Exam 3

Question 1

What are the consequences of climate change?

Answer 1

• Extreme wx events: expected to become more frequent
• Agricultural production and water supplies expected to be more limited
• Spread of insect-borne diseases
• Likely economic disruption, population migration, political upheaval, and conflicts over resources

Question 2

Who was the first person to document glaciation in Europe?

Answer 2

Louis Agassig (Naturalist)
- 1837
- First to propose that evidence of much colder temperatures in the past-prehistoric Ice Ages
- Saw evidence of past glaciation

Question 3

What was the last glaciated epoch in geological time ending about 12,000 years ago?

Answer 3

The Pleistocene

Question 4

What impacts did glaciation have?

Answer 4

• 28 climatic episodes
• Temperatures varied as much as 18 F
• Temps tended to reach two extremes: very cold—major glacial advance; warm with rise sea level
• During Pleistocene Peak, large freshwater lakes (500 ft deep) throughout intermountain west

Question 5

What were the tests that reveal past climates?

Answer 5

o Radio-Carbon Dating: measuring decay of radioactive elements
o Oxygen Isotope Analysis: sea water contains two oxygen isotopes and can be related to ocean temperature

Question 6

What are the key causes of climate change?

Answer 6

• Astronomical Variations (Milankovitch Theory: Eccentricity (change in Earth’s orbit); Obliquity (change in Earth’s tilt); Precession (wobble))
• Changes in the Earth’s oceanic circulation (changes in temperature or circulation)
• Changes in distribution land masses (Isthmus of Panama)
• Asteroid or comets impacts (Yucatan in Gulf)
• Changes in the earth’s atmosphere (Volcanic eruption; greenhouse impact –> most SIGNIFICANT is CO2)

Question 7

What is the estimated amount of temperature change during the 21st century (2000-2100)?

Answer 7

+1.5 C

Question 8

What is the IPCC?

Answer 8

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change: “provides regular assessments of the scientific basis of climate change, its impacts and future risks, and options for adaptation and mitigation” – Limiting warming to 1.5 C implied reaching net zero CO2 emissions globally around 2050

Question 9

What are some ways to mitigate climate change? (Open ended)

Answer 9

Different energies, less fossil fuels, converting power plants, carbon sequestration, urban structures, public transport, changes in industrial manufacturing

Question 10

What is a watershed/ drainage basin?

Answer 10

Area of land that drains or “sheds” water into a specific waterbody

Question 11

What is discharge? What is the object that measures discharge?

Answer 11

Discharge: Water volume flowing per unit of time

Acoustic Doppler Current Profile: measures discharge

Question 12

What is a hydrograph?

Answer 12

A graph showing the rate of slow (discharge) versus time past a specific point in a river or channel

Question 13

What has the highest likelihood of rapid flooding: urban or rural?

Answer 13

Urban (lots of concrete, less places for water to be absorbed into the ground)

Question 14

What are some consequences of building a dam over a river system?

Answer 14

o Landslides along reservoir upstream
o Erosion of river levees
o Resettlement of 1.4 million residents of 13 cities flooded by the dam
o Siltation of port facilities up-stream
o Still some downstream flooding

Question 15

What is a graded stream?

Answer 15

When it maintains a dynamic equilibrium – inflow and outflow of sediment is in balance

Question 16

What is runoff?

Answer 16

Movement of water over land

Question 17

What are the different drainage patterns?

Answer 17

• Dendrite (Looks like a tree)
• Radial (Moves down a steep slope in all directions)
• Rectangular (Flat, kinda in the same)
• Trellis (Main river in valley, other streams merge from ridges)

Question 18

What are braided streams?

Answer 18

Increase sediment load in a stream where it gets plugged up

Question 19

Name of an intermittent stream in very arid areas

Answer 19

Royal

Question 20

What is flood frequency, and what is it meant by a “100 year flood”?

Answer 20

Flood frequency is the average time between floods of a given sizes. A 100 year flood has a 1 percent chance of happening in any given year

Question 21

What are levees and what are their points of failure?

Answer 21

Barriers that raise the riverbank that are man-made, and are almost always built on top of a natural levee. Points of failure may exist if not properly designed.

Question 22

What are ways the levees fail?

