Deck 11: Heating the Atmosphere

Question 1

The fraction of the total radiation that is reflected by a surface is ________.

A)its albedo
B)a larger proportion than is absorbed by the surface
C)the same no matter what Earth material we examine
D)immediately scattered by the atmosphere

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Energy from the Sun reaches Earth through ________.

A)convection
B)conduction
C)radiation
D)gravity

Answer 2

C

Question 3

The tops of tall mountains are much colder than surrounding lowlands. This is evidence of ________.

A)solar heating
B)global warming
C)the environmental lapse rate
D)ozone depletion

Answer 3

C

Question 4

How is climate different from weather?

A)Climate is "average weather."
B)Climate is the sum of all statistical weather information that helps describe a region.
C)Climate cannot change, but weather changes frequently.
D)They are the same thing.

Question 5

Air is best described as ________.

A)an element
B)a compound
C)a mixture of gases, with solid particles and liquid droplets in it
D)a mixture of gases only

Question 6

Which of the following locations would have the lowest average air pressure?

A)Summit of Mount Everest, tallest mountain on Earth
B)Dead Sea, Israel, lowest point on Earth's land surface
C)Challenger Deep, Mariana Trench, lowest point in the ocean
D)Sea level, anywhere on the planet

Question 7

Weather is ultimately driven by ________.

A)geothermal heat
B)energy input from the Sun
C)radioactive decay
D)environmental lapse rate

Question 8

________ is the agent of atmospheric temperature change.

A)Heat
B)Starlight
C)Gravity
D)Pressure

Question 9

Examine the figure. Which of the four lettered positions depicts the Northern Hemisphere winter solstice?

A)A
B)B
C)C
D)D

Question 10

Imagine you are in a flying aircraft. You note the presence of clouds and storms at your same altitude. What layer of the atmosphere must the aircraft be traveling through?

A)troposphere
B)stratosphere
C)ionosphere
D)mesosphere

Question 11

In total, Earth receives about 7% more energy from the Sun during ________ relative to ________.

A)aphelion; perihelion
B)perihelion; aphelion
C)fall equinox; summer solstice
D)winter solstice; spring equinox

Question 12

Even though ground-level ozone is a health hazard, the "ozone layer" in the stratosphere is a health benefit because ________.

A)it stops global warming
B)it reduces thunderstorms
C)it screens out some harmful solar radiation
D)it absorbs certain wavelengths of infrared radiation that are emitted by Earth's surface

Question 13

Water vapor levels in Earth's atmosphere ________.

A)vary from place to place and time to time
B)range between 0% and 4%
C)are a major mechanism of transport of latent heat
D)all of the above

Question 14

Solar radiation is ________, as compared to the ________ emitted by Earth.

A)long-wave radiation; short-wave radiation
B)short-wave radiation; long-wave radiation
C)infrared radiation; visible light
D)heat; electromagnetic radiation

Question 15

Dust in the atmosphere is responsible for which of the following?

A)reflection of solar energy
B)acting as a nucleus for condensation and cloud formation
C)optical phenomena such as a red sky at sunset
D)Atmospheric dust does all of these.

Question 16

Sea salts from breaking waves, fine soil blown into the air, smoke and soot from wildfires, pollen and microorganisms lifted by the wind, and ash from volcanic eruptions are all examples of ________.

A)greenhouse gases
B)aerosols
C)elements
D)radiosondes

Question 17

Which one of the following is the most abundant gas in the atmosphere?

A)carbon dioxide
B)ozone
C)oxygen
D)nitrogen

Question 18

If it were December and you wanted to travel to "the land of the midnight Sun," where would you have to go?

A)anywhere north of 66 1/2° N latitude
B)anywhere between 23 1/2° N latitude and 66 1/2° N latitude
C)anywhere between 23 1/2° S latitude and 66 1/2° S latitude
D)anywhere south of 66 1/2° S latitude

Question 19

The lowest layer of the atmosphere is the ________.

A)troposphere
B)stratosphere
C)ionosphere
D)mesosphere

Question 20

Approximately how many kilometers (miles)above Earth's surface does the atmosphere end and outer space begin?

A)47 kilometers (30 miles)
B)82 kilometers (52 miles)
C)145 kilometers (90 miles)
D)There is no clearly defined upper limit to the atmosphere; it gradually fades into space.

Question 21

The storage of heat in the lower layer of the atmosphere due to certain gases absorbing heat is called ________.

A)adiabatic cooling
B)radiosonde
C)scattering
D)the greenhouse effect

Question 22

Solar radiation may be absorbed, transmitted, or redirected (reflected or scattered)by the atmosphere.

Question 23

A field covered with several inches of freshly-fallen snow has a high albedo.

Question 24

Fairbanks, Alaska has more hours of daylight in June than Miami, Florida.

Question 25

Because stratospheric ozone occurs at 10 to 50 kilometers elevation (6 to 31 miles above Earth's surface), it is not vulnerable to human influence.

Question 26

Human beings have no effect on climate.

Question 27

The seasonal shift of isotherms is greater over the continents than over the ocean.

Question 28

Climate scientists predict that an effect of human-caused climate change is ________.

A)stronger tropical storms
B)more earthquakes
C)the death of every human being
D)all of the above

Question 29

Visible light makes up about one-half of the electromagnetic spectrum.

Question 30

The variation in distance between Earth and the Sun is the cause of the temperature variations that cause the seasons.

