anne lee
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anne lee
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ASTR-101 CH 10

ASTR-101 CH 10

Question 1 of 30

1

The energy that warms Earth's surface comes primarily in the form of __________.

Select one of the following:

  • ultraviolet light from the Sun

  • visible light from the Sun

  • heat from Earth's interior

  • heat from the Sun

  • infrared light from the Sun

Explanation

Question 2 of 30

1

Earth's temperature remains fairly steady, which means that Earth must return nearly the same amount of energy to space that it receives from the Sun. In what forms does Earth return most of this energy to space?

Select one or more of the following:

  • ultraviolet light reflected by the surface

  • visible light reflected by the surface

  • infrared light emitted by the surface and atmosphere

  • visible light emitted by the surface and atmosphere

  • isible light reflected by clouds

Explanation

Question 3 of 30

1

Greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, such as carbon dioxide and water vapor, make Earth warmer than it would be otherwise because these gases __________.

Select one of the following:

  • absorb infrared light emitted by the surface

  • absorb visible light coming from the Sun

  • reflect visible light coming from the Sun

  • form clouds that emit thermal radiation

Explanation

Question 4 of 30

1

According to scientists, the naturally occurring greenhouse effect makes Earth about 31∘C warmer than it would be if there were no greenhouse gases in our atmosphere. How do scientists "know" what Earth's temperature would be without greenhouse gases?

Select one of the following:

  • They calculate this temperature from Earth's reflectivity and distance from the Sun.

  • Ancient fossils allow them to infer Earth's temperature at a time before our atmosphere contained greenhouse gases.

  • They assume that this temperature would be about the same as the temperature of Mars, which has much less of an atmosphere than Earth.

  • They estimate it by averaging guesses made by many individual scientists.

Explanation

Question 5 of 30

1

All of the following statements are true. Which one provides strong observational support for the claim that greenhouse gases make a planet warmer than it would be otherwise?

Select one of the following:

  • Earth is the only planet with an ozone layer in its atmosphere

  • Venus has a higher average temperature than Mercury.

  • Mercury is much hotter than the Moon.

  • Earth has a higher average temperature than Mars

Explanation

Question 6 of 30

1

Based solely on an understanding of the greenhouse effect (as displayed in the figure), which one of the following statements is true?

Select one of the following:

  • We should expect an increase in the greenhouse gas concentration to lead to global warming.

  • We do not yet understand the greenhouse effect well enough to make predictions about how it affects our planet.

  • Humans are causing global warming

  • Global warming poses a grave threat to our future.

Explanation

Question 7 of 30

1

On a cloudless day, what happens to most of the visible light headed toward Earth?

Select one of the following:

  • It is reflected by Earth’s atmosphere.

  • It is absorbed and reemitted by gases in Earth’s atmosphere

  • It is completely reflected by Earth’s surface.

  • It reaches Earth’s surface, where some is reflected and some is absorbed.

Explanation

Question 8 of 30

1

On a day with complete cloud cover, what happens to the visible light headed toward Earth?

Select one of the following:

  • The clouds reflect much of it back to space, though some still reaches the surface

  • It is absorbed by the clouds, which causes the clouds to heat up.

  • It reaches the surface just as it does on a cloudless day.

Explanation

Question 9 of 30

1

What happens to the energy that the ground absorbs in the form of visible sunlight?

Select one of the following:

  • It is returned upward in the form of infrared light.

  • It is returned upward in the form of visible light.

  • It makes the ground continually get hotter and hotter.

Explanation

Question 10 of 30

1

The greenhouse effect raises Earth’s surface temperature (from what it would be otherwise) because the infrared light radiated by Earth’s surface __________.

Select one of the following:

  • travels directly out to space

  • becomes permanently trapped by greenhouse gases

  • is temporarily absorbed by greenhouse gases and then reemitted in random directions

Explanation

Question 11 of 30

1

The average temperature over the past 1000 years has been about 15∘C. From the graphs, you can conclude that Earth's average temperature during the past 800,000 years has __________.

