Deck 16: The Oceans and Climate Disruption

Question 1

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change estimates that Earth's temperature will remain constant for the next few decades.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

Polar bears are expected to lose less than 50 percent of their summer habitat by the year 2100.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

A negative feedback mechanism works to enhance a change in the environment.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

If humans were not present on Earth, climate would remain constant.

Question 5

Proposals to directly manipulate Earth's climate are called "geoengineering."

Question 6

Rapid changes in Earth's climate are referred to as climate disruptions.

Question 7

Warmer global seawater temperatures are expected to slow down the microbial loop.

Question 8

The anthrosphere includes human modifications to the environment.

Question 9

Proxies are indirect estimates of temperature, ocean salinity, precipitation, and other environmental parameters.

Question 10

Ocean acidification is sometimes called "the other CO₂ problem."

Question 11

Large-scale iron fertilization could lead to enhanced hypoxia or anoxia.

Question 12

Scientists overwhelmingly agree that Earth's climate is undergoing an abrupt increase in temperature.

Question 13

Despite increasing model complexity and result accuracy, climate prediction models always include some degree of uncertainty.

Question 14

North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW) formation may become more sluggish, but is unlikely to shut down in the next 100 years.

Question 15

The Kyoto Protocol and the Copenhagen Accord are binding agreements requiring countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Question 16

We can mitigate abrupt climate change in the short term by not using fossil fuels.

Question 17

The tilt of the Earth (or obliquity) can change rapidly, resulting in abrupt climate change.

Question 18

Paleoproxies are direct measurements of historical environmental variables such as temperature.

Question 19

The greenhouse effect refers to the warming of Earth's climate caused by increased plant respiration.

Question 20

Climate change can be related to plate tectonic activity.

Question 21

Climate models used in the IPCC Assessment Reports have been improved by including ________.

A) more complex feedbacks
B) higher spatial resolution
C) higher temporal resolution
D) All of these choices are correct

Question 22

Decreasing ocean pH can directly result in all of the following except ________.

A) increased metal solubility
B) changes in phytoplankton growth
C) expansion of hypoxic dead zones
D) declines in calcifying organisms

Question 23

Increased CO₂ in the atmosphere since the Industrial Revolution has resulted in lower surface ocean pH of about ________ pH units.

A) 0.01
B) 0.1
C) 1.0
D) 5.0

Question 24

Without greenhouse gases, Earth's average temperature would be about ________.

A) -40°C
B) -18°C
C) 0°C
D) 15°C

Question 25

On average, Earth's surface albedo is about ________.

A) 2 percent
B) 7 percent
C) 31 percent
D) 52 percent

Question 26

The Vostok ice core provides direct measurements of all the following except ________.

A) dust
B) methane
C) carbon dioxide
D) temperature

Question 27

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was established in ________.

A) 1988
B) 1970
C) 1995
D) 2002

Question 28

Man-made chemicals such as CFCs can exhibit ________ times more greenhouse potential than carbon dioxide.

A) 0.24 to 0.53
B) 10 to 50
C) 200 to 2000
D) 12000 to 15000

Question 29

The most abundant greenhouse gas in Earth's atmosphere is ________.

A) oxygen
B) carbon dioxide
C) methane
D) tropospheric ozone

Question 30

Milankovich cycles are oscillations in Earth's solar energy and variations in Earth's orbit occurring at ________.

A) 23,000 to 400,000 years
B) hundreds of years
C) 10,000 to 50,000 years
D) millions of years

Question 31

Scientists have reported increased temperatures at depths greater than ________ in the North Atlantic where thermohaline circulation rapidly transports surface water to depth.

A) 200 m
B) 800 m
C) 1600 m
D) 2000 m

Question 32

Sea level can rise in response to ________.

A) thermal expansion
B) atmospheric pressure changes
C) changes in sea ice extent
D) All of these choices are correct.

Question 33

Carbon dioxide molecules last, on average, ________ years in the atmosphere

A) 2
B) 12
C) 100
D) 200

Question 34

Rapid cooling of Earth's climate can be caused by ________.

A) volcanic activity
B) plate tectonics
C) solar flares
D) changes in Earth's orbit

Question 35

A period of abrupt cooling that occurred (geologically) recently from about 1350-1850 is called the ________.

A) Great Freeze
B) Little Ice Age
C) Stormageddon
D) Perfect Storm

Question 36

The CLAW hypothesis links increasing ocean temperature to the production of more ________.

