Units 8-12,and 14-20
radioactive carbon-__ isotope has been used in dating organic objects that can be used in climate change studies.
14
the little ice age was a brief cold period in which europe suffered from famine around the years____.
1400 to 1850
the climatic normal is based on the most recent ___________ averages.
30-year
the paleo-eocene thermal maximum (PETM) was on of the largest warming events ever known. The spike in temperatures took place approximately ___ years ago.
55 million
below what altitude is half of the weight of the atmosphere found?
5KM
before the present, the most recent time of mass extinction occurred _________ years ago.
65 million
the Icelandic low in the north Atlantic and the __________________ (in the N) pacific are regions of frequent storms during the winter season.
Aleutian low
in tropical monsoon Asia, where there is a strong seasonal change in rainfall amounts, the koppen classification system is
Am
during the winter in the northern hemisphere, monsoon winds flow from __________________.
Asia towards the surrounding ocean
a savanna climate is denoted in koppen classification as:
Aw
the steppe or semi-arid grassland climate is denoted as _________ in the koppen climate classification
BS
east coasts of mid-latitude continents generally have a ____ climate.
Cf
most of western Europe is classified as ___ in koppen classification.
Cfb
In the ___ climate, rainfall occurs mostly during the cool season due to mid-latitude winter cyclones.
Cs
Mediterranean climates are associated with the following koppen climate type:
Cs
northern India's monsoon climate may have _____ climate in higher elevation.
Cw
the Greenland icecap and the Antarctic. 02 plateau would be classified as _____ climates?
EF
the Falkland islands in the south Atlantic never warm above 10C, but remain above freezing. the koppen classification for these islands is
ET
when the annual temperature range remains between 0C and 10C, the climate is___?
ET
Tundra vegetation includes:
Mosses, lichen, and stunted trees
Charleston, South Carolina, and ____________ are both examples of Cfa climate.
Shanghai, China
the younger Dryas was an abrupt cooling period around 13000 that was believed to be caused by:
a change in the thermohaline circulation of the atlantic
surface air rises and converges in ____.
a cyclone
which of the following trait is NOT different with Cw and Aw climates
a distinct dry season
measurements of carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel burning show that about _______ of the atmospheric increase remains in the air, while the other half is taken up by ____.
a half, oceans and continents
during the night, cool, dry wind flowing downhill is called________.
a mountain breeze
warm,dry wind flowing from the great basin toward southern California coast in fall and winter is called_____.
a santa ana wind
for A climates the coolest month must be
above 18C
which of the following is not considered a main type of uplift for precipitation?
advective
in the northern hemisphere subtropical highs, winds flowing south __________________________.
are deflected by the Coriolis force into northeasterly winds
global climate models (GCMS) show that natural forcing by solar variations and volcanic eruptions.
are not as good at explaining the observed temperature record as anthropogenic influences
what is the connection between deforestation of rain-forests and McDonald's?
as forests are cleared, cattle ranchers move in creating pasturelands
which of the following has been influenced by human activities?
atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide, changes to the surface albedo, atmospheric greenhouse gases concentration (all of the above)
atmospheric pressure is measured near the earth's surface with a ______.
barometer
the taiga vegetation includes:
boreal forests
burning tropical forests _______.
changes surface albedo, changes water balance, adds carbon dioxide and particulates to the atmosphere (all of the above)
A study involving 50 years of tornado data would probably be considered
climatology
in the southern hemisphere, winds flow ____ around a cyclone.
clockwise and converging
the densest(heaviest) water has__________________.
cold temperature and low salinity
heat is released into the environment when water vapor changes into cloud droplets. This process is called ________.
condensation
without __________, rain-clouds will not form
condensation nuclei
if human activities had not begun to impact climate some 2000 years ago, our climate would be _____________ than what we are experiencing now.
cooler
most rainfall occurs with _____________ clouds.
cumulus
recent trends show that as human population increases, biodiversity:
decreases
the study of tree rings in climate research is called;
dendrochronology
deep ocean currents are driven by____________________.
