Global Warming Final
In addition to the increased warming that has occurred, as indicated by the plot of global temperature anomalies since 1850, other indicators of a warming world include:
All the above
Potential impacts of wind farms include
All the above
The warming of the past century has been unevenly distributed over the planet. Examples of this include:
All the above
Evidence that Earth's is warming includes:
All the above
The introduction into the environment of any substance that has harmful effects on human health and well-being or on natural systems is referred to as:
Pollution
What type of feedback is represented in this figure: initial increase to earth temp to ice cover to albedo to solar energy absorption
Positive
Electric charge is a fundamental property of matter that comes in two kinds and gives rise to electric fields. The two kinds of electric charge are
Positive (protons) and negative (electrons)
Whereas, a house loses energy mostly by conduction of heat through its walls, a planet (including its atmosphere) loses energy to the vacuum of space by:
Radiation
Particles being emitted by a nucleus constitute:
Radioactive decay
Reasons for trusting outcomes of climate models include:
Reasons for trusting outcomes of climate models include:
The first practical photovoltaic (PV) cell was developed in 1954 and, beginning in the late 1950s PV cells were used to power:
U.S. space satellites
Wind is caused by:
Uneven heating of Earth's surface by the Sun
The global distribution of oil can be described as:
Unevenly distributed
Isotopes are:
Versions of the same element but with a different number of neutrons
The range of influence of the nuclear force is considered to be
Very short; a few times the diameter of the nucleus
When biomass is burned, the chemical energy in the biomass is released as:
Heat
The rate at which we use energy:
Power
Most fission products decay by:
Beta decay
Heat flow by physical contact, in which energy is transferred by collisions among molecules:
Conduction
The nuclear force acts between which particles:
Neutrons and protons
When a system responds to changes in itself:
feedback
The concentrated energy associated with nuclear energy is roughly how many times greater than the energy resulting from chemical reactions (known as the nuclear difference):
10 million
It's estimated that the typical "human body" expends energy at the rate of
100 watts
How much warmer will it be 5 kilometers below land surface if the geothermal gradient is 25 degrees C per kilometer compared to a gradient of 35 degrees C per kilometer
125 degrees C compared to 175 degrees C
For utility-scale operations, good places for wind turbines are where the annual average wind speed is at least:
13 mph
Approximate percentage of the Sun's energy reaching the Earth-atmosphere system that is reflected back into space?
30
Though a "typical" molecule of CO2 spends only about 5 years in the atmosphere before it's removed by photosynthesis or dissolved in the oceans, much of it returns to the atmosphere just as quickly. Because carbon removal processes operate on different timescales, the estimated atmospheric lifetime of carbon is estimated to range from about:
300 to 1,000 years
Typical coal-fired steam turbine electric power plants produce electricity at an efficiency of about:
35 percent (e.g., 3 units of coal are needed to produce 1 unit of electricity)
A 1GWe nuclear power plant will consume upwards of 30 tons of uranium per year compared to a coal fired power plant that consumes:
360 tons of coal per hour
If our current global oil reserves are 10,000 exa joules (EJ) and the current rate of oil production (or consumption) is 200 EJ/year, estimate how many years it will take until our Reserves are depleted:
50 years
If you start with 1,000 undecayed radioactive nuclei and one-half life is equal to 20 years, how many nuclei are still radioactive after 80 years?
