Antarctic GeoScience 125 Sec 700 Exam #4 || with 100%
Error-free Answers.
WHAT IS CLIMATE LITERACY? correct answers Climate Literacy is an understanding of the
climate's influence on you and society and your influence on climate
A climate-literate person: correct answers -understands the essential principles of all aspects of
the Earth system governing climate patterns that are presented in this document;
• knows how to gather information about climate and weather, and how to distinguish credible
from non-credible scientific sources on the subject;
• communicates about climate and climate change in a meaningful way;
• and makes scientifically informed and responsible decisions regarding climate.
"Weather" correct answers The atmospheric conditions at any given time or place. Such
conditions and others include temperature, precipitation, humidity, air pressure, cloudiness, and
wind speed and direction.
"Climate" correct answers The atmospheric conditions (i.e., weather variables) averaged over a
long period of time (season, year, or longer) and over a large area (region, continent, or larger) as
well as the climatic extremes.
"Climate Forecast" correct answers A forecast for how rainfall or temperature in a coming
season is likely to be different from climatology (see definition). Climate forecasts are generally
based on the chances (or probability) that an event will occur, for example that rainfall or
temperature will be either below normal, near normal, or above normal.
"Climate Variability" correct answers The range of values, such as temperature and precipitation,
for climate at a particular location can take over time.
"Climate Change" correct answers Refers to long-term changes in the climate. Climate change
can be natural, or might be caused by changes people have made to the land and atmosphere
(e.g., urbanization, pollution).
"Climate System" correct answers The five physical components (atmosphere, hydrosphere,
cryosphere, lithosphere, and biosphere) that are responsible for the climate and its variations.
"Likely and Very likely" correct answers The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
defines Likely and Very likely terms to indicate the assessed likelihood, using expert judgment,
of an outcome or a result: Virtually certain > 99% probability of occurrence, Extremely likely >
95%, Very likely > 90% and Likely > 66%.
The Essential Principles of Climate Sciences
,1) LIFE ON EARTH HAS BEEN SHAPED BY, DEPENDS ON, AND AFFECTS CLIMATE
correct answers A. The evolution of organisms can be driven
by specific climatological conditions, including but not limited to temperature, humidity,
precipitation, and sunlight.
B. Changes in one or more of these climate conditions can produce damaging changes in
ecosystems.
C. Changes in environmental conditions can affect the survival of individual organisms as well
as entire species.
D. Human societies have developed interconnected food, energy, transportation, and
socioeconomic systems that take advantage of existing climate conditions and, thus, are
vulnerable to climate changes.
E. Human systems have developed during an unusually stable period in Earth's climate history.
F. Life on Earth, including microbes, plants, and animals such as humans, can influence climate
substantially and has throughout the evolution of life on the planet.
The Essential Principles of Climate Sciences
2) WE INCREASE OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE CLIMATE SYSTEM THROUGH
OBSERVATION AND MODELING correct answers A. Climate science is based on the
assumption that Earth's climate system is understandable and, therefore, that many important
aspects are predictable.
B. Our understanding of climate differs in important ways from our understanding of weather.
Thus, climate scientists' ability to predict climate patterns months, years, or even decades into the
future is not constrained by the limitations meteorologists face in forecasting weather on much
shorter timescales (days to weeks into the future).
C. We gain understanding of climate and how it has changed over time from observational data
from weather stations, buoys, satellites, radars, ice and ocean sediment cores, tree rings, cave
deposits, native knowledge, and other sources.
D. Observations, experiments, and theory used to construct and refine computer models and
develop scientific explanations lead to better understanding of the linkages between the
atmosphere-ocean system and how it relates to the overall climate system's behavior. As a result,
more reliable projections of future climate changes will develop over time.
E. Fundamental characteristics of the climate system have
been researched and are understood well enough to make reasonably accurate predictions about
the climate system and, therefore, to support decision making, even though research continues
into many aspects of climate change.
, The Essential Principles of Climate Sciences
3) THE SUN IS THE PRIMARY SOURCE OF ENERGY FOR THE CLIMATE SYSTEM
correct answers A. Solar energy heats Earth's surface and thus the atmosphere, causing
movements of air masses and introducing water in the global water cycle.
B. Daily variations in solar energy over Earth, caused by the planet's spherical shape, influence
many weather and climate processes.
C. The tilt of Earth on its axis causes solar energy to fall more directly on different parts of Earth
during different times of the year, resulting in seasonal changes.
D. Gradual changes in Earth's orbit around the Sun over tens of thousands of years alter the
spatial distribution and intensity of solar energy received on Earth, causing long-term warming
and cooling trends, such as ice ages and the warm periods in between them.
E. Gases in the atmosphere, such as carbon dioxide and water vapor, temporarily trap infrared
radiation from the warmed surface of Earth. The additional warmth in the atmosphere created by
the greenhouse effect allows liquid water and other life-supporting processes to exist on much of
Earth's surface.
F. Sunlight is the ultimate source of most of the energy used by humans. The energy in fossil
fuels such as oil, natural gas and coal comes from energy captured long ago from the sun.
G. Earth's climate is remarkably sensitive to changes in the planet's energy balance.
The Essential Principles of Climate Sciences
4) EARTH'S WEATHER AND CLIMATE SYSTEMS ARE THE RESULT OF COMPLEX
INTERACTIONS correct answers A. Energy differences within and between the land, ocean, ice
cover, and atmosphere result in energy flows that drive weather and climate variations.
B. Earth's atmosphere, oceans, land, and ice are dynamic, but change at different rates.
Significant changes in any of these are likely to influence all other components of the climate
system in complex ways.
C. Water cycling on Earth is fundamental to weather and climate.
D. The carbon cycle influences climate in a variety of ways, including seasonal interactions
between the atmosphere, biosphere, and hydrosphere, and the formation and consumption of
fossil fuels. Carbon dioxide, an important greenhouse gas, is removed from the atmosphere in the
ocean and other parts of the Earth system through biologic and geologic processes.
E. Changes in the oceans impact the atmosphere and climate patterns around the globe. In turn,
changes in the atmosphere impact the ocean temperatures and currents. The dominant pattern of
