GCSU midterm

Earth’s circumference

Greater than 24,000 miles

Over the past 100 years, which has warmed more: global land or global ocean?

Land, about 2.5°F, versus ocean, about 1.2°F

By about what percent has Arctic sea ice declined since 1979?

50%

How are plant ranges shifting as the climate warms?

Up in elevation and toward higher latitudes

Why do range shifts cause problems for ecosystems?

Timing mismatches arise: birds depend on insect emergence and spring plant blooming, and plants depend on insect emergence

How is pollen a climate proxy? (a climate proxy is preserved biological material that scientists use to reconstruct past climates)

Pollen collects in lake sediments.

What do tree rings tell us?

Ring width varies with temperature and precipitation, each ring is a year, telling us the tree’s age.

What is some evidence on past glaciers in CT (New England)?

Long Island is glacial debris, Large boulders in the middle of Canadian fields, Striations in rocks

Conifers dominate in climates…

colder than present day CT

What is the tilt of the Earth currently?

23.5 degrees

Ocean water at the beach in CT, NY, and NJ is warmest in which months?

August-September

When do carbon dioxide levels increase?

When fossil fuel combustion plus respiration exceeds photosynthesis

Why does dissolved oxygen in water change with climate change?

It decreases at higher temperatures

Warmer water holds less dissolved oxygen

The trade winds in the North Atlantic blow from the:

Northeast toward the west, helping sailors go from southern Europe to the Caribbean

The westerly winds in the North Atlantic helped sailors travel from:

North America to Europe

An anemometer measures:

Wind speed and direction

When does a sea breeze (ocean to land) typically occur?

In the afternoon, when the ocean is cooler than the land

On a weather map, a cold front is shown as:

A blue line with triangles

The temperate zone, where we live, is at what latitudes?

30-60 degrees

How are air pressure and air mass temperature related?

Higher pressure air masses are colder, and lower pressure air masses are warmer

Eccentricity

How circular or stretched-out Earth’s orbit around the sun is

Abt 100k years

obliquity

The tilt of Earth’s axis (currently 23.5°, ranging from about 22° to 24.5°)

Abt 41k years

procession (wobble)

The slow wobble of Earth’s axis, which changes when in the year Earth is closest to the sun

Abt 23k years