SUSTAINABILITY AND CLIMATE RISK GARP SCR EXAM LATEST
ACTUAL EXAM 300 REAL EXAM QUESTIONS AND CORRECT
DETAILED ANSWERS (VERIFIED ANSWERS) |ALREADY GRADED
A+
weather - ANSWER: exact state of the atmosphere at a particular location and time
climate - ANSWER: long-term patterns or trends of meteorological conditions
(usually periods >30 years)
climate change - ANSWER: change in the statistical properties of the climate system
when considered over periods of decades
aka global warming
for how many years do we have observational history of temperature change? -
ANSWER: 150 years
how much has the earth warmed since 1860, according to satellite thermometers? -
ANSWER: 1.1 C
how has the warming that has occurred in the last 150 years been distributed across
the planet? - ANSWER: land has warmed more than ocean; northern hemisphere
warmed more than tropics or southern hemisphere
% of population that lives in the northern hemisphere - ANSWER: 85%
what are two pieces of indirect evidence that our planet is warming? - ANSWER: 1 =
ice on the planet is disappearing
2 = the oceans are warming
% of heat trapped by GHG that goes into heating the oceans - ANSWER: 93%
what are the two causes of rising sea levels? - ANSWER: 1 = melting of grounded ice
2 = water expands when it warms
five ways to extract climate information pre-modern measurements - ANSWER: 1 =
tree rings
2 = corals
3 = speleothems
4 = ice cores
5 = ocean sediment cores
tree rings - ANSWER: reveal climate variations in regions where trees grow and
experience seasons for the last millennium
,corals - ANSWER: analysis of skeletons can yield climate conditions in ocean over
millions of years
speleothems - ANSWER: cave structures can yield estimates of climate in nearby
region over past few 100,000 years
ice cores - ANSWER: measuring chemical composition of ice (mainly in Greenland
and Antarctica) yields estimates of the climate over the past 1M years
ocean sediment cores - ANSWER: analyzing composition of mud at the bottom of the
ocean provides information about the climate covering 10M+ years
what evidence do we have that for millions of years the climate has been generally
cooling? - ANSWER: 50M years ago, there was no permanent ice on the planet
what are the periods of cold and warmer called that the planet cycles through? -
ANSWER: ice ages and interglacials
when did the last ice age end? - ANSWER: 10,000 years ago
holocene - ANSWER: current interglaciation period, extending from 10,000 years ago
to the present on the geologic time scale
when did the temperature of the holocene peak? - ANSWER: 7,000 years ago
what is the global average temperature difference between an ice age and an
interglacial? - ANSWER: 6 C
how much faster is the average rate of warming over the last century, as compared
to coming out of the last ice age? - ANSWER: 16 times
what is the source of the earth's climate? - ANSWER: sun / visible radiation
how much energy does the sun provide and what % of it is reflected back into space
by clouds? - ANSWER: 340 W/m^2
30% reflected back by clouds
what is the amount of energy radiated by an object determined by and what is the
relationship? - ANSWER: temperature
as temperature increases, energy radiation increases
most important rule of the earth's climate - ANSWER: 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
,greenhouse gases - ANSWER: gases in the atmosphere that absorb infrared radiation
(heat) and reduce the power of the earth to return energy to space
greenhouse effect - ANSWER: as the mass of GHG in our atmosphere increases, more
heat is trapped, which leads to higher temperatures
list some non-problematic molecules in the atmosphere - ANSWER: nitrogen,
oxygen, inert gas argon
list some problematic molecules in the atmosphere - ANSWER: water vapor, carbon
dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, ozone
what is the primary cause of carbon dioxide in the environment and how has this
been scientifically proven? - ANSWER: 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
where does emitted CO2 go? - ANSWER: 1/4 is absorbed by the ocean and leads to
acidification
1/4 is absorbed by the land biosphere via enhanced plant growth
1/2 stays in the atmosphere
prior to the industrial revolution, how much CO2 was in the atmosphere? how much
was there in 2020? - ANSWER: pre-industrial revolution = 280 ppm
2020 = 415 ppm
45% increase
global warming potential - ANSWER: heat-trapping power relative to carbon dioxide
carbon dioxide GWP and fraction of total greenhouse radiative forcing - ANSWER: 1
56%
atmospheric lifetime of 500 years
methane GWP and fraction of total greenhouse radiative forcing - ANSWER: 28
15%
atmospheric lifetime of 12 years
nitrous oxide GWP and fraction of total greenhouse radiative forcing - ANSWER: 265
5%
atmospheric lifetime of 121 years
, halocarbons GWP and fraction of total greenhouse radiative forcing - ANSWER: 100s
to 1000s
11%
demonstrates a much wider variability relative to the other GHGs and would require
more precise data
collection on halocarbon emissions
ozone GWP and fraction of total greenhouse radiative forcing - ANSWER: N/A
12%
why is ozone so important? - ANSWER: 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)
how do aerosols affect the planetary balance? - ANSWER: 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
water vapor feedback - ANSWER: 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
4 natural processes that affect the climate - ANSWER: 1 = tectonic processes
2 = output of the sun
3 = orbital variations
4 = unforced variability
how can tectonic processes affect climate change? - ANSWER: 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
how can the sun's output affect climate change? - ANSWER: if the sun is getting
