Natural Hazards Exam Solutions
Course Introduction
This course explores the science behind natural hazards such as earthquakes, volcanoes, tsunamis, hurricanes, floods, landslides, and wildfires. Students will examine the physical processes that drive these events, assess their potential impacts on societies, and evaluate methods for hazard prediction, risk assessment, and disaster mitigation. Through case studies and interactive activities, the course highlights the relationship between human activity and natural hazards, emphasizing preparedness, adaptation, and the importance of building resilient communities.
Recommended Textbook
Meteorology Today An Introduction to Weather Climate and the Environment 2nd Edition by C.
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Page 2
Chapter 1: Earth and Its Atmosphere
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following gases absorbs most of the harmful ultraviolet radiation in the stratosphere?
A)nitrous oxide
B)carbon dioxide
C)ozone
D)chlorofluorocarbons
Answer: C
Q2) Which of the following is the name for the electrified region of the upper atmosphere?
A)stratosphere
B)ionosphere
C)mesosphere
D)thermosphere
Answer: B
Q3) Which of the following is considered a greenhouse gas?
A)nitrous oxide
B)oxygen
C)helium
D)hydrogen
Answer: A
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Chapter 2: Energy: Warming Earth and the Atmosphere
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following statements explains why low clouds slow surface cooling at night better than clear skies do?
A)Clouds start convection currents among them.
B)Water droplets in the clouds reflect infrared energy back to the Earth.
C)Clouds absorb and radiate infrared energy back to the Earth.
D)Clouds conduct heat better than clear night air does.
Answer: C
Q2) A good absorber of a given wavelength of radiation is also a good emitter of that wavelength. Which of the following principles does this statement refer to?
A)first law of thermodynamics
B)Wien's law
C)Kirchhoff's law
D)Stefan-Boltzmann's law
Answer: C
Q3) Describe the atmospheric greenhouse effect. Is there any difference between the way the atmospheric greenhouse effect works on a clear night and on a cloudy night?
Answer: Answers may vary.
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Chapter 3: Seasonal and Daily Temperatures
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Sample Questions
Q1) How often during a year is the sun directly overhead at Mexico City (latitude 19°N)?
A)twice
B)never
C)four times
D)once
Answer: A
Q2) On December 22 each year, which of the following latitudes experiences the fewest hours of daylight?
A)0<sup>°</sup> (equator)
B)20°S
C)60°N
D)60°S
Answer: C
Q3) In which of the following weather conditions is hypothermia most common?
A)cold, dry
B)cold, wet
C)hot, dry
D)hot, humid
Answer: B
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Page 5
Chapter 4: Atmospheric Humidity
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following is used to directly measure the relative humidity?
A)nephelometer
B)anenometer
C)disdrometer
D)sling psychrometer
Q2) Which of the following describes what a high water vapour pressure indicates?
A)A relatively high rate of evaporation is occurring.
B)An abundant supply of condensation nuclei is in the air.
C)A relatively large number of water vapour molecules are in the air.
D)A relatively small number of water vapour molecules are in the air.
Q3) Which of the following terms refers to the percentage of water vapour present in the air compared to that required for saturation?
A)relative humidity
B)mixing ratio
C)absolute humidity
D)dew point
Q4) Explain why the dew point temperature provides a better indication of the air's actual water vapour content rather than its relative humidity.
Q5) How can you heat air without decreasing its relative humidity?
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Chapter 5: Condensation: Dew, Fog, and Clouds
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following cloud types might be indicated if a cloud appears white on a visible satellite image and grey on an infrared image?
A)stratus
B)cumulonimbus
C)cirrostratus
D)altostratus
Q2) Advection fog is often observed along the Pacific coast during summer as westerly winds carry moist air toward the shore. Which of the following describes why this fog forms?
A)The surface water near the coast is slightly colder than the surface water farther offshore.
B)The surface water near the coast is slightly warmer than the surface water farther offshore.
C)The surface water near the coast is much warmer than the surface water farther offshore.
D)The surface water near the coast is much colder than the surface water farther offshore.
Q3) Suppose the sky is covered with stratus clouds. How might you determine whether middle or high clouds are also present?
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Page 7
Chapter 6: Stability and Cloud Development
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following terms refers to clouds such as alt°Cumulus and cirr°Cumulus that develop vertical, tower-like extensions?
A)castellanus
B)rotors
C)billows
D)pileus
Q2) Which of the following names is commonly used to describe the drier region on the downwind (leeward) side of a mountain range?
A)rain shadow
B)inversion region
C)compression region
D)orographic
Q3) Which of these lapse rates remains constant?
A)moist adiabatic lapse rate
B)dry adiabatic lapse rate
C)air adiabatic lapse rate
D)environmental lapse rate
Q4) An air parcel that is warmer than its surroundings will rise. What force accounts for this upward motion?
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Chapter 7: Precipitation
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following changes happen as a result of freshly fallen snow?
A)Sound waves are amplified.
B)Sound waves are absorbed.
C)The intensity of visible light is decreased.