Select one of the following:

  • varied between about 7∘C and 19∘C

  • stayed remarkable steady, never varying by more than about 2∘C

  • never been as high as it is today

  • varied between about −10∘C and +4∘C

Explanation

Question 12 of 30

1

On the graphs shown, you can identify an ice age by looking for _________

Select one of the following:

  • a trough (bottom of a dip) on the carbon dioxide graph

  • a peak on the temperature graph

  • a place on the temperature graph where the temperature curve falls steeply

  • a trough (bottom of a dip) on the temperature graph

Explanation

Question 13 of 30

1

Notice that the peaks and troughs on the temperature graph occur at the about the same times as peaks and troughs on the carbon dioxide graph. What can we infer from this fact alone?

Select one of the following:

  • Higher carbon dioxide concentrations cause higher global average temperatures.

  • There is a correlation between the carbon dioxide concentration and the global average temperature.

  • Higher global average temperatures cause higher carbon dioxide concentrations.

  • The carbon dioxide concentration is inversely related to the global average temperature.

Explanation

Question 14 of 30

1

Although the data show only a correlation between the carbon dioxide concentration and the global average temperature, scientists have other reasons to think that a rise in the carbon dioxide concentration actually causes a rise in the global average temperature. All of the following statements are true. Which statements lend support to the idea that carbon dioxide is a cause of planetary warming?

Select one or more of the following:

  • Isotope ratios in atmospheric carbon dioxide show that much of the carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere today comes from the burning of fossil fuels.

  • We understand the physical mechanism of the greenhouse effect, through which carbon dioxide can increase a planet's temperature.

  • Models of the greenhouse effect successfully predict the temperatures of Venus and Mars from their atmospheric carbon dioxide amounts.

  • Models of Earth's climate that include recent increases in the carbon dioxide concentration match observed temperature increases better than those that do not include it.

Explanation

Question 15 of 30

1

Based on the evidence that atmospheric carbon dioxide is a cause of planetary warming, what aspect of the graphs should most concern us?

Select one of the following:

  • Earth's past temperature rises and falls naturally.

  • The carbon dioxide concentration today is significantly higher than at any time in the past 800,000 years and is rapidly rising.

  • Earth's past carbon dioxide concentration rises and falls naturally.

Explanation

Question 16 of 30

1

Make a prediction: If the rise in carbon dioxide concentration continues at its current pace, the concentration in the year 2050 will be about _____ parts per million.

Select one of the following:

  • 400

  • 430

  • 460

  • 510

Explanation

Question 17 of 30

1

When were the heat-trapping effects of gases that cause the greenhouse effect first measured by scientists?

Select one of the following:

  • In the early 1990s.

  • In the late 1950s.

  • In ancient Greek times.

  • More than 150 years ago.

Explanation

Question 18 of 30

1

All the following statements are true. Which two represent the two facts that lead us to expect Earth to be warming up as a result of human activity? Be sure to choose two of the statements below.

Select one or more of the following:

  • Temperatures are generally warmer in summer and cooler in winter.

  • Human activity is increasing the concentration of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

  • Venus has a much stronger greenhouse effect than Earth

  • If the polar caps melted, sea level would be much higher than it is today.

  • Water vapor is a greenhouse gas, but nitrogen and oxygen are not.

  • Greenhouse gases make Earth warmer than it would be otherwise.

Explanation

Question 19 of 30

1

Scientists have confidence in the predictions of today’s best climate models because they __________.

Select one of the following:

  • agree well with actual data for recent decades

  • are very complex and include many equations of physics

  • have been developed over a period of many years

  • represent the work of a great many dedicated scientists

Explanation

Question 20 of 30

1

Which region of Earth has warmed the most in recent decades?

