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. LW - SW - 55% absorbed by surface






2. 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






3. 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.






4. ~15% of incident solar energy (albedo 85)






5. 78% nitrogen - 28% oxygen - Greenhouse gases: Have a more complex molecular structure and can absorb and re:radiate heat in all directions.






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






7. When inversion breaks up _______________. - Consequently - anything that breaks inversions or makes them form less often could produce major ground level warming.






8. 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.






9. Like weighing oneself on the scale.






10. 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.






11. A dome shaped cover of perennial ice and snow.






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






13. In ________- inversion layer is more common in the Arctic






14. Radiation absorbed by atmospheric greenhouse gases?






15. Ice sheets have a very ____ Albedo






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






17. When meltwater seeps through a flowing glacier - it can lubricate the base and hasten the glacier's seaward flow.






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






19. In troposphere = greenhouse warming gas - However - most of it is in the stratosphere.






20. Deep tropics between 15O N and 15 O S are quite rainy on yearly average. In these regions - rising air predominates.






21. 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:






22. 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






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






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






25. 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.






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






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






28. Number of days that exceed a given temperature






29. 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






30. Where do greenhouse gases warm up the Earth?






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






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






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






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






35. 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






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






37. 240 w/m squared






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






39. 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






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






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






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






43. Arctic warms faster than other parts of the globe in response to a given increase in greenhouse gasses - More direct route to warming - In the Arctic a greater fraction of any increase in radiation absorbed by the surface goes directly into warming t






44. US is responsible for ___ of the total CO2






45. Forms in a mosaic of favoured locations.






46. The Earth emits this.






47. 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






48. Atmosphere retains ____ CO2






49. Over the past century what has happened to the Earth's temperature?






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