(Global Climate Change Turning Knowledge Into Action 1e David Kitchen)
(Test Bank all Chapters)
Global Climate Change: Turning Knowledge Into Action (Kitchen)
Chapter 1 "So what's up with the weather?"
1.1 Short Answer Questions
1) Define radiative forcing and climate positive and negative feedback.
Answer: Radiative forcing is the difference between incoming and outgoing radiation at the top
of the atmosphere. Climate positive feedback is any mechanism that increases the climate change
already underway. Climate negative feedback is any mechanism that decreases the climate
change already underway.
Section: 1.6 - Major Factors that Affect Climate Change
Bloom's Taxonomy: #1 - Knowledge
Learning Outcome: 1.4 - Determine possible causes of recent changes in global temperature
Pearson Outcomes: G8
2) Provide an example of climate positive feedback and climate negative feedback.
Answer: Positive: Warming climate melts ice causing less reflection and more absorption of
incoming solar radiation thus increasing warming. Negative: Warmer climate increases
evaporation of surface water into air increasing cloud cover. Increased cloud cover, depending
on type of cloud, could reflect away incoming solar radiation thus offsetting the warming.
Section: 1.6 - Major Factors that Affect Climate Change
Bloom's Taxonomy: #2 - Comprehension
Learning Outcome: 1.4 - Determine possible causes of recent changes in global temperature
Pearson Outcomes: G2, G8
3) Describe how plate tectonics changed climate (both warmer and cooler) over millions of
years.
Answer: When the land mass was concentrated in one large supercontinent and isolated from
oceans and their moisture, the climate became very hot and dry. As these continents broke apart
and drifted over millions of years they prevented warm ocean currents from reaching higher
latitudes thus causing a cooler climate and ice formation. Smaller landmasses also allow
moisture to reach most locations so less dry conditions.
Section: 1.6 - Major Factors that Affect Climate Change
Bloom's Taxonomy: #2 - Comprehension
Learning Outcome: 1.2 - Identify some of the principle factors that control global climate over
different time scales
Pearson Outcomes: G2, G8
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,4) Describe how volcanic eruptions and El Niños cause climate change. How long do these
changes last?
Answer: El Niño allows heat from within the ocean to enter the atmosphere at an increasing rate
thus warming the climate. The cycle also changes weather patterns in a way that increases the
frequency of droughts and floods. Volcanoes emit sulfate aerosols and dust into the upper
troposphere and stratosphere thus dimming the sun (increased albedo) and causing cooling. Both
of these factors occur on timescales less than ten years.
Section: 1.6 - Major Factors that Affect Climate Change
Bloom's Taxonomy: #2 - Comprehension
Learning Outcome: 1.2 - Identify some of the principle factors that control global climate over
different time scales
Pearson Outcomes: G2, G8
5) Why do scientists think climate models are probably pretty good at projecting future climate
change?
Answer: Models are based on well-established laws of physics, are able to simulate current
climate, and have been successful in simulating past climate using a technique known as
hindcasting.
Section: 1.7 - Climate Models
Bloom's Taxonomy: #2 - Comprehension, #6 - Evaluation
Learning Outcome: 1.5 - Understand how climate models can be used to project climate change
Pearson Outcomes: G1, G2, G8
6) Why do models have such a large spread in their projections of the warming by the year 2100
with values between +1.1°C to +6.4°C above current global temperatures?
Answer: Projections are based on various emission scenarios that are influenced by future
economic and technological conditions that are unknown at this time.
Section: 1.7 - Climate Models
Bloom's Taxonomy: #2 - Comprehension
Learning Outcome: 1.5 - Understand how climate models can be used to project climate change
Pearson Outcomes: G1, G2, G8
7) Describe three pieces of evidence that our climate is warming, especially in the past 30 years.
Answer: Various answers might include warming revealed by: global T record, satellite data,
ocean heat content, melting cryosphere, phrenology, etc.
Section: 1.3 - Is the Climate Changing? 1.4 - How Stable Is the Climate?
Bloom's Taxonomy: #1 - Knowledge, #2 - Comprehension
Learning Outcome: 1.3 - Describe the recent historical temperature record
Pearson Outcomes: G3, G8
2
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,8) Describe what is meant by "cherry-picking" data. Provide an example of where cherry-picked
data could be used to claim there is no modern day global warming.
