Transcript I’m here because - Columbia University

I’m here because
A. Easy way to satisfy science requirement
B. Concerned about climate change
C. I’m going to get rich trading energy
D. Debunk the professor
E. Other / Stupid question
If the frequency is high,
the wavelength is
A.High
B.Low
C.Long
D.Short
The frequency of
long-wavelength light is
A.Low
B.High
C.Long
D.Short
The units of l are
A.cm
B.1/cm
C.seconds
D.1/seconds
The units of n are
A.cm
B.1/cm
C.seconds
D.1/seconds
Which is a correct calculation
of frequency?
A.
B.
C.
D.
l (cm/cycle) * c (cm/sec)
l (cm/cycle) * 1/c (sec/cm)
1/ l (cycles/cm) * c (cm/sec)
1/ l (cycles/cm) * 1/c (sec/cm)
My opinion about climate
change
A. Scared witless
B. Inclined to be concerned
C. I don’t know enough to have a strong opinion
D. Inclined to think things will turn out OK on their own
E. I think it’s probably bunk
Which of the following is a
lousy blackbody?
A. Water Vapor
B. Liquid Water
C. Snow
D. Ice
Which of the following is has a
high albedo?
A. Water Vapor
B. Liquid Water
C. Snow
D. Ice
L ( 1-albedo ) / 4 = e s T4
Which of the following climate forcings could be
represented in this model?
A. Trees
B. Clouds
D. Greenhouse gases
C. Sunspots
E. Rabbits
A piano with strings missing is
an analogy for
A. Something with high albedo
B. A lousy blackbody
C. The energy balance of the Earth
A sink with water flowing
through is an analogy for
A. Something with high albedo
B. A blackbody
C. Energy balance of the Earth
Ultraviolet Catastrophe was a
clue to
A. The greenhouse effect
B. Chunky energy and ghostly electrons
C. Sunlight variation over the sunspot cycle
Which factors determine whether
a gas is a blackbody?
A.
B.
C.
D.
The electron orbital energy levels
The vibrational frequency of the bonds
The electric field generated by vibration
Its concentration
Which gas would you suspect
of being a greenhouse gas?
A. Freon
B. Krypton
C. Iodine
C Cl2 F2
Kr (kills Superman)
I2 (brown color)
Which of these is a
pretty good blackbody?
A. Atmospheric CO2
B. Atmospheric O2
C. A cloud
Which of these is not a
blackbody?
A. Atmospheric CO2
B. Atmospheric O2
C. A cloud
Which of these is a
lousy blackbody?
A. Atmospheric CO2
B. Atmospheric O2
C. A cloud
Do you think the world is
A. Warming due to humans
B. Warming, but not due to humans
C. Not warming at all
Would you support or oppose
an increase in petrol taxes to
reduce global warming
A.Support
B.Oppose
Would you support or oppose
an increase in airline fares to
reduce global warming
A.Support
B.Oppose
Would you support or oppose
an increase in taxes to
subsidize clean energy
A.Support
B.Oppose
We compared the pane of glass to a piece of
cucumber in the drain of a sink. CO2 in the
air would be like
A.
B.
C.
D.
A grape (smaller than cucumber)
A porous hairball in the drain
Obstruction of one drain out of many
Turning up the faucet
Which is a more powerful
greenhouse gas,
per molecule
A. CO2
B. CH4
C. H2O
D. O2
Which is a more powerful
greenhouse gas,
overall
A. CO2
B. CH4
C. H2O
D. O2
A liter of Freon is equivalent to how much
gasoline, in terms of greenhouse forcing
A. A liter
B. A gallon
C. A barrel
D. A ton
What can absorb IR in the
atmospheric window?
A. CO2
B. CH4
C. Freons
D. Clouds
E. Nothing
Why are trace gases like CH4 and Freons
such powerful greenhouse gases?
A. They have more absorption bands
B. Their absorption “bites” are shallow
C. Their absorption “bites” are wide
D. Their absorption “bites” are strong
An airplane compresses ambient upperatmosphere air to 1 atmosphere for the comfort
of its passengers. If the is not heated or chilled,
will the cabin temperature be
A. Warmer than the ground temperature
B. Cooler than the ground temperature
C. The same as the ground temperature
Which assumptions from the layer model did we
not challenge today?
A.
B.
C.
D.
The atmosphere is a blackbody
Radiation is the only way to carry heat
The Earth is all the same temperature
The energy input is constant in time and
uniform in space.
