question

The process reponsible for the production of energy in the sun is.... It will probably continue for another ..... billion years

answer

Fusion
5 billion

question

If a star has an emissivity of 1, a surface area of 8.0x10^18 m^2 and a temperature of 7000K. What is the radiant flux, phi, from that star?

answer

question

Why are Earth's poles cooler than the equator?

answer

The Earth's poles are cooler than the equator because of the Earth's tilt (~23.5 degrees) and the shape of the Earth. Energy that reaches the poles is spread out over a larger area than near the equator.

question

The energy that reaches the Earth from the sun has a maximum intensity in the.....region of the electromagnetic spectrum. While the energy emitted from the surface of the earth has an intensity peak in the.....region of the spectrum

answer

Visible
Infrared

question

In the greenhouse effect radiation emitted from the surface and atmosphere interacts primarily with.....in the atmosphere. This interaction occurs at specific.....in the spectrum.

answer

Gases
wavelength

question

Four of the most prominent greenhouse gases are:

answer

Co2 H2o CH4 N2O

question

Carbon dioxide has shown a steady increase in concentration in the atmosphere since about 1958, what causes the annual cycle in the CO2 record from Mauna Loa in Hawaii?

answer

Seasonal growth and decay of vegetation

question

The following process is an example of feedback. What kind of feedback?

answer

Surface reflectivity, Water Temperature, Sea Ice cover.
;
Positive;

question

If the eruption of a large volcano inject dust into the atomsphere that increased the albedo, what effect would that have on solar radiation reaching the Earth's surface?

answer

Less solar radiation would reach the Earth's surface

question

IPCC stands for what?

answer

Intergovernmental panel on climate change

question

The atmosphere is composed of approximately....% nitrogen, and approximately....% Oxygen

answer

78%
21%

question

The tropopause, the top boundary of the troposphere, is at an altitude of about....km near the equator. __% of the atmosphere is contained in the troposphere.;

answer

12km
90%

question

Why is there no water on Venus?

answer

There is no water on Venus do to its proximity to the sun. The sun's energy is to powerful to allow water to condense and form bodies of water. There is also no CO2 in Venus';atmosphere
;

question

The early;atmosphere of the Earth came from:
;

answer

outgassing of volcanic eruptions

question

Earth's relatively mild temperature allowed the accumulation of___ on the surface. This then took gaseous components___and____leaving N2.

answer

H2O
CO2
Sulfur gases

question

Life could only thrive on the land after the appearance of ____,to shield the surface from harmful_____radiation.

answer

Ozone
Ultraviolet

question

Gradients of ____and____ drive the wind currents that transfer energy from the equator to the poles.

answer

Temperature
pressure

question

The coriolis force deflects moving air and water to the____ in the northern hemisphere and to the____ in the souther hemisphere.

answer

Right
Left

question

It is believed that the regular cycles of ice ages far into Earth's past were due to:

answer

The changes in the Earth's eccentricity and the obliquity (tilt) of the earth. This theory is known as the Milankovitch theory.

question

The circulation of the upper ocean is driven by____.
Circulation of the deep ocean depends strongly on the_____ and____of the water.

answer

Wind
Salinity
Temperature

question

The subtropical gyres in the ocean rotate in a_____direction in the NH and in a_____direction in SH. These currents cause a convergence of water that can be ___cm above the mean sea level.

answer

Clockwise
Counter clockwise
~80cm

question

The global warming potential of a greenhouse gas is:

answer

Where a gas absorbs in the spectrum, how long the has will last, how much there is in the atmosphere and how a gas absorbs infrared radiation in comparison to CO2 (1).

question

The atmospheric circulation pattern that moves air from the equator to about 30 degrees latitude is called the_____ cell.

answer

Hadley

question

How much has CO2 increased in the last 100 years? What is believed to be the cause?

answer

CO2 has increased by ~30% , the cause is believed to be increase in human activity such as industry, agriculture etc.

question

The transformation of water from a liquid to a gas is called_____. The emission of water vapor from plants is called______. When water vapor transforms to liquid droplets in air that is called____. A change of state directly from solid water to vapor is called_____.

answer

Evaporation
Transpiration
condensation
sublimation

question

The oceans contain____% of the water on Earth.

answer

97

question

Lifetime of water in a reservoir

answer

reservoir size/Input or output

question

The direct human influence on the water budget is through combustion. What fraction of natural evaporation is contributed by human activity?

answer

.002%

question

What is an isotope? What are some of the natural isotopes of oxygen?

answer

An isotope is a different atom of the same chemical element with a different amount of neutrons, but has the same atomic number. 16O 17O 18O
18O can be used to determine past temp from ice core samples.

question

What does "latent heat of water" mean?

answer

Latent heat of water is the amount of energy given off when water changes states. This drives the circulation of the atmosphere

question

Draw the feedbacks and determine if it is a net positive or negative feedback.

answer

Arctic temp----Sea ice cover-----heat flux from ocean to atmosphere------>Arctic temp.

