Climate Change Quiz

What is the present concentration of CO2 in our atmosphere?

There is widespread agreement that to minimize the amount of catastrophic damage due to climate change, the total amount of warming of the Earth's surface since the onset of the Industrial Revolution must be kept to $≤1.5°C$. Given current trends in fossil fuels burning and energy policies of industrialized countries, what is the more likely amount of total global warming that will occur in this century?

Which one of the following statements best describes how the present-day concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere compares to the past before the accelerated use fossil-fuels?

Which one of the following is not a reason why extreme precipitation events have been increasing in both frequency and intensity over the past 3 decades?

Which one of the following conditions has maintained the warming at this level and prevented a higher level of warming? That is, given the amount of CO2 that has been added to the atmosphere since the 1860s, higher temperatures would be expected.

Which one of the following best explains why climate change that is happening now appears to be unprecedented in Earth history when compared to past times of major climate change?

Which one of the following behaviors is not contributing to the increase in wildfire activity in the western US over the past few decades?

What do we call the atmosphere if more CO2, which is generated by fossil-fuel burning, flows into the atmosphere (and is stored) than flows out (into the ocean or into the biosphere for photosynthesis)?

Which one of the following Earth system components has absorbed the most heat energy created by fossil-fuel burning and land-use changes over the past 100 years?

Are the greenhouse effect and global warming interchangeable terms? Which one of the following statements correctly speaks to this issue?

Which one of the following sets of actions will lead to a negative feedback loop? Note, the actions listed below do not complete the feedback loop; you need to do that to answer the question.

And what is the effect of this negative feedback on the Earth's climate?

You work for an environmental advocacy group and you have traveled to the Arctic with a White House representative to negotiate buying Greenland. The pilot announces that he seems to have miscalculated the landing target by several 1000s of kilometers. This is because the flight path of the plane has been deflected in which one of the following directions?

The tropics is where atmospheric circulation is initiated. Which one of the following statements best describes why?

Which one of the following is the 'pump' (fuel) that keeps the flow of air moving through the atmospheric circulation cells and is an effective way to move water and heat energy from one area to another?

The Jet Stream delivers winter storms brought from the northern Pacific Ocean to California, Oregon, and Washington. Which one of the following correctly describes the Jet Stream?

Which one of the following is causing the Jet Stream to weaken and develop 'kinks' that leads to extended heat waves or freezes?

Which of one of the following statements explains why O2 and N2, which make up 99% of the atmosphere, do not absorb Earth's heat energy, whereas gases such as CO2 and CH2, which are present in small quantities in Earth's atmosphere, are strong greenhouse gases?

Some parts of the surface ocean are 'marine deserts' and others are teeming with photosynthesizing life (primary producers). Of the following places in the ocean, where are marine deserts found?

Which one of the following reasons best explains why these regions are marine deserts?

Arctic sea ice and Greenland ice sheet melting are major concerns given the impact on the climate system. Which one of the following statements best describes this impact?

The El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) has been disrupting climate in the western Americas for over 4 million years. Which one of the following statements best summarizes what is the ENSO system?

The transfer (cycling) of carbon through the different reservoirs of the Earth system influences surface conditions and is necessary for life. Which one of the following statements best explains why C cycling is so critical?

Which one of the following is direct evidence that the Earth's carbon cycle is currently out of balance and that the atmosphere is acting more like a sink for CO2 than a source?

Which one of the following processes is the uber-restorer of atmospheric CO2 levels — that is, it is the only process that can completely return the Earth's CO2 to ‘healthy' levels and stabilize its climate if given enough time?

The Earth has two main climate states — which one of the following has been the far more common climate state throughout Earth history?

Most of the world's oil formed during a greenhouse period 200 million years ago — the time of the dinosaurs & giant reptiles. The oil- & gas stored in deeply buried rocks or pumped out are the geologic expression of which environmental condition that developed during this time of global warming?

The PETM is our closest, but still imperfect, analogue for better understanding modern climate change. Which one of the following is the most important lesson learned from studying this past event in terms of better understanding modern climate change?

That the Earth has experienced many past periods of natural release of greenhouse gases — on the same time-scale as anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions — and the Earth has recovered from climate change, each time, through natural processes that are operating today. So it is likely that these processes will resolve present-day climate change within the next few decades. Which one of the following statements is not correct about the Earth's climate?

Which one of the following statements best describes why methane (CH4) clathrates are of scientific relevance to humans today?

Different reservoirs in the Earth System are capable of naturally sequestering a lot of CO2, but sometimes at an environmental cost. Which one of the following choices best indicates what natural method(s) on land or in the sea is/are currently being used to effectively alleviate these environmental costs while increasing CO2 sequestration?

Present CO2 concentration

Acceptable global warming

Projected global warming

Past CO2 concentration

Extreme precipitation

Reason for extreme precipitation

Global warming prevention

Unprecedented climate change

Wildfire increase reason

Atmosphere as a source/sink

Heat absorption

Greenhouse effect

Global warming

Negative feedback

Jet stream deflection

Atmospheric circulation

Atmospheric pump

Jet Stream

Greenhouse gas absorption

Marine deserts

Greenland ice sheet melting

ENSO

Carbon cycle importance

Evidence of imbalanced carbon cycle

Carbon Cycle Restorer

Common climate state

Greenhouse vs. Icehouse

Oil formation

PETM

Modern climate change lesson

Methane clathrates significance

Carbon sequestration Methods

Ice core records lesson

Urban development connection

Water shortage issues in California

Climate solution

Peak carbon emissions

2 degree warming threshold

Reaching Net Zero