A) oxygen
B) dimethyl sulfide
C) hydrogen peroxide
D) carbon dioxide

Question 37

The Berkeley Earth Team estimates that Earth's average temperature increased about ________ since the 1950s.

A) 0.1°C
B) 0.5°C
C) 1.0°C
D) 2.0°C
E) 5.0°C

Question 38

Scientists have been able to evaluate changes in ocean temperature profiles over more than 100 years by comparing modern instrument float records to data obtained during the ________.

A) HMS Challenger expedition
B) Glomar Explorer expedition
C) Beagle expedition
D) Meteor expedition

Question 39

Earth's climate is comprised of all of the following except ________.

A) precipitation
B) temperature
C) the atmosphere
D) wind
E) weather

Question 40

Cloud condensation nuclei include ________.

A) dimethyl sulfide
B) sea salt
C) organic compounds
D) pollutants
E) All of these choices are correct.
F) None of these choices is correct.

Question 41

Periods of Earth's history with extensive sea ice result in enhanced albedo, leading to more cooling. This is referred to as ________.

A) the CLAW hypothesis
B) positive feedback
C) negative feedback
D) abrupt climate change

Question 42

Sources of renewable ocean energy include all of the following except ________.

A) wind, wave, current, and tidal power
B) salinity and thermal gradients
C) algal biofuels
D) methane hydrates extracted from the deep ocean

Question 43

Gradual climate change is not caused by changes in Earth's ________.

A) eccentricity
B) obliquity
C) precession
D) volcanic activity

Question 44

According to a 2014 report conducted by Yale University and George Mason University, the majority of the public surveyed in the United States agreed that global warming is occurring, and ________ believed it was caused primarily by human activities.

A) 10 percent
B) 25 percent
C) 50 percent
D) 75 percent
E) 90 percent

Question 45

Cloud formation is an example of a positive-feedback mechanism that modulates climate.

Question 46

Large-scale fertilization of the ocean to stimulate blooms and draw down carbon have been proposed using ________.

A) iron
B) phosphorus
C) urea
D) All of these choices are correct.
E) None of these choices is correct.

Question 47

A decrease in pH of about 0.1 pH units is very small and is unlikely to have negative consequences on marine organisms.

Question 48

Geoengineering proposals to mitigate climate change include ________.

A) large-scale iron fertilization
B) enhancement of deep-water formation
C) increasing rates of denitrification
D) development of wind turbine farms in the open ocean

Question 49

Potential issues with direct injection of CO₂ into the deep ocean include all of the following except ________.

A) potential acidification
B) the legal basis for injecting carbon
C) potential impacts to the deep-ocean ecosystem
D) uncertainly in how long the CO₂ would stay at depth
E) All of these choices are correct.
F) None of these choices is correct.

Question 50

If there were no gases in Earth's atmosphere, the average surface temperature would be similar to the 1840s before the Industrial Revolution.

Question 51

North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW) formation may be impacted by climate change because of ________.

A) increased precipitation at higher latitudes
B) decreased surface water density
C) increased water column stability
D) All of these choices are correct.
E) None of these choices is correct.

Question 52

Changes to any one component of Earth's climate system result in predictable changes to climate.

Question 53

Potential sources of energy that can be obtained from the sea include all of the following except ________.

A) tides
B) waves
C) currents
D) differences in temperature between deep and shallow water
E) polymetallic nodules

Question 54

Changes to North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW) could result in ________.

A) rapid warming of the U.S. east coast
B) rapid cooling similar to the Little Ice Age
C) no change in Earth's climate
D) increased precipitation at high latitudes

Question 55

Records indicating rapidly rising temperature of about 1°C since the the 1950s provides evidence for ________.

A) uncertainties and errors in the data
B) volcanic activity
C) natural variability of Earth's climate
D) human-induced climate change

Question 56

The Copenhagen Accord ________.

A) was led by Denmark
B) recommended a target of no more than 2°C rise in global temperature
C) is a binding agreement
D) established specific targets for greenhouse gas emissions

Question 57

A climate proxy provides indirect evidence for historical changes in climate.

Question 58

Algal biofuels are considered viable alternatives to land-based crops such as corn and soybeans because ________.

A) algae do not compete with food production
B) growing algae does not require farmland
C) algae can be grown on wastewater
D) All of these choices are correct.
E) None of these choices is correct.

Question 59

To detect trends in primary productivity related to climate change, scientists need ________ years of global data, such as can be obtained from ocean color satellites.

