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. Hydrological drought is associated with the effect of low rainfall on water levels in rivers -!reservoirs -!lakes and aquifers.






2. Over the Northern Hemisphere than the tropics.






3. An area of unfrozen ground that is open to the ground surface but otherwise enclosed in permafrost.






4. Ice sheets have a very ____ Albedo






5. A climate forcing agent formed through the incomplete combustion of fossil fuels - biofuel - and biomass; emitted both anthropogenic:ally and naturally.






6. Cooler water and drought conditions.






7. ~10% of incident solar energy (albedo 90)






8. 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.






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






10. Same amount of H2O - Mass does not change - Density of ice < density of water - Volume of ice > volume of water






11. A process whereby slabs of ice at the glacier margin mechanically fracture and detach from the main ice mass -






12. Trade winds blow from East to West - Pool of warm water in the west - Meanwhile deep colder water rises up in the Eastern Pacific - The sea level is ~ 50-60 cm higher in Western Pacific (Indonesia) than in the Eastern Pacific (South America/Peru) -






13. 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.






14. Ozone layer in high stratosphere (25-40 km altitude) absorbs about 95-99% of ultraviolet radiation.






15. Positive Albedo Feedback - increase in temperature melts ice and snow reduces albedo increases temperature melts ice and snow reduces albedo... ETC






16. The heat input is either driven by the 1- thermohaline circulation associated with sea ice formation. The direct influx of intermediate warmth water.






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






18. 1. Altimetry survey 2. Time-variable gravity 3. Ice motion + Regional Climate Modeling






19. 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






20. All processes that add snow or ice to a glacier or to flowing ice or snow cover.






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






22. x7 smaller - 7m total sea level equivalent.






23. Amount of light absorbed by atmosphere






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






25. 1. Keeps the ocean and the earth cooler 2. Coastal impacts of ice: prevents waves from eroding coastlines and protects from storms. 3. Ecological importance of ice: a. Most visibly for the many fish - birds - and mammal species that live in - on - or






26. 1. Land usage changes 2. Seasonal timing 3. Rising CO2 levels may be a factor






27. Water vapor means more water up in the clouds and less in the ground!






28. Total absorbed solar radiation






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






30. Most of the deserts are around 30 N and 30 S - where sinking air predominates






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






32. Mass balance due to processes that affect the surface of the ice sheet. Precipitation-evapotranspiration-runoff-blowing snow etc...






33. Volcanic eruptions - Sunspots - Wobbly Earth






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






35. 342 W/m squared - DWEC - These things reflect sunlight (30%): water vapor - clouds - dust particles - earth's surface






36. If the Earth is warmer - are we going to have the Hadley cell stronger or weaker? Hotter = heat rises which increases the circulation.






37. 1.4 USA - 57 m total sea level equivalent






38. Radiation absorbed by atmospheric greenhouse gases?






39. By contrast reflects only about 7% of solar radiation (Albedo~7%) - absorbing 93%.






40. The large-scale ocean circulation that moves water between the deep and surface ocean which effects salinity and temperature change - Supplies heat to the polar-regions.






41. The last portion of a glacier grounded to bedrock - after this line there are ice shelves.






42. Some parts of the planet are dry because of their location: most of the deserts are around 30 N and 30 S - where sinking air predominates






43. 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






44. Less frequent and weaker






45. 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.






46. Grace - Tells us how much mass change we have - M - This is the measure of gravity (gives us the mass) - Directly measure mass change - Poor resolution






47. Is best viewed as a combination of...- Natural Variability - Associated with atmospheric circulation patterns - Growing Radiative Forcing - Associated with rising concentrations of atmospheric greenhouse gases - Strongly suggests a human influence.






48. Same as heating an apartment v home - Thinner atmosphere than tropics; warms faster.






49. Wet gets _____ - dry gets ____ - Wet - 50ON (sub polar) Canada - N Europe - Russia - Tropical area- monsoon (rainforest) - Drier - Subtropics - Australia - S. Africa - Mediterranean - Caribbean - Mexico - SW US






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