Local DiskES 100 - Introduction to Environmental StudiesES 100 - Introduction to Environmental Studies SAMPLE EXAM Question: Discuss why the debate concerning global warming is so difficult to resolve. Answer: The debate concerning global warming is difficult to resolve for a variety of reasons includingthe following: 1. Complicated problem to understandThe public debate concerning global warming has been hampered to a great extent by the fact that it is anexceptionally complicated problem to understand. For example, over the last 160,000 years there hasbeen a sufficient amount of climate variability to make cogent case that the warming of the earth'ssurface that has taken place between 1860 and 1990 can be explained away as normal variability. Furthermore, the dramatic carbon dioxide increases that have been attributed to the Industrial Revolutionbeginning about 1860, is not according to the geologic record unprecedented. There was a similardramatic rise in carbon dioxide levels about 120,000 years ago. Additionally, what often gets lost to thecourse of debate, is the distinction between what is natural and what is anthroprogenic disturbances andthat the rate at which warming may take place is as important as the total amount of warming. 2. Incomplete information/dataThe earth is a very large place, with a large diversity of material surfaces (rocks, water, vegetation, etc.). Collecting samples of atmospheric chemistry, temperature, and the other necessary physicalmeasurements in large enough numbers, and with adequate geographic distribution to be robustlyrepresentative of what is actually taking place in the atmosphere is problematic. As a result, there isfrequently gaps in the databases in both space and in time. These data gaps may mask processes takingplace that affect climate change, or at least our understanding of how climate change takes place. Thesedata gaps create genuine uncertainty amongst both skeptics and non-skeptics of global warming. 3. Complicated models with inconsistent projectionsThe models used to make long-term projections of climate warming trends are both large and complex. They involve estimates and simulations of extremely complicated physical systems such as oceansprocesses, atmosphere processes, terrestrial processes, and their interactions. Although the generalconsensus is that many of these models have been validated to a considerable degree, none have beenvalidated to the full satisfaction of any responsible scientist. Furthermore, these models predict a fairlygross range of warming, from as little as 1.5 degree to 4.5 degrees C. This range arguably spansES 100 - Introduction to Environmental Studiesfile:///A|/exam1.htm (1 of 2) [10/4/2001 9:01:08 AM]potential impacts that could be described as innocuous on the low-end, and catastrophic on the high-end. 4. Political and economic agendasAlthough we tend to think of global warming as a scientific problem, it is actually more a political andeconomic problem. The politics and economics of the status quo are quite entrenched. Trying to makenew political policy and economic adjustments that both except and respond to the realities of globalwarming takes the kind of political and business leadership that heretofore United States has been unableto Marshall.ES 100 - Introduction to Environmental Studies EXAM I Directions: Write a one-page, typed essay answer to the question below. Be sure your answer explicitlyaddresses the question as posed, and is both lucid and well organized. Your answer must be no longerthan a single page (no smaller than 10pt. type). Question: Public responses to the prospect of global climate change typically take two forms: adaptationor prevention. Using material from your reading and the film, which approach do you think will be theone opted for, by most Americans and why? ES 100 - Introduction to Environmental Studiesfile:///A|/exam1.htm (2 of 2) [10/4/2001 9:01:08