EARTH SYSTEMS EXAM 1

What are anthropogenic global changes? - Answer-Global CO2 rise Ocean acidification What is the approximate thickness of the Earth's atmosphere? - Answer-120 km What is the largest reservoir of fresh water in the Earth system - Answer-Glaciers and ice caps What is the radius of the Earth - Answer-6,400 km What is thought by scientist to be the strongest factor responsible for the extremely hot climate on Venus compared to Earth - Answer-The Greenhouse Effect What are Greenhouse gasses - Answer-CO2 CH4 Atmospheric CO2 levels in mauna Loa, Hawaii (northern hemisphere) are lowest in the.... - Answer-Fall T or F Global warming potential of a gas is independent of the lifetime of the gas in the atmosphere. - Answer-False it is dependent What does the Keeling curve show? - Answer-Atmospheric CO2 measurements How many times does the present-day CO2 level in the Earth atmosphere exceed the "pre-industrial" CO2 level? Industrial era started in the 19th century with large scale fossil fuel burning. - Answer-1.5 times What are the main components (subsystems) of the Earth System? - Answer-atmosphere, hydrosphere, cryosphere, solid earth, biota What surface generally has the highest albedo? - Answer-Snow If a desert area has an albedo of .03, what fraction of light is reflected? - Answer-70% When looking at water surface straight down (perpendicular), is water albedo maximum or minimum? - Answer-Minimum