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






2. 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%






3. Over the Northern Hemisphere than the tropics.






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






5. 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.






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






7. 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






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






9. 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.






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






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






12. 20% human produced CO2 emissions. Tropical forests hold around 50% of the carbon present in vegetation on Earth.






13. CO2 - CH4 - O3 - H2O - N2O - CFCs






14. Atmosphere retains ____ CO2






15. 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






16. Descending Air dry - Convection cells are wet.






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






18. 78% nitrogen - 28% oxygen - Greenhouse gases: Have a more complex molecular structure and can absorb and re:radiate heat in all directions.






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






20. US is responsible for ___ of the total CO2






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






22. Amount of light absorbed by surface






23. Peru and Ecuador to the equatorial central pacific - Causes irregular warming in sea surface






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






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






26. LW - SW - 55% absorbed by surface






27. Grounding line is the last portion of a glacier grounded to bedrock - after this line there are ice shelves - Glaciers contribute to sea level rise after passing the grounding line - Maximum thinning at grounding line.






28. Changes over time in the highest and lowest single temperature observed during a given month of the year.






29. 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






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






31. The air can hold less water vapor - Consequently - less water can be evaporated in the air - and only a small portion of energy is used in this process - Most of the energy that reaches the Arctic goes directly into warming the air






32. Warming- positive feedback - Cooling- negative feedback.






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






34. At the bottom of the ice sheets the temperature doesn't necessarily have to be above 0... it could _____ more easily because of the water






35. Thawing permafrost weakens coastal lands. Risk of flooding in coastal wetlands. Pollution and toxins locked in the snow and ice will be released.






36. Greenhouse gases are mixed in the ____






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






38. ~15% of incident solar energy (albedo 85)






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






40. 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






41. The Earth emits this.






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






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






44. High clouds are a ____ feedback; larger greenhouse warming - Clouds reflect shortwave radiation but also absorb longwave radiation






45. Number of days that exceed a given temperature






46. 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.






47. 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






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






49. Laser radar - H V - Long time series - high accuracy - Density






50. 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.