GARP SCR EXAM LATEST 2023-2024 ACTUAL EXAM 300+ REAL EXAM QUESTIONS AND CORRECT
ANSWERS(VERIFIED ANSWERS)|ALREADY GRADED A+
1. weather: exact state of the atmosphere at a particular location and time
2. climate: long-term patterns or trends of meteorological conditions (usually peri-
ods >30 years)
3. climate change: change in the statistical properties of the climate system when
considered over periods of decades
aka global warming
4. for how many years do we have observational history of temperature
change?: 150 years
5. how much has the earth warmed since 1860, according to satellite ther-
mometers?: 1.1 C
6. how has the warming that has occurred in the last 150 years been distrib-
uted across the planet?: land has warmed more than ocean; northern hemisphere
warmed more than tropics or southern hemisphere
7. % of population that lives in the northern hemisphere: 85%
8. what are two pieces of indirect evidence that our planet is warming?: 1 = ice
on the planet is disappearing
2 = the oceans are warming
9. % of heat trapped by GHG that goes into heating the oceans: 93%
10. what are the two causes of rising sea levels?: 1 = melting of grounded ice
2 = water expands when it warms
11. five ways to extract climate information pre-modern measurements: 1 =
tree rings
2 = corals
3 = speleothems
4 = ice cores
5 = ocean sediment cores
12. tree rings: reveal climate variations in regions where trees grow and experience
seasons for the last millennium
13. corals: analysis of skeletons can yield climate conditions in ocean over millions
of years
14. speleothems: cave structures can yield estimates of climate in nearby region
over past few 100,000 years
15. ice cores: measuring chemical composition of ice (mainly in Greenland and
Antarctica) yields estimates of the climate over the past 1M years
16. ocean sediment cores: analyzing composition of mud at the bottom of the
ocean provides information about the climate covering 10M+ years
17. what evidence do we have that for millions of years the climate has been
generally cooling?: 50M years ago, there was no permanent ice on the planet
, GARP SCR EXAM LATEST 2023-2024 ACTUAL EXAM 300+ REAL EXAM QUESTIONS AND CORRECT
ANSWERS(VERIFIED ANSWERS)|ALREADY GRADED A+
18. what are the periods of cold and warmer called that the planet cycles
through?: ice ages and interglacials
19. when did the last ice age end?: 10,000 years ago
20. holocene: current interglaciation period, extending from 10,000 years ago to the
present on the geologic time scale
21. when did the temperature of the holocene peak?: 7,000 years ago
22. what is the global average temperature difference between an ice age and
an interglacial?: 6 C
23. how much faster is the average rate of warming over the last century, as
compared to coming out of the last ice age?: 16 times
24. what is the source of the earth's climate?: sun / visible radiation
25. how much energy does the sun provide and what % of it is reflected back
into space by clouds?: 340 W/m^2
30% reflected back by clouds
26. what is the amount of energy radiated by an object determined by and what
is the relationship?: temperature
as temperature increases, energy radiation increases
27. most important rule of the earth's climate: energy reaching earth from the
sun must be equal to the energy the earth radiates back to space
this determines the temperature of the climate system
28. greenhouse gases: gases in the atmosphere that absorb infrared radiation
(heat) and reduce the power of the earth to return energy to space
29. greenhouse effect: as the mass of GHG in our atmosphere increases, more
heat is trapped, which leads to higher temperatures
30. list some non-problematic molecules in the atmosphere: nitrogen, oxygen,
inert gas argon
31. list some problematic molecules in the atmosphere: water vapor, carbon
dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, ozone
32. what is the primary cause of carbon dioxide in the environment and how
has this been scientifically proven?: combustion of fossil fuels
we can tell by the isotopic composition of the atmosphere that the majority of the
CO2 is consistent with the isotopes produced via fossil fuel combustion
33. where does emitted CO2 go?: 1/4 is absorbed by the ocean and leads to
acidification
, GARP SCR EXAM LATEST 2023-2024 ACTUAL EXAM 300+ REAL EXAM QUESTIONS AND CORRECT
ANSWERS(VERIFIED ANSWERS)|ALREADY GRADED A+
1/4 is absorbed by the land biosphere via enhanced plant growth
1/2 stays in the atmosphere
34. prior to the industrial revolution, how much CO2 was in the atmosphere?
