Introduction to Contemporary Geography Weather Climate and Climate Change-2.docx

Introduction to Geography Weather, Climate, and Climate Change 1) The fuel driving the weather is A) gravity. B) inertia of motion. C) solar energy. D) convection. Answer: C 2) Which of the following factors plays a relatively small role in the amount of solar energy received at a particular place on the Earth? A) the angle of the sun B) the season of year C) the length of day D) distance of the Earth to the sun Answer: D 3) On a daily basis, the sun is most intense at A) 6:00 AM. B) 12 Noon. C) 3:00 PM. D) 6:00 PM. Answer: B 4) The axis of rotation of the Earth is inclined how many degrees away from being perpendicular to the sun's rays? A) 23.5° B) 66.5° C) 45° D) 90° Answer: A 5) At the Tropic of Cancer the sun is directly overhead at noon on the A) vernal equinox. B) summer solstice. C) autumnal equinox. D) winter solstice. Answer: B 6) Latent heat is A) heat in storage in water and water vapor. B) detectable by sense of touch. C) heat reflected into the atmosphere. D) heat left behind by a resting object. Answer: A 7) Movement of a fluid when part of it is heated is A) convection. B) advection. C) sublimation. D) conduction. Answer: A 8) The energy with wavelengths between 0.4 to 0.7 microns is known as A) infrared. B) radio waves. C) X-rays. D) visible light. Answer: D 9) What best explains the movement of heat from tropical areas toward the poles? A) advection B) orographic fronts C) polar fronts D) specific heat Answer: A 10) Temperatures in cities are higher as a result of A) pavement and buildings storing heat during the day and releasing it at night. B) increased evapotranspiration in the city. C) greater insolation. D) increased number of trees. Answer: A 11) The amount of solar energy intercepted at a particular area on the Earth's surface is A) insolation. B) angle of incidence. C) convection. D) sensible heat. Answer: A 12) At which angle (of incidence) will the intensity of energy striking Earth be greatest? A) 90° B) 60° C) 30° D) 0° Answer: A 13) Which area receives the most seasonal variation in incoming radiation? A) equator B) high latitudes C) low latitudes D) tropics Answer: B 14) During the vernal equinox, which location receives the greatest amount of insolation? A) poles B) Tropic of Cancer C) Tropic of Capricorn D) equator Answer: D 15) In the Northern Hemisphere, the sun is lowest in the sky with less radiation in the A) winter. B) spring. C) summer. D) fall. Answer: A 16) From September to March, the Southern Hemisphere receives A) less radiation than the Northern Hemisphere. B) more radiation than the Northern Hemisphere. C) exactly 12 hours of daylight and darkness. D) 24 hours of daylight. Answer: B 17) At what date will 50°N receive the largest amount of daylight? A) March 21 B) June 21 C) September 22 D) December 21 Answer: B 18) In which zone would temperature vary more in a single day than between months? A) low latitudes B) mid-latitudes C) polar areas D) highlands Answer: A 19) Areas near oceans have ________ than areas in the interior of continents because of the great storage capacity of water. A) cooler winters, warmer summers B) warmer winters, cooler summers C) warmer winters, warmer summers D) cooler winters, cooler summers Answer: B 20) The conversion of water from vapor to liquid is the process of A) convection. B) condensation. C) evaporation. D) saturation. Answer: B 21) Continental polar air masses tend to be A) cool and wet. B) cool and dry. C) warm and dry. D) warm and wet. Answer: B 22) The maximum amount of water vapor the air can hold is A) relative humidity. B) saturation vapor pressure. C) latent heat. D) supersaturated. Answer: B 23) Which of the following typically does NOT cause summer thunderstorms? A) frontal uplift B) convection C) orographic uplift D) adiabatic cooling Answer: C 24) Rain shadows in mountainous areas are a result of A) convection. B) orographic uplift. C) frontal uplift. D) adiabatic cooling. Answer: B 25) Regions on the rain-shadow (leeward) side of mountains (such as the Rockies and Andes) are generally A) humid continental. B) tundra. C) semi-arid. D) Mediterranean. Answer: C 26) In tropical climates, the combination of ________ with ________ creates intense daily convective storms. A) low temperatures, humidity B) high temperatures, humidity C) low temperatures, dry air D) high temperatures, dry air Answer: B 27) If you were at a location that just experienced a thunderstorm with heavy downpours, what could you predict about a location 25 miles to the southwest? A) It received approximately the same rainfall. B) It received more rainfall. C) It received less rainfall. D) It is not predictable. Answer: D 28) Winds are deflected by ________, caused by the rotation of Earth. A) the Coriolis effect B) the greenhouse effect C) the Milankovitch cycles D) gyres Answer: A 29) Which climate is influenced by the ITCZ most of the year? A) humid tropical B) desert C) polar D) marine west-coast Answer: A 30) Most of the world's deserts occur in what zone? A) Intertropical Convergence Zone B) Subtropical High Pressure Zone C) Mid-latitude Low Pressure Zone D) Polar High Pressure Zones Answer: B 31) If cold ocean currents hit the