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. Land Based Ecosystems retain ____ CO2.






2. Greenhouse gases are mixed in the ____






3. 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






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






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






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






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






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






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






10. Amount of light absorbed by surface






11. 1. We live in troposphere. Greenhouse gases here warm up the Earth 2. Above stratosphere. The ozone in this layer protects us.






12. 78% nitrogen - 28% oxygen - Greenhouse gases: Have a more complex molecular structure and can absorb and re:radiate heat in all directions.






13. Forms from frozen ocean water - Floats on the ocean surface - Grows over the winter - melts in the summer






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






15. Melting Point decreases






16. Temperature needed to melt at depth is much lower than that needed to melt at the surface.






17. Taliks are found under lakes because of the ability of water to store and vertically transfer heat energy - Vertical extent of the taliks found under lakes is related to the depth and volume of the overlying water body.






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






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






20. Deep tropics between 15O N and 15 O S are quite rainy on yearly average. In these regions - rising air predominates.






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






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






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






24. 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.






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






26. 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






27. 20% human produced CO2 emissions. Tropical forests hold around 50% of the carbon present in vegetation on Earth.






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






29. US is responsible for ___ of the total CO2






30. Clouds 40~90% - Vegetation 10~15%






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






32. 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






33. Measures input and output.






34. In troposphere = greenhouse warming gas - However - most of it is in the stratosphere.






35. Same as heating an apartment v home - Thinner atmosphere than tropics; warms faster.






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






37. Reduction of snow and ice cover - Changes in atmospheric circulation.






38. The transition of a substance from the solid phase directly to the vapor phase - or vice versa - without passing through an intermediate liquid phase.






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






40. How much is the planet really warming?






41. 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.






42. 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.






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






44. Water vapor - 36-70% - carbon dioxide - 9-26% - methane - 4-9% - ozone - 3-7%






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






46. 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.






47. 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






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






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






50. Descending Air dry - Convection cells are wet.