The Maunder Minimum refers to a time when ____.
a. Earth was in the middle of an ice age
b. the tilt of Earth's axis was less than it is now
c. Earth was closer to the Sun than it is now
d. few snowstorms occurred over the United States
e. there were fewer sunspots on the Sun
Q. 2Sunspots occur in cycles, with the number and size reaching a maximum approximately every ____ years.
a. 5
b. 7
c. 11
d. 18
e. 25
Q. 3The Suns energy output, called brightness, varies by ____ with sunspot activity.
a. less than 1 percent
b. about 2 percent
c. about 5 percent
d. about 10 percent
e. more than 15 percent
Q. 4When all of the Milankovitch cycles are taken into account, the present trend should be toward ____ over high latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere.
a. warmer winters
b. warmer springs
c. warmer summers
d. cooler summers
e. cooler winters
Q. 5As Earth rotates on its axis, it wobbles like a spinning top, and this wobble is known as the ____ of Earths axis.
a. precession
b. eccentricity
c. obliquity
d. tilt
e. orbit
Q. 6The greater the ____ of Earths orbit, the greater the variation in solar energy it receives between its closest and farthest approach to the Sun.
a. wobble
b. eccentricity
c. obliquity
d. tilt
e. precession