Practice Problems Related to Climate Change (answers on last page)
1) What is meant by the term “climate”?
A) The daily conditions of the atmosphere.
B) A description of what the environment is like on a given day.
C) A specific weather event happening over a short period of time.
D) The weather conditions prevailing in an area over a long period of time.
2) What is meant by the term “greenhouse gas”?
A) They are gases that are used in greenhouses to help the plants grow.
B) They are gases that trap infrared radiation within the earth’s atmosphere.
C) They are gases that help reflect solar radiation before it can be absorbed by the Earth.
D) They are gases that convert visible light into infrared radiation.
3) Which one of the following gases is not a greenhouse gas?
A) H2O B) O2 C) CO2 D) CH4
4) Which statement about greenhouse gases is false?
A) If there were no greenhouse gases in our atmosphere, Earth’s temperature would be very cold.
B) The concentration of greenhouse gases in Earth’s atmosphere has increased dramatically since
the industrial revolution.
C) When levels of greenhouse gases in Earth’s atmosphere increases, the Earth’s temperature
decreases.
D) Some greenhouse gases are necessary in Earth’s atmosphere for life to exist as we know it.
5) Which of the following components of the carbon cycle does not add CO2 to the atmosphere?
A) Deforestation C) Volcanic eruptions
B) Burning fossil fuels D) Photosynthesis
6) Which of the following is not an expected impact of climate change?
A) Species extinction C) Rising sea levels
B) Oceans become less acidic D) Increases in severe weather events
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7) Which of the following statements about arctic ice cores is false?
A) They contain trapped gases that can be used to determine the concentration of CO2 in the
Earth’s atmosphere in the distant past.
B) They contain water with different isotopes of hydrogen that can be used to determine the
temperature of the Earth in the distant past.
C) The oldest ice cores provide temperature records going back about 800,000 years.
D) They indicate that the current levels of CO2 in the Earth’s atmosphere are similar to those levels
found during previous ice ages.
