Deck 7: The Changing Climate

Question 1

The year 1976 was the last year global atmospheric temperatures were below average.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

Scientists who study Earth's ancient climates are paleoclimatologists.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

The primary reason the Greenland Norse society failed was due to the formation of summer sea ice in the North Atlantic Ocean.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

The carbon cycle describes the movement of carbon atoms and carbon dioxide molecules through Earth's physical systems.

Question 5

The first reliable and direct measurements of atmospheric carbon dioxide levels occurred in 1958.

Question 6

The Quaternary is known for its long and gradual cooling trend.

Question 7

The Holocene is known for its unusually stable and warm climate.

Question 8

Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines erupted in 1991 and caused climate cooling.

Question 9

The ice-albedo feedback is a positive feedback that can cause both cooling and warming trends.

Question 10

Quaternary glacial and interglacial periods together cycle at about 100,000-year intervals.

Question 11

The current warming trend can be explained by activity of El Niño, volcanoes, and sunspots.

Question 12

Milankovitch cycles are a result of orbital forcing.

Question 13

Milankovitch cycles refer to repeated and predictable changes in solar intensity.

Question 14

Scientists can say with certainty that a given extreme meteorological event, like a heat wave, was caused by global warming.

Question 15

The ice-albedo feedback is accelerating atmospheric warming in the tropics.

Question 16

A general circulation model is used to create long-term climate projections.

Question 17

The long-term carbon cycle involves the movement of carbon into and out of the biosphere.

Question 18

The term solar irradiance refers to the total solar energy reaching Earth.

Question 19

Climate anomalies are caused by both climate forcings and climate feedbacks.

Question 20

A green economy is one that focuses on parks and forests as a means to combat climate change.

Question 21

Individuals are powerless to address the problem of climate change.

Question 22

Which is an example of weather?

A)the average date of the first frost
B)the average number of hurricanes per season
C)the date of the first frost
D)the average number of days of thunderstorms

Question 23

The Quaternary period began 2.6 million years ago.

Question 24

Long-distance climate connections among different geographic regions are called climate teleconnections.

Question 25

The anthropogenic greenhouse effect is the result of human activity increasing greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere.

Question 26

When atmospheric carbon dioxide was last 400 parts per million, global sea level was about __________ meters higher than today.

A)10
B)15
C)20
D)25

Question 27

The Greenland Norse thrived for nearly five centuries.

Question 28

Most mountain glaciers are moving downslope in response to a warming atmosphere.

Question 29

Fossil fuels are the remains of ancient photosynthetic organisms.

Question 30

San Diego and Tucson have similar averages of annual temperature and precipitation.They therefore have the same climate.

Question 31

A carbon footprint is the amount of greenhouse gases that any activity generates.

Question 32

The Holocene epoch began about 5,000 years ago.

Question 33

Scandinavian Norse settled southern Greenland during the Little Ice Age.

Question 34

The anthropogenic greenhouse effect is caused by decreased stratospheric ozone.

Question 35

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is the world's leading governing body on climate change.

Question 36

Taken as a whole, the negative aspects of climate change far outweigh the positive aspects.

Question 37

The Quaternary began when an asteroid hit Earth.

Question 38

The term Maunder minimum was a period of low sunspot activity and may have caused the Little Ice Age.

Question 39

The short-term carbon cycle involves the movement of carbon between the biosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere.

Question 40

In about __________ days, human activity emits an entire year's worth of average volcanic emissions.

A)4
B)32
C)68
D)100

Question 41

According to the graph, in 2017 (the most recent year) the annual increase in carbon dioxide was about how many parts per million per year?

A)0.5
B)1.25
C)2.0
D)2.5

Question 42

About 55 million years ago, during the Cenozoic, the average global temperature was about __________ degrees Celsius warmer than today.

A)4
B)8
C)10
D)12

Question 43

The Gulf Stream transports __________ percent of all global heating moving north and south.

A)10
B)25
C)30
D)50

Question 44

According to this graph, in 1960 the annual increase in carbon dioxide was about how many parts per million per year?

A)0.5
B)1.5
C)2.0
D)2.5

Question 45

The last time atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations were 400 parts per million was __________ million years ago.

A)1
B)2
C)3
D)4

Question 46

Each year, burning of fossil fuels moves about __________ billion metric tons of carbon to the atmosphere.

A)1
B)6
C)19
D)32

Question 47

Human activity is increasing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere by __________ parts per million per year.

A)1
B)2.5
C)3
D)4.2

Question 48

When Earth's temperatures were last warmer than today they were about __________ degrees Celsius above today's average temperature.

A)1 to 2
B)3 to 4
C)5 to 6
D)7 to 8

Question 49

Which does not transfer carbon from the atmosphere to the lithosphere?

A)chemical weathering of rocks
B)volcanic activity
C)the activities of shell-building organisms
D)the preservation of photosynthetic organisms on land and in the oceans

Question 50

Volcanic eruptions cause short-term cooling by __________.

