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. 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






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






3. 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.






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






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






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






7. The amount of light reflected by an object.






8. ~10% of incident solar energy (albedo 90)






9. 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






10. Occurs when there is not enough water available for a particular crop to grow at a particular time.Typically seen after!meteorological drought (when rainfall decreases) but before a hydrological drought






11. How often does El Nio occur?






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






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






14. Over the Northern Hemisphere than the tropics.






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






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






17. Heat is provided by outside sources that flow down the continental slope to reach the deepest part of the glacier. High pressure decreases the melting point and favors melting.






18. Water vapor means more water up in the clouds and less in the ground!






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






20. Atmospheric Cooling - Both negative (stabilizing) feedbacks - It is not happening now - but it has happened in the past - Ice-albedo feedback was the dominant feedback during the ice ages.






21. Forms in a mosaic of favoured locations.






22. 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






23. 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.






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






25. 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%






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






27. ~15% of incident solar energy (albedo 85)






28. Where do greenhouse gases warm up the Earth?






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






30. Melting Point decreases






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






32. The past climate...for this reason - both keep good records of climate change.






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






34. 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






35. Higher temperature increases atmospheric water vapor @ global scale more water vapor in the air that causes nights to stay warmer.






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






37. 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.






38. Sea ice - Glaciers and Ice sheets - Alaska- ice glaciers - Greenland- ice sheets






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






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






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


42. 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






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






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






45. 10 : 1 - grounding ; surface






46. Set up in 1988 by WMO and UNEP.






47. Troposphere - Stratosphere (Ozone Layer) - Mesosphere - Ionosphere






48. 342 W/m squared - DWEC - These things reflect sunlight (30%): water vapor - clouds - dust particles - earth's surface






49. 20% human produced CO2 emissions. Tropical forests hold around 50% of the carbon present in vegetation on Earth.






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