Explain the changes that occur in the carbon cycle and how it relates to long term changes in climate.
What will be an ideal response?
Carbon in the form of carbon dioxide (CO2) is removed from the atmosphere by plants and converted into glucose which is a form of stored energy. Consumers eat plants to use the glucose for their energy needs and thus carbon passes up through the food chain. When a producer or consumer dies, some of the carbon combines with oxygen and re-enters the atmosphere as CO2. CO2 is a greenhouse gas and when we release more CO2 than the atmosphere can hold (mainly through the burning of fossil fuels), the excess CO2 magnifies the natural greenhouse effect. This causes more solar energy to be absorbed and the atmosphere warms.
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A clear, dry atmosphere might transmit what percentage of the incoming solar radiation as direct beam radiation without scattering or absorption?
A) 20% B) 50% C) 80% D) 100%
Sound waves cannot travel in
A) air. B) water. C) steel. D) a vacuum. E) They can travel in all of the above.
Which of the following is an important source area for U.S. folk house types?
A) Lower Chesapeake B) Southern Atlantic C) Northeast D) Upper New York E) Southwest
A wind wave that arrives at the coast on a calm day is best referred to as:
a. an erratic. b. an anomaly. c. an exotic wave. d. swell. e. fetch.