Deck 19: Global Change in the Earth System

Question 1

A crater discovered in the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico appears to be the right age to be a result of an impact which brought about the extinction of numerous species at the end of the ____________ period.

A) Silurian
B) Jurassic
C) Cretaceous
D) Tertiary

Answer 1

C

Question 2

With the increased amount of information that has been discovered in recent years,scientists have become increasingly certain that ____________.

A) Earth's climate is not warming to any significant degree
B) Earth's climate is warming due to variation in solar output; human inputs of atmospheric greenhouse gases have not had a significant influence
C) Earth's climate is warming, and human inputs of atmospheric greenhouse gases are most likely responsible

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Which of the following processes releases carbon dioxide to the atmosphere?

A) photosynthesis
B) weathering of silicate rocks
C) volcanism
D) deep burial of peat to produce coal

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Which of the following is an important long-term (acting over spans of tens of millions of years)factor in global climate change.

A) decrease in albedo due to aerosols from volcanic eruptions
B) variation in Milankovitch orbital parameters
C) variation in the abundance of sunspots
D) atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide

Question 5

During most of the Mesozoic,Earth was ____________.

A) about as warm as today
B) covered in extensive continental glaciers
C) about as warm as the Holocene climatic optimum
D) significantly warmer than at any time within the last few million years

Question 6

All changes within the Earth system are unidirectional and cannot be reversed.

Question 7

Currently,global warming appears to be most strongly affecting the climate and wildlife of ____________ regions.

A) equatorial
B) temperate
C) polar
D) deep sea

Question 8

The presence of liquid water on Earth's surface is ____________.

A) unremarkable; many other bodies in the solar system have liquid water
B) unique within the solar system, but is an inherent feature of Earth that would be found regardless of the Earth-Sun distance
C) unique within the solar system; liquid water would not have developed had Earth been much closer to or farther from the Sun

Question 9

Cyclical global change includes the formation of core,mantle,and crust from a homogeneous mixture,a state to which one day Earth will return.

Question 10

The hole in the ozone layer has been brought about by anthropogenic emissions of ____________.

A) carbon dioxide
B) methane
C) chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)
D) polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)

Question 11

An increase through time in the proportion of heavy oxygen ( ) in a sequence of carbonate sediments implies ____________.

A)the sediments are young enough to have been exposed to radiation from underground nuclear testing
B) the organisms that secreted the carbonate favored over the far more abundant
C) Earth was becoming warmer over time
D) Earth was becoming cooler over time

Question 12

Nearly all biological and chemical systems on Earth are disconnected and are best studied in mutual isolation.

Question 13

Uplifted areas are subjected to weathering and erosion at the surface; this provides an example of ____________.

A) unidirectional change
B) cyclical change
C) neutral feedback

Question 14

Which of the following processes removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere?

A) exhalation by animals
B) burning of coal and other fossil fuels
C) volcanism
D) photosynthesis

Question 15

Which of the following types of global change is not part of a cycle of change,and thus irreversible?

A) orogenic uplift
B) melting and crystallization of sedimentary rock to form igneous rock
C) evolution of life on Earth
D) flooding of the continents due to global warming

Question 16

Due to global warming,the Earth is now warmer than it ever has been in geologic history.

Question 17

The factors that affect Earth's long-term climate are different from those that affect climate on shorter time scales.

Question 18

Which of the following processes may be responsible for short-term cooling,yet in the long term favors warm,greenhouse climate?

A) atmospheric carbon dioxide
B) formation of extensive ice sheets
C) volcanism
D) formation of large continents located near the poles

Question 19

A newspaper editorial columnist this week writes a scathing attack on the scientific consensus concerning global warming.His position is that global warming is not occurring,and his supporting evidence is the fact that Sheboygan,Wisconsin,had a record low temperature (in 150 years of record keeping)on February 6 last winter.Which statement(s)about the editorial is/are correct?

A) Assuming the columnist is correct in reporting the record low temperature, then indeed he is correct in his assertion that global warming is not occurring.
B) The columnist is confusing weather (day to day and seasonal variation in temperature, humidity, precipitation, and air pressure) with climate (variability in these factors over time scales of decades or longer).
C) The columnist does not understand that scientists do not expect global warming to produce a gradual uniform increase in temperature for every locality on every day of the year. Geologically rapid warming is expected to increase air and sea temperature averaged across the planet throughout the year (measured over time spans of decades to centuries), but it will also bring shifts in weather patterns that could locally cause extreme heat or cold, drought, or intense flooding.
D) Both B and C are correct.

Question 20

Pollen has changed over time through evolution,but the pollen of individual species cannot be used to interpret ancient environments because most species inhabit all environments.