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






2. The amount of light reflected by an object.






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






4. They saw a massive thinning of the ice where it enters into the ocean - This is due to the pronounced melting of the ice once it is in contact with the ocean. Melt rates of 25 m/year near the grounding lines and more than 10 m/year on average.






5. Concentration of 380 ppmv - Have risen about 40% - Preindustrial~ 270~280 ppmv






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






7. Like weighing oneself on the scale.






8. 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.






9. 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






10. 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.






11. 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






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






13. 78% nitrogen - 28% oxygen - Greenhouse gases: Have a more complex molecular structure and can absorb and re:radiate heat in all directions.






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






15. What can cause a change in the Earth's climate balance?






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






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






18. How much is the planet really warming?






19. Prolonged period of excessively hot weather - Which may be accompanied by high humidity.






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






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






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. Number of days that exceed a given temperature






24. Pockets of ice in the topmost permafrost caused by thawing which create an underground lake.






25. 2ppm of the atmosphere - less than 20% of greenhouse gases - 1/3 greenhouse gases effect of CO2






26. Massive cooldown has allowed colder conditions to persist leading to cfcs stabilizing leading to ozone depletion. Later - more warming will lead to more moisture in the air which will lead to more snowfall!






27. Land Based Ecosystems retain ____ CO2.






28. Ice sheets have a very ____ Albedo






29. Amount of light absorbed by atmosphere






30. 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






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. The depletion of stratospheric ozone layer in Antarctica in Springtime (august through October)






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






34. Cooler water and drought conditions.






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






36. Really measures volume.






37. ~15% of incident solar energy (albedo 85)






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






39. Soil at or below the freezing point of water for two or more years - Can be: Terrestrial - Subsea - Can be: Continuous: exists across a landscape as an unbroken layer. More than 90% is frozen - Discontinuous






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






41. Betts et al found that: if CO-2 __________ this has a physiological effect on plant transpiration increased simulated runoff by 6% b. How? i. More CO2 1. Plants pores open less 2. This reduces transpiration 3. More water in the land surface






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






43. 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.






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






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






46. The order of 1 m/year. Melting is ten times more.






47. LW - SW - 55% absorbed by surface






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






49. Volcanic eruptions - Sunspots - Wobbly Earth






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