Earth's Changing Climate Quiz and 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

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2. Scientists found evidence of a time period 3 billion years ago when less energy entered the Earth system than exited. What is one change to the atmosphere that could have caused this, and how did it change the amount of energy in the Earth system?

• Methane increased, leading to more energy in the Earth system and more energy absorbed by Earth’s surface

• Methane increased, leading to less energy in the Earth system and less energy absorbed by Earth’s surface.

• Methane decreased, leading to more energy in the Earth system and more energy absorbed by Earth’s surface.

• Methane decreased, leading to less energy in the Earth system and less energy absorbed by Earth’s surface.

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3. The Karoo Ice Age started about 360 million years ago and lasted for about 40 million years. During this time, less energy entered the Earth system than exited. What is one change to the atmosphere that could have caused this?

• Carbon dioxide decreased, leading to less energy in the Earth system because less energy was trapped by gases and held in the atmosphere.

• Carbon dioxide decreased, leading to less energy in the Earth system because less exiting energy was redirected (bounced) back toward Earth.

• Carbon dioxide increased, leading to more energy in the Earth system because more exiting energy was redirected (bounced) back toward Earth.

• Carbon dioxide increased, leading to less energy in the Earth system because more energy from the sun was redirected (bounced) back toward outer space.

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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.

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5. What happens when energy hits sulfur dioxide?

• When energy hits sulfur dioxide, more energy is created.

• Sulfur dioxide traps some energy and holds it in the atmosphere.

• Sulfur dioxide redirects (bounces) some incoming energy from the sun back toward outer space.

• Energy always passes through sulfur dioxide.

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6. Using evidence from rocks, scientists have found that from 300 to 290 million years ago, the amount of methane in the atmosphere increased. What happened to the energy absorbed by Earth’s surface during this time? During this time, the amount of energy absorbed by Earth’s surface . . .

• stayed at a constant level.

• changed unpredictably.

• increased.

• decreased

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7. Scientists are using a computer simulation to test ideas about climate on Earth. Looking at one period of time in the simulation, they notice that more energy entered the Earth system than exited. How might the amount of carbon dioxide have changed to cause this, and how would this have changed the energy in the Earth system? In the simulation, . . .

• carbon dioxide decreased, leading to more energy in the Earth system and more energy absorbed by Earth’s surface.

• carbon dioxide decreased, leading to less energy in the Earth system and less energy absorbed by Earth’s surface.

• carbon dioxide increased, leading to less energy in the Earth system and less energy absorbed by Earth’s surface.

• carbon dioxide increased, leading to more energy in the Earth system and more energy absorbed by Earth’s surface.

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8. Scientists study tree rings to learn more about Earth’s past climate. They found a time period when the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere decreased. What happened to energy in the Earth system when carbon dioxide in the atmosphere decreased? Energy in the Earth system . . .

• decreased, because more energy entered than exited. This is because less exiting energy was redirected (bounced) back toward Earth.

• decreased, because less energy entered than exited. This is because less exiting energy was redirected (bounced) back toward Earth.

• decreased, because less energy entered than exited. This is because less energy was trapped by gases and held in the atmosphere.

• increased, because more energy entered than exited. This is because less energy from the sun was redirected (bounced) back toward outer space.

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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.

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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?

• a 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.