D)The intensity of visible light is enhanced.
Q2) Which of the following terms refers to rain that falls from a cloud and evaporates before reaching the ground?
A)graupel
B)dry rain
C)sleet
D)virga
Q3) Which of the following is the most likely type of cloud that causes rain to fall on one side of a street and not on the other?
A)stratus cloud
B)altostratus cloud
C)nimbostratus cloud
D)cumulonimbus cloud
Q4) In the ice-crystal process of precipitation formation, why does water vapour diffuse from liquid droplets toward ice crystals?
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Chapter 8: Air Pressure and Winds
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Sample Questions
Q1) On an upper-level chart, in which direction does the wind blow?
A)It tends to blow at right angles to the isobars or contour lines.
B)It tends to blow at constant speed.
C)It tends to blow parallel to the contours.
D)It tends to blow at an angle between 10 and 30 degrees to the contours and towards lower pressure.
Q2) Which of the following conditions is constant on an isobaric surface?
A)altitude
B)temperature
C)density
D)pressure
Q3) Which of the following factors produces the strongest Coriolis force?
A)slow winds, high latitude
B)fast winds, high latitude
C)slow winds, low latitude
D)fast winds, low latitude
Q4) In which side is pressure decreasing most rapidly with increasing altitude?
A)on the right
B)on the left
Q5) Explain the formation of a geostrophic wind.
Page 10
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Chapter 9: Wind: Small-Scale and Local Systems
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following is an instrument that uses infrared or visible light in the form of a laser beam to determine wind direction?
A)aerovane
B)radiosonde
C)pilot balloon
D)lidar
Q2) In which of the following conditions do valley breezes form?
A)during the night, when the mountain side is relatively warm
B)during the day, when the mountain side is relatively cold
C)during the night, when the mountain side is relatively cold
D)during the day, when the mountain side is relatively warm
Q3) Which of the following gives an example of mesoscale motion?
A)winds on a surface weather map of North America
B)winds blowing through a city
C)winds blowing past a chimney
D)winds on a 500 hPa chart
Q4) Draw a sketch to show where eddies can form when air blows rapidly over a mountain range. Indicate where clouds might form. How would these clouds appear when viewed from the ground?
Q5) Will a valley breeze or a mountain breeze produce clouds? Explain.
Page 11
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Chapter 10: Wind: Global Systems
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Sample Questions
Q1) Compare and contrast the causes and effects of El Niño and La Niña.
Q2) Which of the following conditions are required for the low-level jet stream in the central plains of the United States to be associated with thunderstorms?
A)cold temperatures
B)dry air
C)rising air
D)upper-level divergence
Q3) Which of the following conditions likely occurs because of the low-level jet stream that forms over the central plains of the United States?
A)nighttime thunderstorms
B)onset of a chinook
C)development of El Niño
D)influx of cold polar air
Q4) Which of the following jet stream patterns transfers the most heat across the globe?
A)tropical easterly
B)meridional
C)low-level
D)zonal
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Chapter 11: Air Masses and Fronts
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Sample Questions
Q1) List the four basic types of air masses. Give an example of where each type could originate, and describe how each air mass could affect local weather conditions if it moved into your region.
Q2) Which of the following terms refers to the situation when an mT air mass lies above a cold ground surface?
A)occluded
B)unstable
C)stationary
D)stable
Q3) Which of the following properties characterize an air mass in any horizontal direction?
A)temperature and moisture
B)winds and moisture
C)pressure and moisture
D)temperature and pressure
Q4) Explain why the observation of a halo around the moon or sun could forewarn of the arrival of a warm front.
Q5) What is the typical cause of summer heat waves in southern Ontario? What are some of the health risks of these?
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Chapter 12: Middle-Latitude Cyclones
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following describes the warm conveyor belt?
A)It is very dry.
B)It has few clouds associated with it.
C)It contains stratospheric ozone.
D)It rises above the warm front.
Q2) Suppose the outflow of air around a surface high-pressure area is greater than the convergence of air aloft. Which of the following conditions would be observed?
A)decrease in the central pressure
B)increase in pressure in the centre of the high
C)movement of the high toward the northeast
D)strengthening in the high
Q3) When making a weather forecast, which kind of chart is more important: a surface chart or a 500 hPa chart? Why?
Q4) Define the term cyclogenesis. List some of the regions in Canada where cyclogenesis is common.
Q5) Describe with a sketch, a wind flow pattern that results in upper-level divergence.
Q6) On a 500 hPa chart, why does middle-latitude cyclone development occur beneath troughs rather than ridges?
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Chapter 13: Weather Forecasting
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Sample Questions
Q1) In which of the following directions do most tornadoes move?
A)northwest to southwest
B)southwest to northeast
C)southeast to northwest
D)south to north
Q2) Which of the following statements provides the most accurate description of the principle of a lightning rod?
A)It stores the electricity carried by the discharge.
B)It intercepts the lightning and safely carries the current around the object it protects.
C)It acts to discharge the thunderstorm.
