Climate Change Impact Quiz

The concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is currently 423 parts per million.

To minimize climate damage, warming should be kept below 1.5°C since the Industrial Revolution.

Current trends predict between 2.0 and 3.0°C of warming this century.

Today's CO2 levels are higher than any time in the last 14 million years.

Warmer air holds more moisture, intensifying water cycles, and altered atmospheric patterns.

The ocean has absorbed ~90% of the excess heat caused by increasing CO2.

The current rate of environmental change is faster than any previous period.

Warmer temperatures, drier soils, and earlier fall rains all contribute to wildfire risks.

If more CO2 enters the atmosphere than leaves, it's a source, otherwise it is a sink.

The ocean absorbs the most heat from fossil fuels.

The natural greenhouse effect is essential, but the enhanced greenhouse effect is caused by human activity releasing more CO2.

Arctic warming, ice melting, exposing dark ocean, leading to further warming.

The jet stream is deflected by changes in temperature gradients due to warming.

The tropics are where atmospheric circulation starts due to intense solar heating.

Latent heat of evaporation and condensation drives atmospheric circulation.

A high-altitude current of air that moves weather patterns between high and low pressure.

Arctic warming reduces temperature differences between poles and tropics.

Dipolar greenhouse gases absorb infrared radiation, while diatomic molecules like O2 and N2 do not.

Marine deserts are in the subtropical highs where winds and currents are weak.

Absence of winds, currents, or upwelling leads to low nutrient levels, inhibiting marine life.

Melting reduces temperature gradients, slowing deep-water formation in the ocean.

The El Niño-Southern Oscillation is a linked ocean-atmosphere system affecting weather patterns.

The carbon cycle regulates atmospheric CO2 and temperature through processes like photosynthesis and respiration.

Increasing atmospheric CO2 levels and warming temperatures are evidence of the cycle imbalance.

Silicate weathering and carbonate mineral formation are long-term CO2 removal processes.

Icehouse climates have been more common than greenhouse climates throughout Earth's history.

Fossil fuels formed in greenhouse periods from buried organic matter during low ocean circulation.

Past climate change shows that rapid greenhouse gas release can have severe and lasting consequences.

Melting methane clathrates can cause significant warming and oxygen depletion from deep oceans.

Enhanced silicate weathering, afforestation/reforestation, and direct air capture sequester carbon.

The current combination of greenhouse gases is unprecedented in the past million years.

Stable weather and coastlines enabled settled agriculture and city-states.

California's semi-arid climate, seasonal rainfall, and reliance on snowmelt, and water transfers are critical.

Recharging aquifers is a method to address water shortage, by diverting flood water into storage.

Coal is the least fuel efficient and produces the most CO2 per kilowatt of energy.

Peak emissions were around 2020, and will likely happen within the next decade.

Exceeding 2°C of warming triggers new positive feedback loops, accelerating climate changes.

Moving to green energy solutions is also needed to remove accumulated CO2 emissions.

Manipulating clouds, expanding coastal wetlands, boosting photosynthesis in ocean are examples. Not adding CO2 back to the ground to make rock.