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sustainability quiz
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| How do you define “science”? | Science is a way to investigate the world using observation, experimentation, measurement, and logical reasoning. |
| What are some hallmark traits of science in contrast to other ‘ways of knowing’? | Empirical evidence, testability, and falsification. |
| Be able to contrast ‘hypothesis’ and ‘theory’ in a scientific sense. | A hypothesis is a specific, testable, and falsifiable prediction about the relationship between variables whereas a hypothesis is a broad, well-substantiated explanation of a broad topic that has been repeatedly tested and supported by evidence |
| What is the ‘problem with induction’, as explained by Karl Popper? | no amount of repeated observations can logically prove a general scientific law to be true. |
| Be able to define “falsifiability” and to explain why this is important in science? | If you can not prove a theory wrong then it is not scientific, falsifiability is the ability for a theory to be proven wrong. |
| Be able to list some characteristics of pseudo-science. | Lack of falsification, lack of peer view and confirmation bias. |
| How do we know what the Earth’s surface temperatures were like thousands or even millions of years ago? | We are able to sample ice and use the air pockets inside of them to see what the earth's climate was like long before we could record it. |
| What sorts of different things (‘proxies’) can we measure or observe that provide clues about long-term climate changes? | Ice, micro fossils, angular sand grains, coral, and tree rings. |
| How does the temperature regime of the last ~12,000 years compared to the previous 500 million years? What are some explanations for the differences? | We are in a holoscene which is a rather stable time in earth's climate and much cooler than before. volcanic eruptions or changes in the solar output can explain these things. |
| What process(es) is responsible for the relatively rapid fluctuations in surface temperatures that took place between ~1 million and 12,000 years ago? | The Milankovitch Cycles. |
| Be able to provide a short but robust response to someone who suggests that the warming measured in the last ~150 years is from “natural causes”. What are some specific and independent lines of evidence against this argument? | Many of the possibilities for what is driving climate change are too short lived, long lived or slow to explain what we have observed. |
| What are the primary components of Earth’s atmosphere? | Mostly nitrogen, oxygen, and argon. |
| What are the most common greenhouse gases? | carbon dioxide and methane. |
| Be able to explain “the greenhouse effect”. Understand the different types of electromagnetic energy or radiation that are involved in the greenhouse effect, including how shortwave (light/UV) radiation may pass through the atmosphere. | greenhouse gases allow incoming shortwave solar radiation (visible light and UV) to pass through the atmosphere and warm Earth’s surface, but absorb outgoing longwave infrared radiation emitted by the surface. This is what warms the surface. |
| How long have we understood the greenhouse gas effect? | Since 1859 thanks to John Tyndall. |
| What is the current approximate concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere? | 430 ppm |
| What was the approximate concentration of atmospheric CO2 for thousands of years prior to the industrial revolution? | ~280 ppm |
| What is the approximate rate of addition of CO2 to the atmosphere from anthropogenic sources (in gigatons / billions of tons)? | ~35–42 gigatons (billion metric tons) of CO₂ per year |
| Where has most of the excess heat that has accumulated since the industrial Revolution has been stored? | The oceans. |
| What are some ramifications of global warming? | Increases climate disasters, heat that will make certain places unliveable, and loss of food production. |
| How might these threaten human lives and society? Which threats do you feel are most severe? Can you support your answer with sound reasoning? | Without food humans are under a huge threat. With these disasters many will die or have their homes destroyed. We will fall into chaos. |
| How many people might be displaced from their homes by global warming in the coming decades, according to the Institute for Economics and Peace? | 1.2 billion people. |
| Be able to define a ‘positive feedback cycle’ and a ‘negative feedback cycle’, and to provide examples of both in relation to climate change. | A negative feedback cycle is one that cools down and stabilizes the earth's climate. Positive feedback cycles are the ones that heat up the earth. For example positive feedback cycles can melt ice and release more methane into the atmosphere! |
| What is a ‘tipping point’? Be able to explain several tipping points that climate scientists are concerned about. Which one do you think is the biggest threat? Why? | Tipping points are irreversible changes, some examples are greenlands ice sheet melting, fires in boreal forests, permafrost thawing, and large scale coral reef die-offs. The perma frost thawing will release a huge amount of carbon into the atmosphere. |
| What % of our global or national total energy usage is from renewable + nuclear (non-greenhouse-emitting) energy sources? What is the specific source of most of the energy we utilize? | 9% of our energy is renewable. Most of the energy we use comes from petroleum. |
| What is a ~% of the energy stored in natural gas or coal burned in an electric power plant that is actually delivered to an end-user’s electric outlet? | 2 units. |
| What are some of the countries that have the largest oil reserves? Currently, which country is producing the most oil? Roughly how much of the world’s total does that country’s reserves represent? | The US, Saudi Arabia, and Russia are the top three countries producing oil. But Venezuela has the biggest oil reserves. The United States holds only 44,000 millions of barrels. |
| Is energy production from fossil fuels sustainable, even ignoring greenhouse Gasses? | No, because we will eventually run out of oil. |
| Which country currently emits the most CO2 per year? | China |
| Which country has emitted the largest cumulative total of CO2? | The US |
| What are a couple of proposed ‘geo-engineering’ strategies to combat climate change and what are some of their drawbacks or weaknesses? | Mirrors surrounding the world to reflect light, this is very expensive and not very effective. Bubbles sent into space, not as expensive and a little bit more effective. |
| Be able to explain the (naturally occurring) El Niño – Southern Oscillation (ENSO) in very simple, fundamental terms. | The El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is a natural climate cycle in the tropical Pacific with two phases: El Niño(warmer waters) and La Niña (cooler waters), |
| What is the approximate duration of an El Niño-La Niña cycle? | each lasting about 9–12 months in a 2–7 year cycle. |
| How do these two phases impact weather (moisture & or temperature) here in the Pacific Northwest? In northern Mexico and the southern US? | ENSO affects weather: in the Pacific Northwest, El Niño brings warmer, drier winters and La Niña cooler, wetter winters, while in northern Mexico and the southern US, El Niño brings wetter conditions and La Niña drier conditions. |
Created by:
dovew