Chapter 18 Multiple Choice Questions
Name: ____________________________________________________________
18.4 Multiple-Choice Questions
1) The largest source of anthropogenic greenhouse gases in the United States is ________,
followed by ________.
A) agriculture; transportation
B) electricity generation; agriculture
C) electricity generation; industry
D) electricity generation; transportation
E) agriculture; electricity generation
Answer: D
Diff: 2
Objective: 18.2 Human influences on climate
2) The atmosphere around Earth is warmed because ________.
A) warm air cannot escape, as in a greenhouse
B) molecules in the atmosphere are warmed by radiation from Earth and retain that heat
C) fossil fuels release heat
D) plants absorb CO2
E) plants release CO2
Answer: B
Diff: 2
Objective: 18.1 Factors affecting Earth's climate
3) Earth's climate ________.
A) has been stable over the history of the planet
B) is changing as a result of natural and human processes
C) will stabilize over the next century, according to the predictions of most scientists
D) has been documented to have changed once due to the evolution of green
photosynthesizing plants
E) history is undeterminable because there is no method of studying climatic history of
the planet
Answer: B
Diff: 1
Objective: 18.3 Climate research
4) Of the following greenhouse gases, ________ concentrations have increased the most since
1750.
A) water vapor
B) carbon dioxide
C) nitrous oxide
D) ozone
E) methane
Answer: E
Diff: 3
Objective: 18.3 Climate research
5) Carbon dioxide is ________.
A) the most potent (per molecule of gas) of the greenhouse gases
B) the most abundant greenhouse gas
C) more potent (per molecule of gas) than methane
D) the main anthropogenic greenhouse gas produced in the United States
E) the only greenhouse gas presently increasing in the atmosphere
Answer: D
Diff: 2
Objective: 18.4 Global climate change in present and future
6) Milankovitch cycles ________.
A) refer to shifts in the temperature of surface water in the middle latitudes of the Pacific
Ocean
B) are changes in Earth's rotation and orbit around the sun that may trigger climate
variation
C) describe the timing of the northern lights in the thermosphere
D) describe the transpiration, evaporation, and precipitation of Earth's water
E) describe upwelling and downwelling in the ocean
Answer: B
Diff: 3
Objective: 18.1 Factors affecting Earth's climate
7) The exceptionally strong warming of the eastern Pacific is referred to as ________.
A) the Coriolis effect
B) La Niña
C) El Niño
D) Eastern Pacific Shallow Water Warming
E) Eastern Pacific Deep Water Warming
Answer: C
Diff: 2
Objective: 18.1 Factors affecting Earth's climate
8) The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ________.
A) constructed the Kyoto Protocol
B) performed the research included in the climate change findings
C) is an international panel that concluded that climate change has influenced biomes and
economies
D) fines companies that pollute
E) could not achieve its objectives because of lack of popular support
Answer: C
Diff: 3
Objective: 18.6 Response to climate change
9) Keeling's reports from Mauna Loa demonstrated ________.
A) an increase in CO2 from the 1950s to present
B) that sediments deposited on the seafloor can yield clues about past climates
C) that as distances from cities decreased, CO2 concentrations increased
D) that CO2 levels have been stable over the last 40 years
E) the presence of El Niño
Answer: A
Diff: 3
Objective: 18.3 Climate research
10) Carbon-based fuels from lithospheric reservoirs ________.
A) have formed slowly over many millions of years
B) is readily lost from Earth's surface in the absence of humans
C) is formed from the deposition, partial decay, and compression of inorganic matter
D) cannot be lost to the atmosphere by human processes once stabilized on Earth's surface
E) will be lost before the end of the decade
Answer: A
Diff: 3
Objective: 18.2 Human influences on climate
11) The Kyoto Protocol ________.
A) increased federal funding for controlling greenhouse gas emissions from U.S. power
plants
B) required concessions from all countries involved equally in greenhouse gas emission
C) required increases in nuclear power generation
D) would have resulted in overall increases in greenhouse emissions
E) was intended to reduce emissions of six greenhouse gases to levels lower than those of
1990
Answer: E
Diff: 2
Objective: 18.6 Response to climate change
12) In legislation, the precautionary principle states that ________.
A) caution should be used in handling hazardous wastes
B) lack of full scientific certainty shall not be used to postpone measures to prevent major
environmental degradation
C) alterations to legislation must be done in a way that maximizes environmental
protection at the urging of scientists without recourse from the voting public
D) all alternative sources of energy should be evaluated by the scientific community
before marketing
E) permit trading should be undertaken with caution
Answer: B
Diff: 2
Objective: 18.6 Response to climate change
13) The use of public transportation is ________.
