High pressure systems tend to move toward the region of greatest ____.

Answer to #1

B

Answer to #2

Through the process of photosynthesis, the leaves of trees remove CO2 from the atmosphere. The CO2 is then stored in leaves, branches, and roots. When the trees are cut and burned, or left to rot, the CO2 goes back into the atmosphere.

Furthermore, about half the rainfall in the Amazon River Basin is returned to the atmosphere through evaporation and through transpiration from the leaves of trees. Consequently, clearing large areas of tropical rainforests to create open areas for farms and cattle ranges will most likely cause a decrease in evaporative cooling. This decrease could lead to warming in that area of at least several degrees Celsius. Also, the reflectivity of the deforested area will change as cultivated areas reflect more sunlight than forests thereby increasing atmospheric warming.

Answer to #3

C

Answer to #4

C

Answer to #5

A positive feedback mechanism is when an initial increase in temperature is reinforced by other processes. An example of a positive feedback mechanism is the water vapor-greenhouse feedback in whereby, if global temperatures rise, water from the oceans rapidly evaporates into the warmer air. The increased quantity of water vapor absorbs more of Earth's infrared energy, thus strengthening the atmospheric greenhouse effect. This strengthening raises the air temperature even more, which, in turn, allows more water vapor to evaporate into the atmosphere. The greenhouse effect becomes even stronger and the air temperature rises even more.

A negative feedback mechanism is one that tends to weaken the interactions among the variables rather than reinforce them. For example, the chemical weathering and CO2 feedback mechanisms is a process by which CO2 is removed from the atmosphere as silicate minerals in rocks decompose in the presence of moisture. In this feedback, as chemical weathering increases, the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere decreases. As CO2 levels drop Earth's climate begins to cool and stabilize.

Answer to #6

C

Answer to #7

D

Answer to #8

During the last glacial period, the climate around Greenland underwent shifts, from ice-age temperatures to much warmer conditions in a matter of years. It now appears that such large fluctuations in temperature over such a short period of time were due to the vast circulation pattern of ocean water, known as the conveyor belt. The conveyor belt, or thermohaline circulation, begins in the north Atlantic near Greenland and Iceland, where salty surface water is cooled through contact with cold Arctic air masses. the cold, dense water sinks and flows southward through the deep Atlantic Ocean, around Africa, and into the Indian and Pacific Oceans. This circulation pattern plays a major role in the world's climate system. When the conveyor belt is strong, winters in Greenland, and northern Europe, tend to be wet and relatively mild. However, when the conveyor belt is weak or stops altogether, winters in Greenland and northern Europe appear to turn much colder. This illustrates how an area's climate can change within a matter of years and then quickly return back to previous conditions.

Answer to #9

C

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High pressure systems tend to move toward the region of greatest ____.

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