Climate Quiz, Explain

Front 1

Question:
CO2 levels have changed before, and been much higher than now; why should we worry about it now?

Back 1

Answer:
The rate of change is what's unnatural, & the fact that we have built civilizations that are adapted to the current climate (and sea level), and world population is bursting at the seams. Plus when CO2 was much higher than now, it was also much hotter.
http://e360.yale.edu/digest/analysis_contends_co2_levels_may_reach_levels_not_seen_in_30_million_years/2757/ , Image: http://www.imaginaryplanet.net/weblogs/idiotprogrammer/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/image_thumb5.png

Front 2

Question:
A 2C (two degree Celsius) rise in temperature is how many degrees Fahrenheit?

Back 2

Answer:
2* 9/5, or 3.6F

Front 3

Question:
Atmospheric CO2 is now about 390 ppm. Prior to 1960, the last time CO2 levels were even over 300ppm was...

Back 3

Answer:
More than 650,000 years ago
http://climate.nasa.gov/images/evidence_CO2.jpg

Front 4

Question:
How do we know the increase in atmospheric CO2 is our doing?

Back 4

Answer:
2 independent methods - Carbon isotopes, & calculations of how much we're emitting.
http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2004/12/how-do-we-know-that-recent-cosub2sub-increases-are-due-to-human-activities-updated/

Front 5

Question:
The atmospheric increase is only about half of the carbon we've been emitting; where are the other "sinks", where has the other half been going?

Back 5

Answer:
Ocean, forests and soil http://blogs.nature.com/climatefeedback/2008/09/annual_carbon_budget_were_all_1.html

Front 6

Question:
Natural sources of CO2 - rotting plant matter, etc - dwarf the CO2 from human activities, which is just a tiny fraction. How can this tiny fraction matter?

Back 6

Answer:
The natural sources and sinks balance; but like a small debt that goes unpaid, the human-emitted CO2 accumulates.
http://www.yaleclimatemediaforum.org/2010/12/common-climate-misconceptions-atmospheric-carbon-dioxide/

Front 7

Question:
Why are individual events (Tennessee flooding, Amazon drought, Russian heat wave, Brazil flooding, Brisbane AU flooding) not specifically identified as absolutely being caused by the increase of CO2 in the atmosphere?

Back 7

Answer:
Climate change changes the probability of an event - "climate trains the boxer but weather throws the punches"
http://climateprogress.org/2010/08/05/russia-medvedev-global-climate-change-drought-heat-wave-grain-harvest/#comment-289207

Front 8

Question:
What is the most obvious characteristic of climate during the 10k years of human civilization, compared to climate during the entire duration of the human species?

Back 8

Answer:
Unusually stable.
http://initforthegold.blogspot.com/2010/09/cozycene.html

Front 9

Question:
What's the danger of extra CO2 in the ocean?

Back 9

Answer:
Acidification - damage to small organisms like coral and plankton that need to create shells
http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2005/07/the-acid-ocean-the-other-problem-with-cosub2sub-emission/

Front 10

Question:
Can we rely on these sinks (ocean, vegetation) to continue taking up half our CO2?

Back 10

Answer:
No; they already show signs of slowing uptake. And vegetation is carbon neutral - releasing its CO2 after death - unless sequestered.
http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2007/11/is-the-ocean-carbon-sink-sinking/

Front 11

Question:
A molecule of water vapor is a far more powerful greenhouse gas than is a molecule of CO2. So why are we more concerned about CO2 than water vapor?

Back 11

Answer:
CO2's atmospheric lifetime is centuries, while water vapor rains out within days. And water vapor is a feedback, CO2 is the control knob, or the transistor - a higher-CO2 atmosphere creates warmth, which holds extra water vapor, that produces further warming.
http://www.skepticalscience.com/water-vapor-greenhouse-gas.htm

Front 12

Question:
What is the difference between climate and weather?

