Nats101 Intro to Global Change Make-Believe Quiz 2             Name____________________________________

SELECT THE SINGLE BEST ANSWER AMONG THE CHOICES AND PLACE CORRECT ANSWER IN BLANK TO LEFT. Quiz will cover lecture material from Thursday Aug. 30 through Tuesday Sept. 11 (consult relevant readings in syllabus)

_____1. Terrestrial radiation has its peak in (1)____, whereas solar radiation has its peak in (2)________.

A. 1-x-ray radiation; 2-infrared radiation C. 1-visible; 2-infrared

B. 1-infrared; 2-visible D. 1-infrared; 2-ultraviolet

_____2. The point at which our climate may be irreversibly altered is known as _________.

A. the point of no return         C. the tipping point
B. the point of overheating     D. the dew point


_____3. [revised 9/12/07] N2, the most common gas in the atmosphere, is not a greenhouse gas because __________.

A. it freezes at 77K     B. the molecule doesn't absorb infrared radiation     C. it absorbs most incident infrared radiation

_____4. ________ is not a fossil fuel but it contributes to the man-made release of CO2 to the atmosphere.

A. Petroleum B. Coal C. Gas flaring D. Cement manufacture E. Natural gas

_____5. True or False: The United States, covering about 1.9% of Earth's surface, is a good sample from which to estimate the global mean surface temperature trend for Earth over the past century.

_____6. Current generation climate models run with anticipated future greenhouse gas emissions predict ________ globally-averaged temperature change over the 21st century.

A. between -4 and +4°C    B. between -1 and +5°C    C.  between -1 and +5°C     D. between +1 and +4°C

_____7. If liquid nitrogen (-196°C) is poured on an inflated balloon, the balloon will shrink mainly because ____.

A. the balloon is shattered                 C. the liquid nitrogen absorbs the air in the balloon
B. the air in the balloon is frozen      D. the low temperature decreases gas pressure and volume

_____8. The country of _______ has just equaled and is about to surpass the United States emissions of CO2 to the atmosphere.

A. Russia     C. Saudi Arabia      E. India
B. China      D. Indonesia           F. Luxembourg

_____9. Which one of these processes is a "sink" that removes some CO2 from our atmosphere?

A. convection      C. photosynthesis     E. decomposition
B. evaporation     D. runoff                  F. volcano eruptions

_____10. Currently, man-made CO2 emissions worldwide are contributing almost ___ gigatons of carbon (Gt C) per year to the atmosphere.

A. 8000     B. 1000     C. 80     D. 10     E. 8     F. 1

_____11. True or False: The Coriolis force points to the left of horizontal motion in the Northern Hemisphere, and to the right of  horizontal motion in the Southern Hemisphere.

_____12. The United States and Europe together accounted for about ___ % of greenhouse gas emissions between 1900 and 1999.

A. 10%     B. 25%     C. 9944/100%     D. 50%

13. What are current atmospheric CO2 concentrations (in ppm)? Are these the highest the Earth has ever experienced? Explain.

14. If the mean July temperature in Tucson this year was the highest July temperature of the last 100 years, is this clear evidence of global warming? Explain.

15. If the trend of mean temperatures in Reading, Pennsylvania, from 1930 to present is best fit with a flat straight line, is this clear evidence that there is no global warming? Explain.

16. Why might the rate of rise of global atmospheric CO2 concentrations be different from one year to the next?

17. How is the enhanced greenhouse effect different from the natural greenhouse effect?

18. Consider the following elements of a coupled system: (1) atmospheric CO2 causes global temperatures to rise (enhanced greenhouse effect); (2) below a critical temperature Tcrit, plants grow more with increasing atmospheric CO2 (greening); (3) above a critical temperature Tcrit, plants grow less with increasing atmospheric CO2 (moisture stress); (4) plants use atmospheric CO2 to grow. Diagram the coupled system and identify any positive or negative feedback loops you find.

19. Diagram the circulation of the wind about a low pressure system in the Southern Hemisphere.  First draw a simple low pressure system with a pressure gradient. Then show arrows representing the Coriolis force, the pressure gradient force, and the resulting wind velocity vector.

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