Evidence for climate change

What is climate?

• What's going on with the atmosphere at any particular time

• The type of weather that occurs during a particular season

• An area's pattern of weather over a long period of time

• How much sunshine an area gets

Increasing quantities of CO₂ (Carbon Dioxide) in the atmosphere will cause air temperatures to be _____.

• Warmer

• Cooler

Which of the following is NOT evidence for climate change?

• Sea level rising

• Loss of Arctic sea ice

• Less water vapour in the air

• More extreme weather events

Climate change causes more frequent and stronger extreme weather events such as:

• Flooding

• Hurricanes

• Heatwaves

• All of the above

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 best describes the graph?

• Atmospheric carbon dioxide levels have increased steadily since 1960

• Humans in Hawaii have been working hard since 1960 to decrease carbon dioxide levels

• Atmospheric carbon dioxide levels have been fluctuating since 1960

• Hawaii has a lot of atmospheric carbon dioxide

Worldwide, temperatures have been increasing for more than 100 years. Is this evidence of climate change?

• Yes

• No

Melting of polar ice caps and glaciers...

• Will result in cooler temperatures in the Arctic

• Will result in sea levels rising

• Will have no impact on the ecosystem

• None of the above

How do scientists gather evidence about climate?

• using remote sensing from space with satellites

• by ground-based measurements of surface temperatures, carbon dioxide concentration and sea level

• by collecting “proxy data” from tree rings, ice cores, and historical records

• all of the above

Living vegetation and the ocean are known as carbon sinks because...

• they are made of carbon

• they produce carbon

• they store carbon

• they destroy carbon