62
The approximate percentage of the world's energy demands that are met using fossil fuels is about:
85 percent
RCP8.5 (where RCP means representative concentration pathway) refers to:
A climate scenario that ends the 21st century with an increased forcing of 8.5 W/m2 relative to preindustrial times
Temperature is:
A measure of the thermal energy of the molecules in a substance; that is, it measures the average of the kinetic energy associated with the random motions of the atoms and molecules of a substance or object
Radioactive decay is the phenomenon whereby
A nucleus spews out particles in order to achieve a more stable configuration
In addition to the pollution that results during the combustion of fossil fuels, other ways environmental impacts can occur from the use of fossil fuels include:
ALL (During the extraction process (e.g., coal mining) During the transportation process)
Without naturally occurring greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere, Earth's average temperature would be:
About -18 C (0 F)
Compared to the average for the whole world, the per capita energy use in the United States is:
About 5 times higher
As the oceans continue to absorb increasing amounts of CO2 from the atmosphere, the resulting negative impacts include:
Acidification of the oceans and the resulting harm caused to some marine organisms
Though the oceans may play a beneficial role in anthropogenic climate change by absorbing and removing CO2 from the atmosphere, a potential negative impact to the ocean environment is the:
Acidification of the oceans and the resulting harm caused to some marine organisms
Two general types of solar thermal energy systems:
Active solar and passive solar
Accurately predicting the global climate response to future changes in carbon dioxide emissions is difficult because of the lack of detailed knowledge on the:
All the above
Examples of biomass include:
All the above
In addition to increases in global temperatures that have been reported, other evidence that suggests climate change is occurring includes:
All the above
Lines of evidence for human caused global warming include:
All the above
Solar thermal energy systems can be used to heat:
All the above
The figure to the right shows changes in climate forcings that have occurred since the end of the pre-industrial era (1750). Which of the following statements are supported by the data presented in the figure: (well mixed greenhouse gases)
All the above
The figure to the right shows the global average temperature response to a doubling of atmospheric CO2 concentrations (from 280 ppm to 560 ppm) over a period of 70 years and then holding the concentrations at a constant level. These results suggest
All the above
The three types of radioactive decay:
Alpha, beta and gamma
The scientific method can best be described as:
An orderly method for gaining, organizing, and applying new knowledge
The "preindustrial state" (referenced by the year 1750) is used as a baseline for comparison purposes to see what changes in Earth's energy balance have occurred since that time enabling us to focus on understanding and quantifying changes due to:
Anthropogenic activities
For large elements like Uranium (e.g., U235), how do the number of neutrons compare to the number of protons in the nucleus?
As the size of the nucleus increases (increasing number of nucleons), there tend to be more neutrons than protons
Although energy is conserved:
As we use it, its quality degrades and it becomes less useful
Ions are:
Atoms or elements with a different number of protons and neutrons
Technologies and unconventional resources that have been developed to expand our oil reserves include:
Fracking and the tar sands of Canada
The energy it takes to tear a nucleus apart, doing work against the strong nuclear force that binds the nucleons or, equivalently, the energy releaed from a nucleus formed from widely separated neutrons and protons.
Binding energy
Nearly all technologies for extracting energy from fossil fuels involve:
Burning the fuel
Volcanic eruptions can influence Earth's temperatures through emissions of CO2 and aerosols into the atmoshpere. One of the ways aerosols influence temperatures is:
By increasing Earth's albedo which results in a cooling effect
Because fossil fuels consist largely of hydrocarbons, their complete combustion produces mostly:
Carbon dioxide gas and water vapor
The process of nuclear fission produces two lighter weight nuclei plus several neutrons. It's important that one of these neutrons goes on to create another fission as part of a self-sustaining process referred to as:
Chain reaction
The average conditions that prevail in Earth's atmosphere, including temperature, humidity, cloudiness, etc., and the resulting conditions at Earth's surface best describes which of the following terms:
Climate
An upset in Earth's energy balance is referred to as a:
Climate forcing (also referred to as radiative forcing)
There is more CO2 added to the atmosphere for the same amount of energy produced when burning which of the following fossil fuels:
Coal
The principal fossil fuels are:
Coal, oil and natural gas
In general, the electricity leaving a traditional power plant has about 1/3 of the energy content of the fuel coming into the plant. By using waste heat that is created during the power generation process to heat offices, factories and other similar uses, the overall energy efficiency of these plants can be improved upon. This process is referred to as:
Cogeneration
Heat transfer by the bulk motion of a fluid driven by temperature differences across the fluid:
Convection
Two components of Earth's energy balance that involve the bulk motion of energy into the atmosphere are:
Convection and evaopotranspiration
The heat energy produced from the burning of fossil fuels is generally used in heat engines that:
Convert the heat into the energy of motion (kinetic or mechanical energy)
In order for the greenhouse effect to work, it's essential for the temperature of the upper atmosphere to be:
Cooler than Earth's surface temperature (Ta < Ts)
Natural causes of climate change include:
Cyclical changes in Earth's orbit
Natural causes of climate change include:
Cyclical changes in Earth's orbit (i.e., tilt of Earth's axis, Earth's wobble, and the shape of its orbit around the Sun)
Albedo is the fraction of sunlight entering the Earth-atmosphere system that is reflected back to space and does not contribute to warming of Earth's surface. What would happen to Earth's temperature if the amount of incoming solar energy stays the same but the albedo were to increase from 0.3 to 0.4?
