Test your basic knowledge |

Global Warming

Subjects : literacy, science
Instructions:
  • Answer 50 questions in 15 minutes.
  • If you are not ready to take this test, you can study here.
  • Match each statement with the correct term.
  • Don't refresh. All questions and answers are randomly picked and ordered every time you load a test.

This is a study tool. The 3 wrong answers for each question are randomly chosen from answers to other questions. So, you might find at times the answers obvious, but you will see it re-enforces your understanding as you take the test each time.
1. In ________- inversion layer is more common in the Arctic






2. Number of days that exceed a given temperature






3. SALTY WATER = MORE DENSE - Maximum density at 4OC - This is why ice melting is a big deal; if the whole circle slows down - Ice bergs are fresh water higher sea level rise.






4. A naturally or artificially caused decrease in the thickness and/or areal extent of permafrost - It is caused by the deepening fo the active layer and the thawing of the adjacent permafrost.






5. 20% human produced CO2 emissions. Tropical forests hold around 50% of the carbon present in vegetation on Earth.






6. Sea ice and continental ice. This is caused by Atmospheric warming triggers.






7. ~15% of incident solar energy (albedo 85)






8. Number of days that land among the hottest of all days in that month's long-term record.






9. Number of days when temperatures climb above average by a fixed amount.






10. Much of the Arctic is overlain by snow and sea ice (land ice and sea ice) - It makes warming a much bigger deal in the Arctic






11. Land Based Ecosystems retain ____ CO2.






12. The difference between the incoming radiation energy and the outgoing radiation energy - A measure of the net energy.






13. The Day After Tomorrow - Circulation will slow by 10% to 50% in the next century






14. High vs low






15. Less frequent and weaker






16. How much is the planet really warming?






17. The warmer the temperature - the deeper the active layer - thaws and refreezes every year - Permafrost below freezing for two or more years.






18. Due to a set of mutually reinforcing processes - climate change appears to be progressing in the arctic more quickly than in any other region on Earth.






19. If the mean annual air temperature is only slightly below 0 degrees C - permafrost will form only in spots that are sheltered.






20. O Unfrozen soil that stays within the permafrost.






21. Pollution: heat and sunlight cook the air and the chemical compounds which are in it. This combines with the nitrogen oxide and creates 'smog'. This makes breathing difficult for those with respiratory ailments.






22. ~10% of incident solar energy (albedo 90)






23. South polar vortex - Temperatures drop below 80O Celsius in the lower stratosphere - At these temperatures the chemicals in the stratosphere freeze and form Polar Stratospheric Clouds (PSCS) - These increase the concentration of CFCs in turn destroyi






24. Industrial product - 300 ppb (parts per billion)






25. Refers to the irregular warming in the Sea Surface Temperatures (SST) from the coasts of Peru and Ecuador to the equatorial central Pacific - the Southern Oscillation






26. Precipitation intensity will rise ___ for every 1 OC of warming.






27. Precipitation extremes appear to generally increase across the planet at especially high latitudes.






28. Where does the ozone protect us?






29. Rain is getting harder and the rain is lasting longer since the past couple of decades and will continue for that amount.






30. In _______ - the inversions are less frequent and weaker in the Arctic.






31. Arctic troposphere is thinner (8-10 km) than the tropics...The depth of the atmospheric layer is much shallower in the Arctic - It takes less energy to warm the Arctic rather than the Tropics - Same as heating an apartment vs. a house






32. Changes in the Earth's solar radiation levels can impact the climate. Shortterm warming cycles on Earth.






33. Slow steady decline of about 4% per decade in the total volume of Earth's stratospheric ozone.






34. Refers to a body of freshwater - usually shallow - formed in a depression by melt water from thawing permafrost.






35. Is defined usually on the basis of the degree of dryness (in comparison to some 'normal' or average amount






36. The high pressure decreases the melting point and favors melting - Melt water being less dense rises along the water column along the ice shelf bottom and may either escape the cavity or refreeze at some intermediate depth. Melting point decreases:






37. Taliks are found under lakes because of the ability of water to store and vertically transfer heat energy - Vertical extent of the taliks found under lakes is related to the depth and volume of the overlying water body.






38. Under higher pressure the melting point decreases ____ - The pressure comes from the weight of the ice shelf.






39. A mass of land ice - continental or sub-continental in extent - and thick enough to cover most of the underlying bedrock topography - If you have a warm ocean - it will melt the ice sheet. Its shape is mainly determined by the dynamics of its outward






40. CO2 - CH4 - O3 - H2O - N2O - CFCs






41. Floating extensions are ice shelves - rivers of ice are ice streams or outlet glaciers - the junctions with the ocean are called the grounding line.






42. Climate models suggest once the sea ice cover is thinned sufficiently - a strong kick from natural variability could initiate a rapid slide towards ice-free conditions in the summer.






43. The transition of a substance from the solid phase directly to the vapor phase - or vice versa - without passing through an intermediate liquid phase.






44. The Earth emits this.






45. Long time series started in the '70s and yielding good data in the '90s - Detects elevation with high accuracy: 10 cm precision (laser) to 1 m (radar) - 2/3 Gravity Surveys (GRACE) - Weighing the total mass every 30 days - Direct monthly estimate






46. Atmospheric Cooling - Both negative (stabilizing) feedbacks - It is not happening now - but it has happened in the past - Ice-albedo feedback was the dominant feedback during the ice ages.






47. Temperature needed to melt at depth is much lower than that needed to melt at the surface.






48. Greenhouse gases are a ___ portion of the atmosphere






49. Forms from frozen ocean water - Floats on the ocean surface - Grows over the winter - melts in the summer






50. Reduction of snow and ice cover - Changes in atmospheric circulation.