Deck 14: Climate Change

Question 1

The most recent period of growth and melting of ice sheets began

A) the Holocene Epoch.
B) the Pleistocene Epoch.
C) the Younger Dryas.
D) the Little Ice Age.
E) the Cenozoic Era.

Answer 1

E

Question 2

Increased global temperatures are linked to melting Arctic sea ice.By what process can melting Arctic sea ice increase global temperatures further,creating a positive feedback loop?

A) Melting sea ice adds freshwater to the Arctic, which is warmer than salt water.
B) Sea ice reflects solar energy, more of which will be absorbed if sea ice cover decreases.
C) Melting sea ice raises sea level, covering more of the land surface with absorbent water.
D) Melting sea ice adds water vapour to the atmosphere, increasing the greenhouse effect.
E) Thinner sea ice does not insulate the seawater from the atmosphere as well as thicker sea ice.

Answer 2

B

Question 3

The average annual concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide has been rising over at least the past 50 years,based on direct measurements.Why? Choose the best answer.

A) Plant respiration rates are higher than rates of photosynthesis.
B) Humans release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere by burning fossil fuels.
C) More carbon dioxide is entering the atmosphere than is leaving it.
D) Wildfires have increased in length and intensity.
E) The greenhouse effect has been increasing.

Answer 3

C

Question 4

The total increase in mean temperature since the late nineteenth century

A) is about 18 degrees C.
B) is about 8 degrees C.
C) is about 0.8 degrees C.
D) has been the same in all continents.
E) is unknown.

Question 5

The interglacial interval we live in today is called

A) the Younger Dryas.
B) the Pleistocene Epoch.
C) the Holocene Epoch.
D) the Cenozoic Era.
E) the Medieval Warm Period.

Question 6

What atmospheric gas has the second largest concentration?

A) methane
B) nitrous oxide
C) carbon dioxide
D) oxygen
E) nitrogen

Question 7

Which of the following is NOT a way in which hazards are related to climate?

A) Flooding is related to amount and timing of rainfall.
B) Volcanic eruptions are related to warmer climates.
C) Wildfires are linked to drier climates.
D) Landslides are linked to wet climates.
E) Land subsidence is linked to climates with permafrost.

Question 8

Which of the following is a statement involving climate rather than weather?

A) Today it is cloudy and raining.
B) Rainfall amounts were above average this month.
C) The winters here are dry and warm.
D) The temperature will rise during the next week.
E) It is 23 degrees C F and sunny.

Question 9

The coldest part of the past 10,000 years is called

A) the Holocene Epoch.
B) the Pleistocene Epoch.
C) the Younger Dryas.
D) the Little Ice Age.
E) the Cenozoic Era.

Question 10

What is the aim of the discipline called Earth System Science?

A) Understand how global climate change will influence the biosphere.
B) Explain how the atmosphere, geosphere and biosphere are linked and how the complex linkages affect life on Earth.
C) Explain the negative implications of putting fossil fuels into the atmosphere.
D) Determine how humans can reverse all of the damage they have caused.
E) Understand how Earth works and how it and life have evolved over 4.6 million years of existence.

Question 11

What two factors are often used for basic classification of global climate zones?

A) average monthly temperature and precipitation
B) average monthly temperature and latitude
C) average rainfall and atmospheric pressure
D) atmospheric pressure and average monthly temperature
E) average cloud cover and proximity to ocean

Question 12

Certain trees can serve as good proxy indicators of climate change because

A) they record changes in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
B) they record changes in oxygen in the atmosphere.
C) they grow larger in warmer climates.
D) they live longer in warmer climates.
E) they are subject to moisture and temperature stress.

Question 13

The "year without a summer" occurred in 1816 and was associated with

A) an abrupt increase in greenhouse gases.
B) an increase in solar output.
C) a decrease in solar output.
D) a large volcanic eruption.
E) a change in ocean circulation.

Question 14

The frozen part of the hydrosphere comprising snow,sea and glacier ice,and permafrost is called the

A) the troposphere.
B) the atmosphere.
C) the cryosphere.
D) the stratosphere.
E) the thermosphere.

Question 15

Which of the following is NOT a source of carbon dioxide for our atmosphere?

