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






3. O Unfrozen soil that stays within the permafrost.






4. 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.






5. Nitrogen (N2 78%) and Oxygen (O2 21%) - Their linear 2 atom molecular structure






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






7. Number of days that exceed a given temperature






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






9. Fresh snow and snow-covered sea ice may have an albedo higher than 80% - even when melting in the summer. Sea ice has a higher albedo and can absorb as little as 10% of the solar energy. On average - sea ice albedo is around 85%






10. Sea ice - Continental ice sheets - Permafrost (frozen soil) - Mountain glaciers - Snow cover






11. Tundra absorbs more energy than ice and snow but less than scrubs and forest - and with those plants migrating towards the north - they will further contribute ot absorb more energy.






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. 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






14. How much is the planet really warming?






15. Cooler water and drought conditions.






16. The amount of light reflected by an object.






17. 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.






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






19. Sea ice - Glaciers and Ice sheets - Alaska- ice glaciers - Greenland- ice sheets






20. 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.






21. Radiation that comes from the Sun - Visible light - 'near infrared' - ultraviolet radiation.






22. 240 w/m squared






23. Over the Northern Hemisphere than the tropics.






24. Ice melting rapidly? What type causes sea level to rise? What have been the main contributors to sea level rise so far? What are the impacts of melting ice? - On nature - On humans






25. Help darkens the snow and ice surface - increasing the amount of energy that is absorbed.






26. 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.






27. 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






28. O Climate change in the Arctic is occurring now - Changes have been huge already






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






30. 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.






31. 1.4 USA - 57 m total sea level equivalent






32. 1. They are the largest contributor to sea level rise 2. Can affect the thermohaline circulation (mainly in Greenland) 3. Are directly connected to climate change






33. Heat is provided by outside sources that flow down the continental slope to reach the deepest part of the glacier. High pressure decreases the melting point and favors melting.






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






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






36. Set up in 1988 by WMO and UNEP.






37. The land-surface configuration that results from the melting of ground ice in a region where permafrost degrades is called Thermokarst.






38. CO2 GHG forcing - H2O - dominant/major GHG






39. This is the total mass change - difference between input and outputssnow accumulation-ablation.






40. CO2 ____ in winter in the NH and ____ decreases during the 'greening season'






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






42. 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






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






44. 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






45. 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:






46. LW - SW - 55% absorbed by surface






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






48. Closed talik can develop when lakes fill in with sediment and become deposits of dead plant material (bog).






49. Occurs when there is not enough water available for a particular crop to grow at a particular time.Typically seen after!meteorological drought (when rainfall decreases) but before a hydrological drought






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