16.2: Climate Change

Which of the following gases DOES NOT trap heat?

• carbon dioxide
• nitrogen
• water vapor
• methane

Where have some of the strongest and earliest impacts of global warming occurred?  

• in the tropics
• in the northern latitudes
• impacts of global warming are distributed equally all over the planet

Compared to other greenhouse gases, carbon dioxide is very effective in trapping heat near the surface of the Earth.

• true
• false

Which of the following have been linked to climate change?  

• droughts
• flooding
• melting of polar ice caps
• all of the above

Which century was the wettest of the last millenium?  

• 12th
• 16th
• 19th
• 20th

Visible light reaches Earth’s surface while infrared light is trapped as heat. Which characteristic of Earth’s atmosphere causes this to happen?

• the hole in the ozone
• the greenhouse effect
• atmospheric pressure
• the inversion layer

The average temperature of the surface of Earth has increased approximately 1°C in the past century. Which reason best explains this increase in temperature?

• lower levels of ozone in the atmosphere
• lower levels of nitrogen in the atmosphere
• higher levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere
• higher levels of oxygen in the atmosphere

Which of the following is the best conclusion that can be made from this graph?

• atmospheric carbon dioxide levels have been decreasing since 1960
• Hawaii has a lot of carbon dioxide
• humans have been working hard to decrease carbon dioxide levels
• atmospheric carbon dioxide levels have increased steadily since 1960

What types of data have scientists collected related to climate change?

• Measuring Earth’s current temperature and CO2

• Examining ice/glacier melting

• Taking educated guesses

• The ice caps are getting bigger/growing

In the 1800's why did CO2 levels increase significantly?

• New factories were being built that caused more pollution

• The civil war caused more pollution

• Scientists figured out how to clean up pollution in the air

• It did not increase