Climate Science Practice Questions
Course Introduction
Climate Science explores the fundamental principles and processes that govern Earths climate system, including the atmosphere, oceans, biosphere, and cryosphere. The course examines the factors influencing climate variability and change, such as greenhouse gases, solar radiation, and human activities. Students will analyze historical and contemporary climate data, study the mechanisms of climate feedbacks, and assess the impacts of climate change on ecosystems and society. The course also introduces climate modeling and evaluates current strategies for mitigation and adaptation in response to global climate challenges.
Recommended Textbook
Geosystems An Introduction to Physical Geography 9th Edition by Robert W. Christopherson
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20 Chapters
3026 Verified Questions
3026 Flashcards
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Page 2
Chapter 1: Essentials of Geography
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Sample Questions
Q1) If a system responds to a change in input by moving further away from its equilibrium condition, what type of feedback has occurred?
A) positive
B) negative
C) neutral
D) Not enough information is given to indicate what type of feedback has occurred.
Answer: A
Q2) Which of the following is not true of scientific theories?
A) They are based on several hypotheses.
B) They are broad in scope because they unify several known facts about the world.
C) They are based on natural laws (such as those pertaining to gravity, relativity, atomic theory, etc.)
D) They are absolute truths and can never be proven wrong.
Answer: D
Q3) All parallels are 360° in length.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
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Chapter 2: Solar Energy to Earth and the Seasons
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Sample Questions
Q1) The sun rises at the North Pole on the March equinox and remains over the horizon for the following six months.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q2) The plane of Earth's orbit about the Sun is called
A) perihelion.
B) aphelion.
C) the plane of the ecliptic.
D) a great circle.
Answer: C
Q3) Which of the following is true of the September equinox?
A) All latitudes on Earth, except the Equator, experience unequal daylengths.
B) The subsolar point is at the Tropic of Cancer (23.5° N).
C) The sun rises at the South Pole, where it will remain over the horizon for the following six months.
D) The Northern Hemisphere spring officially begins.
E) The subsolar point is at the Tropic of Capricorn (23.5° S).
Answer: C
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Page 4
Chapter 3: Earths Modern Atmosphere
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following is correct regarding lapse rates in the troposphere?
A) The term "normal (average) lapse rate" refers to the actual lapse rate in effect at any particular time.
B) The environmental lapse rate refers to the actual lapse rate at any particular time and may differ substantially from the normal lapse rate.
C) The normal lapse rate is always the same as the dry adiabatic rate (DAR).
D) Temperatures generally increase with altitude in the troposphere.
Answer: B
Q2) Depletion of the ozone layer is happening principally because of natural circulation dynamics in the upper atmosphere, not chemical reactions.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q3) Approximately fifty percent of the atmosphere is compressed by gravity below an elevation of 5500 m (18,000 ft).
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
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5
Chapter 4: Atmosphere and Surface Energy Balances
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Sample Questions
Q1) When a surface assimilates radiation, the process is called A) absorption.
B) transmission.
C) diffuse radiation.
D) refraction.
Q2) Differential transmissivity of shortwave insolation and longwave terrestrial radiation by various atmospheric gases is better known as the
A) global dimming.
B) greenhouse effect.
C) cloud-albedo forcing.
D) global warming.
Q3) Which of the following is correctly matched?
A) insolation - shortwave radiation - UV, visible, and near infrared
B) insolation - longwave radiation - thermal infrared radiation
C) terrestrial radiation - shortwave radiation - UV, visible, and near infrared
D) terrestrial radiation - shortwave radiation - thermal infrared radiation
Q4) What is the "greenhouse effect" as applied to Earth's atmosphere? How is Earth similar and different than a greenhouse?
Q5) Discuss the components of the surface energy budget.
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Chapter 5: Global Temperatures
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Sample Questions
Q1) The Celsius scale
A) is used exclusively in the United States.
B) places freezing at 0° and was formerly called centigrade.
C) was developed by the British physicist Lord Kelvin.
D) was developed by Fahrenheit, who also developed the alcohol and mercury thermometers.
E) places freezing at 32° and boiling at 212°.
Q2) The wind-chill index
A) takes into account infrared solar radiation.
B) assumes people are wearing a basic layer of clothing.
C) uses the same variables as the heat index does.
D) does not consider whether or not a person is engaged in physical activity.
Q3) Continentality results in a greater range between maximum and minimum daily and yearly temperatures.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Hypothermia occurs when a person has overheated to the point where the body is unable to cool itself.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 6: Atmospheric and Oceanic Circulations
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Sample Questions
Q1) Monsoonal winds are
A) katabatic in nature.
B) regional wind systems that seasonally vary.
C) limited to the Indian subcontinent.
D) a form of mountain-valley wind.
Q2) Calm winds associated weak pressure gradient and the vertical ascent of air in the ITCZ are known as
A) Hadley cells.
B) the horse latitudes.
C) the doldrums.
D) westerlies.
Q3) Which of the following is not true of the wind?
