Deck 8: Global Climates and Climate Change

Question 1

Pollen in sediment can be an indicator of past climates.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

Climates in the past have always been much the same as they are today.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

On a global scale, generalization is necessary in order to distinguish between climate types and regions in a classification system.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

There were only four glacial ice advances during the Pleistocene.

Question 5

The term eccentricity refers to Earth's orbit.

Question 6

The ____ climate classification is a system that concentrates on a local scale, and is most useful for water resources specialists, soil scientists, and agriculturalists. ​

A)Köppen
B)Fujita
C)Penman
D)Darcy
E)Thornthwaite

Question 7

Palynology involves the examination of annual tree rings exposed by cores drilled through the middle of certain tree species to produce records of past climate.

Question 8

In the Köppen classification system, polar climate are assigned the letter D.

Question 9

Climate regions are separated on the Köppen climate classification map as an abrupt line. In reality, these are really zones of transition.

Question 10

Weather and climate are essentially the same thing.

Question 11

Although climate greatly influences the natural vegetation of a region, it has little impact upon the soils of a region.

Question 12

Oxygen isotopes in glacial ice cores provide records of past temperature changes.

Question 13

When studying climate, which of these would be considered an example of the macro scale level? ​

A)New York City
B)Cook County, Illinois
C)the Amazon Basin
D)the underside of a leaf
E)the north side of a hill

Question 14

Melting ice sheets exposing lower-albedo land that absorbs more insolation would be an example of a negative feedback.

Question 15

The "altithermal" describes a cold period of Earth's history.

Question 16

The formation, disappearance, or movement of landmasses over geologic time has altered oceanic and atmospheric circulation.

Question 17

Highland climates vary based on elevation.

Question 18

The two most common indicators for describing climate are ____. ​

A)pressure and precipitation
B)wind and pressure
C)precipitation and temperature
D)temperature and cloud cover
E)wind and cloud cover

Question 19

Which of these climate classes is an example of an arid climate in the Köppen classification? ​

A)tropical rainforest
B)marine west coast
C)low-latitude steppe
D)tundra
E)humid continental, hot-summer

Question 20

Which of these Köppen climate classes is defined as an area that does not have a month with an average temperature exceeding 10 °C (50 °F)? ​

A)mesothermal
B)polar
C)tropical
D)microthermal
E)highland

Question 21

The Pleistocene began with major glacial advances as early as ____. ​

A)10 thousand years ago
B)100 thousand years ago
C)2.6 million years ago
D)26 million years ago
E)100 million years ago

Question 22

Complex computer simulations of the variables affecting climate are called ____. ​

A)Milankovitch Programs
B)Global Climate Abstracts
C)Prehistoric Atmosphere Computers
D)Global Circulation Models
E)Virtual Planet Codes

Question 23

The most recent major advance of glacial ice in North America is called the ____. ​

A)Wurmian
B)Nebraskan
C)Holocenean
D)Wisconsinan
E)Greenlandan

Question 24

The potential evapotranspiration of a location is controlled by many factors including ____. ​

A)total annual precipitation
B)temperature
C)vegetative cover
D)precipitation intensity
E)seasonal rainfall distribution

Question 25

Which orbital cycle changes over the shortest amount of time? ​

A)eccentricity
B)oblongitude
C)stationarity
D)obliquity
E)precession

Question 26

Absent human activity, Milankovitch theory indicates that ____.

A)the Holocene interglacial would continue indefinitely
B)glaciers would cover much of North America in a few hundred years
C)the Holocene interglacial would end, and another major glaciation would begin
D)climate would continue to get warmer, and nearly all of the Greenland and Antarctic ice caps would disappear within 3,000 years
E)climate is completely unpredictable

Question 27

Short-term changes in Pacific Ocean circulation are primarily responsible for climatic events associated with ____. ​

A)glaciation
B)global warming
C)El Niño
D)albedo
E)obliquity

Question 28

A plot of mean monthly temperatures and precipitation summarizing the climate at any point on Earth is called a(n)____. ​

A)hydrologic cycle
B)moisture index
C)isohyet
D)water budget
E)climograph

Question 29

Which of these descriptions best fits the Pleistocene? ​

A)warm, humid period of swamps and forests when dinosaurs roamed Earth
B)most recent climate interval characterized by warm, stable conditions
C)four major glacial cycles slowly followed by shorter, warmer interglacials
D)complex record of climate changes characterized by cycles of rapid advance and retreat of glaciers
E)a period of steadily increasing temperatures