Answer 22

Overtopping (breach). When flood water breaches levee, water is clear and below sediment-load capacity. This leads to erosion

Question 23

What are ways the levees fail?

Answer 23

Overtopping (breach). When flood water breaches levee, water is clear and below sediment-load capacity. This leads to erosion.

River sides may also lead to erosion under the levee.

Piping (points of weakness)

Question 24

How much has flooding costed in damage globally? In the US?

Answer 24

Globally: $40 billion

US: $8 billion

Question 25

What are some federal strategies for land use in floodplains?

Answer 25

- FEMA began buying up floodplain land - Fema provided disaster relief funds only if residents moved out of the floodplain - FEMA prohibited new structures on floodplains, with some exceptions being made

Question 26

What is the National flood insurance program?

Answer 26

- The national flood insurance program NFIP) is a program created by the Congress of the United States in 1968 through the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 - The US congress has the twofold purposes of the NFIP to share the risk of flood losses through flood insurance and to reduce flood damages by restricted floodplain development

Question 27

What is wave morphology?

Answer 27

- Oscillatory pattern - Includes wave length, height, period - Breaker: Collapse of wave crest as wave approaches a shoreline - Wave refraction o Occurs as wave begin to drag on the bottom of an irregularly shaped coastline o Creates beach drift—transport of sediment in a zig-zag pattern - Longshore drift: the movement of material along a coast by waves which approach at an angle to the shore but recede directly away from it.

Question 28

What are a few human influences on beach erosion?

Answer 28

- Artificial nourishment - Jetties - Plantings of grass on foredunes - Building protective walls

Question 29

What are some features of costal depostion?

Answer 29

o Beach o Spit o Bay mouth bar o Tombolo

Question 30

What are the major types of coastlines?

Answer 30

- Ria coast - Fiord coast - Barrier island coast - Delta coast - Volcanic coast - Coral reef coast

Question 31

What are some tidal impacts?

Answer 31

- 2 high tides and 2 low tides per 24 hours - Ebb current: seaward - Flood current: landward - Spring tide: strongest tides. 2 times/month caused by alignment sun, moon with gravity - Neap tides: lowest tides. When sun and moon are at right angles. 2 times per month

Question 32

What are some tidal variations?

Answer 32

- Depends on ocean size, coastline shape, orientation relative to sun and moon - Examples variation: Hawaii – 0.5m; Seattle 3m; Bay of fundy 14 m

Question 33

What is the Costal zone management act?

Answer 33

- National coastal zone management program ( protect, restore, and responsibly develop our nation’s coastal communities and resources) - National estuarine research reserve

Question 34

What is the differences between tropical cyclones vs hurricanes vs typhoons?

Answer 34

- Hurricanes in N Atlantic and Eastern Pacific - Typhoons in western pacific, Japan, and SE Asia - Cyclones in the Indian ocean

Question 35

What's the scale used to measure intensity of hurricanes?

Answer 35

The Saffir-Simpson scale

Question 36

What are some techniques used to monitor hurricanes?

Answer 36

- Satellites - Buoys - Aircraft (flying into the storm) - Radar

Question 37

What was the most significant hurricane in American history, damage-wise?

Answer 37

Katrina

Question 38

What was the longest lived hurricane?

Answer 38

Feddy

Question 39

How are hurricanes structured?

Answer 39

- Begin to develop over warm seawater o Commonly between 5 and 10 degrees N and S latitude o Rising air and condensation can build into convective chimney or thunderstorms o Warm air is rising, expanding, and colliding, releasing latent heat - Eye of the storm is a low pressure zone - Winds rotate counterclockwise in NH and clockwise in SH - Highest wind speeds tend to occur along the edge of the eye

Question 40

What causes the most deaths in hurricanes?

Answer 40

Storm surge --> 90%

Question 41

What is the NHC's mission?

Answer 41

Save lives, mitigate property loss, and improve economic efficiency by issuing the best watches, warnings, forecasts, and analyses of hazardous tropical weather and by increasing understanding of these hazards

Question 42

What are some mitigation tactics for hurricanes?

Answer 42

- Stock up on prescription medications, food, and water - Fill vehicles gas - Turn fridge to coldest setting - Turn off other appliances

Question 43

What is the difference between watch and warning?

Answer 43

Watch: conditions are favorable for something Warning: event is currently happening