A) It is initiated by the pressure gradient force.
B) It blows from regions of high pressure to regions of low pressure.
C) The direction of flow can be affected by the rotation of Earth.
D) Air blows from regions of hotter air to regions of colder air.
E) Winds are named based on the direction from which they blow.
Q4) List and briefly describe the four forces that shape the speed and direction of winds.
Q5) Discuss the formation of Rossby waves.
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Chapter 7: Water and Atmospheric Moisture
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Sample Questions
Q1) The dry adiabatic rate (DAR) applies to a parcel of air that is saturated.
A)True
B)False
Q2) What is atmospheric stability? What are adiabatic processes and how they are related to atmospheric stability?
Q3) At saturation, the further addition of water vapor or a decrease in temperature results in
A) condensation.
B) evaporation.
C) freezing.
D) sublimation.
Q4) If a parcel of air is cooled and the amount of water vapor remained constant, its relative humidity would rise.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Evaporation is a warming process.
A)True
B)False
Q6) List several of water's unique properties.
Q7) Define and distinguish between relative humidity and specific humidity.
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Chapter 8: Weather
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Sample Questions
Q1) Describe the four types of atmospheric lifting and give typical geographic characteristics associated with each.
Q2) Yearly weather-related damage costs have risen 500% since 1975.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Discuss the formation, physical characteristics, and typical precipitation patterns of thunderstorms.
Q4) Thunder results from the sudden expansion of heated air through the atmosphere caused by a lightening strike.
A)True
B)False
Q5) After a warm front passes, the temperature ________ and the pressure ________ (relative to the conditions that existed prior to the passage of the front).
A) increases; increases B) increases; decreases C) decreases; increases D) decreases; decreases
Q6) Using several examples, discuss how climate change may affect severe weather events
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Chapter 9: Water Resources
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Sample Questions
Q1) groundwater pollution that our generation creates will persist far into the future (decades to centuries) because it is virtually impossible to clean an aquifer once it is polluted.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Combined, water in the atmosphere and in rivers and streams accounts for approximately 4% of all freshwater.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Population growth and wasteful water usage threaten to produce water shortages in many nations of the world.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Human made lakes are generally called reservoirs.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Discuss the different aspects of groundwater storage and movement below the surface. Include the ways in which groundwater comes to the surface on its own, or is drawn to the surface by humans, along with the consequences.
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Chapter 10: Global Climate Systems
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following is not related to the 98th meridian in the United States?
A) It corresponds closely to the 51 cm (20 in.) isohyet of mean annual precipitation.
B) Tall grass prairies occur to the east of it, and short grass prairies to the west.
C) The area bordering this meridian was originally dominated by native grasses growing in a deep-sod cover.
D) The land is drier to the east of the meridian and wetter to the west.
E) Corn, wheat, and soybean production occur in this area.
Q2) The worlds climatic regions determine to a large extent the location of the world's biomes.
A)True
B)False
Q3) A climate classification based on the geographic determinants of climate, such as latitude or elevation, is an example of a(n)
A) empirical classification.
B) genetic classification.
C) combined classification.
Q4) Construct a climograph for your city or town.
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Page 12
Chapter 11: Climate Change
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Sample Questions
Q1) Ice core analysis shows a close correlation between atmospheric methane (CH ) and carbon dioxide (CO ) concentrations and temperatures.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Changes in the Earth's elliptical orbit around the Sun is called A) eccentricity.
B) obliquity.
C) precession.
D) inclination.
Q3) There has been a decrease in multi-year ice., that is, sea ice that survives through two or more summers.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Carbon dioxide (CO ) produced from human activities is amplifying Earth's natural greenhouse effect.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Describe the properties, current atmospheric concentrations, and sources the primary greenhouse gases contributing to climate change?
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Chapter 12: The Dynamic Planet
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Sample Questions
Q1) Continental crust is basically ________, whereas oceanic crust is basically
A) thin; thick
B) basalt; granite
C) granite; basalt
D) sima; sial
Q2) Alfred Wegner's theory of continental drift was immediately accepted by the scientific community when it was proposed.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Rock assemblages from the east coast in South America and west coast of Africa provide supporting evidence of the theory of plate tectonics.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Any rock, either igneous or sedimentary, may be transformed into a metamorphic rock, by going through profound physical and/or chemical changes under increased pressure and temperature.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 13: Tectonics, Earthquakes, and Volcanism
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Sample Questions
Q1) Some aftershocks rival the main shock in magnitude.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Small conical-shaped hills with truncated tops that formed during moderately explosive volcanic eruptions are known as A) cinder cones.
B) craters.
C) calderas.
D) domes.
Q3) The subsurface area where the motion of seismic waves is initiated along the fault plane is called the A) epicenter.
B) fault area.
C) Richter zone.
D) focus, or hypocenter.
Q4) What are the different ways of measuring the intensity and/or effects of earthquakes? Which do you think is best, and why?
Q5) Discuss the process and causes of folding, and distinguish between anticline and syncline.
