Homework #8

If humans burn 5000 GtC in a couple centuries, roughly what will the atmospheric concentration of CO2 be in the year 12017?

750 ppm

What is an AMSU?

Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit

What chemical reaction ultimately removes the excess carbon from the atmosphere and ocean?

CaSiO3 + CO2 → CaCO3 + SiO2

What is the first molecule that CO2 forms when dissolved in water?

H2CO3

Which chemical reaction describes ocean acidification?

H2CO3 → H+ + HCO3−

In what form is most of the dissolved carbon in the ocean?

HCO3−

What is an acid?

a molecule that adds H+ ions to water

With the exception of high-energy nuclear reactions, which of the following is always conserved? a.) all the other answers b.) mass c.) momentum d.) energy

a.) all the other answers

Which of the following is a violation of conservation of mass? a.) none of the other answers b.) ball falls c.) tree grows d.) car races

a.) none of the other answers

Which of the following is a violation of conservation of momentum? a.) none of the other answers b.) tree grows c.) car races d.) ball falls

a.) none of the other answers

What is HCO3−?

biocarbonate ion

The purpose of a Stevenson screen is to a.) provide shade b.) provide a ventilated enclosure c.) all of the other answers d.) reflect away sunlight

c.) all of the other answers

Which of the following is not one of the primary pieces of evidence for global warming? a.) borehole paleothermoetry b.) stevenson-screen thermometers c.) lunar brightness records d.) vanishing tropical glaciers

c.) lunar brightness records

What is CaCO3?

calcium carbonate

What is CO3−−?

carbonate ion

What is H2CO3?

carbonic acid

What do we call a fundamental law of physics that says that stuff is neither created nor destroyed?

conservation law

What is the most certain way to date glacial ice?

counting layers

Which of the following is a violation of conservation of energy? a.) car races b.) tree grows c.) ball falls d.) none of the other answers

d.) none of the other answers

The acidified ocean is returned to its original pH by

dissolution of calcium carbonate

Which of the following federal agencies does not have its own climate model? a.) NOAA b.) NASA c.) DOA d.) NSF e.) USPS

e.) USPS

The higher the k and/or ρ of some gas in the atmosphere, the ______ the effective height of emission to space.

higher

What is H+?

hydrogen ion

What is so super about a supercomputer?

it has many ordinary computers connected together

An AMSU measures temperature at many heights in the atmosphere by measuring atmospheric emission at multiple wavelengths on the side of an oxygen resonance that each have a different

k and so a different τ=1 level

For climate studies, what are the two most important instruments inside a Stevenson enclosure?

min-temperature and max-temperature thermometers

What kind of orbit do most AMSUs fly?

polar

What is serial computing?

solving a single problem on a single computer

What is parallel computing?

solving a single problem on multiple computers at the same time

The timescale for a process is

the time it takes for the process to be mostly done

Studies of boreholes reveal that these layers of the ground are warmer than they would be in the absence of global warming.

upper layers

AMSU records show the atmosphere

warming at low altitudes and cooling at high altitudes

The unique fingerprint of CO2-induced global warming is

warming at low altitudes and cooling at high altitudes

What is acidic water?

water with a high concentration of H+ ions

Borehole paleothermometry reveals a mean global ground-temperature increase over the past ~100 years of

1 K

Ocean acidification puts 60% of the carbon burned by humans into the ocean on a timescale of

1 thousand years

The acidified ocean is returned to its original pH on a timescale of

10 thousand years

What is the timescale for a human to grow to its maximum height?

10 years

After ocean acidification and dissolution of calcium carbonate, silicate weathering removes the remaining 20% of the extra carbon still in the atmosphere on a timescale of

100 thousand years

By how much have Berkeley's warm-season maximum temperatures increased over the past 125 years?

2 K

Roughly what fraction of the carbon burned by humans is still in the atmosphere as CO2 after 10,000 years?

20%