56) Imagine a profile of soil going to a depth of approximately 10 ft. On a sunny day, the soil at
a depth of 5ft will be ________ the soil at the surface because ________.
A) warmer; soil is a good conductor of heat
B) cooler; land is opaque preventing heating at depths
C) warmer; geothermal processes heat the deeper soils
D) cooler; plate movement mixes the soils and dissipates the heat
57) On average, the illuminated zone in oceans is to a depth of ________, but in some oceans
may be as deep as ________.
A) 20 m (66 ft); 30 m (100 ft)
B) 100 m (330 ft); 500 m (1,640 ft)
C) 60 m (200 ft); 300 m (1,000 ft)
D) 30 m (100 ft); 900 m (3,000 ft)
58) The land surface cools off more rapidly at night than water does because
A) the energy is stored in a shallow layer near the surface of the land, and so it can be radiated
away faster.
B) the amount of energy stored in the water column is less than that stored in land.
C) heat is transferred to deeper depths on land via conduction.
D) There is more ocean than land, so more ocean is being heated than land.
59) ________ refers to the greater range between maximum and minimum temperatures that
occurs in inland areas distant from large bodies of water.
A) The maritime effect
B) Specific heat
C) Heat dome
D) Continentality
60) Both City A and City B are located at the same latitude and the same amount of cloud cover.
City A has a mean annual temperature of 27°C and a temperature range of 22°C. City B has a
mean annual temperature of 26°C and a temperature range of 14°C. Which city is located in the
interior of the continent?
A) City A
B) City B
C) Both City A and B are located in the interior
D) Neither City A or B are located in the interior
61) The region with the highest average ocean temperatures in the world are
A) in the Western Pacific Warm Pool in the southwestern Pacific Ocean.
B) along the Gulf Stream in the North Atlantic.
C) east of the Humboldt Current long South America’s Pacific Coast.
D) near the Benguela Current in the South Atlantic.
62) If the Gulf Stream shifted away from Iceland and England, winter temperatures in these
locations would
A) become cooler, thereby decreasing the average winter temperature.
B) become warmer, thereby increasing the average winter temperature.
C) remain the same.
D) It is impossible to say what would happen to the winter temperatures.
63)
San Francisco, CA and Wichita, KS are located at approximately the same latitude. Which of the
following is true?
A) San Francisco experiences several months with average temperatures below the freezing
point.
B) Annual temperature ranges in Wichita are greater than those in San Francisco.
C) Summer temperatures in San Francisco far exceed those of Wichita.
D) Minimum average temperatures in Wichita are consistently lowers than those in San
Francisco.
E) On average, December temperatures in San Francisco tend to be lower than those in Wichita.
64)
In January, the thermal equator
A) trends southward into the interior of South America and Africa.
B) trends northward over all ocean basins.
C) peaks in the interior of Eurasia.
D) is not influenced by continentality.
65) Which of the following is true?
A) Northern Hemisphere temperatures are more strongly dominated by continentality than are
Southern Hemisphere temperatures.
B) Southern Hemisphere temperatures are more strongly dominated by continentality than are
Northern Hemisphere temperatures.
C) The Northern and Southern hemispheres are dominated equally by maritime influences.
D) The Northern and Southern hemispheres are dominated equally by continentality.
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66)
Which is true for global annual temperature ranges?
A) The lowest ranges occur over continental interiors in the Northern Hemisphere.
B) The greatest ranges occur in the subtropics over the oceans.
C) The greatest ranges occur over the continental masses in the Southern Hemisphere.
D) The greatest ranges occur in east central Siberia in Russia.
67) ________ is a prolonged period of abnormally high temperatures, usually in association with
humid weather.
A) A temperature anomaly
B) Sensible heat
C) Apparent temperature
D) A heat wave
68) As reported by the National Weather Service, the heat index
A) relates temperature and relative humidity.
B) combines air pressure and temperature in a comfort index.
C) gives you an indication of the effect of wind on the skin.
D) is generally reported during critical winter months.
69) Global temperatures are
A) rising at a rate of 0.17 C° (0.3 F° ) per decade.
B) higher than any time in the last 800,000 years.
C) increasing at a decreasing rate.
D) increasing by 3% per year.
70) Global average air temperatures worldwide
A) have appeared to stabilize after a century of increase.
B) are at present demonstrating no apparent trend one way or another.
C) are being influenced by human-induced changes in the greenhouse effect.
D) are generally lower than 20 years ago.
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71)
Based on the maps, which of the following is true?
A) The 1970s had the greatest degree of temperature anomalies.
B) The greatest temperature anomalies of the 1980s accorded in the North Atlantic Ocean.
C) There were no significant temperature anomalies in the 1990s.
D) The 2000s showed widespread temperature anomalies worldwide.
72) According to the U.S. National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences,
which of the following is not a predicted outcome for each Celsius degree increase in global
temperature?
A) 5% to 15% increase in crop yields (as currently grown)
B) 3% to 10% increase in rainfall during heaviest precipitation events
C) 25% decrease in Arctic summer sea ice
D) 200% to 400% increase in area burned by wildfire
73) Which of the following is true regarding climate change?
A) Climates have varied over the last 2 millions years and are, in essence, always changing.
B) Few professional scientific organizations support actions to mitigate climate change.
C) There is no scientific consensus on human-forced climate patterns.
D) The current witnessed climatic changes are within this natural climatic variability.
74) Which of the following is not true about heat stress?
A) Heat stress poses little threat to human health.
B) Heat stress can lead to potentially life-threatening conditions.
C) Heat stress can results in cramps, exhaustion, and even heat stroke.
D) The National Weather Service reports a heat index to gauge the human body’s probable
reaction to the combined effects of temperature and relative humidity.
75) To date, the warmest summer on record in the U.S. occurred in
A) 1974.
B) 1838.
C) 2012
D) 2001.
5.2 True/False Questions
1) On cold, windy days, the air feels cooler due to evaporative heat loss from skin.
2) Present carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere are higher now than any time in the last
800,000 years.
3) The flow of temperature into an object raises its heat.
4) Temperature is a measure of the average kinetic energy of the gas, liquid, or solid molecules.
5) Official temperature measurements are made in dark-colored, sealed boxes placed at ground-
level in direct sunlight.
6) Air temperature is an indication of the average kinetic energy of individual molecules within
the atmosphere.
7) Water has more than one freezing point.
8) Ice has only one melting point, but water has many freezing points depending on the purity
and volume of water and certain atmospheric conditions.
9) Daily mean temperature is factored in one of two ways: either the average of hourly
temperature readings taken over a 24-hour day or the average of the daily minimum-maximum
reading.
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10) Monthly mean temperatures are made by taking the average of the highest and lowest
temperatures of the month.
11) Annual mean temperatures are rarely taken and have little utility to scientists.
12) Temperatures are usually quite uniform and unchanging with altitude.
13) Snow line elevation increases with increasing latitude.
14) At low latitudes, permanent snow fields and glaciers are virtually non-existent, even in
mountainous areas.
15) The normal lapse rate of temperature change is 6.4°C/1000 m (3.5°/1000 ft).