Answer: Climate trend is determined over a large time period, typically 20-30 years. Natural
variability may cause a few years to a decade to show little or no global warming. 2010 was the
warmest year in the instrumental record and 2011 was cooler. The one year decrease in global T
does not mean global cooling just as a cold winter in one part of the world is meaningless when
discussing climate trends.
Section: 1.4 - How Stable Is the Climate?
Bloom's Taxonomy: #2 - Comprehension, #6 - Evaluation
Learning Outcome: 1.3 - Describe the recent historical temperature record
Pearson Outcomes: G2, G3, G8
9) Why is the 2000 year temperature record often referred to as the "hockey stick"?
Answer: For much of the period there had been a gradual cooling (the handle) followed by a
very recent sharp uptick in global T (the blade).
Section: 1.4 - How Stable Is the Climate?
Bloom's Taxonomy: #2 - Comprehension
Learning Outcome: 1.3 - Describe the recent historical temperature record
Pearson Outcomes: G3, G8
10) Describe the difference between weather and climate.
Answer: Weather is fairly chaotic and is experienced from day to day. Climate is the long-term
average of weather and is described as a statistical probability.
Section: 1.2 - Weather and Climate
Bloom's Taxonomy: #1 - Knowledge, #2 - Comprehension
Learning Outcome: 1.1 - Discuss how global temperature has changed over geological time
Pearson Outcomes: G8
1.2 True/False Questions
1) To project future climate change caused by humans, scientists need to understand past natural
causes of climate change.
Answer: True
Section: 1.1 - Introduction, 1.4 - How stable is the climate?, 1.7 - Climate models, 1.8 - How can
we improve climate projections?
Bloom's Taxonomy: #1 - Knowledge, #2 - Comprehension
Learning Outcome: 1.1 - Discuss how global temperature has changed over geological time, 1.2
- Identify some of the principle factors that control global climate over different time scales, 1.3 -
Describe the recent historical temperature record, 1.4 - Determine possible causes of recent
changes in global temperature, 1.5 - Understand how climate models can be used to project
climate change, 1.6 - Evaluate the possible impact of human activity on the atmosphere
Pearson Outcomes: G2
3
Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.
, 2) Climate change is easier to predict than weather change.
Answer: True
Section: 1.2 - Weather and Climate
Bloom's Taxonomy: #2 - Comprehension, #4 - Analysis
Learning Outcome: 1.1 - Discuss how global temperature has changed over geological time
Pearson Outcomes: NA
3) For most of the past 8,000 years the climate has been warming.
Answer: False. General cooling up until the past several decades.
Section: 1.3 - Is the Climate Changing? 1.4 - How Stable Is the Climate?
Bloom's Taxonomy: #4 - Analysis, #6 - Evaluation
Learning Outcome: 1.3 - Describe the recent historical temperature record
Pearson Outcomes: G3
4) Very small changes in global average temperature in the past, smaller than changes observed
today, have caused war, famine, and disease.
Answer: True.
Section: 1.4 - How Stable Is the Climate?
Bloom's Taxonomy: #1 - Knowledge
Learning Outcome: 1.1 - Discuss how global temperature has changed over geological time
Pearson Outcomes: G5
5) The "hockey stick" temperature reconstruction is based solely on tree ring data.
Answer: False. Many other proxies were used.
Section: 1.4 - How Stable Is the Climate?
Bloom's Taxonomy: #1 - Knowledge
Learning Outcome: 1.3 - Describe the recent historical temperature record
Pearson Outcomes: G1, G3
6) The "hockey stick" temperature reconstruction proves that humans are warming the climate.
Answer: False. Shows warming recently but does not show cause of warming.
Section: 1.4 - How Stable Is the Climate?
Bloom's Taxonomy: #4 - Analysis
Learning Outcome: 1.3 - Describe the recent historical temperature record
Pearson Outcomes: G2, G3
7) Nearly all of the increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere in the past century is from
human activities.
Answer: True.
Section: 1.6 - Major Factors that Affect Climate Change
Bloom's Taxonomy: #1 - Knowledge
Learning Outcome: 1.2 - Identify some of the principle factors that control global climate over
different time scales, 1.4 - Determine possible causes of recent changes in global temperature,
1.6 - Evaluate the possible impact of human activity on the atmosphere
Pearson Outcomes: G3
4
Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.