A) 10 to 15
B) 20 to 40
C) 30 to 50
D) more than 100

Question 60

A warmer ocean has been linked to ________.

A) decreases in disease outbreaks
B) migration of species poleward and deeper
C) declines in the microbial loop
D) increases in nutrients from deep-water sources

Question 61

The Copenhagen Accord, an international response to climate change, ________.

A) established specific targets for greenhouse gases
B) provided a mechanism for enforcement
C) recommended a target of no more than 2°C rise in global temperature
D) endorsed geoengineering solutions to climate change
E) was renounced by the United States and Canada

Question 62

The Greenhouse gas with the greatest greenhouse potential is ________.

A) Carbon dioxide
B) Methane
C) Ozone
D) CFC-11
E) CFC-12

Question 63

Less than half of the U.S. population agreed that global warming is occurring, according to a 2014 survey.

Question 64

Fertilization of the ocean with iron to enhance carbon sequestration is an example of geoengineering.

Question 65

Earth's climate changes on timescales of about 23,000 to 400,000 years caused by ________.

A) plate tectonics
B) human activity
C) volcanic eruptions
D) Milankovich cycles
E) sun spots

Question 66

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) predicts continued warming of about ________ per decade over the next two decades.

A) 0°C
B) 0.1°C
C) 0.2°C
D) 0.3°C
E) 0.5°C

Question 67

Based on a survey of U.S. residents completed in 2014, ________ percent of respondents agreed that global warming is occurring.

A) 0
B) 10
C) 66
D) 93
E) 100

Question 68

The compound that exerts a major control on the pH of seawater is ________.

A) NO₃^-
B) NH₄⁺
C) N₂
D) PO₄^3-
E) CO₂

Question 69

Commercial companies have considered large-scale ocean fertilization with all of the following to create phytoplankton blooms except ________.

A) iron
B) phosphorus
C) silica
D) urea

Question 70

Methane can exhibit ________ times more greenhouse potential than carbon dioxide.

A) 2
B) 5
C) 25
D) 250
E) 1000

Question 71

The process responsible for the majority of sea-level rise in the global ocean is ________.

A) albedo
B) photosynthesis
C) glacier melt
D) thermal expansion
E) El Niño

Question 72

The relative contribution of common gases in the atmosphere increase as a percentage of the greenhouse effect in which of the following going from lowest to highest percentage?

A) carbon dioxide; methane; CFC-11; CFC-12
B) CFC-12; CFC-11; methane; carbon dioxide
C) CFC-11; CFC-12; carbon dioxide; methane
D) methane; carbon dioxide; CFC-11; CFC-12
E) methane; CFC-11; CFC-12; carbon dioxide

Question 73

The albedo, or reflectivity, increases (from lowest to highest) in which sequence?

A) ocean; grassland; snow; asphalt
B) asphalt; ocean; grassland; snow
C) asphalt; grassland; ocean; snow
D) snow; grassland; ocean; asphalt
E) ocean; asphalt; grassland; snow

Question 74

If the Earth and oceans are warming at about 0.2°C per decade, we would expect the temperature 100 years from now to be ________ warmer than today.

A) 0°C
B) 1°C
C) 2°C
D) 5°C
E) 10°C

Question 75

As the oceans change temperature, many marine animals ________.

A) migrate poleward and deeper
B) migrate poleward and shallower
C) migrate toward the coast
D) migrate toward the Equator
E) migrate toward the gyres

Question 76

The organisms potentially impacted by ocean acidification are ________.

A) coral
B) crustaceans
C) mollusks
D) echinoderms
E) all of these

Question 77

Volcanic activity can lead to rapid cooling of Earth's climate because of ________.

A) increasing albedo
B) decreasing respiration
C) increasing respiration
D) decreasing photosynthesis
E) increasing photosynthesis

Question 78

The majority of the increase in heat input to the Earth as a result of global warming has ended up in ________.

A) the oceans
B) the continents
C) sea ice
D) glaciers
E) the atmosphere

Question 79

Ice cores, such as the Vostok ice core, can be used to reconstruct temperature patterns indirectly, using ________.

A) dust content in ice
B) carbon dioxide concentration in gas bubbles
C) mercury concentrations in ice
D) methane concentrations in gas bubbles
E) oxygen isotopes of water in ice

Question 80

Sea level can be changed by ________.

A) thermal expansion
B) melting of glaciers
C) El Niño
D) changes in atmospheric pressure
E) all of these choices
F) none of these choices