Exam 2: The Physical Environment

Boston, Massachusetts, and Albany, New York, are at about the same latitude, but Albany is farther inland. Based on this, you would expect Albany to have _______ humidity and _______ variation in temperature than Boston.

Refer to the figure. The figure illustrates the rain-shadow effect. Which of the following descriptions of what is being illustrated here is correct?

Which statement about the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) is false?

In wetland sediments, the physiological functioning of organisms is most likely to be negatively affected by _______ conditions.

Refer to the figure. - You are one of a team of scientists studying a newly-discovered planet. You are receiving data from a probe that was landed on the planet by an unmanned mission. Your team is working with the little data you have from the probe to learn as much as you can about the planet's basic characteristics. The figure illustrates data collected by the probe at the same location on the planet during what you suspect are two different seasons (season A and season B). Create a hypothesis about the shape of the planet's orbit, and describe how the data supports your hypothesis.

If liquid water froze at the same temperature at which it is most dense,

Refer to the figure. Although tropical regions do not experience strong seasonality as far as temperature, they do commonly experience seasonality as far as rainfall due to a shift across the year of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ). According to the figure, which of the following locations is in the southern hemisphere and why?

The mixing that occurs at fall and spring turnover replenishes _______ in the epilimnion and increases the level of _______ in the hypolimnion.

In which aquatic ecosystems are oxygen concentrations in the water usually highest?

Refer to the map. The map shows annual seasonal temperature variation (in °C). Consider the temperature in Chicago (marked with the yellow star on the map). Suppose the average temperature in Chicago in January, the coldest month of the year, is -5?C. Based on the map, what should the average temperature be in July, the warmest month?

Refer to the figure. - You are one of a team of scientists studying a newly-discovered planet. You are receiving data from a probe that was landed on the planet by an unmanned mission. Your team is working with the little data you have from the probe to learn as much as you can about the planet's basic characteristics. The figure illustrates data collected by the probe at the same location on the planet during what you suspect are two different seasons (season A and season B). Do you think that the planet's atmosphere contains greenhouse gases? Why or why not?

Which of the following statements about climate is false?

Climate's control of the geographic distribution of organisms is influenced by _______ more than _______.

Refer to the figure. The map is of an imaginary planet that is roughly the same as Earth. Like Earth, it is tilted on its axis by about 23 $\degree$ , and it rotates around a sun-like star in approximately one year. At which site would a high-pressure system be most likely to develop during the winter?

Sensible heat flux includes convection and

Heat loss due to the exchange of kinetic energy by molecules in direct contact with one another is referred to as