BIO 103 SimUText Section 2

Question 1

Biomes

Answer 1

The major communities covering Earth that are based on their predominant vegetation

Question 2

Community

Answer 2

In ecology, the association of species within a defined area that actually or potentially interact with each other

Question 3

Tundra

Answer 3

The coldest and simplest of Earth’s major biomes, with comparatively few species and relatively simple food chains

Question 4

Steppe

Answer 4

Cold, dry biome dominated by grasses

Question 5

Detection

Answer 5

Studies that focus on demonstrating a statistical change in the climate system

Question 6

Attribution

Answer 6

The process of determining the probable cause(s) of an observed phenomenon

Question 7

Meteorologist

Answer 7

Someone who studies the weather and provides short-term (days to weeks) weather forecasts

Question 8

Precipitation

Answer 8

The process by which water vapor in the atmosphere condenses and falls to the Earth

Question 9

Atmosphere

Answer 9

A layered composite of gasses surrounding the Earth, held in place by gravity

Question 10

Weather

Answer 10

The short-term (minutes to months) behavior of the atmosphere at a particular location

Question 11

Anomaly

Answer 11

The difference between an observed value of some parameter and its long-term mean

Question 12

“Noise”

Answer 12

Variability in data that can obscure the trend

Question 13

“Signal”

Answer 13

The trend in data

Question 14

Signal-to-Noise Ratio

Answer 14

The ratio of useful information in a data set to the useless information

Question 15

Spatial Scale

Answer 15

The approximate area, size, distance, or length at which a particular system is being studied or described

Question 16

Annual Global Mean Temperature

Answer 16

The annual temperature of the entire surface of the Earth over the course of a year

Question 17

Instrumental Record

Answer 17

The relatively recent and comparatively short record of temperature observations that were directly or indirectly measured using a thermometer, satellite, or some other instrument

Question 18

Proxy Records

Answer 18

A local quantitative record (thickness of tree rings or variation in the isotopic condition found in ice cones, etc) to estimate some climate variable, like temperature or rainfall

Question 19

Lithosphere

Answer 19

The rocks and sediments that make up the Earth’s crust, tectonic plates, and upper mantle

Question 20

Boreholes

Answer 20

Shafts drilled into the Earth’s crust

Question 21

Isotopes

Answer 21

Atoms of the same chemical element that differ in the number of neutrons in their nuclei, and, as a result, in their atomic mass

Question 22

Hydrosphere

Answer 22

All the water in liquid form that exists on Earth, including the oceans, lakes, rivers, and streams

Question 23

Cryosphere

Answer 23

All of Earth’s perennially frozen water, including river and lake ice, sea ice, glaciers, ice caps, ice shelves, snow and frozen ground

Question 24

Annual Sea Ice Minimum

Answer 24

The maximum extent of the contraction of sea ice in the Arctic during summer

Question 25

Hydrologic Cycle

Answer 25

The continuous exchange of water molecules of among the various reservoirs, or pools, in which water is held on Earth

Question 26

Pools

Answer 26

In ecology, the amount of material located in a definable compartment

Question 27

Evaporation

Answer 27

The conversion of liquid water to water vapor

Question 28

Flux

Answer 28

The rate at which material or energy moves from pool or another

Question 29

Thermal Expansion

Answer 29

The increase in volume and decrease in density of water, which is caused by an increase in collision frequency, which is caused by an increase in the average velocity of the molecules, which is causes by the water temperature to increase

Question 30

Heat Capacity

Answer 30

The amount of energy (heat) required to heat to increase an object’s temperature by a given amount

Question 31

Biotic

Answer 31

A term that describes either the living components of a system or the environmental influences that result from living organisms’ activities

Question 32

Length of the Growing System

Answer 32

The typical number of frost-free days in a region