A) volcanoes
B) decay of organic materials
C) burning of fossil fuels
D) plant respiration
E) plant photosynthesis

Question 16

What is the difference between a variable and permanent gas?

A) Variable gases have less effect on weather and climate than permanent gases.
B) Abundance of variable gases in the atmosphere change and abundance of permanent gases do not.
C) Variable gases comprise more of the atmosphere than permanent gases.
D) Variable gases are heavier than permanent gases.
E) Permanent gases are at a higher temperature than variable gases.

Question 17

Which of the following atmospheric gases is considered "permanent," i.e.,its atmospheric concentration does NOT change?

A) carbon dioxide
B) ozone
C) water vapour
D) methane
E) argon

Question 18

If the entire Greenland Ice sheet were to melt global sea level would rise approximately how many metres?

A) 4
B) 7
C) 74
D) 115
E) 150

Question 19

Atmospheric aerosols

A) are not gases.
B) do not influence the size of water droplets in clouds.
C) are primarily produced by automobiles.
D) result exclusively in atmospheric cooling.
E) are a permanent gas.

Question 20

Which gas comprises most of the atmosphere?

A) oxygen
B) carbon dioxide
C) methane
D) nitrogen
E) argon

Question 21

Under what orbital conditions is precession of the equinoxes irrelevant to climate change?

A) at a high tilt angle
B) at a low tilt angle
C) with a highly elliptical orbit
D) with a perfectly circular orbit
E) with Southern Hemisphere summer at perihelion

Question 22

Which of the following greenhouse gases makes the largest contribution to the anthropogenic greenhouse effect?

A) carbon dioxide
B) methane
C) nitrous oxide
D) ozone
E) CFC-11

Question 23

When the Earth warms,won't the areas that we lose to agriculture (like the U.S.Midwest)just be replaced by new areas that are now too cold for farming (like Northern Canada)?

A) No. The areas that will warm will still be too cold to farm.
B) Yes. There really won't be any problems for agriculture once the Earth warms.
C) Maybe. There is more to farming than just climate and more needs to be known about the soil characteristics in those areas.
D) No. There aren't enough people in those areas to farm the land.
E) Yes. The amount of land that we gain will exactly replace the amount that we lose.

Question 24

If you were in a sailboat at 15 degrees north latitude,from what direction would the prevailing wind blow?

A) from the northeast
B) from the southeast
C) from the northwest
D) from the southwest
E) from the north

Question 25

Which of the following statements describes the predominant atmospheric conditions at the South Pole?

A) low atmospheric pressure because the air is cold and moist
B) low atmospheric pressure because the air is cold and dry
C) high atmospheric pressure because the air is cold and moist
D) high atmospheric pressure because the air is cold and dry
E) high atmospheric pressure because the air is warm and dry

Question 26

Of the following,which is the best description of the greenhouse effect?

A) the transmission of ultraviolet radiation from the Sun
B) the reflection of ultraviolet radiation from the Sun
C) the absorption of ultraviolet radiation from the Sun
D) the absorption of infrared radiation by the atmosphere
E) the destruction of the ozone layer by absorption of ultraviolet radiation

Question 27

Your great-great grandmother may have written on her wedding photos about the weather on the day of her wedding.What type of data would this be?

A) instrumental record
B) historical record
C) paleo-proxy record
D) paleontological record
E) pollen record

Question 28

If the tilt (obliquity)of the Earth increased

A) summers would be hotter in the Southern Hemisphere and cooler in the Northern Hemisphere.
B) winters would be colder in the Northern Hemisphere and warmer in the Southern Hemisphere.
C) the Northern Hemisphere would receive more solar radiation annually than the Southern Hemisphere.
D) seasonal contrast in both hemispheres would increase.
E) seasonal contrast in both hemispheres would decrease.

Question 29

What is the largest potential global impact associated with the melting of the frozen peat in northern Canada and Siberia?

A) The melting of the peat will release a large amount of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
B) The melting of the peat will cause for a positive feedback loop as the release of methane will cause an increase in temperature and, consequently, more melting.
C) It will cause an increase in fossil fuel use as people would need to move away from the area.
D) The change in temperature will cause for an increase in water content in the subsurface leading to the lubrication of faults and ultimately increased earthquake activity.
E) The melting of the peat will release a large amount of water vapour into the atmosphere.