brighter, this could explain heating of the earth
ACTUAL EXAM 300 REAL EXAM QUESTIONS AND CORRECT
DETAILED ANSWERS (VERIFIED ANSWERS) |ALREADY GRADED
A+
weather - ANSWER: exact state of the atmosphere at a particular location and time
climate - ANSWER: long-term patterns or trends of meteorological conditions
(usually periods >30 years)
climate change - ANSWER: change in the statistical properties of the climate system
when considered over periods of decades
aka global warming
for how many years do we have observational history of temperature change? -
ANSWER: 150 years
how much has the earth warmed since 1860, according to satellite thermometers? -
ANSWER: 1.1 C
how has the warming that has occurred in the last 150 years been distributed across
the planet? - ANSWER: land has warmed more than ocean; northern hemisphere
warmed more than tropics or southern hemisphere
% of population that lives in the northern hemisphere - ANSWER: 85%
what are two pieces of indirect evidence that our planet is warming? - ANSWER: 1 =
ice on the planet is disappearing
2 = the oceans are warming
% of heat trapped by GHG that goes into heating the oceans - ANSWER: 93%
what are the two causes of rising sea levels? - ANSWER: 1 = melting of grounded ice
2 = water expands when it warms
five ways to extract climate information pre-modern measurements - ANSWER: 1 =
tree rings
2 = corals
3 = speleothems
4 = ice cores
5 = ocean sediment cores
tree rings - ANSWER: reveal climate variations in regions where trees grow and
experience seasons for the last millennium
,corals - ANSWER: analysis of skeletons can yield climate conditions in ocean over
millions of years
speleothems - ANSWER: cave structures can yield estimates of climate in nearby
region over past few 100,000 years
ice cores - ANSWER: measuring chemical composition of ice (mainly in Greenland
and Antarctica) yields estimates of the climate over the past 1M years
ocean sediment cores - ANSWER: analyzing composition of mud at the bottom of the
ocean provides information about the climate covering 10M+ years
what evidence do we have that for millions of years the climate has been generally
cooling? - ANSWER: 50M years ago, there was no permanent ice on the planet
what are the periods of cold and warmer called that the planet cycles through? -
ANSWER: ice ages and interglacials
when did the last ice age end? - ANSWER: 10,000 years ago
holocene - ANSWER: current interglaciation period, extending from 10,000 years ago
to the present on the geologic time scale
when did the temperature of the holocene peak? - ANSWER: 7,000 years ago
what is the global average temperature difference between an ice age and an
interglacial? - ANSWER: 6 C
how much faster is the average rate of warming over the last century, as compared
to coming out of the last ice age? - ANSWER: 16 times
what is the source of the earth's climate? - ANSWER: sun / visible radiation
how much energy does the sun provide and what % of it is reflected back into space
by clouds? - ANSWER: 340 W/m^2
30% reflected back by clouds
what is the amount of energy radiated by an object determined by and what is the
relationship? - ANSWER: temperature
as temperature increases, energy radiation increases
most important rule of the earth's climate - ANSWER: 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
,greenhouse gases - ANSWER: gases in the atmosphere that absorb infrared radiation
(heat) and reduce the power of the earth to return energy to space
greenhouse effect - ANSWER: as the mass of GHG in our atmosphere increases, more
heat is trapped, which leads to higher temperatures
list some non-problematic molecules in the atmosphere - ANSWER: nitrogen,
oxygen, inert gas argon
list some problematic molecules in the atmosphere - ANSWER: water vapor, carbon
dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, ozone
what is the primary cause of carbon dioxide in the environment and how has this
been scientifically proven? - ANSWER: 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
where does emitted CO2 go? - ANSWER: 1/4 is absorbed by the ocean and leads to
acidification
1/4 is absorbed by the land biosphere via enhanced plant growth
1/2 stays in the atmosphere
prior to the industrial revolution, how much CO2 was in the atmosphere? how much
was there in 2020? - ANSWER: pre-industrial revolution = 280 ppm
2020 = 415 ppm
45% increase
global warming potential - ANSWER: heat-trapping power relative to carbon dioxide
carbon dioxide GWP and fraction of total greenhouse radiative forcing - ANSWER: 1
56%
atmospheric lifetime of 500 years
methane GWP and fraction of total greenhouse radiative forcing - ANSWER: 28
15%
atmospheric lifetime of 12 years
nitrous oxide GWP and fraction of total greenhouse radiative forcing - ANSWER: 265
5%
atmospheric lifetime of 121 years
, halocarbons GWP and fraction of total greenhouse radiative forcing - ANSWER: 100s
to 1000s
11%
demonstrates a much wider variability relative to the other GHGs and would require
more precise data
collection on halocarbon emissions
ozone GWP and fraction of total greenhouse radiative forcing - ANSWER: N/A
12%
why is ozone so important? - ANSWER: 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)
how do aerosols affect the planetary balance? - ANSWER: 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
water vapor feedback - ANSWER: 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
4 natural processes that affect the climate - ANSWER: 1 = tectonic processes
2 = output of the sun
3 = orbital variations
4 = unforced variability
how can tectonic processes affect climate change? - ANSWER: 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
how can the sun's output affect climate change? - ANSWER: if the sun is getting
brighter, this could explain heating of the earth
