NATS-101 Make-Believe Quiz 3 solutions

FOR M/C SELECT SINGLE BEST ANSWER AMONG CHOICES AND PLACE LETTER OF CORRECT ANSWER IN BLANK TO LEFT.

The quiz will cover lecture material and associated readings from Sept. 11 through Sept. 25.

 

___B _1. In the hydrologic cycle, which one of the following is a direct flux from the atmospheric reservoir to the ocean reservoir?

        A. evaporation B. precipitation (rain & snow) C. runoff D. groundwater flow

__C_ 2. According to Newton's second law of motion, _______________ .

        A. gravity can hurt your head C. hit with the same force, a golf ball would move faster than a bowling ball

        B. energy is always conserved D. your room will get messier and messier

___D__3. Hurricanes form in _______ regions with _________.

        A. tropical; strong vertical shear B. extratropical; strong horizontal shear

        C. tropical; weak horizontal shear D. tropical; weak vertical shear and strong horizontal shear

__A__4. If the dew point remains constant throughout a day, and the temperature is highest at 4 pm and lowest at 6 am, the relative humidity will be highest at (1)_______ and lowest at (2)_________.

        A. (1)-6 am; (2)-4 pm B. (1)-midnight; (2)-6 am C. (1)-4 pm; (2)-noon D. (1)-4 pm; (2)-6 am

___B__5. The First Law of Thermodynamics predicts that ____________

        A. Your car's gas mileage is proportional to its speed     B. Your car produces heat as well as motion from the energy in its gasoline
        C. The louder your muffler, the faster your car               D. Both A and C

___A___6. Over the last million or so years, short warm "interglacial" intervals have naturally alternated with longer cold "glacial" intervals in a very regular fashion. Right now we are in _________.

        A. a warm interval              C. the warmest interval of the past 500,000 years                E. the Dust Bowl

        B. a cold interval                 D. the coldest interval of the past 500,000 years

____T__7. T/F: Because of the heat capacity and density of water, the uppermost 2 meters of ocean contains as much heat as the entire atmosphere above it.

___A___8. A device to measure humidity using two thermometers is called a __________.

        A. psychrometer B. barometer C. hydroscope D. humidifier E. dessicator

____D__9.  According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the likelihood of a trend toward increased frequency of tropical storms is _________

        A.  About 90% likely   B.  About 66% likely   C. About 99% likely    D. Just over 50% likely

___F__10. In order to reconstruct annual amount of water carried by a stream before the availability of instrumental records of stream discharge (flow), which of the following would usually be the best climate proxy?

A. ice cores B. speleothems C. sediment D. pollen E. packrat middens F. tree rings

_ _C__11. The pattern of reconstructed temperatures of the last thousand years has been likened to __________.

A. a telescope B. a staircase C. a hockey stick D. a bow E. an arrow

___F__12. T/F: The tropical oceans have warmed by an average of 6oC, and this means that there is much more energy available for tropical storms to intensify and to persist.

13. Seven states (and Mexico) along the Colorado River know exactly to how much of the 17.5 million acre feet to which they are entitled by compacts and treaties. Why then should there be any concern about future amounts of Colorado River water available to California, Arizona and Nevada? Explain in sentences.

The beginning of the set of compacts (legal agreements) between southwestern states and Mexico that governs distribution of Colorado River Water was IN the 1920s.  The first distribution compacts were based on the average available flow of the river that was estimated based on flow measurements of from 1900 to 1920, which were large enough to support availability of 17.5 million acre-feet per year for distribution among the ENTITLED parties.  A Tree-ring reconstruction of river flow revealed that flow in the beginning of the 1900s was the greatest of nearly the last 400 years, over which the average flow was actually about 13.5 million acre-feet.  A more recent reconstruction using tree rings in 2006 suggest the average flow over 400 years was around 0.8 million acre-feet higher (but still less than that apportioned by law), and further that the early 20th century colorado river flow was the highest in 500 years!  This poses a dilemma for the future because as each southwestern state grows and wishes to claim its full water allotment, there is a high probability that the water not be enough to go around.

14. What are the reservoirs (pools) in the water cycle? Which one is largest? Which two are the primary sources of drinking water for most cities around the world?

OCEAN (THE LARGEST), ATMOSPHERE, GLACIERS AND ICE CAPS, LAKES & STREAMS, GROUNDWATER.

LAKES & STREAMS (SURFACE WATER) AND GROUNDWATER (SUBSURFACE WATER) ARE THE PRIMARY SOURCES OF DRINKING WATER AROUND THE WORLD (OF COURSE, SOME OF THE FLOW IN STREAMS RESULTS FROM MELTING OF MOUNTAIN GLACIERS)

15. Global temperature has been increasing over the past 100 or so years. What would you generally expect to happen to atmospheric water vapor content as temperature rises? How has precipitation around the world actually changed in the 20th Century?

ALL ELSE BEING CONSTANT, AS TEMPERATURE RISES MORE EVAPORATION WILL OCCUR SO WATER VAPOR CONTENT WILL RISE.

SEE AL GORE’S FIGURE ON P. 114-115. HE STATES GLOBAL PRECIPITATION INCREASED ALMOST 20% OVER THE 2OTH CENTURY, AND THE MAP SHOWS THAT THERE ARE LOCATIONS WHERE PRECIPITATION HAS INCREASED AND OTHERS WHERE IT HAS DECREASED, SOME OF THESE CHANGES BEING QUITE LARGE!

16. Explain how humans living in the vicinity of an African lake could contribute to its dramatic decrease in size over a few decades.

HUMANS COULD INCREASE REMOVAL OF WATER FROM THE LAKE TO SUPPORT INCREASING IRRIGATION OF AGRICULTURE FIELDS. [THIS IS AN ELEMENT OF WHAT HAS HAPPENED AT LAKE CHAD (IN ADDITION TO CLIMATE DRYING SINCE THE 1960s AND INCREASE IN POPULATION REQUIRING MORE WATER IN GENERAL)]

17. Give one reason why hurricane intensity and frequency might be increasing as the climate warms.

There will be more water vapor, and therefore more energy in the tropical atmosphere; there will be warmer oceans from which hurricanes will draw energy.

18. Give one reason why hurricane intensity and frequency might not be increasing as the climate warms.

Models predict that vertical wind shear may increase, and horizontal shear may decrease, in some hurricane development regions.  These effects may cancel out the effects of the warming oceans and moistening atmosphere.

19. Consider the following set of causes and effects. Schematically diagram the coupled system, and identify any positive or negative feedback loops that you find. Do you think this set of causes and effects is relevant in the Arctic, Antarctic, or both polar regions? Why?

·         an increase in temperature causes a decrease in polar sea ice

·         a decrease in polar sea ice during wintertime causes an increase in the transfer of heat from ocean to atmosphere

·         an increase in the transfer of heat from ocean to atmosphere causes an increase in temperature

T ---o polar sea ice ---o ocean-to-atmosphere heat flux ---> T: (-)(-)(+) = (+) Positive feedback loop.  This feedback is possible in both the Antarctic and Arctic because of the large variations in sea ice extent over the course of the year in both the Arctic Ocean and the Southern Ocean.

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