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






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






3. The major distinction between the Protocol and the Convention is that while the Convention encouraged industrialized countries to stabilize GHG emissions - the Protocol commits them to do so.






4. Some parts of the planet are dry because of their location: most of the deserts are around 30 N and 30 S - where sinking air predominates






5. 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






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






7. Unfrozen ground that is found within a mass of permafrost






8. 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






9. Industry 40% - Buildings 31% - Transportations 22% - Agriculture 4%






10. 342 W/m squared - DWEC - These things reflect sunlight (30%): water vapor - clouds - dust particles - earth's surface






11. Rainy on yearly average. In these regions - rising air predominates.






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






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






14. Summer increase in cloud cover - Winter decrease in cloud cover.


15. Antarctica - stratosphere - Sep-Oct






16. Permafrost- A frozen soil






17. Floating extensions are ice shelves - rivers of ice are ice streams or outlet glaciers - the junctions with the ocean are called the grounding line.






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






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






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






21. 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.






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






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






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






25. 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!






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






27. Ocean retains ____ CO2






28. How much is the planet really warming?






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






30. Atmosphere retains ____ CO2






31. 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






32. 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






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






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






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






36. Descending Air dry - Convection cells are wet.






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






38. Land Based Ecosystems retain ____ CO2.






39. 1.4 USA - 57 m total sea level equivalent






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






41. High vs low






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






43. Greenhouse gases are a ___ portion of the atmosphere






44. 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






45. Holds unique and key information - Are highly interconnected - Respond and drive climate change - Are the largest freshwater reservoirs of the planet - Ice cores tell us that in climate records - nothing is regular and ice sheet plays major role.






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






47. Refers to a body of freshwater - usually shallow - formed in a depression by melt water from thawing permafrost.






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






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






50. 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.