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. Surface Mass Balance is of the order of _____ melting is ____ times more.






2. Ice flowing from the middle of Greenland to the edges and melting. 90 feet a day- speed that ice is moving.






3. Greenhouse gases are mixed in the ____






4. This is the total mass change - difference between input and outputs—snow accumulation-ablation.






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






6. 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






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






8. Top layer of soil that thaws during the summer and freezes again during autumn. - Between 1 and 3 m thick.






9. Troposphere - Stratosphere (Ozone Layer) - Mesosphere - Ionosphere






10. O The amount of energy moving in the form of photons or other elementary particles at a certain distance from the source per unit of area per second. Area/second






11. Is unfrozen ground that is exposed to the ground surface and to a larger mass of unfrozen ground beneath it.






12. Carbon dioxide - Methane - Ozone - Water Vapor - Few others - Most ___________________ are mixed in the troposphere (Except water vapor) - Water vapor is concentrated closer to the ground.






13. In average: +1% in respect to 100 years ago.






14. Descending Air dry - Convection cells are wet.






15. 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






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






17. ~10% of incident solar energy (albedo 90)






18. Sea ice extent in Antarctica is rapidly reducing. Seasonal variability. People - Animals and Ice






19. 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






20. Ice sheets have a very ____ Albedo






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






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






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






24. Where do greenhouse gases warm up the Earth?






25. 342 W/m squared - DWEC - These things reflect sunlight (30%): water vapor - clouds - dust particles - earth's surface






26. 85%






27. Absolute thresholds - Monthly maximums and minimums - Threshold departures - Percentile departure - Atmospheric Water Vapor: More water vapor in the air - warmer nights!






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






29. 20% human produced CO2 emissions. Tropical forests hold around 50% of the carbon present in vegetation on Earth.






30. Average molecular life span is less than 10 years - Major sources: Wetlands and oceans - Raising cattle and landfills.






31. Extent will increase the warming because less energy will be reflected back to the atmosphere by the ice and more will be absorbed by the ocean.






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






33. Set up in 1988 by WMO and UNEP.






34. A thick - floating slab of freshwater ice extending from coast to coast.






35. Antarctica - stratosphere - Sep-Oct






36. Longwave radiation - any radiation with a long wave will heat up quickly.






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






38. 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.






39. 1.4 USA - 57 m total sea level equivalent






40. InSAR - +snow/-ice loss - ice dynamics - requires a lot of data.






41. Poor resolution (200-400 km) does not allow us to distinguish glaciers and basins.






42. 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.






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






44. Just remember the general direction of the circulation - Rising northern pacific. You start in between Greenland and Europe (youngest water) - Oldest water is in the Pacific Ocean - Salty water> fresh water - Cold Water > Warm Water






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






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






47. SMB- mass balance due to processes that affect the surface of the ice sheet. Precipitation- evapotranspiration-runoff-blowing snow etc.






48. Low clouds are a ____ feedback; they will reflect more sunlight. Clouds reflect shortwave radiation but also absorb longwave radiation






49. LW - SW - 55% absorbed by surface






50. Frozen +2 years - Few centimeters to 1500 m