QUESTION: The fraction of solar energy reflected back to space due to Earth's cloudiness or snow and ice cover is known as \makebox[1cm]{\Rivpt\hrulefill\Rivpt}.
a) libido
ANSWER: b) albedo
c) segundo
d) La Nina

QUESTION: When short-wavelength radiation from the Sun passes through a planet's atmosphere but long-wavelength reradiation is trapped, the resulting conditions produce \makebox[1cm]{\Rivpt\hrulefill\Rivpt}.
a) global cooling
b) a Bose-Einstein condensate
ANSWER: c) the greenhouse effect 
d) all of the above

QUESTION: The greenhouse effect results in \makebox[1cm]{\Rivpt\hrulefill\Rivpt}.
a) global cooling
ANSWER: b) global warming
c) lots of flowers
d) the growth of green algae on the shady side of houses worldwide

QUESTION: Surface temperatures on Venus are \makebox[1cm]{\Rivpt\hrulefill\Rivpt} those on the surface of Earth.
a) much lower than
b) a little bit lower, on average, than
c) about the same as
d) a little bit higher, on average, than
ANSWER: e) much higher than

QUESTION: Limestone is rock composed of \makebox[1cm]{\Rivpt\hrulefill\Rivpt}. 
a) SiO\ensuremath{_2}
b) FeCO\ensuremath{_3}
ANSWER: c) CaCO\ensuremath{_3}
d) a mixture of SiO\ensuremath{_2} and FeCO\ensuremath{_3}

QUESTION: Glass is opaque to \makebox[1cm]{\Rivpt\hrulefill\Rivpt} radiation.
ANSWER: a) long-wavelength
b) short-wavelength
c) both short- and long-wavelength 
d) neither short- nor long-wavelength
e) You can see through glass, so it is transparent to all radiation.

QUESTION: Greenhouse gases include \makebox[1cm]{\Rivpt\hrulefill\Rivpt}.
a) CO\ensuremath{_2}
b) H\ensuremath{_2}O vapor
c) methane (CH4)
d) chlorofluorocarbons
ANSWER: e) all of these

QUESTION: Warm climates in the geologic past are indicated by \makebox[1cm]{\Rivpt\hrulefill\Rivpt}.
a) fossil reefs and most limestones; 
b) the aluminum ore bauxite;
c) beds of evaporite minerals (e.g., halite); 
ANSWER: d) all of these
e) none of these

QUESTION: What was the world like during the Late Paleocene Torrid Age? 
ANSWER: a) Most of the world was wetter and warmer.
b) Most of the world was drier and warmer.
c) Most of the world was wetter, but a little cooler.
d) Most of the world was a desert.
e) It is impossible to estimate conditions at that time.

QUESTION: About 14,000 years ago, the Earth began to warm according to changes seen in annual ice layers in glaciers: the O18, CO\ensuremath{_2}, and methane content in ice \makebox[1cm]{\Rivpt\hrulefill\Rivpt}.
a) decreased
ANSWER: b) increased
c) stayed the same despite orbital changes that brought warming

QUESTION: The Older Dryas and Younger Dryas stages represented \makebox[1cm]{\Rivpt\hrulefill\Rivpt}.
ANSWER: a) two cooling stages during warmup from the last major glacial advance
b) two of the more abrupt warming stages during the last glaciation
c) one warming stage and one cooling stage during the last glaciation
d) periods of dry climate 

QUESTION: Over the last 7000 years there has been a \makebox[1cm]{\Rivpt\hrulefill\Rivpt}.
ANSWER: a) lowering of global average temperature totaling 2\ensuremath{^\circ}C
b) raising of global average temperature totaling 2\ensuremath{^\circ}C
c) constant global temperature, on average 
d) None of these are correct.

QUESTION: The Little Ice Age that affected Europe from about \makebox[1cm]{\Rivpt\hrulefill\Rivpt} lowered average annual temperature by only about 1\ensuremath{^\circ}C but was enough to reduce crop yields, cause mountain glaciers to advance, and produce winters much more severe than in the twentieth century.
ANSWER: a) 1450 to 1850 C.E.
b) 100 to 800 C.E.
c) 1700 to 1900 C.E.
d) 800 to 1450 C.E.
e) 1450 to 1850 B.C.E.

QUESTION: The major factors in glacial periods lasting tens of millions of years appear to be \makebox[1cm]{\Rivpt\hrulefill\Rivpt}.
a) having one or more large continental masses near the poles. 
b) oceanic circulation that is more longitudinal (north-south) than latitudinal (east-west). 
c) oceanic circulation that is more latitudinal (east-west) than longitudinal (north-south). 
ANSWER: d) Both a and b are correct.
e) Both a and c are correct.

