Deck 18: Natural Climate Change

Question 1

Today, we are living in a(n) ___________ period of climate.

A) interglacial
B) glacial
C) Paleocene Maximum
D) Satanic

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Viking exploration and colonization of Greenland and Vineland (North America) took place during a warm period called ____.

A) PETM
B) the Little Warm Age
C) the Medieval Optimum
D) the Good Old Days

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Radioactive carbon-___ isotope has been used in dating organic objects that can be used in climate change studies.

A) 12
B) 13
C) 14
D) 16
E) 20

Answer 3

C

Question 4

The carbon dioxide-weathering feedback is an example of ____ feedback.

A) positive
B) negative
C) multiple
D) jumbled

Question 5

In the last 15 million years, the Earth's climate could be described as:

A) hot house climate
B) normal
C) ice house climate
D) outhouse climate

Question 6

Twenty thousand years ago, the Earth was experiencing:

A) Iceball Earth
B) hot house Earth
C) glaciation
D) interglacial

Question 7

The Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) was one of the largest warming events known. The spike in temperatures took place approximately ___ years ago.

A) 500 million
B) 55 million
C) 5 million
D) 50,000
E) 500

Question 8

Evidence of climatic variation prior to instrumented data is called:

A) historical data
B) proxy data
C) primeval data
D) mostly guesswork data

Question 9

The ratio of oxygen-18 to _____ isotopes has been used to show temperature changes taking place in the ocean and atmosphere in the past millions of years.

A) oxygen-16
B) oxygen-17
C) oxygen-19
D) oxygen-20
E) carbon-18

Question 10

The Younger Dryas was an abrupt cooling period around 13,000 years ago that was believed to be caused by:

A) an increase in chemical weathering of rocks
B) a sudden change in continental drift
C) a change in the thermohaline circulation of the Atlantic
D) a meteorite
E) volcanic eruption

Question 11

The Little Ice Age was a brief cold period in which Europe suffered from famine from about ___.

A) 1200 to 1350
B) 1400 to 1850
C) 1600 to 1920
D) 1940 to 1970

Question 12

Which of the following has been influenced by human activities?

A) atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide
B) changes to the surface albedo
C) atmospheric greenhouse gases concentration
D) all of the above
E) none of the above

Question 13

The study of tree rings in climate research is called:

A) dendrochronology
B) botanical climatology
C) ringology
D) arborology

Question 14

The Milankovitch Cycle explains long-term natural climate variations based on:

A) volcanic eruption records
B) Earth's orbital cycles
C) solar intensity changes
D) ocean circulation

Question 15

Which of the following is NOT a form of proxy data for climate research?

A) tree rings
B) pollen grains
C) rain gauge data
D) oxygen-18 ratios

Question 16

During the last ice age maximum (20,000 ya), all continents showed large glacial advances.

Question 17

An unusually warm period when grapes flourished in Britain and Genghis Khan swept over Eurasia is called:

A) the Younger Dryas
B) Medieval Optimum
C) the Age of Wine
D) the Little Warm Age

Question 18

What proxy evidence can be used to explain pre-historical climate change?

A) glacial deposits
B) soil types
C) pollen
D) all of these

Question 19

Most of the history of the Earth has been ice-free.

Question 20

The most recent warming of our Earth can be explained by the Milankovich theory.

Question 21

The end to warming and cooling periods is often due to a ______ feedback.

A) positive
B) negative
C) neither positive nor negative