Exam 3 - Climate Change

Question 1

Anthropogenic climate change

Answer 1

climate change caused by human activities, primarily the production of greenhouse gases from burning fossil fuels

Question 2

The global warming potential of human-generated greenhouse gases is a measure of how much heat each gas traps in the atmosphere, relative to CO2.
List the four greenhouse gases in increasing order:

Answer 2

1. CO2
2. methane
3. nitrous oxide
4. fluorinated gases

Question 3

List the four greenhouse gases in increasing order of how much each contributes to total emissions around the globe:

Answer 3

1. fluorinated gases
2. nitrous oxide
3. methane
4. CO2

Question 4

The vast majority of Global Climate Models indicate that greenhouse-gas driven warming will be greatest at the _____ and weaker in the __________.

Answer 4

greatest at the poles, weaker in the equatorial tropics and open ocean

Question 5

Climatic envelope

Answer 5

range of climatic tolerance of organisms dictated by temperature and precipitation

Question 6

ghost forest

Answer 6

ocean water comes in and the increase in salinity is too much for organisms to handle, killing them and leaving behind a “ghost forest”

Question 7

morphological impacts of climate change on species

Answer 7

changes in body sizes

Question 8

phenological shift impacts of climate change on species

Answer 8

plant flowering/insects/migration of birds

Question 9

abundance changes/community reassembly

Answer 9

• range shifts
• direct CO2 effects (inc C:N ratio, acidification of oceans)
• inundation (sea level rise)
• ecosystem process changes (tundra carbon source/sink)
• extinction