Unit 1

Question 1

Which of the following is not a variable gas?

A. Carbon Dioxide

B. Oxygen

C. Ozone

D. Water vapor

Answer 1

B

Question 2

Why is the top of the troposphere colder than the bottom?

Answer 2

The air is heated by the surface

Question 3

Why is the top of the stratosphere warmer than the bottom?

Answer 3

Because ozone absorbs solar energy

Question 4

Which temperature scale initiates with absolute zero?

Answer 4

Kelvin

Question 5

Of the permanent gases, which is the most abundant and comprises approximately 78 percent of the atmosphere by volume?

Answer 5

Nitrogen

Question 6

Which of the following gases is removed from the atmosphere by photosynthesis?

Answer 6

Carbon dioxide

Question 7

Why has carbon dioxide increased by about 1.8 ppm per year since measurements began? (Choose all that apply)

A. Anthropogenic combustion of fossil fuels

B. Increased photosynthesis

C. Deforestation

Answer 7

A, C

Question 8

What causes the depletion of the beneficial ozone in the stratosphere?

Answer 8

CFCs

Question 9

Which of the following is not an element of the scientific method?

A. Hypothesis

B. Analysis

C. Redirection

D. Prediction

Answer 9

C

Question 10

The temperature is lowest here:

A. Mesopause

B. Stratopause

C. Tropopause

D. Stratosphere

Answer 10

A

Question 11

The “stratosphere” warms because of:

Answer 11

The interaction of ozone and ultraviolet light

Question 12

What is the distance from one wave crest to the next wave crest?

Answer 12

Wavelength

Question 13

Which wavelengths in the electromagnetic spectrum are visible to the human eye?

Answer 13

0.4 - 0.7 microns

Question 14

At what wavelength does the sun emit the most radiation?

Answer 14

0.5 microns

Question 15

At what wavelength does Earth emit the most radiation?

Answer 15

10 microns

Question 16

During which month are the Sun’s rays directly overhead at the equator?

Answer 16

March and September

Question 17

When does the subsolar point coincide with 23.5 degrees N?

Answer 17

June

Question 18

What is the total daily radiation receipt at a location dependent upon?

Answer 18

Latitude and day length

Question 19

The standard unit of energy in the international system (SI) is:

Answer 19

Joule

Question 20

During which month does perihelion occur?

Answer 20

January

Question 21

Earth’s peak emission of 10 micrometers can be quantified using which radiation law?

Answer 21

Wien’s Law

Question 22

What are three main mechanisms for heat transfer between Earth’s atmosphere and surface?

Answer 22

Conduction, convection, and radiation

Question 23

Which type of scattering is caused by small gas molecules and affects shorter wavelengths?

Answer 23

Rayleigh

Question 24

Which type of scattering is caused by larger aerosols and affects longer wavelengths?

Answer 24

Mie

Question 25

How much of the incoming solar radiation at the top of the atmosphere actually reaches the surface of Earth?

Answer 25

54 percent

Question 26

How much of the incoming solar radiation at the top of the atmosphere is absorbed by the atmosphere?

Answer 26

23 percent

Question 27

What is the total planetary albedo?

Answer 27

30 percent

Question 28

What is the process whereby radiation making contact with the surface is redirected away without being altered?

Answer 28

Reflection

Question 29

What is the term for the 8- to 12-micrometer region of Earth's emission curve?

Answer 29

Atmospheric window

Question 30

The specific heat of water is how much greater than that of land?

Answer 30

Five times

Question 31

What is the term for the effect of an inland location that experiences greater temperature extremes?

Answer 31

Continentality

Question 32

How is the annual temperature range calculated?

Answer 32

Subtract the highest and lowest monthly mean temperatures

Question 33

How is the daily mean temperature calculated?

Answer 33

Average the minimum and the maximum temperature for a day.

Question 34

What is the source of the vast majority of sulfur dioxide in the atmosphere?

Answer 34

Fuel combustion

Question 35

Which of these are associated with episodes of severe air pollution? ## Footnote A. High temperatures B. Low temperatures C. Temperature inversions D. High wind speeds

Answer 35

C

Question 36

If the wind slowed to 5 m/s, what would the pollution do?

Answer 36

Increase

Question 37

Urban buildings cause the overall albedo to do what?

Answer 37

Decrease

Question 38

Why has the air quality in Pittsburgh improved?

Answer 38

Because of factory and steel mill closures.

Question 39

In terms of weather, what is Vancouver, Canda.

