Climatic Changes and Patterns

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-ESS2-4

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.HS-ESS3-6

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

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

Tags

NGSS.HS-LS2-7

The town of Kokomo had two rainstorms in November. Storm 1 had more rainfall than Storm 2. The temperature of the surrounding areas was the same before both storms. What could explain why Storm 1 had more rainfall than Storm 2? Before Storm 1, the air parcel at the surface could have been:

• warmer, so when cooler air from above moved down, it lost more energy.

• warmer, so when the air parcel moved higher, it lost more energy.

• cooler, so the air parcel had low energy and remained near the surface.

• cooler, so when the air parcel moved higher, it gained more energy.

Tags

NGSS.HS-ESS2-4

There were two rainstorms in Sinan last month. Before Storm 1, the air temperature at the surface was 21°C. Before Storm 2, the air temperature at the surface was 29°C. The temperature of areas surrounding Sinan was the same before both storms. There was the same amount of water vapor in the air parcels before both storms. Which storm is likely to have had more rainfall?

• Storm 1. The air parcel at the surface was cooler and had less energy, so with low energy it remained near the surface.

• Storm 2. The air parcel at the surface was warmer and had more energy, so when cooler air from above came down, it lost more energy.

• Storm 1. The air parcel at the surface was cooler and had less energy, so with low energy it remained near the surface.

• Storm 2. The air parcel at the surface was warmer and had more energy, so when it moved higher, it lost more energy.

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS2-4

NGSS.MS-ESS2-5

NGSS.MS-ESS2-6

The town of Greenville had two rainstorms in March. Storm 2 had more rainfall than Storm 1. The temperature of the surrounding area was the same before both storms. What could explain why Storm 2 had more rainfall than Storm 1?

• warmer, so when cooler air from above moved down, it lost more energy.

• cooler, so when the air parcel moved higher, it gained more energy.

• warmer, so when the air parcel moved higher, it lost more energy.

• cooler, so the air parcel had low energy and remained near the surface.

Tags

NGSS.HS-ESS2-4