Deck 9: External Energy Fuels Weather and Climate

Question 1

The greenhouse effect results in ________________.

A)global cooling
B)global warming
C)lots of flowers
D)the growth of green algae on the shady side of houses worldwide

Answer 1

B

Question 2

The amount of heat required to raise the temperature of a sample of water is referred to as the ________________.

A)greenhouse heat
B)latent heat
C)specific heat
D)condensation heat

Answer 2

C

Question 3

The rapid rotation of the Earth results in all large moving air masses in the Northern Hemisphere sidling off toward their ______ -hand side,when viewed along the direction of movement,and all moving bodies of air in the Southern Hemisphere veering toward their ______.

A)left;right
B)right;left
C)right;right
D)left;left
E)
It is impossible to tell from the information provided

Answer 3

B

Question 4

A sloping surface separating air masses that differ in temperature and moisture content is called __________________.

A)a front
B)a jet stream
C)a Hadley cell
D)a trade wind
E)None of these are correct.

Question 5

The fraction of solar energy reflected back to space due to Earth's cloudiness or snow and ice cover is known as ______________.

A)libido
B)albedo
C)segundo
D)La Ni-a

Question 6

Because of the Coriolis effect,if you are in an airplane at the geographic north pole and point it toward Chicago and fly in a straight line at 500 miles per hour,you will _____________________.

A)end up at Chicago,or at least fly directly over Chicago
B)pass hundreds of miles east of Chicago
C)pass hundreds of miles west of Chicago
D)
It is impossible to tell

Question 7

When short-wavelength radiation from the Sun passes through a planet's atmosphere but long-wavelength reradiation is trapped,the resulting conditions produce _____________.

A)global cooling
B)a Bose-Einstein condensate
C)the greenhouse effect
D)All of the choices are correct.

Question 8

When the relative humidity reaches 100%,excess water vapor condenses and forms liquid water.This temperature is the ________________.

A)condensation temperature
B)liquidus temperature
C)maximum humidity temperature
D)dew point temperature

Question 9

Which of the following has the lowest heat capacity?

A)Water
B)Granite
C)Quartz
D)Air

Question 10

When water vapor condenses it,

A)releases latent heat
B)it absorbs latent heat
C)it converts kinetic energy
D)it absorbs kinetic energy

Question 11

There are two main jet streams in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres,

A)a polar jet and a subtropical jet.
B)a temperate jet and a tropical jet.
C)a polar jet and a temperate jet.
D)a slow jet and a fast jet.
E)an eastward jet and a westward jet.

Question 12

Much of the midlatitude severe weather in the Northern Hemisphere occurs via cyclones: air masses rotating _________________________________.

A)clockwise about a high-pressure core
B)counterclockwise about a high-pressure core
C)clockwise about a low-pressure core
D)counterclockwise about a low-pressure core
E)None of these are correct.

Question 13

The polar jet stream flows from west to east,under the influence of the Earth's rotation,in ____________________.

A)only the Southern Hemisphere
B)only the Northern Hemisphere
C)both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres
D)neither hemisphere
E)one hemisphere in summer and the other in winter

Question 14

A polar jet is a belt of winds about 600 miles wide,flowing as fast as _________ in its central "core".

A)37 mph
B)370 mph
C)3700 mph
D)the speed of sound
E)an orbiting satellite

Question 15

Ascending air at the equator and descending air around 30 ^$\circ$ N and S latitudes create semicircular air circulation routes known as ___________________.

A)the semi-troposphere
B)the trade winds
C)westerly winds (westerlies)
D)the Subtropical High Pressure Zone
E)Hadley cells

Question 16

Deep ocean waters flow in an overturning circulation called _____________________.

A)upwelling
B)downwelling
C)bottom flow
D)thermohaline flow
E)Coriolis flow

Question 17

The process of changing from a solid to a gas is referred to as ________________.

A)evaporation
B)gasification
C)sublimation
D)condensation

Question 18

During the course of a year,the equatorial regions of Earth receive about ________________ times as much solar energy as the polar regions.

A)0.7
B)1.8
C)2.4
D)3.6
E)5.2

Question 19

Glass is opaque to _________ radiation.

A)long-wavelength
B)short-wavelength
C)both short- and long-wavelength
D)neither short- nor long-wavelength
E)You can see through glass,so it is transparent to all radiation

Question 20

Greenhouse gases include __________________.

A)CO₂
B)H₂O vapor
C)methane (CH₄)
D)chlorofluorocarbons
E)All of these are correct.

Question 21

The process of expanding air causes cooling,an adiabatic process where temperature changes without loss of heat from the air mass.

Question 22

The altitude where 100% humidity is reached is the

A)falling condensation rate.
B)lifting condensation level.
C)the lifting lapse level.
D)the differential lapse level.

Question 23

The transport of energy in moving air masses is often experienced as severe storms,moving cold air equatorward and hot air poleward,with much heat carried by water vapor.

Question 24

The Coriolis effect is greatest at the equator and least at the poles.

Question 25

Water has the highest heat capacity of all solids and liquids,except liquid ammonia.

Question 26

Jet streams are relatively narrow bands of high-velocity winds that flow from west to east at high altitudes.

Question 27

Energy is absorbed by water when it condenses from vapor.

Question 28

The oceans hold a much greater volume of heat than the atmosphere even though the atmosphere has a much larger volume.

Question 29

Biologic use of CO₂ has lessened the greenhouse effect to yield the present congenial temperatures on Earth.

Question 30

Before life was present on Earth,the atmosphere was full of CO₂,and the average surface temperature of the Earth would have been about 550 ^$\circ$ F.

Question 31

The vertical movement of air is large compared to its horizontal motion.

Question 32

Deep-ocean currents are more important in the global exchange of heat than are atmospheric motions.

Question 33

The dew point temperature is the temperature at which air reaches 100% relative humidity,and thus water can condense from the air to form dew.

Question 34

The Sun's energy heats all parts of the Earth equally.

Question 35

Adiabatic effects include expansional cooling or compressional warming.

Question 36

The energy released by condensing a given mass of water is the same as that absorbed by evaporating the same mass of water.

Question 37

Polar latitudes show a net cooling because the heat radiated to space from the Earth's interior is less than the amount gained from the Sun.

Question 38

A cooling air mass aloft sinks and compresses,becoming denser and warmer as it sinks.

Question 39

Sublimation describes the same process as evaporation.

Question 40

The subtropical jets play a more dominant role in weather than do the polar jets.

Question 41

Water has such a tremendous capacity to either absorb or release heat that it acts as a powerful control or buffer on global climate.

Question 42

Because of its fluctuations in abundance,CO₂ is the most important of the greenhouse gases.

Question 43

If CO₂ were not present in the atmosphere,the average temperature at the Earth's surface would be about 0 ^$\circ$ F.

Question 44

Methane has about a 24-times stronger capacity to trap heat as a greenhouse gas than does carbon dioxide.