Test: Week 1 : introduction

Question 1

What is the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change?

a.) The international body set up by the World Meteorological Organization and the UN Environment Program to assess the science related to climate change

b.) An international research organisation studying climate change

c.) An international organisation funding climate change research

d.) A branch of the United Nations responsible for developing international climate polic

Answer 1

A

Question 2

What is the long-term temperature goal in the Paris Agreement?

a.) To prevent dangerous climate change

b.) To keep the increase in temperature well below 1.5oC above current levels.

c.) To keep the increase in temperature to well below 2oC above pre-industrial levels and pursue efforts to limit the increase to 1.5oC

d.) To limit the increase in temperature to 2oC above current levels and aim to limit the increase to 1.5oC.

Answer 2

C

Question 3

What is the difference between weather and climate?

a.) Climate is future weather

b.) Climate describes the statistical properties of weather

c.) Climate describes day-to-day variability in weather

d.) Weather is average climate

Answer 3

B

response feedback:
At its simplest, climate is average weather: ‘climate is what you expect, weather is what you get’. The most formal interpretation also includes variability in weather from year to year - in some places the climate is characterised by lots of variability in weather from one year to another, whilst in others there is less variability. So strictly, ‘climate’ describes the statistical properties of weather at a place, not just the mean.

Question 4

Why is the carbon cycle important to an understanding of climate change?

a.) The carbon cycle influences how much carbon is emitted by the burning of fossil fuels.

b.) The carbon cycle describes the circulation of carbon between the land and the ocean, so influences how much is left in the atmosphere.

c.) The amount of carbon dioxide left in the atmosphere after the burning of fossil fuels depends on how much of the emitted carbon is absorbed by plants and soil on land and by the oceans.

d.) The carbon cycle exaggerates the effect of the burning of fossil fuels through positive feedbacks.

Answer 4

C