Decrease (cool)
Concentrating solar collection systems, such as those used in solar thermal power plants, require direct insolation whereas, flat-plate solar thermal and photovoltaic collectors can use:
Diffuse (scattering) insolation and direct insolation
With respect to environmental impacts:
Dissolved gasses and contaminants are things that have to be managed
In order to fully understand Earth's climate and our influence on it, it's important to know how Earth's atmosphere responds to different wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation. As such, which of the following statements are correct:
Earth's atmosphere is largely transparent to incoming solar radiation but, it is largely opaque to outgoing longwave infrared radiation (IR) emitted by Earth's surface
From analysis of Earth's current energy inflows and outflows, there appears to be an imbalance with more energy coming in then is leaving. This means that:
Earth's temperature is increasing
The term "Urban Heat Island" effect refers to
Effects on temperature due to increased urbanization, such as changing from natural vegetation to man-made structures
Electric current is the flow of:
Electric charge
The forces that exist within the nucleus of an atom are the nuclear force and:
Electric force (electromagnetic force)
Visible light, radio waves, microwaves, infrared radiation, and gamma rays are examples of a kind-of energy in transit called:
Electromagnetic radiation
The charged particles of an atom:
Electrons and protons
A number that ranges between 0 and 1 that gives the efficiency with which a material radiates (emits) electromagnetic waves
Emissivity
The "stuff" that makes things happen:
Energy
Biofuels are transportation fuels such as:
Ethanol and biodiesel
How is a wind turbine opposite of a fan:
Fans use electricity to make wind whereas, a wind turbine uses wind to create electricity
In the climate system, an additional effect that occurs as a result of some other change in the system is referred to as a:
Feedback effect
An energy-releasing nuclear reaction in which a heavy nucleus splits into two smaller nuclei:
Fission
Energy most commonly stored in the chemical bonds of molecules or in atomic nuclei is referred to as:
Fuels
An energy-releasing nuclear reaction in which two light weight nuclei join to make a heavier nucleus:
Fusion
The addition of greenhouse gases (GHG) in the atmosphere contributes to an energy imbalance as follows:
GHG inhibit outgoing IR emitted by Earth making it difficult for Earth to shed the energy it gains from the Sun
The many rotational and vibrational motions of greenhouse gas (GHG) molecules happen to lie at frequencies that include those of Earth's longwave length infrared emissions and therefore:
GHG molecules absorb longwave length infrared radiation
The ability for Geothermal and Tidal energy to provide significant quantities of energy for consumption is:
Generally limited. These sources should be developed where they are available however, technology and availability generally limit their usefulness to a more local sca
Though details of Earth's early atmosphere are sketchy, the following two processes are believed to have accounted for the decline in atmospheric CO2?
Geochemical (weathering) and biological (photosynthesis)
In every day terms, "force" can be defined as a push or a pull. Today, physicists recognize four fundamental forces:
Gravitational force, electromagnetic force, the strong nuclear force and the weak nuclear force
"_____________" in the atmosphere act like a blanket, blocking the outgoing energy and making Earth's surface temperature higher than it would be otherwise.