Question 30

Most natural greenhouse warming is due to

A) variations in Milankovitch Cycles.
B) absorption of infrared radiation by water vapour.
C) an increase in volcanic activity.
D) a decrease in ozone.
E) changes in the concentrations of permanent gases.

Question 31

During major Pleistocene glaciations

A) glaciers covered all of North America.
B) substantial sea level rise occurred.
C) Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal were covered with up to 2 km of ice.
D) carbon dioxide levels were much higher than at present.
E) glaciers covered all of Europe.

Question 32

The Earth's surface can only radiate long wave radiation ________,but the atmosphere radiates long wave radiation ________.

A) upward, downward
B) upward, in all directions
C) downward, upward
D) upward, perpendicular to the upward flow of energy
E) upward, at right angles to the upward flow of energy

Question 33

Which of the following processes is major part of the greenhouse effect?

A) ozone trapping incoming ultraviolet radiation from the Sun
B) carbon dioxide trapping incoming ultraviolet radiation from the Sun
C) water vapour trapping incoming ultraviolet radiation from the Sun
D) ozone trapping outgoing infrared radiation from the Earth
E) water vapour trapping outgoing infrared radiation from the Earth

Question 34

You cut down the tree in your great-great grandmother's backyard to analyze the tree rings.What type of data would this be?

A) instrumental record
B) historical record
C) paleo-proxy record
D) paleontological record
E) pollen record

Question 35

Where in the atmosphere are ozone concentrations the highest?

A) in tropical clouds
B) in the troposphere
C) in ice crystals near the poles
D) in the stratosphere
E) in cities with poor air quality

Question 36

How did scientists estimate variations in solar output in the past,before direct measurements?

A) by measuring carbon-14 concentrations in tree rings
B) by measuring carbon dioxide concentrations in ice cores
C) by measuring ozone concentrations in ice cores
D) by measuring the changing extent of Arctic sea ice
E) by measuring changes in distribution of terrestrial plants

Question 37

For records prior to the 1950s,where do scientists obtain evidence showing atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide?

A) from air samples collected from the top of Mauna Loa in Hawaii
B) from air bubbles trapped in ice in Greenland and Antarctica
C) from written historical records of human fossil fuel burning
D) from the chemistry of deep sea sediments
E) from gases dissolved in the ocean

Question 38

How have global temperatures changed over the last 800,000 years?

A) They have been constant.
B) They have been increasing.
C) They have been decreasing.
D) They have increased and decreased many times.
E) There is no way to know how global temperatures have changed with our current knowledge.

Question 39

Which of the following is NOT a typical hazard involved with glaciers?

A) People can fall into the crevasses in the glaciers.
B) Glaciers can block rivers causing floods.
C) Glacier ice can cause avalanches.
D) Glaciers can break of pieces into the ocean creating icebergs that disrupt shipping.
E) Glaciers can trigger volcanic eruptions.

Question 40

The advance and retreat of continental ice sheets may be partially explained by

A) volcanic forcing.
B) ocean circulation change.
C) Milankovitch cycles.
D) solar forcing.
E) changes in atmospheric aerosols.

Question 41

Though the extent of sea ice has decreased since the 1970s,its thickness has remained consistent.

Question 42

The most promising option for carbon sequestration is

A) planting more trees.
B) fertilizing phytoplankton with iron.
C) reduction in the use of coal.
D) storage below ground in geologic formations.
E) removing carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere.

Question 43

At present,the fastest route to ship goods from Atlantic Canada to British Columbia is through the Northwest Passage,rather than the Panama Canal.

Question 44

Both nitrogen and oxygen are relatively unimportant in atmospheric dynamics.

Question 45

Water vapour is not a greenhouse gas.

Question 46

The ice loss at the margins of the Greenland Ice Sheet are primarily caused by a reduction in snowfall at its center.

Question 47

The opposite of an El Niño event is a La Niña,which is characterised by

A) cool eastern Pacific waters.
B) warm eastern Pacific waters.
C) flooding in southern United States.
D) tornados in southern United States.
E) an increase in severe hurricanes.

Question 48

The Greenland Ice Sheet is the second largest ice sheet in the world.

Question 49

Compared to the geologic record extending back hundreds of thousands of years,which of the following statements is correct regarding the record of atmospheric carbon dioxide over the past 50 years?

A) Atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations are lower now than at any time in the past several hundred thousand years.
B) Atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations have remained constant for the past 50 years, which is different from the rapid fluctuations in the past.
C) The rate of change of atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration is much slower now than it was in previous warm periods.
D) The rate of change of atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration is much faster now than it was in previous warm periods.
E) The trend in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration today is what you would expect from Milankovitch forcing of climate.

Question 50

Under the Kyoto Protocol,nations agreed to

A) reduce emissions of chlorofluorocarbons to protect the ozone layer.
B) eliminate dumping of non-biodegradable materials at sea.
C) meet targets for planting trees to store carbon dioxide.
D) reduce emissions of greenhouse gases.
E) eliminate emissions of greenhouse gases.

Question 51

Trees can be sensitive indicators of past climate change.

Question 52

Climate change on the scale of decades to centuries can be explained Milankovitch Cycles.

Question 53

Much of Canada's agricultural production is from the Palliser Triangle in southern Alberta and Saskatchewan.Geological data from the past 2000 years indicate that agricultural production in this region could be vulnerable in the future due to

A) floods.
B) droughts.
C) wildfires.
D) severe storms.
E) insect infestations.

Question 54

The Earth's atmosphere can be divided into several zones based on

A) the relative concentrations of permanent gases.
B) vertical changes in air pressure.
C) vertical changes in air temperature.
D) the amount of ozone in the atmosphere.
E) the relative concentrations of greenhouse gases.

Question 55

The difference between climate change and most other hazards is that

A) climate change is a continuous process that is being amplified by human activities.
B) climate change is an episodic process that is being amplified by human activities.
C) climate change cannot be predicted.
D) climate change will not affect our health or safety.
E) climate change will not affect the survival of many species.

Question 56

The most common gas in the atmosphere is nitrogen.

Question 57

The interglacial interval we are living in now is called the Pleistocene Epoch.

Question 58

An example of a natural hazard that cannot be closely linked to climate change is

A) hurricanes.
B) tornadoes.
C) blizzards.
D) earthquakes.
E) wildfires.

Question 59

During an El Niño event

A) the water in the eastern equatorial Pacific is warmer than normal.
B) southern California experiences severe drought conditions.
C) the trade winds intensify.
D) Indonesia receives higher rainfall than normal.
E) warm water moves westward across the equatorial Pacific Ocean.

Question 60

Weather refers to the characteristic atmospheric conditions over years or decades.

Question 61

18,000 years ago,most of Canada was covered by ice.

Question 62

El Ni o is an oceanic and atmospheric phenomenon characterised by high sea surface temperatures in the southern Atlantic Ocean.

Question 63

Variability of solar output can be used to explain some of the climate variability over the past 1000 years.

Question 64

Since 1900,all regions of Canada have experienced average temperature increases.

Question 65

Methane is an important contributor to atmospheric warming.

Question 66

Nitrogen,oxygen and methane are all permanent gases.

Question 67

Near the equator,the atmospheric pressure is typically low due to warm,moist air rising.

Question 68

In Canada,the Arctic has warmed much more than the southern parts of the country over the past century.

Question 69

Volcanic eruptions can result in global cooling.

Question 70

A top priority in carbon sequestration is the removal of carbon dioxide produced by burning coal.

Question 71

If all the ice on Greenland melted,sea level would rise by more than 100 m.

Question 72

If the ocean conveyor belt shut down,northern Europe would be 5 degrees C to 10 degrees C warmer than it is today.

Question 73

Thawing of permafrost may lead to an increase in the amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere.

Question 74

Climate changes that occur on time scales of decades to centuries can be explained by the shifting positions of the continents.

Question 75

Large volcanic eruptions,like Mt.Tambora in 1815,can spew enough ash and gas into the atmosphere to cool global climate for a few years.

Question 76

An increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide may lead to ocean acidification.

Question 77

The last major glacial interval,which was a little warmer than today,occurred 125 000 years ago.

Question 78

Ozone depletion is the result of global warming.

Question 79

The Younger Dryas is the name applied to the last major interglacial interval.

Question 80

If two regions have the same annual average temperature and the same annual average precipitation,they have the same climate.