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ATOC 1060: TEST 1
Energy Flux decreases with distance from the sun.
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Energy Flux depends on area, therefore decreases with latitude.
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Units of Energy Flux
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Watts per meter squared : W/m²
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Solar Constant
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1361 W/m²
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What type of radiation do greenhouse gases absorb?
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Infrared |
What type of radiation does the stratospheric ozone layer absorb?
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UV |
The cryosphere is considered to be part of which component of the Earth system?
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The hydrosphere
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How much did the average CO2 concentration increase from 1958 to 2008?
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~22%
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According to CO2 data from ice cores, when did the atmospheric concentration of CO2 first begin to increase because of human activity?
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Early 19th century
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How much did the average global surface temperature rise during the 20th century?
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0.8 degrees celcius
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When was the hole in the stratospheric ozone layer discovered over Antarctica?
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1985
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What do scientists believe is the reason that the earth stopped warming between 1940-1970?
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Sulfate aerosols caused increased reflection of sunlight and therefore canceled any warming.
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How much did the minimum arctic sea ice decrease between 1979 and 2005?
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30%
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By 1990, the tropical rain forests had been reduced to approximately what percentage of their prehistoric cover?
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50%
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Studies indicate that since 1972, hurricanes have become generally more or less intense?
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More intense.
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If humanity burns all available fossil fuel, how long do scientists believe it would take for the atmospheric CO2 to return to its pre-industrial level?
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More than 1 million years
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Approximately when did the last ice age end?
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10,000 years ago
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What have we learned about ancient climate from the Antarctic ice cores?
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Temperature and CO2 concentration vary in concert with eachother.
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The evidence that a large meteor impacted the earth and killed dinosaurs consists of the presence of what element in the KT boundary layer?
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Iridium |
How does the brightness of the sun 4.5 billion years ago compare with its brightness today?
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It was 70% as bright then as today
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The hypothesis that the Earth behaves like a self-regulating living organism is called what?
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The Gaia Hypothesis
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A ball resting on top of a hill is an example of what type of equilibrium?
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Unstable Static
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Which of the following is an example of a climate forcing, rather than a perbutation?
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Solar brightening
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Which type of feedback mechanism leads to a stable of equilibrium?
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Negative
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Which of the following has the highest albedo?
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Fresh snow
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Which of the following has a low albedo?
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Pavement
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How does Daisyworld respond to increasing solar radiation?
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More daisies grow and the temperature increases slightly.
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What is the primary lesson of Daisyworld?
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Climate regulation is a natural consequence of the negative feedbacks on Daisyworld.
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In the Dysfunctia family, when the children get noisy, the parents get mad. When the parents get mad, the children get noisy. Is this a positive or negative feedback loop?
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Positive |
How is the energy of a photon related to its wavelength?
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Inversely
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A particular LED has a wavelength of .5 micrometers. What is its frequency in hertz? (hz=1/s)
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6x10^14hz
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In what frequency band is the light in the above question?
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Visible light
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Why is the Earth colder at the poles than at the equator?
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The solar flux is reduced at the poles because of the angles of the sun with respect to the surface.
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Suppose we sent a probe 3/4 of the way from the earth to the sun. How many more times intense would the solar radiation be there compared with on earth?
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16x as intense.
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What does Wien's Law tell us?
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The hotter an object, the higher frequency its emission.
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What does the Stefan-Boltzmann law tell us?
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The hotter an object, the brighter it glows.
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In what wavelength range is the peak of solar emission?
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Visible light
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How does the wavelength of Earth's emission compare with the suns?
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It is longer.
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Things that are poor absorbers of electromagnetic radiation are also poor ______ of electromagnetic radiation.
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Emitters |
Which of the following statements to first approximation is true about the earth?
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The Earth is absorbing approximately the same amount of energy from the sun as it is emitting into space.
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What would the average temperature on Earth be if there were no greenhouse effect?
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-18 degrees celcius
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How are H2O and CO2 able to absorb infrared radiation in the atmosphere?
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When they absorb IR radiation they rotate faster. When they absorb IR radiation they vibrate.
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Which greenhouse gas is especially good at absorbing Earth's peak emission at a wavelength 15 micrometers?
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CO2 |
Why is the troposphere convective?
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It is heated by the ground absorbing incoming solar radiation.
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What is the primary reason the greenhouse effect takes place in the troposphere?
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The troposphere contains most of the atmospheric water vapor.
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Suppose that an increase in Earth's temperature leads to an increase in high thin cirrus clouds only. What type of feedback would this lead to?
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Positive
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What percentage of Earth's total incoming solar radiation is reflected back into space?
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30%
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How much warming do computer models predict will occur if the concentration of CO2 increases to 600 ppm if the include the water vapor feedback?
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2.4 degrees celcius
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According to the Stefan-Boltzmann Law, the flux in W/m2 emitted by a blackbody radiator is related to its temperature by the formula F = sT4, where s is the Boltzmann constant,
s = 5.67 x 10-8 W/m2/K4
Suppose a star has a temperature of 6,000 K. Calculate that star’s flux.
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7.3*10^7 W/m^2
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What is the primary lesson of Daisyworld?
Venus orbits the sun at approximately 0.7 times the distance that the Earth does. Suppose that the solar flux at Earth is S = 1400 W/m2 and calculate the solar flux at Venus using the inverse square law.
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S=2,857 W/m^2
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Given that the albedo of Venus is 0.8, use the value of S calculated in the above problem to solve for the temperature of Venus in the absence of global warming. The value of the Boltzmann constant is
s = 5.67 x 10-8 W/m2/K4
Use the following formula: T = (S(1-albedo)/4s)1/4
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T=224 K
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