Greenhouse gases
The time it takes for half the nuclei of a given radioactive isotope to decay:
Half-life
Energy flows through the walls of your house on a cold day as a result of the difference in temperature from the inside (warmer temperature) to the outside of the house (colder temperature). This flow of energy, that results from a difference in temperature, is called:
Heat
Geothermal energy is derived from:
Heat that flows upwards from Earth's interior
The major difference in how electricity is generated at a coal fired power plant versus a nuclear power plant:
How the fluid is heated to make steam in order to turn the turbines
The conversion of the energy in flowing water into electricity:
Hydropower
Global climate models consist of many mathematical equations to represent the many different processes that are part of the climate system, as well as the interactions occurring between those processes. These models are important tools used by climate scientists to:
Improve our understanding of Earth's climate history and predict future effects of human activities
When we reviewed Earth's overall energy balance, inflows to Earth's surface included:
Incoming solar radiation and infrared radiation emitted downward from greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere
At 6,000 degrees K, the Sun primarily radiates visible light, whereas the Earth, at 300 degrees K, primarily radiates:
Infrared radiation
The intensity of sunlight at a given time and location:
Insolation
The second law of thermodynamics can be restated in terms of entropy as: the entropy of a closed system can never decrease. Since entropy is a measure of disorder, this explains why as we use energy:
It decreases in quality and becomes less useful
If we are certain about the amount of our "proved" oil reserves, how would our rate of oil consumption need to change in order to increase the amount of time we have before running out?
It would need to decrease
The form of energy associated with motion, such as a car moving along the highway at 30 mph:
Kinetic energy
"Specific heat" is the property of a substance that measures its heat capacity on a per unit basis. That is, it's the amount of heat necessary to raise a unit mass (1 kg) of the substance by 1 degree Kelvin. The specific heat of water is 4,184 J/kg-K and is considered large, which can explain why:
Large lakes heat or cool much more slowly than nearby land and thus exert a moderating effect on climate
In the context of weather and climate, the energy associated with water vapor in the atmosphere is released when condensation to liquid water occurs. This process plays a significant role in powering tropical storms and hurricanes and is referred to as:
Latent heat
Factors that influence the annual amount of insolation on a horizontal surface at a particular location:
Latitude, climate, and weather patterns
Compared to liquid water, water vapor has:
More energy
Positive feedbacks enhance the original change in a system whereas
Negative feedbacks tend to diminish the original change in a system
Larger nuclei have protons that can be far from the center of the nucleus. In this situation, what type of particle is added in order to overcome the force of electric repulsion experienced by these protons
Neutron
The nucleus of an atom is made up of two kinds of particles:
Neutrons and protons
Though it is believed that carbon dioxide comprised a significant portion of atmospheric gasses when Earth was first developing, today's atmosphere is mostly made of:
Nitrogen and oxygen
Of the seven alternative energy sources we discussed, the source that is not considered to be renewable:
Nuclear energy
The fundamental force that is most associated with nuclear energy:
Nuclear force (or strong nuclear force)
At hydropower plants water flows through a pipe, or penstock, and then turns blades in a turbine to:
Spin a generator to produce electricity
Based on review of several reconstructions of historical temperatures for the past 1,000 years, it is apparent tha
Observed warming since the early 1900s has occurred much more rapidly than occurred over the previous 1,000 years
The frictional force is different from forces such as gravity, or the force in a spring, in that work done against friction doesn't end up as stored potential energy. Rather, it ends up in a form of energy (low "heat") that isn't particularly useful. This inability to recover the energy lost to friction is an important limitation on:
Our efforts to use energy wisely and efficiently
An important factor that distinguishes humans from the animal world is:
Our significant use of energy beyond what our bodies can produce
Photosynthesis is a biological process that is largely responsible for significantly increasing the levels of which of the following atmospheric gasses:
Oxygen
The energy in electromagnetic waves comes in bundles called:
Photons
Biomass is organic material that contains stored energy from the sun as a result of plants absorbing the Sun's energy in a process called:
Photosynthesis
The biological process believed to have contributed to the decline of carbon dioxide (CO2) and increase of oxygen (O2) in Earth's atmosphere millions of years ago:
Photosynthesis
A technology used to convert sunlight directly into electricity:
Photovoltaic cell
The particle of an atom that determines its chemical species
Proton
The only heat transfer mechanism that works in the vacuum of space and, enables you to feel heat when standing near a hot wood stove or campfire:
Radiation
The amount of time remaining before we run out of our proved reserves of fossil fuels can be calculated as follows:
Reserves/Production
Environmental impacts associated with Hydropower Storage Systems can include:
Sediment, that normally forms beaches and deltas, settles out behind the dam reducing its useful life
Direct production of electricity and heating are two basic approaches for harvesting this kind of energy:
Solar
Hydropower relies on the water cycle and is indirectly related to the Sun as follows:
Solar energy causes evaporation to occur which results in more water vapor in the atmosphere that turns into rainfall and runoff into rivers when it falls on Earth's surface
The figure to the right represents two, equal rays of solar energy striking Earth's surface. The ray striking Earth's surface closest to the polar region is spread over a larger area of Earth which means:
Solar energy striking earth's surface in the polar regions is less intense than in the equatorial regions
Type of hydroelectric facility where water accumulates in reservoirs created by dams on streams and rivers and is released through hydro turbines as needed to generate electricity.
