Geography Test 2
The Earth's reflectivity
is decreasing due to melting ice
If all carbon emission were magically halted (0 Gt), atmospheric CO2 concentrations and global temperature
return to 2000 levels by the end of the century
In the southeast portion of Mato Grosso, in the hook shaped "finger" of Amazon biome east of Cuibata, cattle pasture dominates the landscape. Other than pasture, which land use is present?
- Agriculture - Conservation areas - Indigenous lands - Sugar cane
The Global Forest Watch defines "tree cover" as
- All vegetation taller than 5 meters in height - Natural forests - The biophysical presence of trees - Tree plantations
The Amazon has been referred to as the "lungs of the world" because it takes in carbon dioxide and gives off oxygen. While this is only true in-part, the more important story is the loss of forest and
- Changed weather patterns due to loss of soil moisture - Potential loss of medicinal plants - The ability to sequester carbon - The release of CO2 from land clearing for agriculture
Outside of tropical rainforest (lowland evergreen broadleaf), Mato Grosso contains what type of natural vegetation?
- Deciduous and Semi-deciduous seasonal forest - Ecotone between evergreen and seasonal evergreen - Mountain grass and woodland - Savannah
PM2.5 pollutants are more dangerous than other forms of particulate air pollution because:
- They are chemically more toxic - They are small and can penetrate deeply into the lungs - They do not come from natural sources such as dust - They cause an increased risk of cardiovascular death
The climate sensitivity in a climate model:
- is the projected amount of warming based on a doubling of CO2 - is related to the rate at which carbon is taken up by vegetation and the ocean - is related to the effect of climate feedbacks - is estimated to be between 1.8 and 4.0
What does the EPA currently (as of December 2020) regard as the maximum safe limit of PM2.5?
12-15 micrograms per cubic meter
If emission rates are at the high end of recent trends, at about 2.0%, Earth's temperature will likely exceed __________ deg C by the end of the century.
17.5
Just to the east of Itanhanga the first main road (MT338) was there prior to the earliest satellite image. The first minor (illegal) roads went in a year later. An expanded network of illegal roads was in place by ______________, and by _____________ the area was fully deforested.
1997, 2008
If carbon emissions are held at the current level going forward, and even if the climate sensitivity of the models is at the low end of estimates, we will still reach the recommended Paris Accord Temperature Limit by the year
2100
If all of Greenland's glaciers melted, how much will sea level rise?
25 feet
Under a business-as-usual scenario with greenhouse gas emissions increasing 2.0% per year, at the end of the century, Earth's average temperature is expected to rise about _______ deg C from the year 2000.
3.3
The Montreal Protocol, drafted in 1987, required countries to reduce their production of CFC's and other ozone depleting chemicals by:
50% over the following 10 years (or by year 2000)
As you recall from the Carbon Simulator Lab, deforestation is the second leading cause of CO2 emissions. When the report your read was written, how much of Brazil's total emissions came from deforestation?
75%
Under a business-as-usual scenario with greenhouse gas emissions increasing 2% per year the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere is expected to be about ________ ppmv by the end of the century.
793
What percentage of CFC's that are released into the atmosphere remain there?
99%
Which climograph best exemplifies a mid-latitude dry steppe (shortgrass prairie), in the northern hemisphere?
A
While globally sea level has risen 8 inches in the last century, in New Jersey (and many places on the East Coast) it has risen 15 inches. This is due to All of the above
Answer 1: 15 Answer 2: All of the above
In order to create an ozone hole you need all of the following except:
A surplus of CFC's in the troposphere
Which of the following sites within Mato Grosso has no tropical rainforest remaining?
Amazon Biome Strip
The term "legal Amazon" refers specifically to:
An administrative unit that includes the Amazon forest as well as some areas of savannah in the states of Mato Grosso and Tocantins.
Reconnaissance flights into the stratosphere over Antarctica in the 1980's found:
An increase in chlorine and chlorine monoxide.
Grassland is found on every continent except:
Antarctica
Which climograph can best be described by the Bw Koppen classification?
C
Shrubland (Mediterranean Scrub), like that of Christchurch, New Zealand has a Koppen classification of:
Cf
Lakes in parts of New Jersey, not unlike many lakes in Wisconsin, have seen a water temperature rise on the order of 3 degrees. This has caused all of the following except
Changes in sea level
Which climograph best exemplifies a tropical southern hemisphere climate with winter precipitation?
D
Which of the following biomes has the greatest temperature range between day and night?
Desert
The solar cycle (the waxing and waning of sunspots)
Has been less than average in recent years
Ozone pollution in Milwaukee
Has improved, but is just at or above the EPA safe limit
All of the following are true of the tundra except
It is most abundant in the southern hemisphere
Which location is best described as having a Df climate?
Lahiti, Finland
A more optimistic emissions scenario shows that by the year 2080 the climate of Stevens Point will be like that of ______________ (on average) today.
Like that of east-central Iowa (e.g. Marion), even though most forecasts put in in central Illinois
Unlike the Amazon and the Southeast US, the primary driver of deforestation in tropical Southeast Asia is:
Palm oil plantations
Assuming a business as usual emissions scenario, by the year 2080 the climate of Stevens Point will be like that of ______________ (on average) today.
Southeastern Iowa
The price of, and international demand for _____________ drives deforestation in Brazil. If the price of these commodities drops the deforestation rate _________________
Soy and cattle, decreases
The sector responsible for the most greenhouse emissions in the US is
Transportation
The Carbon Simulator and the Very, Very Simple Climate model predict slightly different atmospheric CO2 concentrations for the remainder of the 21st Century even when using the same emission rates. This is because
The models use slightly different rates of CO2 uptake by the ocean, soils, and vegetation and the models use slightly different values for the proportion of CO2 that stays in the atmosphere
Ozone is formed in the stratosphere by:
The photodissociation of oxygen (O2) molecules by the sun's UV rays.
In places like the Southeast US, the amount of tree cover loss is quite high. At the same time the rate of tree cover gain is also high. This is because:
These are managed forests, where new trees are planted after others are harvested.
NASA's satellites did not originally detect the ozone hole because
They assumed ozone readings that low had to be error
In addition to the reasons discussed in class, glaciers in Greenland are retreating due to
Warm water currents melting them from below
The most abundant greenhouse gas is
Water vapor which comes from ocean evaporation
In the US in 2021, air pollution was unhealthiest in the Western US, with the most problematic pollutant being Ozone and PM 2.5 in those locations.
Western, Ozone and PM 2.5
Carbon dioxide tends to build up in the atmosphere (especially the northern hemisphere) in the _________ months due to ________
Winter, Seasonal loss of photosynthesis to take up the CO2
Which of the following is true of the climate of Portland, ME and/or Stevens Point, WI?
Winters in Portland, ME are warmer than those in Stevens Point because of Portland's proximity to the ocean.
In a best case scenario where CO2 emissions remain the same as now (11.4 Gt) every year going forward, the temperature and atmospheric concentration of CO2 will
continue to rise because CO2 is removed from the atmosphere more slowly than it is emitted, so temperature and CO2 levels will increase then eventually stabilize.
Small leaves with a waxy coating are an adaptation used by
plants in the desert and shrubland to protect themselves from moisture loss
