Exam 3

The total amount of water on Earth 

• is increasing
• is decreasing.
• is fairly constant
• depends on the weather.

Which contains the greatest amount of Earth’s freshwater?

• groundwater
• lakes and rivers.
• oceans and seas
• glaciers and polar ice caps

What percentage of Earth’s water is freshwater?

• 3%
• 29%
• 71%
• 97%

The ability of water to hold more heat than land keeps the temperature on Earth

• Moderate
• the same
• very high
• very low

A student climbs the stairs in her house on a summer day and notices that it is much hotter upstairs than downstairs.  What is the best explanation for this?

• Warm air moves upward in convection currents.
• The upstairs is closer to the sun
• The Coriolis Effect heats air that is higher.
• Warm air sinks in convection currents.

Land absorbs radiation from the sun.  

• Slower than water
• at the same rate as water
• Faster than water.
•  almost never.

What is mainly responsible for the uneven heating of the Earth’s surface?

• The distance of the sun from different parts of Earth.
• The angle at which sunshine strikes Earth’s surface.
• The material on Earth’s surface
• Changes in the amount of energy the sun puts out.

Land breezes occur because

• Land cools off faster than water.
• Water heats up faster than land
• Land cools off more slowly than water. 
• land & water heat and cool equally

Winds are caused by differences in 

•  Precipitation.
• .Humidity.
• air pressure
• Turbulence.

Most of the heating of the troposphere comes from

• Conduction
• convection
•  radiation