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Chapter 14: Weathering, Karst Landscapes, and Mass Movement
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Sample Questions
Q1) Scarification is an example of anthropogenic mass movement.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Major karst regions occur on every continent on Earth.
A)True
B)False
Q3) The angle of repose represents a balance between gravity and friction and shear.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Exfoliation and pressure-release jointing are examples of ________ weathering processes.
A) chemical
B) physical
C) biological
D) both biological and physical
Q5) The angle of repose typically ranges from 15° to 30° from horizontal.
A)True
B)False
Q7) Describe the processes of denudation. Page 16
Q6) As weathering mechanisms, how does hydration differ from hydrolysis?
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Page 17
Chapter 15: River Systems and Landforms
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Sample Questions
Q1) Steep slopes and some relief generally produce which drainage pattern?
A) dendritic
B) deranged
C) parallel
D) annular
Q2) The sediment load that travels in solution is
A) bed load.
B) suspended load.
C) dissolved load.
D) flow load.
Q3) A graded stream is one that has achieved a dynamic equilibrium between degradation and aggradation.
A)True
B)False
Q4) The portion of each meandering curve subject to the slowest water velocity undergoes aggradation. This results in a(n)
A) meander scar.
B) oxbow.
C) cutback.
D) point bar.
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Chapter 16: The Oceans, Coastal Processes, and Wind
Processes
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Sample Questions
Q1) A major difference between a barrier island and a barrier spit is
A) a barrier spit is connected to the mainland, whereas a barrier island is not.
B) barrier spits are anthropogenic, modeled after natural barrier islands.
C) a barrier spit is a depositional feature that connects the barrier island to the mainland.
D) one of regional terminology, a barrier island and a barrier spit are the same thing.
Q2) Coral and algae have a reciprocal relationship in which the algae perform photosynthesis, providing the coral with nutrition and helping with the calcification process. In return, the coral provide the algae with nutrients. This is an example of a ________ relationship.
A) parasitic
B) opportunistic
C) symbiotic
D) predator/prey
Q3) Within a wave in the open ocean, energy is transferred from molecule to molecule in cyclic undulations called waves of transition.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 17: Glacial and Periglacial Processes and Landforms
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Sample Questions
Q1) The Great Lakes of North America were created by
A) ice sheets that enlarged and deepened stream valleys to form the basins of the future lakes.
B) the deposition of ice in till plains.
C) cirque glaciers.
D) isostatic subsidence of the crust.
Q2) A deposition of till that forms behind a terminal moraine as the glacier retreats and is generally spread widely across the ground surface is called a(n)
A) outwash plain.
B) till plain.
C) drumlin swarm.
D) lateral moraine.
Q3) A glacier is an open system with inputs of snow and outputs of ice, meltwater, and water vapor.
A)True
B)False
Q4) If two glaciers with lateral moraines join, a medial moraine may form.
A)True
B)False
20
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Chapter 18: The Geography of Soils
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Sample Questions
Q1) Human activities, such as agriculture and cattle grazing, may affect soil development.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Soil is a natural, renewable resource.
A)True
B)False
Q3) What is the predominant soil order in the area in which you live? Describe the activities that occur on these soils that reflect the characteristics thereof.
Q4) Describe and explain the distribution of soil orders across the United States.
Q5) What do you think are the biggest challenges related to soil conservation and management in the coming decades?
Q6) Histosols tend to be very dry soils found primarily in the world's arid regions. A)True B)False
Q7) Practices such as no-till agriculture may help mitigate against soil erosion. A)True
B)False
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Q8) What are the five primary soil forming factors? Describe each using examples.
Chapter 19: Ecosystem Essentials
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Sample Questions
Q1) Most of the Earth's organisms have been identified and classified.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Some harmful chemicals that are long-lived, stable, and soluble in fatty tissues become increasingly concentrated at each higher trophic level.
A)True
B)False
Q3) In coral reefs, clownfish live unharmed among the poisonous tentacles of sea anemones. The sea anemones protect the clownfish from predation, while the clownfish scare off predators, such butterfly fish, which would otherwise eat the anemones. The clownfish may also provide important nutrients to the anemones. This is an example of which symbiotic relationship?
A) parasitism
B) mutualism
C) commensalism
D) amensalism
Q4) Different patches across a landscape may be at different successional stages.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 20: Terrestrial Biomes
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Sample Questions
Q1) Despite widespread tropical deforestation, tropical rain forests are able to quickly regenerate owing to the extremely fertile conditions in the biome.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Trees and shrubs that seasonally loose their leaves are called A) evergreens.
B) annual herbs.
C) deciduous.
D) bryophytes.
Q3) The largest area of tropical savanna is found in A) Africa.
B) North America.
C) Asia.
D) Australia.
Q4) The boundaries of biogeographic regions are usually quite arbitrary, usually following political boundaries rather than being based on biophysical criteria.
A)True
B)False
Q5) What is conservation biogeography? What are its primary focuses?
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