how much was there in 2020?: pre-industrial revolution = 280 ppm
2020 = 415 ppm
45% increase
35. global warming potential: heat-trapping power relative to carbon dioxide
36. carbon dioxide GWP and fraction of total greenhouse radiative forcing: 1
56%
atmospheric lifetime of 500 years
37. methane GWP and fraction of total greenhouse radiative forcing: 28
15%
atmospheric lifetime of 12 years
38. nitrous oxide GWP and fraction of total greenhouse radiative forcing: 265
5%
atmospheric lifetime of 121 years
39. halocarbons GWP and fraction of total greenhouse radiative forcing: 100s
to 1000s
11%
demonstrates a much wider variability relative to the other GHGs and would require
more precise data
collection on halocarbon emissions
40. ozone GWP and fraction of total greenhouse radiative forcing: N/A
12%
41. why is ozone so important?: absorbs ultraviolet radiation that, if it reached the
surface, would have deleterious impacts on human and natural ecosystems
contribute to positive radiative forcing (i.e. heat trapping)
42. how do aerosols affect the planetary balance?: act as clouds in a way, as the
molecules are so small that the buoyant forces can be stronger than the force of
gravity
reflect incoming solar radiation back to space, so their net effect is to cool the climate
(negative radiative forcing)
, volcanoes release aerosols such as sulfur
43. water vapor feedback: arises because a warmer atmosphere can hold more
water vapor - thus, an initial warming leads to atmospheric humidity, which leads to
additional warming, which feeds back to increase the humidity
this process has the capacity to double, or even triple, the amount of warming we
get from CO2 alone
44. 4 natural processes that affect the climate: 1 = tectonic processes
2 = output of the sun
3 = orbital variations
4 = unforced variability
45. how can tectonic processes affect climate change?: movement of continents
toward poles can lead to growth of ice sheets that reflect sunlight back into space
this can have a cooling effect over millions of years
46. how can the sun's output affect climate change?: if the sun is getting brighter,
this could explain heating of the earth
but the sun is not getting brighter
47. how can orbital variations affect climate change?: if the earth is moving
closer to the sun, this could explain heating of the earth
while the earth's orbit does change over a period of tens of thousands of years, no
evidence this is causing heating of the earth right now
48. how can unforced variability affect climate change?: this is the complex
internal physics of the climate system
best example = el nino / southern oscillation (ENSO)
49. shared socioeconomic pathways (SSPs): 5 narratives of the future developed
by the integrated assessment modeling consortium
scenarios vary in their economic growth and the amount of climate-safe energy
being deployed, which leads to different amounts of CO2 being emitted each year
50. global climate model: computer model used to predict possible future climate
change based on amount of CO2 emitted
51. SSP1: sustainable world where economies gradually shift to a more environ-
mentally friendly path. Emissions are currently peaking and are expected to decline
through the rest of the century
ANSWERS(VERIFIED ANSWERS)|ALREADY GRADED A+
1. weather: exact state of the atmosphere at a particular location and time
2. climate: long-term patterns or trends of meteorological conditions (usually peri-
ods >30 years)
3. climate change: change in the statistical properties of the climate system when
considered over periods of decades
aka global warming
4. for how many years do we have observational history of temperature
change?: 150 years
5. how much has the earth warmed since 1860, according to satellite ther-
mometers?: 1.1 C
6. how has the warming that has occurred in the last 150 years been distrib-
uted across the planet?: land has warmed more than ocean; northern hemisphere
warmed more than tropics or southern hemisphere
7. % of population that lives in the northern hemisphere: 85%
8. what are two pieces of indirect evidence that our planet is warming?: 1 = ice
on the planet is disappearing
2 = the oceans are warming
9. % of heat trapped by GHG that goes into heating the oceans: 93%
10. what are the two causes of rising sea levels?: 1 = melting of grounded ice
2 = water expands when it warms
11. five ways to extract climate information pre-modern measurements: 1 =
tree rings
2 = corals
3 = speleothems
4 = ice cores
5 = ocean sediment cores
12. tree rings: reveal climate variations in regions where trees grow and experience
seasons for the last millennium
13. corals: analysis of skeletons can yield climate conditions in ocean over millions
of years
14. speleothems: cave structures can yield estimates of climate in nearby region
over past few 100,000 years
15. ice cores: measuring chemical composition of ice (mainly in Greenland and
Antarctica) yields estimates of the climate over the past 1M years
16. ocean sediment cores: analyzing composition of mud at the bottom of the
ocean provides information about the climate covering 10M+ years
17. what evidence do we have that for millions of years the climate has been
generally cooling?: 50M years ago, there was no permanent ice on the planet
, GARP SCR EXAM LATEST 2023-2024 ACTUAL EXAM 300+ REAL EXAM QUESTIONS AND CORRECT
ANSWERS(VERIFIED ANSWERS)|ALREADY GRADED A+
18. what are the periods of cold and warmer called that the planet cycles
