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 buoyant force is equal to the weight of the displaced water.






2. Ice sheets have a very ____ Albedo






3. Ozone layer in high stratosphere (25-40 km altitude) absorbs about 95-99% of ultraviolet radiation.






4. 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.






5. Greenhouse gases are mixed in the ____






6. If the mean annual air temperature is only slightly below 0 degrees C - permafrost will form only in spots that are sheltered.






7. 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) -






8. 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






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






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






11. ~15% of incident solar energy (albedo 85)






12. 342 W/m squared - DWEC - These things reflect sunlight (30%): water vapor - clouds - dust particles - earth's surface






13. 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






14. Measures input and output.






15. O Unfrozen soil that stays within the permafrost.






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






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






18. 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






19. Antarctica - stratosphere - Sep-Oct






20. All processes that add snow or ice to a glacier or to flowing ice or snow cover.






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. Descending Air dry - Convection cells are wet.






23. 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.






24. 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






25. 1.4 USA - 57 m total sea level equivalent






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






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






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






29. In _______ - the inversions are less frequent and weaker in the Arctic.






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






31. Same amount of H2O - Mass does not change - Density of ice < density of water - Volume of ice > volume of water






32. 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






33. 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






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






35. US is responsible for ___ of the total CO2






36. The Day After Tomorrow - Circulation will slow by 10% to 50% in the next century






37. Radiation absorbed by atmospheric greenhouse gases?






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






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






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






41. Industrial product - 300 ppb (parts per billion)






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






43. How much is the planet really warming?






44. Where does the ozone protect us?






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






46. High cloud has a _____ effect and cool cloud has a ____ effect






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






48. 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.






49. 78% nitrogen - 28% oxygen - Greenhouse gases: Have a more complex molecular structure and can absorb and re:radiate heat in all directions.






50. Atmosphere retains ____ CO2