density differences
the rain-shadow areas generally occur ________________
downwind of mountain ranges
what was the cause of the dust bowl of the 1930's?
drought, over-cultivation, wind erosion (all of these)
the largest pool of carbon in the carbon cycle is?
earth's crust
the Milankovitch cycle explains long-term natural climate variations based on:
earths orbital cycles
the Coriolis force is caused by___________.
earths rotation
during El Nino events, the ______________ equatorial pacific ocean are unusually warm.
eastern and central
Mediterranean climates occur in all of these except?
florida
the highest frequency of thunderstorm days in the US occurs in _______________.
florida
when snow melts and refreezes on contact with a sub-freezing surface, it is called_____________.
freezing rain
the N. pacific gyre causes the California current to flow _____________________.
from north to south
when two different air masses converge they may produce _____________ precipitation.
frontal
flows parallel to contour lines
geostrophic wind?
twenty thousand years ago, the earth was experiencing:
glaciation
when pressure lines are closer together on a weather chart, the pressure gradient force is_________ and winds are _______.
greater,faster
D climates generally have:
harsh winters and mild summers
B climates are found in all of these except:
high latitudes
the tropical tropopause is ___________ than the polar tropopause.
higher
in the 2007 IPCC report, climate change that is predicted to be very likely (more than 901% probability) includes:
higher minimum temperatures
what are H climates?
highland climates
anthropogenic climate changes describes:
human caused climate change
in which climate does the warmest average monthly temperature stay below freezing?
ice cap
in the last 15 million years, the earth's climate could be described as?
ice house climate
most rain and snow occurring in the U.S. and Canada occur through the ____________ process.
ice-crystal
the D koppen climate classification is found:
in high latitude continental interior regions
in most computer climate models, the greatest warming is predicted to occur________________.
in higher latitudes
B climates can be found
in the tropics, in the midlatitudes, in the subtropics (all of these)
global temperatures in the 20th century have:
increased except for the 1940 to 1970 period
. today, we are living in a (n) _______ period of climate.
interglacial
the zone where the northeasterly trades and the southeasterly trades converge is known as the ________________________________.
intertropical convergence zone
the Siberian high____________________.
is only found in the winter
When reading a surface weather chart, centers of highs and lows are represented by pressure lines called______.
isobars
D climates are characterized by a (n) _________ annual temperature range.
large
the release of stored heat when water freezes is called
latent heat
in B climates, actual evotranspiration is generally ___ potential evotranspiration
less than
about what percent of species have been identified and classified?
less than 10
During the day, land heats faster than water, causing ____ pressure to form over land and ___ pressure over coastal water.
low,high
in winter, most rain and snow storms that reach the west coast of the US are from _________ air masses.
maritime polar
during the summer, ____________ air mass brings warm, humid weather to the eastern US.
maritime tropical
in the __________ stage of thunderstorm, both strong updrafts and downdrafts dominate the system.
mature
hail occurs in the ________ stage of a thunderstorm development and can grow as large as ____________.
mature,softballs
up-welling and cold surface ocean currents occur generally along______________________.
mid-latitude west coasts of continents
although most species may not have been discovered,yet, at present there are _______.
more animal species than plant species
in mountain climates:
more climate zones occur in the vertical than the horizontal
freshest (low salinity) water would be found_____________.
near glacier melt coastlines
the carbon dioxide weathering feedback is an example of _____________________ feedback.
negative
the record heat and drought of 2012 are good evidence of
none of these: climate change, climatic trends, climate cycles
if rain-forest tree's are removed by logging, _____ .
none of these; agriculture would be successful soils would be rich in minerals trees would grow back quickly
the thermocline is a region ______________________.
of rapid change from warm to cold water
which of these states were the most heavily damaged by the dust bowl?
oklahoma
Mediterranean or Cs koppen climate is generally found
on the west coasts of continents near the subtropics
the seasonal shift that occurs in the inter-tropical convergence zone is greatest _______________.
