Global Warming

Front 1

According to data from Antarctic ice cores, the atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration varied between what extremes during the 400,000 years preceding the industrial revolution?

Back 1

190 ppmv, 300 ppmv

Front 2

According to data from Antarctic ice cores, the atmospheric CH4 concentration varied between what extremes during the 400,000 years preceding the industrial revolution?

Back 2

.35 ppmv, 1.78 ppmv

Front 3

By comparison, what are the current concentrations of carbon dioxide and methane?

Back 3

390 ppmv (CO2), 1.78 ppmv(CH4)

Front 4

Where and when did systematic observations of the concentration of atmospheric CO2 begin

Back 4

Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii

Front 5

How much colder would the earth be, on average, if there were no natural greenhouse effect?

Back 5

33 C

Front 6

What is the most important gas contributing to the natural greenhouse effect?

Back 6

CO2

Front 7

How much carbon is being emitted into the atmosphere per year due to (i) fossil fuel use and (ii) deforestation?

Back 7

i) 8.2 Gt (ii)2.1 Gt

Front 8

What is the average per capita rate of emission of CO2 for Canada, India, and the world?

Back 8

CAN: 5.5 t
INDIA: 0.5 t
WORLD: 1.3 t

Front 9

How much carbon is accumulating in the atmosphere every year?

Back 9

4.3 Gt

Front 10

What are the two main sinks for anthropogenic CO2?

Back 10

Oceans, and Land Plants

Front 11

What is the largest natural source of CH4?

Back 11

Wetlands

Front 12

List three anthropogenic sources of CH4

Back 12

Ruminant Animals, Rice Paddies, Biomass Burning

Front 13

How is methane removed from the atmosphere?

Back 13

Oxidation by UV, reacting with OH, to create CO2, H2O.

Front 14

What are three natural sources of N2O emission to the atmosphere?

Back 14

Oceans, Lightning, Natural Fires

Front 15

What are three human sources of N2O emission to the atmosphere?

Back 15

Nitrogen Fertilizer, Biomass Burning, Rice Paddies

Front 16

Approximately how much carbon is in (i) the atmosphere, (ii) land biota, and (iii) recoverable fossil fuels?

Back 16

i)560 Gt
ii)700 Gt
iii)3500-4500 Gt

Front 17

Approximately how much carbon is removed from the atmosphere every year by photosynthesis?

Back 17

100GtC

Front 18

What is the ratio of the annual accumulation of CO2 in the atmosphere to the annual human emissions called?

Back 18

Airborne Fraction

Front 19

What is the current rough value of this ratio (airborne fraction) ?

Back 19

0.45

Front 20

Give an example of a GHG that is not well mixed in the atmosphere

Back 20

Ozone

Front 21

List some GHGs whose concentrations are increasing at least in part as an indirect result of human industrial emissions

Back 21

N2O, Halocarbons, Tropospheric Ozone

Front 22

Name 3 impacts on human health of a decrease in stratospheric ozone

Back 22

Skin Cancer, Cataracts --> Blindness, Weakened immune system

Front 23

What effect could increasing CO2 concentration have on the amount of stratospheric ozone, and how?

Back 23

Decrease, as ozone reacts with UV at tepretures <-80.C, creating acid droplets.

Front 24

Heat trapping:
N2O
SF6
CFC
CH4

Back 24

N20: 206
SF6: 36,000
CFC: 14,000
CH4: 25

Front 25

What is the approximate average atmospheric lifespan of the following:
CH4:
N2O:
SF6:
aerosols:

Back 25

CH4: 8y
N2O: 120 y
SF6: 3,200 y
aerosols: days

Front 26

4 Anthropogenic Aerosols, (Warming OR cooling?)

Back 26

Sulphate(Cooling)
Nitrate(cooling)
Organic Particles(cooling)
soot(warming)

Front 27

3 Anthropogenic sources of Nitrate?

Back 27

fertilizer, Oil refining, smelting metals

Front 28

What is the cooling mechanism of aersols? (2)

Back 28

Direct (Reflects sunlight)
Indirect(alters cloud properties)

Front 29

What is the warming mechanism of aerosols?

Back 29

Dark, absorbs heat

Front 30

What are the two main groups of gases responsible for causing acid rain?

Back 30

nitrates, sulfates

Front 31

What effect will reducing acid rain-causing emissions have on climate?

Back 31

warming

Front 32

What main group of gases is responsible for depletion of stratospheric ozone?

Back 32

Halocarbons

Front 33

What effect does depletion of stratospheric ozone have on climate?

Back 33

cooling

Front 34

What are two main groups of gases causing the buildup of ground-level ozone?

Back 34

aerosols, carbon dioxide

Front 35

What is the estimated present-day radiative forcing due to the increase in greenhouse gases?

Back 35

2.6 W/m2

Front 36

How much heat would be trapped if carbon dioxide alone were to double?

