15
28) Coral bleaching is NOT likely linked to ________.
A) rise in sea level
B) nutrient pollution
C) high water temperature
D) acidification
E) stress because of the combination of some of these factors
29) As a result of climate change temperatures will increase. Which of the following is NOT
true?
A) Sea level will rise because of the melting of ice caps and glaciers.
B) The highest increase in temperature will be around Antarctica.
C) The land will warm up more than the ocean.
D) The largest ecological changes caused by the warming will be in Canada and Russia.
E) Sea level will rise because of thermal expansion.
30) Canada has been awarded the “Dinosaur Award” because ________.
A) there have been many important dinosaur bones findings in Alberta
B) there have been many important fossil findings in Canada
C) of the jokes of Ralph Klein, former premier of Alberta, who said that the climate change 60
million years ago might have been caused by “dinosaur farts”
D) of the fossilized dinosaur bones, discovered in Canada, that indicated that dinosaurs could
have become extinct as result of the dramatic climate change triggered by an asteroid impact
E) it defended interests of fossil fuel industries
31) A glacier increases in volume and extent IF ________.
A) accumulation is larger than sublimation + ablation
B) ablation is larger than sublimation + accumulation
C) sublimation is larger than accumulation + ablation
D) accumulation is larger than sublimation + melting
E) accumulation is larger than melting + ablation
32) Sublimation is to a glacier what ________ is to a lake.
A) evaporation
B) condensation
C) surface tension
D) precipitation
E) tributary
33) In the CO2 record from Mauna Loa we see small wiggles with a duration of one year
superimposed on a general long-term increasing trend. These wiggles are caused by ________.
A) seasons combined with the fact that there is more vegetation in the northern hemisphere
B) seasons combined with the fact that there is more marine uptake of CO2 by algae in the
southern hemisphere because if is dominated by the oceans
C) variable CO2 emissions from nearby volcanoes
D) annual El Niño/La Niña cycle
E) the difference between the amount of solar radiation heating the ocean in summer and winter
combined with the fact that warmer water can hold less CO2
34) As a result of projected human-induced climate change caused by the doubling of CO2,
which of the following region’s current ecological landscape will have the largest percentage
change in plant species?
A) the boreal forests of Canada and Russia
B) the Sahara desert
C) the tropical rainforests of Congo and Brazil
D) Australia
E) the Canadian Arctic Archipelago (the most northern part of the Canadian Arctic)
35) ________ is the Canadian region that will have the highest percentage increase in wildfires
by 2060, according to the Canadian Climate Model (Figure 15.26 in the textbook).
A) The boreal forests of Canada
B) The Prairies
C) The deciduous forests of southern Ontario and southern Quebec
D) The Rocky Mountains
E) The Canadian Arctic Archipelago (the most northern part of the Canadian Arctic)
36) ________ represents a positive feedback loop in regards to global warming.
A) Warming of Earth, causing the evaporation of surface water,
B) Reforestation
C) Controlling development
D) Limiting use of fossil fuels as a source of energy
E) Sequestering carbon dioxide underground
15.5 True/False Questions
1) The greenhouse effect did not exist before humans began to change the Earth’s climate.
2) Fossil fuel use in Canada accounts for most greenhouse gas emissions.
3) Major volcanic eruptions and the aerosols they release contribute to short-term warming of
Earth’s climate.
4) Removal of forests reduces Earth’s ability to absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
5) Earth’s surface absorbs the incoming long-wavelength solar radiation, and emits infrared
radiation back into outer space.
6) Hydroelectric generation presently supplies about 60% of Canadian electricity.
7) The greatest temperature increases from global climate change will be felt at the equator.
15.6 Essay Questions
1) How certain are scientists that humans are causing global climate change? Describe the
language used by scientists and some of the particular climate trends they have identified as
changing. If the scientific community is convinced of the evidence, why is there still debate?
2) Explain how climate change can affect agriculture and forestry.
3) Describe the challenges freshwater ecosystems face because of global climate change. Give an
example from the text.
4) Explain the thermohaline circulation . What is its importance in the context of the climate in
Europe?
5) How can scientists learn about climatic history?
6) Compare mitigation and adaptations: What are they? What are their examples? What are their
strengths and weaknesses?
7) What is geo-engineering? Give examples and explain how they could work. What are the
strengths and weaknesses of relying on geo-engineering solutions?
8) Describe some impacts of climate change on wildlife and people in the Arctic.
9) Has Canada met its international obligations to which it committed by signing the Kyoto
Protocol? Why?
10) How would you answer a climate-change naysayer, who says that since water vapour is the
most abundant greenhouse gas, we should not worry about carbon dioxide, methane, and other
greenhouse gases (GHGs) emitted by people because their impact on climate is much less than
that of water vapour?
15.7 Scenario-Based Questions
Read the following scenario and answer the questions below.
Under the Kyoto Protocol, developed countries promised to cut their greenhouse gas (GHG)
emissions below their respective 1990 emissions by 2102. Canada’s promise was to cut the
GHGs 6% below its 1990 emissions of 592 Mt (of CO2 eq). In the years after signing the Kyoto
Protocol, the Liberal governments talked about Kyoto, but did little to effect the necessary
reductions in our emissions. In 2006, a Conservative government led by Stephen Harper was
elected, and it effectively abandoned the Kyoto target, arguing that it is unreasonable: the
Conservatives criticized Kyoto for not setting targets for China, a country with rapidly increasing
emissions, while setting one for Canada, a country that produces only 2% of global emissions.