over continents
The ratio of oxygen-18 to _____ isotopes has been used to show temperature changes taking place in the ocean and atmosphere in the past millions of years
oxygen-16
permafrost is?
permanently frozen soil
a major sink of carbon dioxide in the carbon cycle is plants through the process of_________________.
photosynthesis
the koppen climate classification system is based on the grouping of
plants
evidence of climatic variation prior to instrumented data is called?
proxy data
the lowercase f, as in Af, Cf and Df in the koppen classification represents
rainfall throughout the year
along a warm front, warm air __________________.
rises and cools
In B climates most of the net radiation is used in:
sensible heat
in a surface based anti-cyclone, trophospheric air_______________________.
sinks and diverges at the surface
When snow melts and refreezes in cold air before reaching the Earth's surface, it is called?
sleet
the Sahel of Africa is located
south of the Sahara
a line of moving thunderstorms is called a _______.
squall
The polar jet stream over North America is:
stronger and farther south in winter
during la nina events, the equalateral trade winds are ______.
stronger than normal
the convergence zone between tropical and polar air masses and where traveling storms take place occur along ___________________.
sub-polar latitudes
Acid rain involves precipitation through an atmosphere with high amounts of:
sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxides (Both a and b)
for Am climates, most precipitation occurs in the _______.
summer
the monsoon portions of southern Asia, like India, receive the most of their precipitation during the ___________________.
summer
in the high mountains where forests are restricted by the cold, the treeline generally persists at an altitude where____.
summer temperatures are 10C or below
in general the daily highest relative humidity occurs at ___________.
sunrise
which of the following contains the most water vapor?
temperature of 80F,relative humidity of 35%, and a dew point of 50F
the rate of evaporation depends on:
temperature, humidity, wind speed (all of the above)
the koppen climate classification is based on
temperatures and precipitation
deforestation in tropical rainforests is occuring in:
the Amazon and tropical areas of Africa (a and b)
the temperature at which air must be cooled to reach saturation is called ____________________.
the dew point
in 1998, a large el nino year, global temperatures were the warmest recorded up until that time. In comparison to the 1961-1990 mean, in 1998_______________.
the eastern equatorial pacific was especially warm
one of the uncertainties with global climate models is:
the effect of aerosols in clouds on climate change
phytogeography is?
the geography of plants
biogeography is defined as:
the geography of plants and animals
Why do polar ice caps not melt in the long summer daylight?
the high reflection of solar insolation
viking exploration and colonization of Greenland and Vineland (north america) took place during a warm period called ___________________.
the medieval optimum
biodiversity refers to :
the number of species found within an area
Desertification is:
the process of desert expansion into the steppes
over water surfaces, the potential evaporation is ____________ the actual evaporation.
the same as
an indicator of warming is:
the shift of vegetative zones to higher elevations and latitudes
tornado alley is located in ____ of the US.
the south central states
the polar jet stream is maintained by _______________________________________________________________________________.
the strong temperature gradient between tropics and polar latitudes
what is pedology?
the study of siols
in a hadley cell, sinking air takes place around _______________________________.
the subtropics
deep ocean circulation, that often resembles a conveyer belt, is called______________________.
the thermohaline circulation
subgroups of C climates are mainly based on?
their seasonal precipitation patterns
During strong El ñino events:
there are droughts in Australia, Malaysia, there are wet conditions in Peru, there are wet conditions in the southern US (all of the above)
Cfa can be impacted by
tornadoes, hurricanes, drought (all of these)
the ___ are the most consistent winds in the atmosphere.
trade winds
with ocean currents along California and Peru moving towards lower latitudes, Ekman transport causes _____________ along the coast.
upwelling
the Coriolis force would be greatest when the wind ______________________________________.
velocity is high and latitude is high
in 2013 IPPC report stated that most global warming is ______ due to human activities raising greenhouse gases.
virtually certain
which of these cannot be considered a C climate?
warmest month average is 9C
in normal years, the ____________ region is the warmest portion of the equatorial pacific ocean.
western
surface ocean currents are driven by_____.
winds