coast of a continent, it is likely that the coastal area will A) have extensive precipitation. B) be relatively arid. C) have higher levels of evaporation than with warm currents. D) be subtropical. Answer: B 32) Regional large scale storms where winds converge on areas of low pressure are A) tornados. B) fronts. C) cyclones. D) hurricanes. Answer: C 33) Off the coast of South America, as a result of a circulation change called El Niño, A) the normal warm-water flow is often replaced by cool waters. B) the normal cool-water flow is replaced by warm waters. C) the fisheries off the coast increase in productivity. D) no effect has been observed. Answer: B 34) La Niña A) always lasts for the same period of time as the previous El Niño. B) only affects the Northern Hemisphere. C) can lead to drought in the southern United States. D) has nothing to do with ocean temperatures and circulation. Answer: C 35) The seasonal reversal of pressure and wind over a large continent, known as monsoon circulation, is characterized by A) wind blowing toward the continental interior in the summer and toward the ocean in the winter. B) wind blowing toward the poles. C) wind blowing toward the ocean in the winter and toward the continental interior in the winter. D) wind blowing toward the equator. Answer: A 36) When climbing a mountain, what would you predict about temperatures? A) The temperature will drop about 3.5°F for every 1000 feet climbed. B) The temperature will drop about 5.6°F for every 1000 feet climbed. C) The temperature will be the same as the temperature at the base of the mountain. D) The temperature will begin to drop above 5000 feet. Answer: A Learning Outcome: 12. Describe the major climate types 37) Where would higher levels of potential evapotranspiration occur on an average? A) tropics B) mid-latitudes C) polar regions D) continental interiors Answer: A 38) Which of the following is NOT considered when classifying climates? A) weather patterns over several years B) vegetation C) terrain D) unique weather events Answer: D 39) What climate region is designated as humid and tropical? A) A B) B C) C D) D Answer: A Topic/Section: Earth's Climate Regions Learning Outcome: 12. Describe the major climate types 40) Most of the world's tropical rainforests lie within A) 10°N and 10°S. B) 30°N and 60°N. C) 30°S and 60°S. D) 60°S and 80°S. Answer: A Topic/Section: Earth's Climate Regions Learning Outcome: 12. Describe the major climate types 41) Boreal forest climates are associated with A) subarctic climates. B) Mediterranean climates. C) tundras. D) humid low latitude climates. Answer: A Topic/Section: Earth's Climate Regions Learning Outcome: 12. Describe the major climate types 42) In the low latitudes the average temperature is between ________ °C. A) 26 and 28 B) 35 and 37 C) 50 and 54 D) 65 and 72 Answer: A Topic/Section: Earth's Climate Regions Learning Outcome: 12. Describe the major climate types 43) On the Pacific Islands of Oceania, which climate would you expect to find? A) humid continental B) humid tropical C) tundra D) semiarid Answer: B Topic/Section: Earth's Climate Regions Learning Outcome: 12. Describe the major climate types 44) Potential evapotranspiration exceeds precipitation in A) dry lands. B) the tropics. C) continental climates. D) the tundra. Answer: A Topic/Section: Earth's Climate Regions Learning Outcome: 12. Describe the major climate types 45) Which side of China, South America, the United States, and Australia, has the driest climate? A) North B) South C) East D) West Answer: D Topic/Section: Earth's Climate Regions Learning Outcome: 12. Describe the major climate types 46) In the Southeastern United States, which climate is dominant? A) AW B) BS C) Cfa D) Dwc Answer: C Topic/Section: Earth's Climate Regions Learning Outcome: 12. Describe the major climate types 47) Marine west-coast climates are NOT A) mild climates with a small annual temperature range. B) plentifully moist year round. C) found in places like Kodiak, Alaska. D) commonly found in low latitudes. Answer: D Topic/Section: Earth's Climate Regions Learning Outcome: 12. Describe the major climate types 48) Which of the following climates would you expect to find in coastal southern California? A) humid tropical B) desert C) humid continental D) Mediterranean Answer: D Topic/Section: Earth's Climate Regions Learning Outcome: 12. Describe the major climate types 49) Permafrost occurs in what kind of climate? A) Dfa B) Csa C) ET D) Aw Answer: C Topic/Section: Earth's Climate Regions Learning Outcome: 12. Describe the major climate types 50) If you are told you are in a BWh climate, in which of the following locations might you be? A) Poland B) Sahara Desert C) Florida D) Iceland Answer: B Topic/Section: Earth's Climate Regions Learning Outcome: 12. Describe the major climate types 51) Warm Midlatitude Climates have seasonal variations of insolation that profoundly influence temperature, which is a result of A) El Niño. B) hilly terrain. C) the tilt of the Earth's axis. D) the distribution of oceans. Answer: C Topic/Section: Earth's Climate Regions Learning Outcome: 12. Describe the major climate types 52) During the twentieth century, the Earth's atmospheric temperature increased by about ________ degree(s) Celsius. A) .3 B) 1 C) 2 D) 3 Answer: B Change Learning Outcome: 13. Describe three major causes or climate change 53) Climate over the past 2 million years has A) stayed the same. B) become progressively cooler. C) become progressively warmer. D) shifted between warm and cool periods. Answer: D Change Learning Outcome: 13. Describe three major causes or climate change 54) Which gas, contributed in part by burning fossil fuels, is used by scientists as an indicator of future global warming? A) CO2 B) nitrogen C) oxygen D) hydrogen Answer: A Change Learning Outcome: 13. Describe three major causes or climate change 55) As distance from the equator increases, the difference between winter and summer amounts of solar radiation increases. Answer: TRUE 56) Water vapor plays a significant role in the greenhouse effect. Answer: TRUE 57) On a sunny day water heats up more quickly than land, and at night the water cools down more quickly than land. Answer: FALSE 58) When water vapor condenses in the atmosphere, sensible heat is absorbed and converted to latent heat. Answer: FALSE 59) Precipitation occurs because air is warmed adiabatically as it rises. Answer: FALSE 60) A front is a boundary between two different types of air, such as warm air and cold air. Answer: TRUE Learning Outcome: 7. Describe cold fronts 61) When warm air advances into cooler air, a warm front is formed. Answer: TRUE Learning Outcome: 8. Describe warm fronts 62) Precipitation associated with cold fronts is usually more intense and localized than precipitation from warm fronts. Answer: TRUE Learning Outcome: 7. Describe cold fronts 63) The Intertropical Convergence Zone is a low-pressure zone generally located near the equator. Answer: TRUE 64) El Niño is a shift in the circulation in the Pacific Ocean that occurs every year in December. Answer: FALSE 65) Hurricanes are weakest over oceans during the winter. Answer: FALSE 66) La Niña usually causes a drought in Southeast Asia. Answer: FALSE 67) Temperature is usually measured 20 meters above the ground in a sealed container. Answer: FALSE 68) Desert climates do not occur in coastal areas. Answer: FALSE Topic/Section: Earth's Climate Regions Learning Outcome: 12. Describe the major climate types 69) Mediterranean climates are generally found on the west coasts of continents. Answer: TRUE Topic/Section: Earth's Climate Regions Learning Outcome: 12. Describe the major climate types 70) Most of the rainfall in seasonally-humid tropical climate comes from passing cold fronts. Answer: FALSE Topic/Section: Earth's Climate Regions Learning Outcome: 12. Describe the major climate types 71) Mediterranean climates have the least rainfall in the season when potential evapotranspiration (POTET) is the highest. Answer: TRUE Topic/Section: Earth's Climate Regions Learning Outcome: 12. Describe the major climate types 72) Climatic variations during the Quaternary Period had very little effect on Earth's environments outside the areas covered with glacial ice. Answer: FALSE Change Learning Outcome: 13. Describe three major causes or climate change 73) Periods of increasing glacier mass would likely be accompanied by decreasing ocean levels. Answer: TRUE Change Learning Outcome: 13. Describe three major causes or climate change 74) Volcanic eruptions are a cause of global warming. Answer: FALSE Change Learning Outcome: 13. Describe three major causes or climate change 75) Unusual weather events seem to have increased in frequency over the last few decades. Answer: TRUE Change Learning Outcome: 13. Describe three major causes or climate change 76) Extreme weather should be less frequent and less intense over the next century. Answer: FALSE Change Learning Outcome: 13. Describe three major causes or climate change 77) Scientists who study climate change are about evenly divided on whether or not the Earth's atmosphere is getting warmer. Answer: FALSE Change Learning Outcome: 13. Describe three major causes or climate change 78) Global warming will likely lead to less intense hurricanes. Answer: FALSE Change Learning Outcome: 13. Describe three major causes or climate change 79) Global warming will result in a worldwide decrease in precipitation. Answer: FALSE Change Learning Outcome: 13. Describe three major causes or climate change 80) Define "climate." Answer: Weather, especially temperature and precipitation, averaged over a period of years. 81) Indicate the approximate date or dates at which the noonday sun is seen directly overhead at the following latitudes: 23.5°S ___________________________ 0° ___________________________ 23.5°N ___________________________ Answer: Dec. 21; Mar 21 and Sept. 22; June 21. 82) Describe the greenhouse effect in terms of radiant energy exchanges. Answer: Shortwave energy from the sun passes through the atmosphere, is absorbed by Earth's surface, and is re-radiated as longwave energy, which is absorbed by the atmosphere, thus warming it. 83) On an average annual basis the tropics receive more radiation from the sun than they send back as longwave radiation, and high-latitude areas send out more longwave radiation than they receive as shortwave radiation from the sun. How is this possible? Answer: Excess heat absorbed in the tropics is advected in the atmosphere and ocean currents to high latitudes where it is radiated to space. 