Exam 14: Earths Climates: Past, present, future

The study of paleoclimatology includes analysis of past surface temperatures.

A general circulation model is a computer model of the climate system,linking processes in the atmosphere,hydrosphere,biosphere,and geosphere.

Obliquity (Earth's tilt)has a period of approximately _____.

Global climate change is a new phenomenon.

Discuss the differences between negative and positive feedbacks.

What is the difference between a reservoir and a sink?

The Medieval Warm Period was an episode of mild climate during the Middle Ages.

What are the important greenhouse gases,both naturally occurring and anthropogenic?

The radiative balance between incoming and outgoing energy is moderated by the _____.

Ancient temperatures are best extrapolated by comparing isotopes of _____ gas.

The most probable cause of anthropogenic warming in the foreseeable future is the increase in _____.

Paleoclimate evidence indicates that around 50 glaciations occurred during the Pleistocene Epoch.

During the last glaciations,in midlatitude coastal regions,temperatures on land were generally reduced by about 10 to 12°C.

_____ is the astronomical motion considered by Milankovitch as most related to the seasons.

The _____ is the realm of human activity.

Earth emerged from the last ice age about 10,000 years ago.

_____ kinds of orbital change combine to affect Earth's climate.

The precise linkage between global climate change and human activity is NOT accurately measurable.

How is ice core data used as a climate proxy?

In the case of global climate change reporting,the term very likely indicates a probability of _____ or greater.