Back 36

3.75W/m2

Front 37

What is the estimated radiative forcing due to increases in aerosols?

Back 37

-0.5W/m2

Front 38

Define the term "precursor"

Back 38

A compound that is a reactant to a chemical reaction, producing another compound.

Front 39

Name three precursors of tropospheric O3

Back 39

Methane, CO, Nitrates

Front 40

What is the atmosphere's chemical cleansing agent? How is it produced?

Back 40

Hydroxyl Radical, produced by dissociation of water by UV.

Front 41

Emissions of what two gases are primarily responsible for the decrease in its concentration?

Back 41

CH4, CO

Front 42

Which greenhouse gases or groups of greenhouse gases are higher in concentration due to the decrease in the cleansing agent than they would be otherwise?

Back 42

Halocarbons, methane

Front 43

Name the three major groups of fossil fuels in order of increasing CO2 emissions per unit of energy.

Back 43

Natural Gas, Petroleum, Coal

Front 44

For typical business-as-usual scenarios, roughly when will the CO2 concentration have doubled? roughly when will we have the heat trapping equivalent of a CO2 doubling?

Back 44

2055, 2015, other GHG are contributing to heating

Front 45

what is the range in projected warming by the end of this century?

Back 45

3-6C

Front 46

Macro-economic models used to project future energy use have used two different elasticity. Name them.

Back 46

Energy Price elasticity, income elasticity of demand

Front 47

Roughly how much has the global average surface temperature increased during the past 140 years?

Back 47

0.8 C

Front 48

Trends: Hurricanes

Back 48

increased, frequency and intencity

Front 49

Trends: Cold days/nights

Back 49

decrease

Front 50

Trends:Warm days/nights

Back 50

increase

Front 51

Trends: annual area burned in N.America (change, period)

Back 51

2.5* , 1960s-1990s

Front 52

Trends: NH growing season

Back 52

12 days

Front 53

Trends: NH minimum sea ice

Back 53

40%, between 1958 and 1997

Front 54

Trends: Heavy precipitation

Back 54

Increase

Front 55

Trends: precipitation at high latitudes

Back 55

increase

Front 56

Trends: global mean sea level of the part 100 years

Back 56

20 cm

Front 57

Trends: global mean sea level over 13 recent years

Back 57

3.5 cm

Front 58

What are two factors that affect hurricane development and strength?

Back 58

ocean surface temperature, vertical wind shear

Front 59

What has been the change in the area of Greenland subject to summer melting (give rough % change and time period)?

Back 59

2 times, from 1979 to 2005

Front 60

What 3 other observations indicate that the Greenland ice cap is changing?

Back 60

increased icequakes, increased ice outflow, gravitational deflection studies show decreasing mass.

Front 61

Some global warming deniers still claim that the climate is not warming, or at least, not as much as climate models predict. What data had they used to make this argument? Name 3 flaws in their argument.

Back 61

i) satellite observations
ii)-short term trend
-satellite measures upper troposphere tempreture, not surface
-satellite measure microwave radiation, not tempreture

Front 62

State in words: the 1st law of thermodynamics, the 2nd law of thermodynamics

Back 62

1) Energy cannot be created or destroyed, only transformed
2)when energy is changed, some energy becomes unusable

Front 63

Define (a) energy resource
(b) energy reserve
(c) commercial energy

Back 63

a)the amount of energy/potentioal energy from a source
b)the amount of harnasable energy from a source
c) that wich is bought and sold

Front 64

Give two common examples of non-commercial energy

Back 64

Firewood, biomass

Front 65

What are the two largest uses in OECD countries of: coal, oil, natural gas

Back 65

coal - electricity generation
oil - transport
natural gas - buildings

Front 66

List the 4 largest sources of energy used in the world to make electricity, and give the approximate % of electricity made from each energy source:

Back 66

Coal (40%), Natural Gas (20%), Hydro (16%), Nuclear (15%)

Front 67

Give an energy source that is much more important, in relative terms, in non-OECD countries than in OECD countries.

Back 67

Biomass

Front 68

Kaya Identity

Back 68

P*(GDP/P)*(PE/GDP)*(C/PE)

Front 69

Which terms in the Kaya identity, when multiplied together, give world primary power demand

Back 69

P(GDP/P)(PE/GDP)

Front 70

Which terms in the Kaya identity, when multiplied together, give gross world product?

Back 70

P*(GDP/P)

Front 71

What is energy intensity? Name two broad things that it depends on.

Back 71

Energy used per $ of GDP

Front 72

What is carbon intensity?

Back 72

The proportion of carbon intensive sources to renewable sources

Front 73

Population WORLD?

Back 73

8 Billion

Front 74

How much oil (in barrels) has the world consumed in all of its history up to the present?

Back 74

1 Trillion

Front 75

What are the lower and upper estimates for how much how remains that could be consumed?

Back 75

100B to 1 T

Front 76

What is the current daily rate of consumption of oil (in barrels)

Back 76

85 Million