Back 12

Answer:
"Climate is what you expect, weather is what you get"; when measured by temperature, climate is typically averaged over decades.
http://dnr.wi.gov/climatechange/weather.htm

Front 13

Question:
CO2 is natural and abundant and essential for plant growth; how can it be pollution?

Back 13

Answer:
It affects temperature and acidity, too much or too little is uncomfortable. Horse manure is also natural and (in some areas) abundant...
http://www.skepticalscience.com/CO2-is-Good-for-Plants-Another-Red-Herring-in-the-Climate-Change-Debate.html

Front 14

Question:
What sea life is expected to suffer with ocean acidification?

Back 14

Answer:
Plankton and corals
http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/12/13/carbon-dioxide-is-double-threat-to-reefs/

Front 15

Question:
For how many years in a row has the average global temperature been warmer than the 20th century average?

Back 15

Answer:
34
http://scienceblogs.com/classm/2011/01/fit_to_be_tied.php

Front 16

Question:
"He was a registered Republican"..."He just didn’t think of [climate change] as a political issue at all." Who was this?

Back 16

Answer:
Charles David Keeling, climate scientist who discovered the Keeling Curve (of increasing CO2 year by year in our atmosphere) (A Scientist, His Work and a Climate Reckoning
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/22/science/earth/22carbon.html?pagewanted=1&hp )

Front 17

Question:
During the 2000s, what was the ratio of record-setting high temperatures to record-setting low temperatures?

Back 17

Answer:
2:1 http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/12/warming-trend-seen-in-temperature-records/

Front 18

Question:
What are 3 reasons why coal is the fossil fuel of most concern for global warming?

Back 18

Answer:
There are large reserves; it's used in large (point source) power plants that present a clear target for effective impacthttp://www.worldchanging.com/archives/006997.html ; and being high-carbon, coal emits more CO2 per unit energy (BTU) than oil or natural gas http://www.eia.doe.gov/ask/environment_faqs.asp

Front 19

Question:
Roughly what % of climate scientists believe the last 50 years of global warming is significantly due to human activities?

Back 19

Answer:
97% http://www.skepticalscience.com/global-warming-scientific-consensus.htm

Front 20

Question:
What are 4 arguments for starting to cut emissions as soon as possible?

Back 20

Answer:
The sooner we start changing course, the less abrupt the transition;
The sooner we start changing course, the more likely we'll succeed;
The sooner we start changing course, the sooner we'll innovate solutions - right now. uncertainty on action discourages investment in green energy technologies;
The sooner we start changing course, the less likely the need for draconian efforts that curtail our freedoms
More energy independence means less funding for Middle Eastern terrorists;

Front 21

Question:
What are 2 arguments for delaying action as late as possible?

Back 21

Answer:
Profits in the fossil fuel industry can continue unabated;
We can stick the young and middle-aged, and their descendants for generations to come, with our bill
http://www.skepticalscience.com/economic-impacts-of-carbon-pricing.html

Front 22

Question:
How do studies from antiregulation sources like the Heritage Institute inflate the cost of climate action?

Back 22

Answer:
By doing cost-benefit analyses that only estimate the costs, and ignore the financial benefits (which, for energy efficiency efforts, can be substantial
http://www.skepticalscience.com/economic-impacts-of-carbon-pricing.html

Front 23

Question:
By about what % of U.S. Gross Domestic Product do nonpartisan analyses generally estimate that proposed greenhouse gas reduction laws will impact the economy?

Back 23

Answer:
1% or less
http://www.skepticalscience.com/economic-impacts-of-carbon-pricing.html

Front 24

Question:
How did the actual costs of the cap-and-trade effort to solve acid rain compare with industry estimates beforehand

Back 24

Answer:
Less than 1/4 of the prior estimates
http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=polluted_data )

Front 25

Question:
How do the actual costs of regulatory efforts typically compare with estimates beforehand?

Back 25

Answer:
Typically less than 1/2 of the prior estimates
http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=polluted_data )