Earth's Weather Patterns and Climate

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

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS3-5

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

Tags

NGSS.HS-ESS2-4

NGSS.HS-ESS3-5

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.

Tags

NGSS.HS-ESS2-2

NGSS.HS-ESS2-4

What is on 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

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS3-4

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 the same

• changed unpredictably

Tags

NGSS.HS-ESS2-4

Some bacteria produce methane during digestion. If the amount of these bacteria decreased a lot, the amount of methane in the atmosphere would decrease. What would happen to energy in the Earth system if this happened?

If methane decreased,

• there would be more energy in the Earth system and more energy absorbed by Earth’s surface, because more energy would enter than exit.

• there would be more energy in the Earth system and more energy absorbed by Earth’s surface, because less energy would enter than exit.

• there would be less energy in the Earth system and less energy absorbed by Earth’s surface, because less energy would enter than exit.

• there would be less energy in the Earth system and less energy absorbed by Earth’s surface, because more energy would enter than exit.

Tags

NGSS.HS-ESS2-4

NGSS.HS-ESS3-5

From about 360 to 299 million years ago, there was a large increase in the amount of swampland on Earth, which scientists think led to a large increase in the amount of methane in Earth’s atmosphere. What happened to energy in the Earth system when the amount of methane in the atmosphere increased?

Energy in the Earth system

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

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

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

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

Tags

NGSS.HS-ESS2-4

NGSS.HS-ESS3-5

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

Tags

NGSS.HS-ESS2-2

What can humans do to help keep carbon dioxide and methane in the Earth's atmosphere from increasing?

• Drive their cars less often

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

• Both A & B

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

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 up 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