QUESTION: The climatic cooling of the last 55.5 million years has been caused by \makebox[1cm]{\Rivpt\hrulefill\Rivpt}.
a) the ongoing breakup of Pangaea into separate continents  
b) continental masses moving into polar latitudes
c) snow and ice accumulating on polar landmasses, increasing albedo. 
d) the uplifts of the Tibetan Plateau/Himalaya Mountains in Asia and the Colorado Plateau in the western United States deflecting west-to-east atmospheric circulation in the midlatitudes.
ANSWER: e) all of these

QUESTION: The cycles of slow buildup and advance of glaciers followed by rapid shrinkage and retreat is caused by \makebox[1cm]{\Rivpt\hrulefill\Rivpt}.
a) Eccentricity of the Earth's orbit around the Sun 
b) Tilt of the Earth's axis
c) Precession of the equinoxes 
ANSWER: d) all of these
e) none of these

QUESTION: A strong El Nino is characterized by \makebox[1cm]{\Rivpt\hrulefill\Rivpt}.
a) the arrival of warm ocean water to Peru and Ecuador near Christmastime
b) high atmospheric pressure over the eastern Pacific Ocean resulting in trade winds that blow toward the equator from the north and south
c) a southern jet stream branch that flows eastward bringing higher rainfall to the southeastern United States and helping break apart Atlantic and Caribbean storms resulting in fewer hurricanes
d) heavy rainstorms in the western United States
ANSWER: e) all of these

QUESTION: The eruption of \makebox[1cm]{\Rivpt\hrulefill\Rivpt} has been called the greatest eruption in historic times, killing about 10,000 people outright by pyroclastic flows and another 107,000 indirectly through famine and disease. 
ANSWER: a) Tambora in 1815 C.E.
b) Vesuvius in 79 C.E.
c) Mt. St. Helens in 1980 C.E.
d) Mt. Pinatubo in 1991 C.E.
e) El Chichon in 1982 C.E.

QUESTION: Principal factors that come into play when volcanism affects climate include all but which of the following?
a) the size and rate of eruptions
b) the heights of eruption columns
c) the types of gases and the atmospheric level at which they are placed
d) the latitude of the eruptions
ANSWER: e) All of these factors are considered.

QUESTION: One of the greatest weather disasters in U.S. history occurred during the \makebox[1cm]{\Rivpt\hrulefill\Rivpt}, when several years of drought turned grain-growing areas in the center of the nation into the 'Dust Bowl'. 
a) 1920s
ANSWER: b) 1930s
c) 1950s
d) 1970s
e) 1990s

QUESTION: The human drama of the 'Dust Bowl' was captured in many articles and books, including \makebox[1cm]{\Rivpt\hrulefill\Rivpt}.
a) \emph{Dust in My Bowl} by Herman Melville 
b) \emph{Drought in the Land of Oz} by William Inge
c) \emph{Cannery Row} by John Steinbeck 
ANSWER: d) \emph{The Grapes of Wrath} by John Steinbeck 
e) \emph{Popcorn on the Cob} by William Inge

QUESTION: Which of the following is least significant as a greenhouse gas on Earth?
a) ozone
b) methane
c) water vapor
ANSWER: d) helium
e) CO\ensuremath{_2}

QUESTION: The level of oxygen in the form of O\ensuremath{_2} in the Earth's atmosphere \makebox[1cm]{\Rivpt\hrulefill\Rivpt}.
ANSWER: a) has not changed substantially in the past 450 million years
b) is drastically decreasing due to pollution
c) is no different than it was 4.6 billion years ago
d) is drastically increasing due to growth of new bacterial strains
e) cannot change because Earth is a closed system. 

QUESTION: Episodes of climate change during the last 1000 years include all but which of the following?
a) the Maunder Minimum
b) the Medieval Maximum
c) the Little Ice Age
ANSWER: d) the Renaissance Warming
e) All of the above were episodes of short-term climate change.

QUESTION: Indications of global warming in the last half of the 20th century include all but which of the following?
a) increasing abundance of warm-water species in the North Atlantic Ocean
b) higher tree-line in mountainous regions of Europe and New Zealand
c) earlier arrival of migrating birds in springtime
ANSWER: d) people noticing how much warmer the weather is
e) All of the above are documented observations indicating global warming.

QUESTION: Likely changes in the 21st century due to global warming include all but which of the following?
ANSWER: a) 30 meter rise in sea level
b) melting and retreat of the Greenland and west Antarctic ice sheets
c) melting of permafrost in Arctic regions
d) northward advance of forests inside the Arctic circle
e) more frequent severe drought in the central United States