84) Why do hurricanes develop mostly over ocean areas, and usually in late summer and early autumn? Answer: They develop over ocean areas because they depend on latent heat as a major source of energy; latent heat is most plentiful in late summer and early autumn when the ocean is warmest. 85) Explain how precipitation is usually measured. Answer: It is usually measured by collecting rain or snow in a cylindrical container that is marked in millimeters or hundredths of an inch. Snowfall is normally recorded as the amount of liquid water. 86) In climate classification and mapping, what is the advantage of defining climate types based on vegetation? Answer: Vegetation is influenced by climate, so differences in vegetation can be used as indicators of climate type where weather data are lacking. Global Sci LO: 7. Demonstrate the ability to make connections across Geography. 87) D climates occur exclusively in the ________ Hemisphere. Answer: Northern Topic/Section: Earth's Climate Regions Learning Outcome: 12. Describe the major climate types 88) Consider a Mediterranean climate in the Northern Hemisphere. In what months does the rainy season occur? Why does rainfall occur mostly at this time of year and not at other times? Answer: The rainy season is in the winter (December-February) because during this season the mid-latitude low dominates, while in the summer the subtropical high dominates this climate. Topic/Section: Earth's Climate Regions Learning Outcome: 12. Describe the major climate types 89) During what months of the year does the rainy season occur in a seasonally humid tropical climate in the Southern Hemisphere? Answer: During the high-sun period: December-February. Topic/Section: Earth's Climate Regions Learning Outcome: 12. Describe the major climate types 90) In the Köppen climate classification, humid climates are grouped according to temperature, but dry climates are identified by a combination of temperature and precipitation information. Why are both types of data needed to identify dry climates? Answer: Because dry climates are defined in terms of the amount of moisture needed to support vegetation, which is higher in warm climates than in cool climates. Topic/Section: Earth's Climate Regions Learning Outcome: 12. Describe the major climate types 91) What causes the precipitation shifts of seasonally humid tropical climates? Answer: When the ITCZ moves from one hemisphere to the next it brings maximum precipitation with it. Topic/Section: Earth's Climate Regions 92) Identify two different geologic processes that may cause climatic change. Answer: Plate tectonics changes the distribution of land and water, influencing circulation. Volcanic eruptions eject dust and sulfur oxides into the atmosphere, causing temporary cooling. Change Learning Outcome: 13. Describe three major causes or climate change 93) Discuss the role of latent heat exchange in energy movements at the global scale. Answer: Latent heat exchange is when water changes state and is a key component of the precipitation process and involves the transfer of tremendous energy from low latitudes to high latitudes causing the development of major weather systems and hurricanes. 94) Describe the mechanisms that cause precipitation. Answer: The mechanisms that cause precipitation are condensation, the conversion of water vapor to a liquid state, and rising air through convection, orographic uplift or frontal uplift. Global Sci LO: 1. Demonstrate an understanding of the principals of scientific inquiry. 95) Describe the weather you would experience with the passage of a mid-latitude cyclone. Answer: During a mid-latitude cyclone you would encounter significant changes in temperature and precipitation and would experience shifting winds. 96) Describe the five major categories of the Köppen Climate Classification. Answer: Climate A - Tropical, climates that are warm all year; Climate B - Dry Climates; Climate C - Midlatitude Climates with warm summers and cool winters; Climate D - Midlatitude Climates with warm summers and cold winters; Climate E - Polar Climates 97) What two weather conditions contribute to climate classifications? What role does vegetation play in classifying climates? Answer: The two summary weather conditions that contribute to climate classification are precipitation and temperature. Precipitation helps to determine wet or dry climates where temperature is used to determine hot or cold climates. Vegetation was used by Köppen to provide more meaning to climate classifications than arbitrary temperature and precipitation levels. Learning Outcome: 12. Describe the major climate types 98) Explain global warming, its causes, and its consequences. Answer: Global warming is the result of the Earth's temperature increasing during the 20th century by approximately 1 degree Celsius. This increase in global temperature is due to increases in greenhouse gases such as CO2 that enhance the greenhouse effect. The effects of global warming are a reduction in the size of glaciers and the polar ice sheets and consequently a rise in sea level. Change Learning Outcome: 13. Describe three major causes or climate change