climate change practice test questions

____ 1. Evidence suggests that throughout much of the earth's history, the global climate was:

a.	warmer than it is today
b.	colder than it is today
c.	about the same temperature as it is today
d.	more variable than it is today

____ 2. Which theory explains how glacial material can be observed today near sea level at the equator, even though sea level glaciers probably never existed there?

a.	Milankovitch theory
b.	Theory of plate tectonics
c.	Volcanic dust theory
d.	Maunder theory

____ 3. The Milankovitch Theory proposes that climatic changes are due to:

a.	variations in the earth's orbit as it travels through space
b.	volcanic eruptions
c.	changing levels of CO₂ in the earth's atmosphere
d.	particles suspended in the earth's atmosphere

____ 4. During a period when the earth's orbital tilt is at a minimum, which would probably not be true?

a.	there should be less seasonal variation between summer and winter
b.	more snow would probably fall during the winter in polar regions
c.	there would be a lesser likelihood of glaciers at high latitudes
d.	there would be less seasonal variations at middle latitudes

____ 5. Large volcanic eruptions with an ash veil that enters the stratosphere, tend to ____ at the surface.

a.	increase temperatures
b.	increase precipitation
c.	decrease temperatures
d.	have no effect

____ 6. The Maunder Minimum refers to a time when:

a.	the earth was in the middle of an ice age
b.	the tilt of the earth's axis was less than it is now
c.	the earth was closer to the sun than it is now
d.	few snowstorms occurred over the United States
e.	there were fewer sunspots on the sun

____ 7. Which of the conditions below would most likely produce warming at the earth's surface?

a.	increase the amount of low-level global cloudiness
b.	increase the amount of sulfur-rich particles in the stratosphere
c.	decrease the energy output of the sun
d.	increase the amount of global snow cover
e.	increase the amount of high-level global cloud cover

____ 8. Which below is not one of the possible consequences of global warming predicted by climate models?

a.	accumulations of additional snow in Antarctica
b.	a reduction in average precipitation over certain areas
c.	lowering of sea levels
d.	a cooling of the upper atmosphere
e.	a drop in the rate of ozone destruction in the stratosphere

____ 9. The warming trend that began in the 1970s

a.	extended to the 1990s.
b.	ended during the mid 1980s.
c.	has extended into the twenty-first century.