D)The positive charge induced in it repels the negative charge in an approaching stepped leader.
Q3) Which of the following atmospheric conditions are required for thunderstorms to occur?
A)rising air
B)hot, humid air
C)divergence of the air aloft
D)surface heating
Q4) What makes a tornado-producing thunderstorm different from other thunderstorms?
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Chapter 14: Thunderstorms
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Sample Questions
Q1) What months of the year are hurricanes most likely to form in the Atlantic Ocean?
A)June and July
B)July and August
C)August and September
D)September and October
Q2) What is a storm surge? How does a storm surge form?
Q3) Which of the following options provides the correct sequence of the first three stages of a developing hurricane?
A)cyclone, typhoon, tropical storm
B)tropical depression, tropical disturbance, tropical storm
C)tropical disturbance, tropical depression, tropical storm
D)tropical disturbance, tropical storm, typhoon
Q4) Which of the following was the most destructive hurricane ever to hit Atlantic Canada, in the past century?
A)Hurricane Juan
B)Hurricane Ivan
C)Hurricane Wilma
D)Hurricane Katrina
Q5) Explain why calm weather typically exists in the eye of a hurricane.
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Chapter 15: Tornadoes
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Sample Questions
Q1) Suppose that in the middle of January the weather is typically several degrees warmer than the rest of the month. Which of the following forecast methods would be used to predict this "January thaw" for the middle of January in the following year?
A)climatological forecast
B)persistence forecast
C)probability forecast
D)forecast based on the analogue method
The following questions refer to the above illustration of a middle-latitude cyclone.The dashed lines show the positions of the fronts six hours ago.
Q2) Which of the following forecast methods would be used to determine the probability of a white Christmas?
A)persistence
B)climatological
C)ensemble
D)analogue
Q3) Explain the process of ensemble forecasting and how it is useful to meteorologists.
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Chapter 16: Hurricanes
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Q1) According to the Köppen system of classifying climates, in which of the following climate types would thunderstorms NOT be expected?
A)climate A
B)climate E
C)climate C
D)climate D
Q2) According to the Köppen system of classifying climates, which of the following climate types normally has the highest afternoon temperatures during the summer?
A)climate A
B)climate B
C)climate C
D)climate D
Q3) Which of the following climate types is most likely associated with savanna grass?
A)tropical monsoon (Am)
B)tropical rainforest (Af)
C)semi-arid (BS)
D)tropical wet-and-dry (Aw)
Q4) Which climate type(s) are most affected by climate change? Why?
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Chapter 17: Earths Changing Climate
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Q1) Which of the following substances is particularly abundant in volcanoes that have the most impact on global climate?
A)carbon dioxide
B)nitrogen
C)sulphur
D)water vapour
Q2) Which of the following conditions likely caused the "year without a summer" in 1816?
A)a dust cloud produced when a meteorite collided with the Earth
B)deforestation
C)particulate matter and gases from volcanoes
D)soot from coal fires
Q3) In a warmer world, which of the following changes will likely happen to the growing season at higher latitudes?
A)The growing season will remain unchanged.
B)The growing season will be shorter at first, but then will be longer.
C)The growing season will be shorter.
D)The growing season will be longer.
Q4) What are some of the possible consequences of climate change?
Q5) In what ways might climate change benefit the planet?
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Chapter 18: Global Climate
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following is an accurate statement about the Antarctica ozone hole?
A)It is similar in intensity to the hole found over the Arctic region.
B)It had nearly disappeared in the 1990s.
C)It is associated with the formation of polar stratospheric clouds.
D)It is located in the upper troposphere.
Q2) Which of the following describes stratospheric ozone?
A)It reflects all ultraviolet radiation back into space.
B)It contributes to the increase of temperature with height in the stratosphere.
C)It does not affect Earth's radiation budget.
D)It reaches its highest concentrations over Antarctica in October.
Q3) Which of the following factors characterizes a mixing layer?
A)high concentrations of pollutants
B)enhanced vertical air motions
C)suppressed vertical air motions
D)strong horizontal winds
Q4) What is the urban heat island effect? How could an urban heat island affect atmospheric conditions nearby?
Q5) Explain why locating industrial facilities on the perimeter of a city might not always prevent air pollution in the city.
Page 20
Q6) How can topography contribute to pollution in a city or region?
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Chapter 19: Air Pollution
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following describes sun halos?
A)They are most common during clear skies.
B)They require a layer of ice crystals.
C)They are caused by reflection of light.
D)They are usually found near the horizon.
Q2) Which of the following phenomena result from the bending of light through ice crystals?
A)sundogs and sun pillars
B)halos and sundogs
C)rainbows and halos
D)halos and the green flash
Q3) Using a diagram, show why an inferior mirage produces an inverted image.
Q4) Which of the following describes the cause of a mirage?
A)thin layer of moist air near the ground
B)reflection of light from a hot surface
C)bending of light by air of different densities
D)scattering of light by air molecules
Q5) Two people are looking at a rain shower. Which person will see a rainbow?
A)person A
B)person B
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