biases does not reject unpopular views out of hand should recognize the extent and weight of evidence a variety of possible viewpoints should be considered
should try to prove one's viewpoint is correct
Which of these is NOT true?
solar activity remains constant over century timescales
Besides changes in atmosphere CO2 concentrations, changes in other climate forcing that are predicted to have had significant climate impacts over the past century include all EXCEPT black carbon clouds methane aerosols solar irradiance
solar irradiance
Scientists use _________________ to establish climate records for sea surface temperature from the fossils found in oceanic sediment cores
stable isotopes
What kind of data was used to construct the temperature record in the figure below?
stable isotopes in the skeletons of marine organisms found in sediment layers
According to the Southeast Climate reading on temperature trends, what happens to Florida during El Nino winters?
temperatures are below normal
Albedo is a measure of:
the amount of solar radiation reflected from the Earth back to space
Climate sensitivity refers to
the amount of warming that would occur given a doubling of atmosphere CO2 concentration
What phenomena is thought to have triggered the general cooling trend from about 30 m.y. ago to the present?
the development of the Antarctic circumpolar current
According to the Skeptical Raptor blog, which should NOT be considered when evaluating the quality of a scientific research article? the statistical significance of the result presented the type of evidence presented the impact factor rating of the journal the credentials of the scientists involved the number of testimonials provided as to the validity of the result presented
the number of testimonials provided as to the validity of the result presented
During the last 800,000 years:
there has been a pattern of roughly 100,000-year cycles in climate change
In order to be considered a SCIENTIFIC THEORY, an idea must be:
thoroughly tested over a considerable time period and be verified by many observations
According to the Southeast Climate reading on drought, drought is a natural part of the climate cycle
true
As one goes further back in time in the climate record...
uncertainty increases and resolution decreases
Citations do NOT need to be provided for which of the following?
well-known arguments or theories
Which of these is NOT an uncertainty regarding global climate change? how much warming will occur carbon cycle feedbacks local climate changes whether humans are responsible future human emissions
whether humans are responsible
The majority of a typical academic scientist's time is spent:
writing on a computer
Which of the following about El Nino is correct? all models predict that El Nino conditions will occur during the fall of 2014 the impacts of El Nino are confined to the tropical Pacific Ocean you can take a class in the Geography Department to learn more about El Nino and other teleconnections El Nino is the only teleconnection that occurs in our climate system
you can take a class in the Geography Department to learn more about El Nino and other teleconnections
If your hypothesis is rejected, which is true?
your experiment may well have been a success