Select one of the following:

  • the mid-Atlantic

  • all regions have warmed about the same amount

  • the Arctic

  • the tropics

  • the Antarctic

Explanation

Question 21 of 30

1

hich of the following is not an expected consequence of the rising carbon dioxide concentration or global warming?

Select one of the following:

  • Rising sea level.

  • An increase in extreme weather events, including severe winter weather.

  • Melting of polar ice

  • Increasing acidity of the oceans.

  • Animal deaths due to carbon dioxide poisoning.

Explanation

Question 22 of 30

1

All the statements below are true. Which one gives the primary reason why the surface of Venus today is some 450 C hotter than the surface of Earth?

Select one of the following:

  • Venus is only about 73% as far from the Sun as Earth.

  • Venus has a higher atmospheric pressure than Earth.

  • Venus has a much higher reflectivity than Earth.

  • Venus has a much stronger greenhouse effect than Earth.

Explanation

Question 23 of 30

1

Does Venus have auroras around its poles, like the Earth? Why or why not?

Select one of the following:

  • No, because it lacks a global magnetic field.

  • Yes, because strong winds generate light near its pol

  • Yes, because it is bombarded by charged particles from the Sun

  • No, because its atmosphere is too thick.

Explanation

Question 24 of 30

1

All the following statements about Mars are true. Which one might have led to a significant loss of atmospheric gas to space?

Select one of the following:

  • Outgassed water molecules are split apart, and the oxygen then reacts chemically with surface rock on Mars.

  • Mars lost any global magnetic field that it may once have had.

  • Mars probably once had a much higher density of greenhouse gases in its atmosphere than it does today.

  • The axis tilt of Mars is thought to change significantly with time.

Explanation

Question 25 of 30

1

Which two factors are critical to the existence of the carbon dioxide (CO2) cycle on Earth?

Select one of the following:

  • active volcanism and active tectonics

  • plate tectonics and liquid water oceans

  • life and atmospheric oxygen

  • life and active volcanism

Explanation

Question 26 of 30

1

Which characteristic of Earth explains why we have an ultraviolet-absorbing stratosphere?

Select one of the following:

  • the existence of plate tectonics

  • the existence of oceans

  • the moderate surface temperature

  • the existence of photosynthetic life

Explanation

Question 27 of 30

1

In very general terms, how do the temperature structures of the atmospheres of Venus and Mars differ from that of Earth?

Select one of the following:

  • They lack ultraviolet-absorbing stratospheres.

  • Temperatures in their tropospheres increase with altitude, rather than decreasing with altitude.

  • Their atmospheres are similar in structure to Earth's, but with much higher temperatures.

  • They lack X-ray absorbing thermospheres.

Explanation

Question 28 of 30

1

Why does Earth have so little carbon dioxide in its atmosphere compared to Venus?

Select one of the following:

  • Earth once had a lot of carbon dioxide, but it was lost to space during the heavy bombardment early in our solar system's history.

  • Earth has just as much carbon dioxide as Venus, but most of it is locked up in carbonate rocks rather than being free in the atmosphere.

  • Earth's volcanoes outgassed far less carbon dioxide than those on Venus.

  • Chemical reactions turned Earth's carbon dioxide into nitrogen

Explanation

Question 29 of 30

1

Which of the following statements about Earth's troposphere is not generally true?

Select one of the following:

  • It is the layer of the atmosphere in which convection plays the most important role.

  • It is a layer of the atmosphere in which temperature declines with increasing altitude.

  • It is the layer of the atmosphere in which ozone absorbs dangerous ultraviolet light from the Sun.

  • It is the lowest layer of the atmosphere

Explanation

Question 30 of 30

1

Which of the following best explain what we think happened to outgassed water vapor on Venus?

Select one of the following:

  • It turned into carbon dioxide by reacting with nitrogen in Venus's atmosphere.

  • It is frozen as water ice in craters near the poles.

  • Ultraviolet light split the water molecules, and the hydrogen then escaped to space.

  • Water was removed from the atmosphere by chemical reactions with surface rock.

Explanation

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