Question 30

Which of these factors creates a major problem for scientists studying a particular cycle of glaciation? ​

A)subsequent glacial advances disrupt sedimentary evidence
B)glaciers leave no physical evidence behind
C)human activity interferes with past glacial advances
D)changes in wind direction
E)changes in precipitation patterns

Question 31

Several consecutive years of cooler global temperatures can result from ____. ​

A)emissions of carbon dioxide
B)the eccentricity cycle
C)emissions of methane
D)volcanic eruptions
E)the obliquity cycle

Question 32

The 41,000 year variation in the tilt of Earth's axis is called the ____. ​

A)precession cycle
B)eccentricity cycle
C)obliquity cycle
D)solar cycle
E)glacial cycle

Question 33

The first known studies of climate occurred in ____. ​

A)ancient Greece
B)ancient Egypt
C)ancient China
D)ancient Rome
E)ancient Sumeria

Question 34

The modern climate epoch, which is characterized by relatively stable, warm temperatures compared to most of the last 2.6 million years, is known as the ____. ​

A)Altithermal
B)Little Warm Age
C)Holocene
D)Pleistocene
E)Cretaceous

Question 35

Which Köppen climate class has at least 1 month that averages below freezing, but at least 1 month that averages above 10 °C (50 °F)? ​

A)polar
B)microthermal
C)tropical
D)mesothermal
E)humid

Question 36

Climate, at a local scale like the slopes of a single hill, is termed ____. ​

A)microclimate
B)base climate
C)mesoclimate
D)megaclimate
E)macroclimate

Question 37

Oxygen-isotope analysis is a measurement technique that has been used in climate studies to determine the temperature of seawater by analyzing ____. ​

A)whale bones
B)sea weed
C)beach sand
D)tiny seashells of plankton
E)seafloor basalt

Question 38

A "greenhouse gas" that is currently thought to be a significant cause of recent global warming is ____. ​

A)nitrogen dioxide ​
B)hydrogen peroxide
C)ferrous oxide ​
D)carbon dioxide ​
E)hydrogen sulfide

Question 39

The last glacial advance peaked in North America about ____ years ago. ​

A)150
B)3,000
C)18,000
D)100,000
E)2.6 million

Question 40

What capital letter does the Köppen system use to identify a tropical climate? ​

A)A
B)H
C)C
D)D
E)E

Question 41

A(n)_______________ feedback means that a change in one variable will cause changes in other variables that magnify the amount of original change.

Question 42

Describe two causes of climate change that help explain the repeated glacial advances and retreats over the last million years.

Question 43

The real evaporation loss and transpiration by plants at a location is called _______________ evapotranspiration.

Question 44

Scientists have known for many years that carbon dioxide acts as a _______________ gas, impeding outgoing longwave radiation emitted by the Earth.

Question 45

The _______________ cycle concerns variations in the tilt of Earth's axis.

Question 46

Following the eruption of the volcano Tambora in 1,815, the year 1,816 was known as "the year _______________." (three words)

Question 47

Describe two things that could be done on a global scale to protect and preserve Earth's physical environments for future generations.

Question 48

The _______________ cycle shifts the time of year that the Earth reaches aphelion.

Question 49

The warm period on Earth about 7,000 years ago is known as the _______________.

Question 50

How might a Near Earth Object change the climate?

Question 51

Describe two ways that changes in the position of Earth's landmasses over geologic time have affected climate.

Question 52

In a typical climograph, a continuous line connects average monthly values to produce an annual _______________ curve.

Question 53

The most widely used climate classification based on temperature and precipitation patterns is the _______________ system.

Question 54

Warm periods between glacial advances are called _______________.

Question 55

How can one layer, in a core extracted from a bog, reveal a climate of the past?

Question 56

Dendrochronology involves the examination of annual _______________. (two words)

Question 57

The _______________ cycle deals with the shape of Earth's orbit and lasts approximately 100,000 years.

Question 58

The impacts of human activities on environmental and climate changes are referred to as _______________ change.

Question 59

A cool period in continental Europe and North America between 1,560 and 1,880 is known as the _______________. (three words)

Question 60

The term for an ancient climate is _______________.