Download climate change and ozone depletion

CLIMATE CHANGE AND OZONE DEPLETION
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. In which of the following is the ozone layer found?
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
the troposphere
the stratosphere
the minisphere
the mesosphere
the thermosphere
2. What is the most abundant gas in the atmosphere?
a. Oxygen
b. Nitrogen
c. Methane
d. carbon dioxide
e. water vapor
3. The primary ways in which the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere can be increased are
a. Burning fossil fuels
b. Fertilizing croplands
c. Clearing forests and grasslands
d. Two of the above are correct
e. All of the above are correct
4. Ozone is beneficial in the stratosphere but harmful in the lower troposphere. Ironically, human
activities are causing ozone to
a. decrease in the stratosphere and increase in the lower troposphere
b. increase in the stratosphere and decrease in the lower troposphere
c. level out to equilibrium in both areas so there is no substantive difference between them
d. Human activities are not causing any changes in ozone concentrations anywhere.
e. bond with nitrous oxides to form acid rain
5. Which of the following is true of methane?
a. It is a greenhouse gas.
b. It is produced by rice paddies.
c. It is produced naturally by wetlands and termites.
d. All of these answers are correct.
e. It is a greenhouse gas and it is produced by rice paddies only.
6. All of the following statements about cap-and-trade emissions trading are correct except
a. The success of emissions trading programs depends on how low the initial cap is set.
b. Sulfur dioxide emissions were reduced by the emissions trading system in the United
States.
c. Cheating is possible without strict government oversight
d. The success of emissions trading programs depends on how often the cap is lowered to
promote continuing innovation in air pollution prevention and control.
e. All of these answers are correct.
7. Which statement is the most accurate?
a. Climate is determined by long term temperature and weather patterns.
b. Weather is determined by average climate conditions.
c. Climatologists examine data from one to a few years to estimate weather.
d. A general rise or fall in temperature or precipitation over 25 to 30 years is a standard time
period that climatologists will study.
e. None of these answers are accurate.
8. Which of the following best describes the Earth's average surface temperature for the past 900,000
years?
a. a steady warming trend
b. fairly steady temperatures until recently
c. many fluctuations of several degrees centigrade
d. fairly steady with occasional cool spells
e. fairly steady with a recent cooling trend
9. Which of the following has provided information associated with past temperature changes?
a. tiny bubbles of ancient air found in ice cores
b. tree rings
c. radioisotopes in rocks and fossils
d. layers of soot trapped in ice cores
e. all of these answers
10. According to a 2007 IPCC report, with what amount of probability is it that human activities have
been the leading cause of the observed atmospheric warming?
a. at least 50%
b. at least 60%
c. at least 70%
d. at least 80%
e. at least 90%
11. Which of the following statements about the greenhouse effect is false?
a. The amount of heat trapped in the troposphere depends on concentrations of greenhouse
gases.
b. The greenhouse effect is a new theory that explains the warming of the atmosphere.
c. Heat trapped by greenhouse gases keeps the planet warm enough for life.
d. The predominant greenhouse gases are water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous
oxide.
e. It has been confirmed by numerous lab experiments and measurements of atmospheric
temperatures at different altitudes.
12. Which of the following statements correctly reflect the content of the 2007 IPCC report by climate
scientists on climate change?
a. 2000-2009 was the warmest decade since the 1880’s.
b. Average levels of CO2 rose sharply between 1960 and 2010.
c. During the last century, the world’s average sea level rose 7 inches.
d. Glaciers and floating sea ice are melting at increasing rates.
e. All of these answers are correct.
13. NASA scientist Jim Hansen has recommended that we bring our atmospheric carbon dioxide levels
down to _____ from the current level of _____ in order to maintain a planet with fairly constant
atmospheric temperatures.
a. 450 ppm, 500 ppm
b. 350 ppm, 400 ppm
c. 388 ppm, 450 ppm
d. 488 ppm, 550 ppm
e. 560 ppm, 660 ppm
14. As of 2009, per capita CO2 emissions in the United States were
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
Two times as high as China
Five times as high as China
Two hundred times as high as some of the world’s poorest countries
A and C are correct
B and C are correct
15. Of what value are the oceans in moderating climate change?
a. Oceans remove about 25% to 30% of the atmospheric carbon dioxide produced by
humans.
b. Oceans reflect sunlight back into space before the ultraviolet wavelengths are converted
into infrared radiation.
c. Oceans absorb about 40% of the methane out of the atmosphere that has been produced by
rice paddies and livestock.
d. Oceans help to reduce the level of water vapor in the atmosphere through condensation
and transpiration.
e. All of these answers.
16. Increased levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere have been implicated in which of the
following?
a. increased global warming
b. increased seawater acidity
c. decreased seawater temperatures
d. both increased global warming and increased seawater acidity
e. both increased global warming and decreased seawater temperatures
17. A warmer world is least likely to result in
a. decreased food production
b. reductions in biodiversity
c. a rise in sea level
d. more moderate weather
e. spread of tropical diseases
18. In a warmer world, we would expect more
a. droughts
b. hurricanes
c. prolonged heat waves
d. desert expansion
e. all of these answers
19. In the arctic
a. Temperatures have risen twice as fast as the rest of the world during the past 50 years
b. Soot is darkening the ice, causing it to reflect more radiation
c. Sea ice is increasing while land based ice is decreasing
d. A and B are correct
e. None of the above
20. Which statement most accurately reflects the projections on temperature-related deaths in humans if
our climate projections are accurate?
a. Cold-related deaths will decline, heat-related deaths will increase.
b. Cold-related deaths will increase, heat-related deaths will decline.
c. Cold- and heat-related deaths will not change.
d. Heat-related deaths will not change, but cold-related deaths will.
e. Cold-related deaths will not change, but heat-related deaths will.
21. A loss of 15% of _____ would cause a one meter rise in sea level that would threaten millions of
people and cause trillions of dollar of damage to coastal areas.
a. the Antarctic ice sheet
b. the Arctic ice sheet
c. inland glaciers in Alaska
d. Greenland’s ice sheet
e. Iceland’s ice sheet
Brief Constructed Response
1. Describe how the greenhouse effect works. You may use a combination of pictures and words, if
helpful.
2a. List at least 6 ways that climate change is affecting our world. These reasons may be abiotic,
biotic, cultural, or economic.
2b. Pick any 2 of the effects from part A and describe it in more detail. Who will the impact effect,
and how?
3. What caused the ozone hole to form over Antarctica, and how did nations of the world “solve”
the problem in 1987 with the Montreal Protocol? (What did they agree to do?)
4. Why did the United States fail to ratify the Kyoto Protocol after 1997?
5. Why is the ‘agreement’ reached by nations in 2009 at Copenhagen generally considered a
major failure for reducing greenhouse gas emissions?
6.
Discuss three things our culture could do to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and thus prevent
the most severe consequences of global climate change.