Earth's Changing Climate Unit pre-test

1. Climate researchers are creating a computer simulation to help them understand changes in the Earth system. They want to use the simulation to see what happens when they increase the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. What should their simulation show about energy absorbed by Earth’s surface?
   
   When carbon dioxide in the atmosphere increases, the amount of energy absorbed by Earth’s surface should

• increase

• decrease

• stay at a constant level

• change unpredictably

4. The graph above shows global temperature changes between the years 1880 and 2011. Which of the following best describes the changes seen in the graph?

• The graph shows a trend of increasing temperature over time.

• The graph shows temperatures go up and down, with no trend.

• The graph shows the Annual Mean and 5-Year Mean have different trends.

• The graph shows too much fluctuation to be confident about a trend.

9. What is one reason that carbon dioxide is increasing in the atmosphere today?

• There are more volcanoes than there were in the past.

• People are riding bicycles instead of driving cars.

• There are more people doing things that use combustion.

• People are using solar power.

10. Scientists who study the atmosphere often need to take samples of the atmosphere in order to learn more. They take some atmosphere samples near the ground. They take other atmosphere samples high in the air, while flying in a helicopter. What would the scientists find out about the samples?

• Both samples are made of one kind of gas.

• Both samples are made of a mix of several different kinds of gases.

• Neither sample is made of anything.

• The samples are different from each other because each gas forms its own layer in the atmosphere.

11. Climate researchers in Greenland can use ice core samples to tell them about carbon dioxide in the atmosphere in the past. The researchers have found an ice core sample that shows there was a period when carbon dioxide in the atmosphere decreased. What happened to the amount of energy absorbed by Earth’s surface during this time?
    
    During this time, the amount of energy absorbed by Earth’s surface

• decreased

• increased

• stayed at a constant level

• changed unpredictably

When making an argument about how climate change is affecting the ice cover on Earth, which of the following would be the least effective type of evidence to support your argument?

• data tracking the amount of snowfall for the last 50 years

• data tracking the surface temperature for the last 200 years

• data tracking carbon dioxide levels for the last 100 years

• data tracking glacier size for the last 2 years

15. What can humans do to help keep carbon dioxide and methane in Earth’s atmosphere from increasing?

• Drive their cars less often

• Eat less meat so that fewer livestock need to be kept

• Both A and B

• Humans can’t affect the amount of carbon dioxide or methane in the atmosphere.

19. Eleanor wants to do an experiment in order to analyze what is in the atmosphere. What do you think she will find?

• The atmosphere is made of one kind of gas.

• The atmosphere is made of different kinds of gases, and each forms its own layer.

• The atmosphere is made of a mix of different kinds of gases.

• The atmosphere isn’t made of anything.