Earth's Changing Climate

A climatologist was working with a computer simulation that models Earth’s climate and atmosphere. She set up the controls of the simulation to decrease the amount of methane in the atmosphere.

When methane decreases, the amount of energy absorbed by Earth’s surface should . . .

• change unpredictably

• stay at a constant level

• increase

• decrease

Tags

NGSS.HS-ESS2-2

NGSS.HS-ESS2-4

How did energy in the Earth system change during this time?

• More energy in the Earth system and more energy absorbed by Earth’s surface --> more energy entered than exited.

• Less energy in the Earth system and less energy absorbed by Earth’s surface --> less energy entered than exited

Tags

NGSS.HS-ESS2-4

NGSS.HS-ESS3-5

There are some bacteria that release methane into the atmosphere. Scientists think that if the number of these bacteria decreased, the amount of methane in the atmosphere would decrease.

If methane in the atmosphere decreases, energy in the Earth system would . . .

• Decrease, because less energy would enter than exit.

• Decrease, because more energy would enter than exit.

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS2-4

Some scientists found that millions of years ago, there was a time when the number of trees increased very quickly, leading to a decrease in the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

During this time, the amount of energy absorbed by Earth’s surface . . .

• Increased

• Decreased

• stayed at a constant level

• changed unpredictably

Tags

NGSS.HS-ESS2-4

NGSS.HS-ESS2-6

NGSS.HS-LS2-5

Ice core data from Greenland indicates there was a time period on Earth when the atmosphere changed so more energy entered the Earth system than exited.

What change to the atmosphere could have caused this?

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

• Carbon dioxide decreased, leading to more energy in the Earth system because less energy from the sun bounced back toward outer space.

Tags

NGSS.HS-ESS2-4

NGSS.HS-ESS2-6

Fossilized shells from the Pacific Ocean show that about 15 million years ago, there was a time period when carbon dioxide in the atmosphere increased.

During this time, energy absorbed by Earth’s surface . . .

• stayed at a constant level

• changed unpredictably

• decreased

• increased

Tags

NGSS.HS-ESS2-4

NGSS.HS-ESS2-6

A climatologist is creating a simulation for Earth’s climate and is working on how to set it up. One of the options for the simulation is to increase methane in the atmosphere.

There will be . . .

• more energy in the Earth system and more energy absorbed by Earth’s surface, because less energy enters than exits.

• more energy in the Earth system and more energy absorbed by Earth’s surface, because more energy enters than exits.

Tags

NGSS.HS-ESS2-4

NGSS.HS-ESS3-5

Scientists think that a large amount of carbon dioxide was released from rock on the ocean floor from 120 to 80 million years ago and that this led to increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

During this time, energy in the Earth system . . .

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

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

Tags

NGSS.HS-ESS2-2

NGSS.HS-ESS2-4

Fossil evidence from the time of T-rex (85 to 65 million years ago) shows less energy entered the Earth system than exited, even though energy from the sun didn’t change.

How might the amount of carbon dioxide have changed to cause this?

• Carbon dioxide decreased, so there was less energy in the Earth system and less energy absorbed by Earth’s surface.

• Carbon dioxide increased, so there was less energy in the Earth system and less energy absorbed by Earth’s surface.

Tags

NGSS.HS-ESS2-4

NGSS.HS-ESS2-6

A scientist says that even if the amount of energy entering the Earth system from the sun doesn’t change, there can still be less energy entering than exiting the Earth system. What could change in the atmosphere that would cause this?

• Methane could increase, leading to more energy in the Earth system because more exiting energy would be bounced back toward Earth.

• Methane could decrease, leading to less energy in the Earth system because less exiting energy would be bounced back toward Earth.

Tags

NGSS.HS-ESS2-2

NGSS.HS-ESS2-4