Climatologist use (as a minimum) ___ year climate intervals, which are based on

Question

Climatologist use (as a minimum) ___ year climate intervals, which are based on the average period of a humans working life.

With longer time frames, we discover that climate stays fairly consistent.

Using (BLANK) data to develop evidences that past processes are similar to current processes is based on the hypothesis of uniformitarianism.

In several paragraphs, explain the principles of Earth's carbon cycle.

Sunspot activity is a forcing that, when active, decreases solar flux.

Policies such as a CO2 tax probably will be adopted without societies becoming alarmed about global warming.

There is strong evidence for flowing water on Mars, indicating an ancient warmer climate.

(Blank) energy has been used for thousands of years in some countries for cooking and heating. It is simply power derived from the Earth's internal heat.

Which of the following are true? (none or one or more may be true):

Question 20 options:

Holocine Climatic Optimum - rapid climate shift following Younger Dryas that held temperature consistently warmer for 1000s of years.

The Little Ice Age -- this rapidly cooling period started after the Medieval Warm period, and last till approximately the middle of the 19th century.

Younger Dryas - climate reversal that led to colder temperatures.

Which example below is NOT classified as wetlands?

Question 22 options:

alpine lakes of the Rocky Mountains

bogs and fens of the northeastern and north-central states and Alaska

alpine meadows of the west

Holocine Climatic Optimum - rapid climate shift following Younger Dryas that held temperature consistently warmer for 1000s of years.

The Little Ice Age -- this rapidly cooling period started after the Medieval Warm period, and last till approximately the middle of the 19th century.

Younger Dryas - climate reversal that led to colder temperatures.

Which example below is NOT classified as wetlands?

Question 22 options:

alpine lakes of the Rocky Mountains

bogs and fens of the northeastern and north-central states and Alaska

alpine meadows of the west

Explanation / Answer

Climatologist use average of 30 year interval of the climatic elements like temperature. This 30 year interval is a sufficient to measure the short term interannual fluctuations and the anomalies in the climate. This 30 year climatic interval was selected by international agreement by the international metereological conference in Warsaw in 1933.

According to the principal of uniformatism, the geological processes that shape the earth in the past have occured in the same manner and with same intensity as the processes that are taking place in the present day. So present is a key to the past which mean it can be used as evidence to understand the past events. This principal was coined by James Hutton.

Carbon cycle is the biogeochemical cycle in which carbon is exchanged between the atmosphere, biosphere, geosphere, pedosphere and hydrosphere. All living things are made up of carbon as well as non living things like rocks and soil. The amount of carbon is fixed on the earth but it always changes from one compound to another and moves from living to non living things. Carbon is released to the atmosphere from the carbon sources and stored in plants, animals, water known as carbon sinks.

First carbon is taken up by plants during photosynthesis in the form of carbon dioxide and oxygen is released. The carbon dioxide is transformed into carbon compounds which build the body of the plant like shoots, leaves and roots. The animals that eat these plants and exhale carbon dioxide and breathe in oxygen. The carbon dioxide released by the animals is utilised by the plants during photosynthesis. Carbon stored in soil which are not eaten by animals finally decompose after the death of plants. These carbon is then released into the atmosphere or stored in soil. Also large amounts of carbon dioxide is released by the geological processes like volcanic eruptions and other natural processes which tends to destabilize the carbon sinks.

Sunspot is the temporary phenomenon in which that appears on the photosphere of the sun. These sunspots appear as dark spots. These are the areas of lower surface temperatures which are caused due to concentrations of magnetic flux that inhibit the convection. These sunspots occur in pairs of opposite magnetic polarity. The number of sunspots varies in an 11 year solar cycle. So these sunspots are the areas of reduced solar flux when active.

Mars is today a cold desert with mean surface pressure of 7mbar and temperature of 218K. So at these conditions liquid water can not remain in the Mars. Conditions at the Mars in the past were warmer and wetter than today. The evidence that conditions on Mars were different in the past came from features like valleys, canyons present in the ancient heavily cratered terrains of Mars have been found. Also most of these valleys are U shaped in cross section indicating river valleys. Also dendritic patterns have found on the Mars surface. All these evidences indicate that Mars was wetter and warmer than today.

Geothermal energy is an renewable source of energy used for cooking and heat. It is derived from the earth’s internal heat. It is environment friendly and does not cause any pollution.

Answer 20: Little ice age is a climate interval that begins from 14th century to 19th century. During this period the mountain glaciers expanded in Alaska, European Alps, New Zealand and southern Andes. The mean annual temperature decreases by about 0.6 degree Celsius across the Northern hemisphere. This was the period of cooling that followed the Medieval warming period.

Younger dryas event are the events of abrupt climatic change. About 14,500 years ago, the climate of the earth was changing from cold glacial state to the warm interglacial state. But between these transitions, the climate of the North America suddenly changes to near glacial periods. This sudden reversal of climate is known as younger dryas event.

Answer 22 : Wetlands are the areas where the land is saturated with water either permanently or temporarily. They include rivers, marshes, peatlands, bogs, lakes, deltas, floodplains, mangroves, rice fields, coral reefs and flooded forests. These wetlands are found in every continent and in every climatic regions of the world from polar to tropical regions and high altitude to dry regions. These wetlands provide habitat to a number of wildlife and plant species. Alpine meadows of the west is not classified as a wetland.

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