The Conservatives also argued that the Kyoto reductions are unfair to Canada, because we are a
large and cold country, and as such, we need to use more energy for transportation and heating
than other countries. By 2008 our emissions were at 734 Mt (of CO2 eq), that is 24% above the
1990 level, in a large part a result of the increased emissions from tar sands and other large
industrial projects. Rather than admitting the failure to live up to our obligations, Canada became
the first country to withdraw from the Kyoto Protocol and encouraged others to follow suit.
During earlier climate talks, Canada has became known for its efforts to block the progress of the
other countries toward a global solution for climate change, opting instead to protect the interests
of the fossil fuel industry. In place of the Kyoto target, the Harper government in 2010 set itself
another target: a 17% reduction from 2005 emissions of 731 Mt (of CO2 eq.) by 2020. In 2012
Environment Commissioner Scott Vaughan reported to the House of Commons that “the
reductions are not happening fast enough to meet the 2020 target.”
1) Which of the following is NOT true about the Stephen Harper government’s greenhouse
emissions plan?
A) Under this plan we will emit in 2020 more than we emitted in 1990.
B) The plan will deliver smaller reductions than promised under Kyoto.
C) Canada pulls its weight, because the new targets are in line with the commitments of other
industrialized countries.
D) The plan will take a longer period to achieve less than what was set out in the Kyoto
obligations.
E) The government is not likely to meet even its reduced and delayed target.
2) Has the Kyoto Protocol accounted for the fact that Canada is a large and cold country?
A) Yes, because under the Protocol the reduction target of each country is based on the 1990
emissions of that country, and in 1990 Canada’s emissions were already higher because of
Canada’s large distances and climate.
B) Yes, because Canada’s per capita target is equal to the per capita target of smaller and warmer
countries.
C) No, because Canada’s targets should have allowed more emissions to compensate for the fact
that we need to use more fossil fuels in transportation.
D) No, because Canada’s targets should have allowed more emissions to compensate for the fact
that we need to burn more fossil fuels to keep warm in winter.
E) No, because Canada’s targets should have allowed more emissions to compensate for the fact
that we need to use more fossil fuels for transportation and to keep warm in winter.
3) Which of the following possible explanations for why Canada has an emission reduction
target under the Kyoto Protocol, but China does not, is NOT true?
A) Even though Canadians are responsible “only for 2% of global emissions,” they make up 1%
of the global population.
B) Most of the excess CO2 currently in the atmosphere has been put there by industrialized
countries such as Canada, not by developing countries such as China.
C) Industrialized countries have grown rich on the fossil fuel economy in the last two centuries,
so they are in a better position to afford the costs necessary to cut the emissions than the
developing countries.
D) Industrialized countries have better technology, so they are in a better position to cut their
emissions.
E) Since industrialized countries are mostly responsible for the problem, they should lead by
example.
Read the following scenario and answer the questions below.
Meanwhile, the United States, a country that emits one-fifth of Earth’s greenhouse gases, failed
to even ratify the Kyoto Protocol. In its place there were revisions to the 1970 Clean Air Act,
called the “Clear Skies Initiative,” which limits emissions of mercury, nitric oxides, and sulphur
oxides from power plants. Nicknamed by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., as the “Clear Lies Initiative,”
this proposal did not specifically address emission of carbon dioxide, and did not impose targets
on main fossil fuel industries with a lot of political influence: the petroleum, coal, and
automobile companies. Environmentalists are arguing for immediate action, including stricter
laws to limit power plant carbon dioxide emissions and subsidies for renewable energy. They
favour “portfolio standards,” requiring electric companies (which produce most of the
greenhouse gases in the United States) to provide clean energy alternatives to consumers and
“green tags,” “wind certificates,” and “green pricing” to support the use of alternative fuels.
4) The United States should enact laws slowing global climate change because ________.
A) it is the most populous nation on Earth
B) its industry supports the legislation
C) it is the major source of the problem
D) global climate change effects are most significant there
E) no other nations have initiated efforts to slow global climate change
5) Environmentalists advocate immediate intervention regarding global climate change because
________.
A) they are concerned about the global economic losses sustained because of global climate
change
B) they favour the precautionary principle
C) most are cornucopians
D) most live in areas most affected by global climate change
E) they favour anthropogenic principles
6) One factor contributing to U.S. resistance to legal intervention regarding global climate
change is ________.
A) lack of scientific evidence supporting global climate change
B) political influence of the petroleum, coal, and automobile industries
C) the success of voluntary reductions of carbon dioxide emissions by U.S. power plants
D) lack of support from other developed nations around the world
E) the precautionary principle
7) Why do environmentalists and scientists advocate immediate action, including stricter laws to
limit carbon dioxide emissions from petroleum, coal, and automobile industries?
A) No laws currently exist to regulate the environmental impacts of these industries.
B) Environmentalists do not want to anger farmers, even though agriculture produces the most
carbon dioxide.
C) These industries do not have labour unions that oppose legal restrictions.
D) These industries export goods to all other nations on Earth.
E) These industries produce the most greenhouse gases.
8) The Clear Skies Initiative may have helped somewhat with the problem of global climate
change because it would have ________.
A) prohibited importation of goods from nations that pollute
B) permitted the purchase of “wind certificates”
C) required reduced nitrogen oxide emissions
D) provided subsidies for renewable energy
E) required reduced carbon dioxide emissions
9) Portfolio standards ________.
A) are opposed by most environmentalists, including Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
B) require government subsidies to be effective
C) hinder economic development
D) usually result in less–reliable electricity generation
E) support alternative energy use