Quiz #4

Question 1

What is an ice age and what two examples of causes them

Answer 1

period of cooler global temperatures and recurring glacial expansion
-plate techtonics and orbital conditions

Question 2

What ice age are we in

Answer 2

The Quaternary Ice Age during Pleistocene Epoch

2.6 MY

Question 3

What is interglacial and glaical cycles

Answer 3

Shorter term periods within an ice age - interglacial is when is warmer and glaciers retreat and it glaciers advance during glacial cycles

Question 4

What are three orbital variations

Answer 4

The three orbital variations are:

1. Changes in Earth’s orbit around the sun (eccentricity),
2. Shifts in the tilt of Earth’s axis (obliquity), and
3. The wobbling motion of Earth’s axis (precession)

Question 5

What are some large scale factors that affect the climate

Answer 5

•Plate Tectonics 
•Earth’s orbit –MilankovitchCycles
Currently:
•Solar output
•Volcanic eruptions
•CO2
HUMANS
CO2
HUMANS

Question 6

Milankovich cycle

Answer 6

The variations in Earth’s position as it orbits the Sun that affect the amount of sunlight it receives
The cycles are eccentricity, obliquity / tilt and precession

Question 7

Eccentricity

Answer 7

When the earth is further from the sun, it is colder, and less snow melts in summer
Every 100,000 years

Question 8

Obliquity / tilt

Answer 8

alters the high latitude solar radiation

Every 41,000 years

Question 9

Precession

Answer 9

influences the intensity of low and mid altitude solar input
“wobble”
Every 23,000 years

Question 10

How to measure changes?

Answer 10

Tree ring dating
Varve dating (half life decay, carbon dating)
Coral Reef Dating

Question 11

Length of CO2 Cycle

Answer 11

100,00 year intervals

Question 12

How did we get to our current warming period

Answer 12

Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM)
•Abrupt global warming event (onset took <20,000 years)
•Global temperature increased by 5-8 ̊C
•Carbon release rate 1/10thof today’s
•Lasted around 150,000 years
•The best ancient analog of modern climate change

Question 13

What is the Maunder Minimun

Answer 13

Little Ice Age
lower temps in europe and shortened growing season
-the plague
-killed 60%