Climate Science 10

Question 1

What are the 3 parts of biosphere?

Answer 1

Atmosphere, Hydrosphere, Lithosphere

Question 2

What are the 3 types of systems?

Answer 2

open, closed, isolated

Question 3

What is meant by the energy budget of Earth?

Answer 3

how the same amount of energy enters and leaves the biosphere to maintain a constant temperature

Question 4

What is the greenhouse effect?

Answer 4

how particles within the atmosphere re-emit radiation from the Earth’s surface back, increasing the incident energy of the Earth

Question 5

What are the two formulae used in calculating heat loss/gain when energy is added to a substance?

Answer 5

mcΔt or mL (mL_fus or mL_vap)

Question 6

What are the three unique properties of water which make it an ideal liquid to support life?

Answer 6

High specific heat capacity: absorbs large amounts of heat in summer, releases it in winter –> constant temperature on Earth
High heat of fusion: not all ice is melted at cold temperatures, allowing aquatic life to survive underneath the surface in liquid water
High heat of vaporization: water is evaporated slowly

Question 7

What are the three main methods of heat transfer?

Answer 7

Convection: hot materials rise and are cooled, vice versa
Conduction: transfer between surfaces of materials
Radiation: heat travelling in the form of EMR

Question 8

What is evapotranspiration?

Answer 8

Processes which move water from the surface of Earth to the atmosphere

Question 9

What biomes has the highest and lowest albedo?

Answer 9

Polar regions, oceans

Question 10

What causes El Nino and La Nina?

Answer 10

El nino: warm water builds up along the equator, creates strong pacific (hot) jet stream
La nina: cold water builds up along the equator, creates strong polar (cold) jet stream

Question 11

What are prevailing currents?

Answer 11

Currents travelling north to south which move in the east-west direction to compensate for faster movement closer to the equator

Question 12

How are jet streams formed?

Answer 12

Winds do not flow directly from hot to cold areas due to the coriolis effect and strong winds emerge at the boundary

Question 13

What are the two main factors affecting climate?

Answer 13

Temperature and precipitation

Question 14

What is a rain shadow?

Answer 14

The dry area “behind” a mountain which occurs due to large amounts of moisture being deposited on the mountain (as the dewpoint at higher elevations is lower)

Question 15

What is the correct way to construct a climatograph?

Answer 15

Drawing a bar graph for total precipitation in each month and a line graph for average temperature in each month

Question 16

What are the six biomes?

Answer 16

Tundra, taiga, grasslands/savannah, temperate decidious forest, rainforest, desert

Question 17

What are the three adaptations organisms can have?

Answer 17

Behavioural, physiological and structural

Question 18

What is the characteristic climatograph of a tundra?

Answer 18

Extremely low average temperatures (often below -20C) and low precipitation

Question 19

What is the characteristic climatograph of a taiga?

Answer 19

Low average temperatures and low to medium levels of precipitation (mostly in the form of snow)

Question 20

What is the characteristic climatograph of a temperate deciduous forest?

Answer 20

Medium average temperatures and medium levels of precipitation (about 120 mm/month)

Question 21

What is the characteristic climatograph of a desert?

Answer 21

Temperatures may vary but precipitation is extremely low

Question 22

What is the characteristic climatograph of a grassland?

Answer 22

Usually a long dry season and medium average temperatures

Question 23

What is the characteristic climatograph of a rainforest?

Answer 23

Almost constant temperatures and extremely high amounts of precipitation

Question 24

What are the 6 causes of natural climate change?

Answer 24

Changes in Earth’s axis, change in the eccentricity of the Earth’s orbit, continental drift, weathering, catastrophic events and feedback loops to these activities

Question 25

What is one devastating effect of natural climate change?

Answer 25

Mass extinctions as organisms are not able to adapt to fast changing conditions quickly enough

Question 26

What is the enhanced greenhouse effect?

Answer 26

The man-made warming of Earth caused by humans emitting a large amount of extraneous greenhouse gases into the atmosphere

Question 27

What is the carbon cycle?

Answer 27

The cycle of which carbon travels from the Earth to the atmosphere and vice versa: consists of animal/plant respiration, emissions, decaying organisms, etc

Question 28

What are carbon sinks?

Answer 28

Areas which can contain large amounts of carbon from other sources and absorbs more carbon than they produce, such as forests, oceans and soil

Question 29

What GHGs exist which are not CO2?

Answer 29

Methane (natural gas), water vapour, nitrogen oxides and CFCs

Question 30

What is affected by deforestation?

Answer 30

Indigenous peoples, local climate, atmosphere and biodiversity

Question 31

What are the two uncertainties to predict climate change?

Answer 31

Predicting future emissions and the response the environment will have to rising temperatures

Question 32

What is the Kyoto protocol?

Answer 32

Agreement in 1990 in which countries agreed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions