Chapter #13 Solutions - Essentials of Meteorology - C Donald Ahrens - 6th Edition

1qr. What methods do scientists use to determine climate conditions that have occurred in the past? Get solution

1qt. Ice cores extracted from Greenland and Antarctica have yielded valuable information on climate changes during the past few hundred thousand years. What do you feel might be some of the limitations in using ice core information to evaluate past climate changes? Get solution

2qr. Explain how the changing climate influenced the formation of the Bering land bridge. Get solution

2qt. When glaciation was at a maximum (about 18,000 years ago), was global precipitation greater or less than at present? Explain your reasoning. Get solution

3qr. How does today’s average global temperature compare with the average temperature during most of the past 1000 years? Get solution

3qt. Consider the following climate change scenario. Warming global temperatures increase saturation vapor pressures over the ocean. As more water evaporates, increasing quantities of water vapor build up in the troposphere. More clouds form as the water vapor condenses. The clouds increase the albedo, resulting in decreased amounts of solar radiation reaching the earth’s surface. Is this scenario plausible? What type(s) of feedback(s) is/are involved? What type of clouds (high or low)? Get solution

4qr. What is the Younger Dryas episode? When did it occur? Get solution

4qt. Are ice ages in the Northern Hemisphere more likely when the tilt of the earth is at a maximum or a minimum? Explain. Get solution

5qr. How does a positive feedback mechanism differ from a negative feedback mechanism? Is the water vapor–greenhouse feedback considered positive or negative? Explain. Get solution

5qt. Are ice ages in the Northern Hemisphere more likely when the sun is closest to the earth during summer or during winter? Explain. Get solution

6qr. How does the theory of plate tectonics explain climate change over periods of millions of years? Get solution

6qt. Get solution

7qr. Describe the Milankovitch theory of climatic change by explaining how each of the three cycles alters the amount of solar energy reaching the earth. Get solution

7qt. Why did periods of glacial advance in the higher latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere tend to occur with colder summers, but not necessarily with colder winters? Get solution

8qr. Get solution

9qr. How do sulfate aerosols in the lower atmosphere affect surface air temperatures during the day? Get solution

10qr. Describe the scenario of nuclear winter. Get solution

11qr. Do volcanic eruptions rich in sulfur tend to warm or cool the earth’s surface? Explain. Get solution

12qr. Explain how variations in the sun’s energy output might influence global climate. Get solution

13qr. Climate models predict that increasing levels of CO2 will cause the mean global surface temperature to rise significantly by the year 2100. What other greenhouse gas must also increase in concentration in order for this condition to occur? Get solution

14qr. Describe some of the natural and human-induced radiative forcing agents and their effect on climate. Get solution

15qr. List five ways natural events can cause climate change. Get solution

16qr. List three ways human (anthropogenic) activities can cause climate change. Get solution

17qr. Describe how clouds influence the climate system. Get solution

18qr. In Fig. 13.18a, p. 419, explain why the actual rise in surface air temperature (gray line) is much greater than the projected rise in temperature due to natural forcing agents. Reference: Figure 13.18a: ... Get solution

19qr. Why do climate scientists now believe that most of the warming experienced during the last 50 years was due to increasing levels of greenhouse gases? Get solution

20qr. List some of the consequences that climate change might have on the atmosphere and its inhabitants. Get solution

21qr. Is CO2 the only greenhouse gas we should be concerned with for climate change? If not, what are the other gases? Get solution