A) higher in the United States compared to Europe
B) increasing rapidly in the face of concerns over climate change
C) subsidized by the U.S. government
D) the best option for decreasing the use of fossil fuels for transportation
E) more expensive than driving a car
Answer: D
Diff: 2
Objective: 18.6 Response to climate change
14) Hydrogen fuel cells, biodiesel, hydrogen fuel cells and long-term electric batteries are
potential solutions to
A) reducing carbon emissions from cars and trucks
B) carbon sequestration
C) cap-and-trade emission control
D) replacing coal as a major fuel for generating electricity
E) cutting back the carbon emissions from hydroelectric plants
Answer: A
Diff: 2
Objective: 18.6 Response to climate change
15) Growing rice results in the release of ________ into the atmosphere.
A) methane
B) nitrous oxides
C) ozone
D) carbon dioxide
E) sulfate aerosols
Answer: A
Diff: 3
Objective: 18.2 Human influences on climate
16) Approximately ________% of the typical American city is devoted to use by cars.
A) 10
B) 20
C) 30
D) 40
E) 50
Answer: C
Diff: 3
Objective: 18.2 Human influences on climate
17) El Niño and La Niña ________.
A) both decrease water temperatures in the eastern Pacific Ocean
B) both increase water temperatures in the eastern Pacific Ocean
C) both increase water temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico
D) occur in precise patterns every 10 years
E) produce changes of opposite direction in global temperature and precipitation patterns
Answer: E
Diff: 2
Objective: 18.1 Factors affecting Earth's climate
18) The greenhouse effect involves warming of Earth's surface and the ________.
A) troposphere
B) mesosphere
C) stratosphere
D) thermosphere
E) ionosphere
Answer: A
Diff: 2
Objective: 18.1 Factors affecting Earth's climate
19) As water warms, it ________.
A) increases in density
B) expands
C) sinks
D) dissolves increased amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere
E) is irreversibly altered
Answer: B
Diff: 3
Objective: 18.4 Global climate change in present and future
20) Hydroelectric power generation ________.
A) produces high quantities of greenhouse gases
B) has no undesirable environmental effects
C) produces pollutants that contribute significantly to acid precipitation
D) uses fuel cells to generate electricity
E) is an alternative to fossil fuels and produces fewer greenhouse gases
Answer: E
Diff: 2
Objective: 18.6 Response to climate change
21) Close to ________% of U.S. land is in coastal areas, thus vulnerable to rises in sea level
A) 5
B) 10
C) 15
D) 20
E) 25
Answer: D
Diff: 3
Objective: 18.4 Global climate change in present and future
22) Close to ________% of the fuel you pump into your automobile does not move your vehicle
down the road.
A) 45
B) 55
C) 65
D) 75
E) 85
Answer: E
Diff: 3
Objective: 18.6 Response to climate change
23) Subsidies for mass transit in the United States ________.
A) come mostly from the federal government
B) increase ridership significantly
C) increase the cost of public transportation
D) are mostly from private corporations
E) do not exist
Answer: B
Diff: 2
Objective: 18.6 Response to climate change
24) Kyoto is to carbon dioxide as Montreal is to ________.
A) nitrous oxide
B) ozone
C) methane
D) chlorofluorocarbons
E) carbon monoxide
Answer: D
Diff: 2
Objective: 18.6 Response to climate change
25) In the wake of the U.S. failure to ratify the Kyoto Protocol ________.
A) many nations have severed diplomatic relations with the U.S.
B) cities and states are setting their own programs for reducing greenhouse gas emissions
C) the U.S. has shown that it is a leader in carbon emission reduction without having
signed the Protocol
D) dozens of other nations pulled out of the Protocol
E) oil exporting nations have refused to sell to the U.S.
Answer: B
Diff: 2
Objective: 18.6 Response to climate change
26) The most recent analyses of polar ice cores have given us the ability to profile global climate
change back as far as ________ years.
A) 750,000
B) 100,000
C) 1000
D) 50,000
E) 300,000,000
Answer: A
Diff: 1
Objective: 18.3 Climate research
27) Recent evidence from polar ice core analysis shows that carbon dioxide levels have never
exceeded ________ ppm in the last several hundred thousand years
A) 500
B) 1000
C) 25
D) 300
E) 200
Answer: D
Diff: 1
Objective: 18.3 Climate research