Weather and Climate
Fall 2008
Exam 3 (Final Exam) Study Guide
This will not be a cumulative exam. It will cover Chapters 9, 10, the Six Degrees Could Change
the World, Little Ice Age: The Big Chill, An Inconvenient Truth, and A Convenient Truth: Urban
Solutions from Curitiba, Brazil movies. This last exam will be in the same format as the last two.
I.
Identify the following terms:
a. Weather
b. Climate
c. A climate types
d. B climate types
e. C climate types
f. D climate types
g. E climate types
h. H climate types
i. Atacama Desert
j. Greenhouse gases
k. Fossil fuel
l. Ice shelf
m. Milankovitch Cycle
n. Carbon Cycle
o. Proxy data
p. Palynology
q. Dendrochronology
r. Carbon sequestration
s. Photosynthesis
t. Ecosystem
u. Ecology
v. Biogeography
w. Paleoclimatology
x. Community
y. Habitat
z. Niche
aa. Competitive exclusion principle
bb. Limiting factor
cc. Plant succession
dd. Riparian zone
ee. deforestation
ff. overgrazing
gg. biome
hh. ecotone
ii. Tropical Rainforest
jj. Tropical Deciduous Forest and Scrub Forest
kk. Midlatitude Deciduous Forest
ll. Mediterranean Woodland and Shrub Forest
mm.
Chaparral
nn. Midlatitude Coniferous Forest
oo. Boreal Forest
pp. Tropical Savanna Biome
qq. Xerophyte
rr. Midlatitude Grassland Biome
ss. Desert Biome
tt. Phreatophytes
uu. Ephemerals
vv. Succulents
ww.
Halophytes
xx. Desertification
yy. Tundra Biome
II.
Short answer:
a. What are the 5 variables that influence climate?
b. In the Koppen climate classification system, what do the primary, secondary, and
tertiary letters of the system describe?
c. What is the climate classification of Carrollton, Georgia?
d. Where are the 3 areas you can find B (or arid) climates?
e. Why would C climate types have the most weather variability?
f. What are the 3 climates you can find in the southeastern US? Exactly where do
you find them in the southeast?
g. Where do you find D climate types in the Southern Hemisphere?
h. What are the 2 reasons why the Atacama Desert in South America is the driest
place on Earth.
i. Explain why areas near cool or cold ocean currents do not have high rates of
convection. What type of pressure is associated with these areas?
j. Name and give the locations of the 2 types of tundra.
k. What types of vegetation grow in the following climate types:
i. ET
ii. EF
iii. Af
iv. Dfc
v. Csa
vi. Cfa
l. What are 3 natural causes of climate change?
m. Describe the 3 cycles that make up the Milankovitch Cycle.
n. Name 2 sources of carbon dioxide and methane.
o. Give one reason why there is no such thing as ‘clean-burning coal-fired power
plants’.
p. Explain how ice cores can give information on the composition of past
atmospheres.
q.
r.
s.
t.
u.
v.
How do volcanoes impact weather?
What is the relationship between sunspots and Earth’s temperature?
Name 2 areas that will be adversely impacted by sea level rise.
How will increased precipitation impact Arctic/Antarctic areas?
Name and describe 3 types of proxy data.
How do changes in pollen found in lake bottoms give information on climate
change?
w. Name and describe the 2 types of symbiotic relationships
x. Name one pro and one con of each of the following energy sources:
i. Solar energy
ii. Coal energy
iii. Nuclear energy
iv. Corn-based ethanol
v. Wind energy
vi. hydropower
y. How does carbon sequestration work? Why is it dangerous?
z. How do slope, vertical zonation, and aspect impact the types of vegetation found
in an area?
aa. What are some adaptations that plants in the Mediterranean Shrublands have to
repeated fires?
bb. Why does southern California burn so often?
cc. What are some causes of desertification?
dd. What would the primary difference between Cfa and Cwa climates be?
III.

Illustrations:
a. Illustrate the Carbon Cycle. Include the following in your illustration: atmosphere,
ocean, biosphere, fossil fuels, illustrate 3 ways (transfers) the carbon is moved
from one reservoir to another.
Add the question sheets from the Six Degrees Could Change the World, Little Ice Age:
The Big Chill, An Inconvenient Truth, and A Convenient Truth: Urban Solutions from
Curitiba, Brazil movies