Atmosphere, Climate Change, and Sustainability

During summer in the Southern Hemisphere, the Northern Hemisphere experiences

• A tilt toward the sun

• winter

• summer

• excess rainfall

Which of the following gases is most responsible for the greenhouse effect?

• nitrous oxide

• methane

• oxygen

• carbon dioxide

What are greenhouse gases?

• gases that cause climate change

• gases that emit green smoke

• gases that are used to make green colored glass

Industrialization is a contributing factor to climate change.

• True

• False

Some of the Earth's most fragile ecosystems that could be greatly impacted by climate change live in the

• tropical rainforest

• tundra

• oceans

• African Sahara desert

As a result of climate change food prices could

• increase

• decrease

• stay the same

Climate change can cause increases in asthma, allergies and heart disease.

• True

• False

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