Chapter 12

The famous violins made by Antonio Stradavari in the late 1600s may owe their superior acoustical properties to the dense wood grown during a 70-year global ____________________.
A. warm spell called the Medieval Warm Period
B. warm spell called the Primary Greenhouse Warming
C. cold spell called the Maunder Minimum
D. cold spell called the Stradavari Minimum

cold spell called the Maunder Minimum

Episodes of climate change during the last 1000 years include all but which of the following?
A. the Maunder Minimum
B. the Medieval Maximum
C. the Little Ice Age
D. the Renaissance Warming
E. All of the choices were episodes of short-term climate change.

the Renaissance Warming

The Little Ice Age that affected Europe from about ___________ lowered average annual temperature by only about 1C but was enough to reduce crop yields, cause mountain glaciers to advance, and produce winters much more severe than in the twentieth century.
A. 700 to 1200 C.E.
B. 900 to 1400 C.E.
C. 1200 to 1700 C.E.
D. 1400 to 1900 C.E.
E. 1700 to 2100 C.E.

1400 to 1900 C.E.

During the 20th century, the average global surface temperature rose ________.
A. 0.06C
B. 0.16C
C. 0.6C
D. 1.6C
E. 6.0C

0.6C

Observed effects of global warming in recent decades include all but which of the following?
A. increasing abundance of warm-water species in the North Atlantic Ocean
B. descending tree-line in mountainous regions of Europe and New Zealand
C. earlier arrival of migrating birds in springtime
D. lowland birds extending ranges to higher elevations
E. All of the choices are observed effects of global warming.

descending tree-line in mountainous regions of Europe and New Zealand

Which of the following greenhouse gases accounts for 60% of global warming?
A. Carbon Dioxide (CO2)
B. Methane (CH4)
C. Nitrous Oxide (N2O)
D. Ozone (O3)
E. Chlorofluorocarbons (CFC's)

Carbon Dioxide (CO2)

Which of the following greenhouse gases is the most efficient at trapping heat (i.e., has the highest global warming potential - GWP)?
A. Carbon Dioxide (CO2)
B. Methane (CH4)
C. Nitrous Oxide (N2O)
D. Ozone (O3)
E. Chlorofluorocarbons (CFC's)

Chlorofluorocarbons (CFC's)

. Likely global climate changes in the 21st century include all but which of the following?
A. melting of the Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets
B. melting of permafrost in Arctic regions
C. melting of mountain glaciers
D. 30 meter rise in sea level
E. more frequent severe drought in the central United States

30 meter rise in sea level

About 14,000 years ago, the Earth began to warm according to changes seen in annual ice layers in glaciers—the O18, CO2, and methane content in ice __________.
A. decreased
B. increased
C. stayed the same despite orbital changes that brought warming

stayed the same despite orbital changes that brought warming

The Older Dryas and Younger Dryas stages represented ________________________.
A. two cooling stages during warm-up from the last major glacial advance
B. two of the more abrupt warming stages during the last glaciation
C. one warming stage and one cooling stage during the last glaciation
D. periods of dry climate

two cooling stages during warm-up from the last major glacial advance

Over the last 7000 years there has been a __________________________.
A. lowering of global average temperature totaling 2Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.C
B. raising of global average temperature totaling 2ºC
C. constant global temperature, on average
D. None of these are correct.

lowering of global average temperature totaling

The major factors in glacial periods lasting tens of millions of years appear to be ______________________.
A. having one or more large continental masses near the poles.
B. oceanic circulation that is more longitudinal (north-south) than latitudinal (east-west).
C. oceanic circulation that is more latitudinal (east-west) than longitudinal (north-south).
D. Both having one or more large continental masses near the poles and oceanic circulation that is more longitudinal (north-south) than latitudinal (east-west) are correct.
E. Both having one or more large continental masses near the poles and oceanic circulation that is more latitudinal (east-west) than longitudinal (north-south) are correct.

Both having one or more large continental masses near the poles and oceanic circulation that is more longitudinal (north-south) than latitudinal (east-west) are correct.

The climatic cooling of the last 55.5 million years has been caused by ____________________.
A. the ongoing breakup of Pangaea into separate continents
B. continental masses moving into polar latitudes
C. snow and ice accumulating on polar landmasses, increasing albedo
D. the uplifts of the Tibetan Plateau/Himalaya Mountains in Asia and the Colorado Plateau in the western United States deflecting west-to-east atmospheric circulation in the midlatitudes
E. All of these are correct.

All of these are correct

The cycles of slow buildup and advance of glaciers followed by rapid shrinkage and retreat is caused by ______________________.
A. eccentricity of the Earth's orbit around the Sun
B. tilt of the Earth's axis
C. precession of the equinoxes
D. All of these are correct.
E. None of these are correct.

All of these are correct

A strong El Niño is characterized by ____________________.
A. the arrival of warm ocean water to Peru and Ecuador near Christmastime
B. high atmospheric pressure over the eastern Pacific Ocean resulting in trade winds that blow toward the equator from the north and south
C. a southern jet stream branch that flows eastward bringing higher rainfall to the southeastern United States and helping break apart Atlantic and Caribbean storms resulting in fewer hurricanes
D. heavy rainstorms in the western United States
E. All of these are correct.

All of these are correct

The eruption of __________ has been called the greatest eruption in historic times, killing about 10,000 people outright by pyroclastic flows and another 117,000 indirectly through famine and disease.
A. Tambora in 1815 C.E.
B. Vesuvius in 79 C.E.
C. Mt. St. Helens in 1980 C.E.
D. Mt. Pinatubo in 1991 C.E.
E. El Chichón in 1982 C.E.

Tambora in 1815 C.E.

Principal factors that come into play when volcanism affects climate include all but which of the following?
A. the size and rate of eruptions
B. the heights of eruption columns
C. the types of gases and the atmospheric level at which they are placed
D. the latitude of the eruptions
E. All of these factors are considered.

All of these factors are considered.

The level of oxygen in the form of O2 in the Earth's atmosphere __________________.
A. has not changed substantially in the past 450 million years
B. is drastically decreasing due to pollution
C. is no different than it was 4.6 billion years ago
D. is drastically increasing due to growth of new bacterial strains
E. cannot change because Earth is a closed system

has not changed substantially in the past 450 million years

The Earth is _________ during the Northern Hemisphere winter.
A. farthest from the Sun
B. closest to the Sun
C. the same distance from the Sun in the summer as

closest to the Sun

One of the greatest weather disasters in U.S. history occurred during the ________, when several years of drought turned grain-growing areas in the center of the nation into the "Dust Bowl."
A. 1920s
B. 1930s
C. 1940s
D. 1950s
E. 1960s

1930's

The human drama of the "Dust Bowl" was captured in many articles and books, including ____________________.
A. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
B. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
C. Roughing It by Mark Twain
D. Intruder in the Dust by William Faulkner
E. Dust in the Wind by Kerry Livgren

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

. In the 1995 heat wave, most deaths in Chicago occurred to people living ________________.
A. on the top floors of buildings
B. on the ground floor
C. in the basement where ventilation is poor
D. There was no preferential floor for deaths.
E. out in the open, sleeping in parks or under bridges

on the top floors of buildings

The 2003 European heat wave resulted in more than ___________ human deaths.
A. 350
B. 3,500
C. 13,500
D. 35,000
E. 135,000

35,000