EAPS 125 Exam 4
greenhouse effect - answer warming that results when solar radiation is trapped by the
atmosphere
global warming - answer increase of earth's average temperature due to greenhouse
effect
climate change - answera change in global or regional climate patterns
Has the climate changed recently? - answerYes, air temperatures are increasing and
precipitation patterns are changing
Evidence that climate change is happening - answermelting ice packs
more icebergs
melting glaciers
biological event timing is changing
rising sea levels
every year since 2000 has been one of the hottest
How climate has changed in recent years and decades - answerevery year since 2000
has been one of the hottest 17 years ever recorded
in 2014, the global average temperature broke all previous records
every year since has set a new record
How climate has changed in the past few centuries - answerearth is hotter now than in
the past 400 years, and probably over 1000 years
What has driven the temperature changes over the ice ages? - answer
Drivers of recent climate change - answermore heat trapping gases in the atmosphere
specific properties that make a gas a greenhouse gas - answertraps heat
absorbs infrared radiation of the light spectrum (and heats up when it absorbs energy)
greenhouse gases that are most important in terms of climate change - answercarbon
dioxide
methane
nitrous oxide
(H2O is a greenhouse gas, but since the concentration is not changing, it does not
affect climate change)
activities causing emissions - answerCO2 - burning fossil fuels
, CH4 - mining natural gas and animal agriculture
N2O - soils (wet, fertile soil)
Amount of CO2 released to the atmosphere and stays there, increasing its CO2
concentration - answer
Where does the rest of it go? What kinds of light (or radiation) are involved in the
greenhouse effect? - answer
Evidence that humans are responsible for climate change - answerbasic physics of
GHGs
sophisticated models calculating GHG effects
timing of temp rise and GHG increase
warming in troposphere, cooling is stratosphere
recent warming is too strong to be attributed to natural variability
historical and geological climate sensitivities consistent with GHGs causing observed
trend
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) - answer"It is extremely likely that
human influence has been the dominant cause of the observed warming"
How does the fraction of scientists that think human-caused global warming is
happening compare with the fraction of the public who thinks this? - answerfraction of
scientists - about 99%
fraction of the public - a little more than half
reasons why less people believe climate change is human caused - answera purposeful
campaign to confuse
a few small-government focused think tanks fighting the science
feedbacks - answergreatly enhance the warming from GHGs
(ex. areas of earth that are covered in ice reflect more solar radiation back into space -
less ice means more heat which further melts the ice)
How and why do the oceans and land surface affect the rate of climate change? -
answer
How human actions affect the rate of climate change - answerhumans are speeding up
the rate of climate change due to increasingly high carbon emissions
How climate is expected to change - answermore warming over land than sea
more warming at high altitudes
more precipitation at high altitudes
dry areas get drier
greenhouse effect - answer warming that results when solar radiation is trapped by the
atmosphere
global warming - answer increase of earth's average temperature due to greenhouse
effect
climate change - answera change in global or regional climate patterns
Has the climate changed recently? - answerYes, air temperatures are increasing and
precipitation patterns are changing
Evidence that climate change is happening - answermelting ice packs
more icebergs
melting glaciers
biological event timing is changing
rising sea levels
every year since 2000 has been one of the hottest
How climate has changed in recent years and decades - answerevery year since 2000
has been one of the hottest 17 years ever recorded
in 2014, the global average temperature broke all previous records
every year since has set a new record
How climate has changed in the past few centuries - answerearth is hotter now than in
the past 400 years, and probably over 1000 years
What has driven the temperature changes over the ice ages? - answer
Drivers of recent climate change - answermore heat trapping gases in the atmosphere
specific properties that make a gas a greenhouse gas - answertraps heat
absorbs infrared radiation of the light spectrum (and heats up when it absorbs energy)
greenhouse gases that are most important in terms of climate change - answercarbon
dioxide
methane
nitrous oxide
(H2O is a greenhouse gas, but since the concentration is not changing, it does not
affect climate change)
activities causing emissions - answerCO2 - burning fossil fuels
, CH4 - mining natural gas and animal agriculture
N2O - soils (wet, fertile soil)
Amount of CO2 released to the atmosphere and stays there, increasing its CO2
concentration - answer
Where does the rest of it go? What kinds of light (or radiation) are involved in the
greenhouse effect? - answer
Evidence that humans are responsible for climate change - answerbasic physics of
GHGs
sophisticated models calculating GHG effects
timing of temp rise and GHG increase
warming in troposphere, cooling is stratosphere
recent warming is too strong to be attributed to natural variability
historical and geological climate sensitivities consistent with GHGs causing observed
trend
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) - answer"It is extremely likely that
human influence has been the dominant cause of the observed warming"
How does the fraction of scientists that think human-caused global warming is
happening compare with the fraction of the public who thinks this? - answerfraction of
scientists - about 99%
fraction of the public - a little more than half
reasons why less people believe climate change is human caused - answera purposeful
campaign to confuse
a few small-government focused think tanks fighting the science
feedbacks - answergreatly enhance the warming from GHGs
(ex. areas of earth that are covered in ice reflect more solar radiation back into space -
less ice means more heat which further melts the ice)
How and why do the oceans and land surface affect the rate of climate change? -
answer
How human actions affect the rate of climate change - answerhumans are speeding up
the rate of climate change due to increasingly high carbon emissions
How climate is expected to change - answermore warming over land than sea
more warming at high altitudes
more precipitation at high altitudes
dry areas get drier