Question 31

If it were not for the inclination of Earth's axis, there would be no well-defined seasons.

Question 32

By adding the daily maximum and minimum temperatures and then dividing by two, the daily range is calculated.

Question 33

A city located along a windward coast will probably have ________.

A)warmer summer temperatures than an inland location at the same latitude
B)summer temperatures that are very similar to an inland location at the same latitude
C)cooler summer temperatures than an inland location at the same latitude
D)the season of summer, while inland locations don't experience summer

Question 34

As you increase in latitude, for example going from the equator to the Tropic of Cancer, you would expect annual temperature range to increase.

Question 35

Climate data can predict the weather.

Question 36

The annual temperature range at most latitudes in the Southern Hemisphere is much smaller than that in the Northern Hemisphere. The reason for this is that ________.

A)Earth is closest to the Sun during the Southern Hemisphere summer
B)rainfall and cloudiness are greater in the Southern Hemisphere
C)there is a greater percentage of water surface in the Southern Hemisphere
D)a greater proportion of the land surface is mountainous in the Southern Hemisphere

Question 37

Conduction is a form of heat transfer that involves the movement of a mass or substance.

Question 38

More solar energy is reflected back to space (30%)than is absorbed directly by the atmosphere (20%).

Question 39

Which of the following can influence temperature?

A)position on a landmass
B)altitude
C)cloud cover
D)all of the above

Question 40

Weather is just another word for climate.

Question 41

Above the stratosphere is a layer called the ________ where temperatures decrease with an increase in altitude.

Question 42

On a map, lines connecting points of equal temperature are ________.

Question 43

Identify and label each of the layers and boundaries in Earth's atmosphere.

Question 44

Ozone is concentrated in the middle part of the ________.

Question 45

Closely spaced isotherms indicate a high ________.

Question 46

Compare and contrast weather and climate.

Question 47

The form of oxygen that combines three atoms of oxygen into each molecule is ________.

Question 48

The most important elements of weather and climate (quantities or properties that are measured regularly)are (1)air temperature, (2)________, (3)type and amount of cloudiness, (4)type and amount of precipitation, (5)air ________, and (6)the speed and direction of the wind.

Question 49

A day of the year when the length of the night is equal to the length of the day is known as a(n)________.

Question 50

Examine the figure and use it as a basis for discussing the role the greenhouse effect plays in the atmospheres of (a)the Moon, (b)Earth, and (c)Venus.

Question 51

The concentration of the atmospheric gas ________ is shown in this graph.

Question 52

Match the items in the first column with the correct descriptions in the second column.

A)electromagnetic energy that has been scattered by the atmosphere
B)a package of instruments attached to a balloon
C)a generalization of the weather conditions that are typical of a place
D)the state of the atmosphere at a particular time and place
E)liquid droplets or solid particles in the atmosphere
F)a mixture of many discrete gases, including water vapor, as well as variable components like dust and small liquid droplets
G)the form of energy re-radiated by Earth's surface, after being absorbed as visible light from the Sun
H)the change in temperature over changes in altitude in the atmosphere
1)air
2)environmental lapse rate
3)weather
4)diffused light
5)radiosonde
6)aerosols
7)infrared radiation
8)climate

Question 53

The monthly ________ temperature is calculated by adding together the daily means for each day of the month and dividing by the number of days in the month.

Question 54

On this graph, one of the monthly mean temperature lines (red or blue)represents the coastal city of San Francisco, California. The other represents Urbana, Illinois, a city on the same latitude as San Francisco, but located deep in the interior of the North American continent. The red line therefore most likely represents ________.

Question 55

Located adjacent to red on the electromagnetic spectrum, and having a longer wavelength, is ________ radiation, which we cannot see but which we can detect as heat. This is an important wavelength for the greenhouse effect, because its wavelength is blocked by greenhouse gases.

Question 56

All places at the same ________ have identical Sun angles and lengths of daylight.

Question 57

________ is the most abundant gas in Earth's atmosphere.

Question 58

Carbon dioxide and ________ are the most important heat absorbing gases in the lower atmosphere.

Question 59

Explain the discrepancy between someone who looks at the Sun at noon and goes blind as a result, and another person in the same spot, who watches the sunset a few hours later with satisfaction and a sense of relaxation, and no ill effects whatsoever.

Question 60

Reflected light bounces back from a surface at the same angle at which it strikes that surface and with the same ________.

Question 61

Imagine you are hired by NASA to help plan for a new "rover" mission to Mars. Your supervisors learn that you have been trained in Earth science, and they ask you to consider solar panels as a source of energy for many of the rover's instruments while it is on the Martian surface. Using your knowledge of seasons and temperatures here on Earth as a model, briefly outline the factors what would influence solar radiation on the Martian surface.

Question 62

Compare and contrast the two maps showing the global distribution of temperatures in January and July. Explain the differences as fully as possible.

Question 63

Examine the graph. Note that the explanatory label indicates that during the Northern Hemisphere summer, CO₂ concentrations decrease because plants consume that gas during photosynthesis. But when it is summer in the Northern Hemisphere, it is winter in the Southern Hemisphere. When it is winter in the Northern Hemisphere, it is summer in the Southern Hemisphere. Why doesn't the Southern Hemisphere summer show this same CO₂ drawdown?

Question 64

Explain how the events/processes depicted in this photo might influence climate.