Net positive

question

What is photosynthesis?

answer

Photosynthesis is the process in which plants convert sunlight and CO2 into O2, which is then released due to decay or it is released into the atmosphere

question

What is respiration?

answer

Respiration is the process in which plants use energy and O2 to produce CO2.

question

Label the Reservoirs with their approximate stock of carbon.

answer

Ocean: 38000, 500
Land: Living- 1500 Dead- 500
atmosphere: 700 gtc
Sedimentary rocks: 50,000,000 gtc

question

Why are these curves separated in the vertical direction? What causes the annual cycle?

answer

They are separated in a vertical fashion due to the increase of fossil fuel emissions. The annual cycle is caused by the seasonal growth and decay of vegetation.

question

How have humans interfered with the normal release of fossil fuels from the rock reservoir?

answer

Fossil fuels normally take hundreds of thousands of years to be released from the rock reservoir. By drilling for fossil fuels and then burning them humans are greatly expediting the process.

question

The amount of CO2 in the atmosphere shows a long term____due to fossil fuel emission and the distribution shows a north-south gradient caused by CO2 emission in the_____.

answer

Increase
Northern hemisphere

question

About___% of the fossil fuel carbon dioxide remains in the atmosphere, another____% is absorbed by the oceans.

answer

50
30

question

An important factor in the ability of sea water to take in CO2 is the___of the sea water. Alkalinity of the oceans is maintained by the weathering of_____.

answer

ph
rocks

question

What is net primary productivity(NPP)?

answer

NPP equals total rate of photosynthesis minus the rate of respiration by all plants.

question

What percentage of the air is nitrogen?Why is it so abundant?

answer

N2 is so abundant because it does not bind with other elements and can not be consumed or destroyed by other gases.

question

Name four of the five processes that cycle nitrogen through the Earth system:

answer

Nitrification, denitrification, N2 uptake, N2 mineralization.

question

The process that puts the greenhouse gas N2O into the atmosphere is _____. This process has been enhanced by human use of____.

answer

denitrification
fertilizers

question

which reservoir contains the most nitrogen? atmosphere, land, biota, ocean, lithosphere?

answer

atmosphere

question

What controls the amount of present day oxygen in the atmosphere?

answer

Surface rocks that become oxidized (weathering) take in O2. The formation of sedimentary rocks creates O2.

question

Ozone is produced by___radiation from the sun. The peak of the ozone concentration is in the layer of the atmosphere called the____. The presence of ozone in that layer causes the_____to increase there.

answer

UV
stratosphere
temperature

question

Ozone holes occur primarily in the____ regions of the globe, where the air is very____. They occur in the____each year because the reactions that destroy ozone need____.

answer

Polar
Cold
Spring
Sunlight

question

Explain the effect that chlorofluorcarbons have had on ozone amounts:

answer

CFC's are created by household objects. CFC's are released into the stratosphere where UV rays break them down and they bind with Chlorine molecules and destroy ozone.

question

As a greenhouse gas ozone in the____heats the atmosphere,ozone in the_____tends to____the atmosphere

answer

troposphere
stratosphere
cool

question

Evidence shows that severe hurricanes have been caused by global warming:

answer

false

question

global avg temp changes of the last 100 years are within the range of natural variability.

answer

false

question

changes in CO2 have caused the temp changes during the last few ice ages

answer

false

question

volcanic eruptions emit more CO2 than fossil fuel burning.

answer

false

question

The troposphere and the surface of the Earth have been warming at essentially the same rate

answer

True

question

Why does the CO2 record at the south pole show a smaller annual variation than that at Barrow?

answer

The south pole is relatively barren in terms of vegetation. Barrow houses large amounts of trees which contribute to large seasonal variations of the uptake and release of CO2

question

Is the air trapped in an ice core younger or older than the surrounding ice?

answer

The air is generally younger than the surrounding ice by about 2500-6000 years. The air becomes trapped in the firn which takes a long time to solidify.

question

After water vapor the most important greenhouse gas is _____ which is increasing due to______. The next most important gases are_____ and _____, which come mostly from______.

answer

CO2
fossil fuel burning
CH4
N20
Agriculture/fertilizers

question

How has solar radiance changed in the last 100 years? How does that change affect the radiative forcing of the atmosphere compared to the forcing from greenhouse gases?

answer

Solar radiance has not changed much over the past 100 years. The radiative forcing due to solar activity is much more extreme than that of greenhouse gases. Solar activity has not varied as much as the recent influx of greenhouse gases; therefore the radiative forcing of greenhouse gases over the past 100 years is more extreme

question

How might volcanic eruptions affect the atmosphere?

answer

Volcanic eruptions can emit both aerosols and CO2 into the atmosphere. Aerosols reflect incoming radiation so they have a cooling affect on the atmosphere. CO2 absorbs incoming radiation thereby heating the atmosphere.

question

Deforestation tends to increase atmospheric CO2 because it removes a____for carbon. What percentage of photosynthesis is controlled by humans?_____%

answer

sink
~40

question

When was the last glacial period? What is Milankovitch's theory for long-term climate change?;

answer

The last glacial period was 21,000 yrs ago Milankovitch's theory is that the Earth's procession, obliquity and eccentricity causes periods of warming and cooling of the earth.;

question

During the last glacial maximum the sea level was ____m lower than the present level. Sea level has risen in the last 100 years by____cm

answer

120
20

question

What factors contribute to sea level rise?

answer

The factors that contribute to sea level rise are thermal expansion and the melting of ice.;

question

Describe two main objections raised in the film The great global warming swindle to the science of global warming.;

answer

The great global warming swindle brought up two main objections. The first objection is that global warming is due to solar activity. The movie argued that changes in temperature coincided with changes in solar activity as opposed to the increase of greenhouse gases. The second objection is that temp and CO2 do not relate. The movie pointed to the fact that CO2 and temp have been rising and falling naturally over the past 100,000 years. The movie claimed there always have been periods of cooling and warming and cannot be attributed to man.;

question

Nearly 10% of the fresh water on Earth is tied up in the antactic ice sheet. If the east antarctic ice sheet were to melt it would raise sea level by___meters. However, the snowpack in the East Antarctica is increasing due to____and_____.

answer

100
increased snowfall
low melting.

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