A)injecting ash and sulfur dioxide into the troposphere
B)injecting ash and sulfur dioxide into the stratosphere
C)releasing large amount of carbon dioxide
D)depositing reflective ash on the ground

Question 51

During the last 800,000 years, carbon dioxide concentrations have never exceeded __________ parts per million.

A)200
B)300
C)400
D)500

Question 52

In the coming decades nuisance flooding is expected to

A)decrease
B)increase
C)not change
D)change unpredictably

Question 53

The year __________ recorded the lowest-ever extent of Arctic sea ice.

A)2010
B)2011
C)2012
D)2013

Question 54

When Earth's temperatures were last warmer than today, sea levels were about __________ meters higher than today.

A)1 to 2
B)3 to 4
C)4 to 6
D)6 to 8

Question 55

The Cenozoic era is used as an example of __________.

A)a climate anomaly
B)a climate cycle
C)a climate trend
D)a climate feedback

Question 56

If the world became ice-free, about how much would global sea level rise in feet?

A)240 ft
B)260 ft
C)350 ft
D)400 ft

Question 57

A __________ causes climate change and is affected by climate change.

A)climate forcing
B)climate feedback
C)climate teleconnection
D)climate anomaly

Question 58

On May 9, 2013, atmospheric carbon dioxide levels rose above _________ parts per million briefly, then dropped back down.

A)397
B)398
C)399
D)400

Question 59

What is Arctic amplification?

A)the tendency of high latitudes to become drier than the rest of the planet
B)the tendency of high latitudes to become wetter than the rest of the planet
C)the tendency of high latitudes to cool faster than the rest of the planet
D)the tendency of high latitudes to warm faster than the rest of the planet

Question 60

Which is an example of weather?

A)drought
B)the Asian monsoon
C)El Niño
D)a midlatitude storm

Question 61

Interglacial periods last about __________ years on average.

A)10,000
B)30,000
C)60,000
D)90,000

Question 62

Glacial periods last about __________ years on average.

A)10,000
B)30,000
C)60,000
D)90,000

Question 63

The Quaternary period is used as an example of __________.

A)a climate anomaly
B)a climate cycle
C)a climate trend
D)a climate feedback

Question 64

Which has the longest temporal scale?

A)a rainbow
B)Cenozoic cooling
C)a hurricane
D)the Younger Dryas

Question 65

Scientists measure atmospheric carbon dioxide levels from Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawai'i because __________.

A)Hawai'i is a convenient location and centrally located
B)Hawai'i is far away from pollution from human activity
C)Hawai'i has naturally high levels of carbon dioxide
D)Hawai'i has naturally low levels of carbon dioxide

Question 66

Earth's average temperature is now higher than at any time in the last __________ years as a result of the anthropogenic greenhouse effect.

A)100
B)500
C)1,000
D)1,500

Question 67

The last time temperatures were warmer than today was during the __________.

A)Eemian
B)Holocene
C)Pleistocene
D)Cenozoic

Question 68

The Keeling curve shows measurements of __________.

A)carbon dioxide
B)methane
C)sulfur dioxide
D)ozone

Question 69

The Younger Dryas event is used as an example of __________.

A)a climate anomaly
B)a climate cycle
C)a climate trend
D)a climate feedback

Question 70

Bird populations have shifted north by about __________ kilometers on average since 1965.

A)40
B)56
C)67
D)78

Question 71

By the year 2100, higher estimates of atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations are __________ parts per million.

A)900
B)950
C)1,000
D)1,050

Question 72

The precession component of a Milankovitch forcing takes about __________ years to complete one full cycle.

A)10,000
B)24,000
C)41,000
D)100,000

Question 73

The oceans have absorbed about __________ percent of carbon dioxide emitted to the atmosphere by human burning of fossil fuels.

A)10
B)20
C)30
D)40

Question 74

In order to meet the goals of carbon dioxide emissions cuts, coal-burning power plants must improve their efficiency to __________ percent.

A)50
B)60
C)70
D)80

Question 75

There have been about __________ glacial-interglacial cycles during the Quaternary period.

A)10
B)16
C)22
D)43

Question 76

What happens as the oceans absorb carbon dioxide?

A)They become more acidic.
B)They become less acidic.
C)They become warmer.
D)They become colder.

Question 77

According to the graph, temperature and carbon dioxide share what relationship?

A)an inverse relationship
B)a direct relationship
C)no relationship
D)It is not possible to tell using these graphs.

Question 78

Since 1900, the growing season is on average __________ days longer for the lower 48 states.

A)7
B)12
C)15
D)20

Question 79

According to the graph, carbon dioxide concentrations were about how many parts per million 400,000 years ago?

A)200
B)280
C)320
D)350

Question 80

According to this figure, which location has seen the greatest increase in snowpack?

A)eastern central California
B)Oregon
C)Utah
D)British Columbia