An “averaged” model for climate
will be biased because
A. It neglects heat transport
B. Nonlinear effects
C. It doesn’t have the coriolis effect
The seasons are caused by
A. The distance from the Earth to the sun
B. The length of day
C. The angle of the Earth’ rotation to the sun
Water spirals down the drain in the
opposite direction in the
Southern Hemisphere
A. I want to believe
B. I don’t buy it
Which involves a negative feedback
A. Supply and demand sets the price
of beans
B. Speculation and the housing
price bubble
“… anyway, water vapor is a stronger
greenhouse gas than CO2, so why worry
about CO2?
A. Yep, you’re right, let’s forget about global warming
and go home.
B. No it isn’t. CO2 is stronger.
C. But water vapor can’t change, because its concentration
is set by rainfall, not by people with their lawn sprinklers
(a negative feedback)
D. But you get more water vapor in a warmer atmosphere,
amplifying the warming from CO2 (a positive feedback).
A runaway greenhouse effect on Earth
A. Could never possibly happen because it would
rain first
B. Doesn’t happen today because the high latitudes
act as cooling fins
C. Could not happen because the oceans would
run out of water
D. Would be no big deal
The weathering thermostat is
A. A positive feedback
B. A negative feedback
I-Clickers
A. I think these are useful and helpful
B. They are a waste of valuable lecture time
C. Anyway I didn’t bring my I-clicker to class today
I-Clickers
A. I preferred paying $35 for my own I-clicker
B. I prefer now borrowing it for free
Mountain uplift
A. Accelerates chemical weathering, thereby warming
the climate
B. Accelerates weathering, cooling the climate
C. Impedes weathering, warming the climate
D. Impedes weathering, cooling the climate
The weathering thermostat on Venus
is broken because
A. No degassing
B. No weathering
C. No carbon
D. No oxygen
E. No water
The weathering thermostat on Mars
is broken because
A. No degassing
B. No weathering
C. No carbon
D. No oxygen
E. No water
Will determine
the long-term future of climate
A. Coal
B. Oil
C. Gas
Releases the most CO2 per Watt
A. Coal
B. Oil
C. Gas
Used for transportation
A. Coal
B. Oil
C. Gas
Used primarily for electricity
A. Coal
B. Oil
C. Gas
Responsible for most CO2 emissions
A. Transportation
B. Industry
C. Residential
D. Commercial
E. They’re all about the same
“Bad” Ozone
A. Stratosphere
B. Troposphere
The impact of a new source of CH4
to the atmosphere
A. The concentration in the air would
rise to a new plateau.
B. The concentration in the air would
keep rising until the source stopped.
The concentration of methane in the air
today is
A. 10% higher than natural
B. Twice as high as natural
C. 10 times higher than natural
The concentration of methane in the air
today is
A. Rising rapidly
B. Falling
C. Remaining steady
The natural carbon cycle is
A. Amplifying
B. Moderating
human-caused CO2 rise
Plants grow
A. Better
B. Worse
C. No differently
in higher CO2 air
The fossil fuel CO2 that isn’t in the
atmosphere is going
A. Mostly into the land surface
B. Mostly into the ocean
C. About half in each
The ingredient of seawater that CO2
reacts with is
A. H2CO3
B. HCO3C. CO32-
As CO2 dissolves in seawater, the buffer
capacity becomes
A. Weaker
B. Stronger
C. Unchanged
Approximately how has the Earth’s
average surface temperature changed
since 1950
A. 1 °C colder
B. About the same
C. 1 °C warmer
D. 3 °C warmer
E. 5 °C warmer
Volcanic eruptions
A. Warm
B. Cool
the surface of the Earth
The urban heat island effect
A. An urban legend
B. Real but insignificant to the global average
C. Significantly contributes to global warming
Global warming so far
A. Has yet to be detected
B. Is real but negligible
C. Is already a disaster
Raise Earth’s temperature 1 °C.
Would you get a bigger change
in IR energy flux to space
A. with
B. without
positive feedbacks such as the
water vapor feedback?
Which scenario restores the
energy balance fastest,
A. with
B. without
positive feedbacks such as the
water vapor feedback?
Which ultimately gets warmer?
A. with
B. without
positive feedbacks such as the
water vapor feedback?
Which would you consider a reasonable
“danger limit” temperature change?
A. 1 °C
B. 2 °C
C. 3 °C
D. 4 °C
E. 5 °C
What kind of offsets shall we buy?
A. Renewable energy
B. Energy efficiency
C. Reforestation
D. Basket
E. General Support