Storage system
Portion of the atmosphere where the ozone layer is found:
Stratosphere
Earth's energy sources include energy flows that deliver continuous streams of energy to Earth's surface and fuels that store energy. Sunlight is the dominant source of energy flow to Earth's surface, and solar energy captured by ancient photosynthetic organisms is stored in fossil fuels.
TRUE
Geothermal energy underlies all of Earth however:
Technology limits its use to specific regions that have larger than normal flows
What can you conclude from the model results shown in the following figure:
Temperature changes since about the 1950s and 1960s cannot be explained by natural factors alone, and can only be explained by including both natural and human factors
Even though the Sun's gravitational effect is 200 times that of the Moon's, the Moon has a greater effect on variations in ocean tides because
The Moon is much closer to Earth than the Sun and therefore, variations in its gravity are more noticeable
Total incoming solar radiation is 340 W/m2 and reflected solar radiation is 101 W/m2 which means Earth's albedo is 0.3 (101/340). How would the albedo change if reflected solar radiation increases to 120 W/m2?
The albedo would increase
The concept of a simple energy balance for Earth means:
The amount of energy coming in equals the amount of energy going out and the temperature is generally constant
In climate change studies, temperature anomalies are more important than absolute temperatures. Using temperature anomalies helps minimize problems such as when stations are added or removed from the network, and when data collection is temporarily suspended at a particular station. For each temperature station, the annual average temperature anomaly is calculated as:
The annual average temperature for the year of interest minus the average temperature over a baseline period of time, usually a period of 30 years
In order to understand nuclear energy it's important to understand
The atom
Whereas, Earth receives direct sunlight on only half its surface area at any given time, the area over which it continually emits infrared radiation is:
The entirety of Earth's surface area
When considering large scale production of biofuels, growing the plants needed for the biofuels is controversial because:
The land, fertilizers, and energy for growing biofuel crops could be used to grow food crops instead
It's not gravity itself that's responsible for the tides but rather, the variation in gravity as Earth's position changes relative to:
The moon and Sun
How does a planet's temperature and energy balance change when the energy outflow suddenly increases and becomes greater than the amount of energy inflow?
The planet's temperature cools and the loss rate decreases until a new energy balance is reached
How can burning biomass be considered to be "carbon neutral?"
The plants that are the source of the biomass capture almost the same amount of CO2 through photosynthesis while growing as is released when the biomass is burned
When discussing the available amount of fossil fuels, the term "Reserves" refers to:
The total amount of fossil fuels we are reasonably certain exist, based on geological and engineering studies, and that can be recovered economically with existing technology
The area of the United States that is most suitable to developing geothermal energy:
The western states
Despite its lower Global Warming Potential designation, carbon dioxide contributes the greatest greenhouse gas forcing because;
There is so much more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and anthropogenic emissions than there is of the other GHG
In response to global warming, the two main factors contributing to sea level rise are:
Thermal expansion of ocean water and melting land ice
In the past, waste heat from an electric power plant was often discharged to a nearby water body, such as a river or lake, causing water temperatures to increase and harm to the aquatic habitat to occur. This type of is discharge is referred to as:
Thermal pollution
The only one of Earth's energy flows originating as mechanical energy:
Tidal energy
Nearly all weather and about 80% of the total mass of the atmosphere occurs in which layer of the atmosphere?
Troposphere
The most dominant greenhouse gasses are:
Water vapor and carbon dioxide
The following figure is a plot of the changes in the global temperature anomalies over the period 1850 through 2019. From this figure it's apparent that:
We have experienced a warming of about 1 C over the period of time shown
If we're going to burn fossil fuels, then we're going to make CO2. In fact, to make efficient use of these fuels:
We want to make as much CO2 as possible from the fuel