through?: ice ages and interglacials
19. when did the last ice age end?: 10,000 years ago
20. holocene: current interglaciation period, extending from 10,000 years ago to the
present on the geologic time scale
21. when did the temperature of the holocene peak?: 7,000 years ago
22. what is the global average temperature difference between an ice age and
an interglacial?: 6 C
23. how much faster is the average rate of warming over the last century, as
compared to coming out of the last ice age?: 16 times
24. what is the source of the earth's climate?: sun / visible radiation
25. how much energy does the sun provide and what % of it is reflected back
into space by clouds?: 340 W/m^2
30% reflected back by clouds
26. what is the amount of energy radiated by an object determined by and what
is the relationship?: temperature
as temperature increases, energy radiation increases
27. most important rule of the earth's climate: energy reaching earth from the
sun must be equal to the energy the earth radiates back to space
this determines the temperature of the climate system
28. greenhouse gases: gases in the atmosphere that absorb infrared radiation
(heat) and reduce the power of the earth to return energy to space
29. greenhouse effect: as the mass of GHG in our atmosphere increases, more
heat is trapped, which leads to higher temperatures
30. list some non-problematic molecules in the atmosphere: nitrogen, oxygen,
inert gas argon
31. list some problematic molecules in the atmosphere: water vapor, carbon
dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, ozone
32. what is the primary cause of carbon dioxide in the environment and how
has this been scientifically proven?: combustion of fossil fuels
we can tell by the isotopic composition of the atmosphere that the majority of the
CO2 is consistent with the isotopes produced via fossil fuel combustion
33. where does emitted CO2 go?: 1/4 is absorbed by the ocean and leads to
acidification
, GARP SCR EXAM LATEST 2023-2024 ACTUAL EXAM 300+ REAL EXAM QUESTIONS AND CORRECT
ANSWERS(VERIFIED ANSWERS)|ALREADY GRADED A+
1/4 is absorbed by the land biosphere via enhanced plant growth
1/2 stays in the atmosphere
34. prior to the industrial revolution, how much CO2 was in the atmosphere?
how much was there in 2020?: pre-industrial revolution = 280 ppm
2020 = 415 ppm
45% increase
35. global warming potential: heat-trapping power relative to carbon dioxide
36. carbon dioxide GWP and fraction of total greenhouse radiative forcing: 1
56%
atmospheric lifetime of 500 years
37. methane GWP and fraction of total greenhouse radiative forcing: 28
15%
atmospheric lifetime of 12 years
38. nitrous oxide GWP and fraction of total greenhouse radiative forcing: 265
5%
atmospheric lifetime of 121 years
39. halocarbons GWP and fraction of total greenhouse radiative forcing: 100s
to 1000s
11%
demonstrates a much wider variability relative to the other GHGs and would require
more precise data
collection on halocarbon emissions
40. ozone GWP and fraction of total greenhouse radiative forcing: N/A
12%
41. why is ozone so important?: absorbs ultraviolet radiation that, if it reached the
surface, would have deleterious impacts on human and natural ecosystems
contribute to positive radiative forcing (i.e. heat trapping)
42. how do aerosols affect the planetary balance?: act as clouds in a way, as the
molecules are so small that the buoyant forces can be stronger than the force of
gravity
reflect incoming solar radiation back to space, so their net effect is to cool the climate
(negative radiative forcing)
, volcanoes release aerosols such as sulfur
43. water vapor feedback: arises because a warmer atmosphere can hold more
water vapor - thus, an initial warming leads to atmospheric humidity, which leads to
additional warming, which feeds back to increase the humidity
this process has the capacity to double, or even triple, the amount of warming we
get from CO2 alone
44. 4 natural processes that affect the climate: 1 = tectonic processes
2 = output of the sun
3 = orbital variations
4 = unforced variability
45. how can tectonic processes affect climate change?: movement of continents
toward poles can lead to growth of ice sheets that reflect sunlight back into space
this can have a cooling effect over millions of years
46. how can the sun's output affect climate change?: if the sun is getting brighter,
this could explain heating of the earth
but the sun is not getting brighter
47. how can orbital variations affect climate change?: if the earth is moving
closer to the sun, this could explain heating of the earth
while the earth's orbit does change over a period of tens of thousands of years, no
evidence this is causing heating of the earth right now
48. how can unforced variability affect climate change?: this is the complex
internal physics of the climate system
best example = el nino / southern oscillation (ENSO)
49. shared socioeconomic pathways (SSPs): 5 narratives of the future developed
by the integrated assessment modeling consortium
scenarios vary in their economic growth and the amount of climate-safe energy
being deployed, which leads to different amounts of CO2 being emitted each year
50. global climate model: computer model used to predict possible future climate
change based on amount of CO2 emitted
51. SSP1: sustainable world where economies gradually shift to a more environ-
mentally friendly path. Emissions are currently peaking and are expected to decline
through the rest of the century