Answer 39

An urban heat island

Question 40

Which of these contributes to urban heat islands? ## Footnote A. High albedo B. Sea breeze C. Land breeze D. Tall buildings

Answer 40

D

Question 41

What is air pollution most readily disperesed by?

Answer 41

High winds

Question 42

What is the United States's largest source of carbon monoxide?

Answer 42

Automobiles

Question 43

What factor(s) contribute(s) to the bad air quality in Los Angeles?

Answer 43

Location, large number of automobiles, and cloud-free conditions during mid-day

Question 44

In which epoch are we living?

Answer 44

Holocene

Question 45

How long ago did the latest interglacial begin?

Answer 45

15,000 years

Question 46

The temperature trends indicate that the temperatures are doing which of the following? ## Footnote A. Increasing B. Decreasing C. Remaining stable D. Showing no trend

Answer 46

A

Question 47

What is the feedback between ice and albedo an example of?

Answer 47

Positive feedback

Question 48

Which of these refers to changes in the tilt of Earth's axis? ## Footnote A. Obliquity B. Precession C. Eccentricity D. Palynology

Answer 48

A

Question 49

What is the anthropogenic greenhouse gas that has been the subject of intense scientific scrutiny and political controversy?

Answer 49

Carbon dioxide

Question 50

What is most of the rise in global temperatures since the mid-twentieth century very likely due to?

Answer 50

Anthropogenic greenhouse gases

Question 51

Which of the following methods is used for determining past climates? ## Footnote A. Oceanic deposits B. Remnant landforms C. Ice cores D. All of the above

Answer 51

D

Question 52

\_\_\_ is the state of the atmosphere at a particular moment.

Answer 52

Weather

Question 53

\_\_\_ is the statistics (average and variability) of weather.

Answer 53

Climate

Question 54

The ___ is a mixture of gas molecules, small suspended particles of solid and liquid, and falling precipitation.

Answer 54

Atmosphere

Question 55

\_\_\_ is the study of atmosphere and the processes (such as cloud formation, lightning, and wind movement) that cause what we refer to as the "weather."

Answer 55

Meteorology

Question 56

\_\_\_ concerns itself with the same elements of the atmosphere that meteorology does, but on a different time scale. ___ relies on averages taken over a number of years in orderto gauge typical atmospheric conditions for locations across Earth's surface.

Answer 56

Climatology

Question 57

\_\_\_ gases are found everywhere in nearly the same proportion, whereas ___ gases are those whose distribution in the atmosphere is uneven in both time and space.

Answer 57

Permanent; variable

Question 58

Which is the most abundant of the variable gases?

Answer 58

Water vapor

Question 59

What is the process by which green plants convert light energy to chemical energy.

Answer 59

Photosynthesis

Question 60

Small solid particles and liquid droplets in the air are collectively known as \_\_\_.

Answer 60

aerosols

Question 61

The ___ of any substance is the amount of mass of the substance contained in a unit of volume.

Answer 61

Density

Question 62

Name the four layers of the atmosphere from lowest to highest altitude.

Answer 62

Troposphere, Stratosphere, Mesosphere, Thermosphere

Question 63

At the top of the troposphere, a transition zone called the ___ marks the level at which temperature ceases to decrease with height.

Answer 63

Tropopause

Question 64

Situations where temperature increases with height are known as...

Answer 64

inversions

Question 65

Within the stratosphere is the \_\_\_, a zone of increased ozone concentrations at altitudes between 20 and 30 km.m

Answer 65

ozone layer

Question 66

\_\_\_ is a process in which intense ultraviolet solar radiation is absorbed by O2, splitting the molecule into its constituent atoms (O + O).

Answer 66

Photodissociation

Question 67

An additional layer, called the \_\_\_, extends from the upper mesosphere into the thermosphere and contains large numbers of electrically charged particles called ions.

Answer 67

ionosphere

Question 68

\_\_\_ indicates the amount of water vapor present relative to the maximum possible.

Answer 68

Relative humidity

Question 69

The percentage of insolation reflected by an object or substance is called its...

Answer 69

albedo

Question 70

When light strikes a mirror, it is reflected back as a beam of equal intensity in a manner known as...

Answer 70

spectacular reflection

Question 71

When a beam is reflected from an object as a larger number of weaker rays traveling in many different directions, it is called ___ or \_\_\_.

Answer 71

diffuse reflection, scattering

Question 72

Scattering agents smaller than about one-tenth the wavelength of incoming radiation disperse radiation in a manner known as...

Answer 72

Rayleigh scattering

Question 73

Because of the absence of preference for any particular wavelength, scattering by clouds is sometimes called...

Answer 73

nonselective scattering