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    Earth Science worksheet
    Topic: The Greenhouse Effect

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    The Greenhouse Effect
    1

    Which event is inferred by most scientists to be responsible for a climate change that has recently led to a decrease in the size of most glaciers?

    (1) a decrease in the rate of divergence of lithospheric plates along a mid-ocean ridge

    (2) a decrease in the amount of insolation reaching Earth’s surface

    (3) an increase in the amount of greenhouse gases in Earth’s atmosphere

    (4) an increase in the amount of vegetative cover in the tropics

    2

    Which gas is considered a major greenhouse gas?

    (1) methane

    (2) hydrogen

    (3) oxygen

    (4) nitrogen

    3

    Which gas is a greenhouse gas that has increased in Earth’s atmosphere partly as a result of deforestation over the last 100 years?

    (1) ozone

    (2) oxygen

    (3) nitrogen

    (4) carbon dioxide

    4

    Most of the infrared radiation given off by Earth’s surface is absorbed in Earth’s atmosphere by greenhouse gases such as water vapor, carbon dioxide, and

    (1) hydrogen

    (2) nitrogen

    (3) oxygen

    (4) methane

    5

    Which diagram best represents how greenhouse gases in our atmosphere trap heat energy?

    climate, climate-alterd-by-natural-events-and-human-influences, insolation-and-the-seasons, the-greenhouse-effect, standard-6-interconnectedness, models fig: esci82015-exam_g7.png

    (1) 1

    (2) 2

    (3) 3

    (4) 4

    6

    Which list contains three major greenhouse gases found in Earth’s atmosphere?

    (1) carbon dioxide, methane, and water vapor

    (2) carbon dioxide, oxygen, and nitrogen

    (3) hydrogen, oxygen, and methane

    (4) hydrogen, water vapor, and nitrogen

    7

    In addition to carbon dioxide, two other major greenhouse gases in Earth’s atmosphere are

    (1) oxygen and nitrogen

    (2) oxygen and methane

    (3) water vapor and nitrogen

    (4) water vapor and methane

    Base your answers to questions 8 on the data table below, which shows the average carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations in Earth’s atmosphere for specific years from 1930 to 2010. Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas in Earth’s atmosphere that contributes to global warming. The average carbon dioxide concentrations were measured in parts per million (ppm).

    climate, climate-alterd-by-natural-events-and-human-influences, standard-1-math-and-science-inquery, eccentricity-rate-gradient-standard-error fig: esci12013-exam_g42.png

    8

    Identify one greenhouse gas, other than carbon dioxide, that contributes to global warming. [1]

    Allow 1 credit. Acceptable responses include, but are not limited to:

    • — methane or CH4

    • — water vapor or H2O

    • — nitrous oxide or N2O

    • — ozone or O3

    • — chlorofluorocarbons/CFCs

    Base your answers to questions 9 on the data table below and on your knowledge of Earth science. The data table shows the average level of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2), measured in parts per million (ppm), for the month of February at the Mauna Loa observatory in Hawaii from 2008 to 2014.

    climate, climate-alterd-by-natural-events-and-human-influences, standard-1-math-and-science-inquery, eccentricity-rate-gradient-standard-error fig: esci12017-examw_g34.png

    9

    Identify one major greenhouse gas, other than carbon dioxide. [1]

    Allow 1 credit. Acceptable responses include, but are not limited to:

    • — water vapor/H2O

    • — methane/CH4

    • — nitrous oxide/N2O/NxO

    • — ozone/O3

    • — chlorofluorocarbons/CFCs

    Base your answers to questions 10 on the map and passage below and on your knowledge of Earth science. The map shows isolines that represent the thickness of a portion of the Greenland Ice Sheet in meters (m). Letters A and B represent points on the ice sheet’s surface.

    maps-and-measurement, topographic-maps, standard-1-math-and-science-inquery, eccentricity-rate-gradient-standard-error, standard-6-interconnectedness, models fig: esci12018-examw_g51.png

    Greenland Ice Sheet

    The Greenland Ice Sheet is a vast body of ice covering roughly 80 percent of the surface of Greenland. The ice sheet is almost 2400 kilometers long in a north-south direction. The ice sheet, consisting of layers of snow compressed over more than 100,000 years, contains a valuable record about Earth’s past climates. The ice sheet glaciers continue to flow seaward and deposit sediment, but global warming has affected them. Warmer air temperatures have caused increased melting, resulting in a thinning of the ice sheet and faster glacial movement at the ice sheet edges.

    10

    Identify two major greenhouse gases that are inferred to contribute to global warming and increased temperatures in Greenland. [1]

    and _________________________________________

    Allow 1 credit if both gases are correct. Acceptable responses include, but are not limited to:

    • — carbon dioxide or CO2

    • — methane or CH4

    • — water vapor or H2O(g)

    • — ozone or O3

    • — nitrous oxide or N2O

    • — chlorofluorocarbons/CFCs

    Base your answers to questions 11 on the data table below and on your knowledge of Earth science. The data table shows how the destruction of the ozone layer in Earth’s atmosphere has affected the amount of ultraviolet radiation reaching Earth’s surface beneath the areas of ozone destruction.

    insolation-and-the-seasons, variations-of-insolation, standard-1-math-and-science-inquery, eccentricity-rate-gradient-standard-error fig: esci12019-examw_g49.png

    11

    Ozone closer to Earth’s surface has been identified as a greenhouse gas. Identify two other gases in Earth’s atmosphere that are considered major greenhouse gases. [1]

    __________________________________ and __________________________________

    Allow 1 credit for two correct responses. Acceptable responses include, but are not limited to:

    • — carbon dioxide/CO2

    • — water vapor/H2O

    • — methane/CH4

    • — nitrous oxide/N2O

    • — chlorofluorocarbons/CFC

    Base your answers to questions 12 on the diagram below and on your knowledge of Earth science. The diagram represents the formation of coal and other fossil fuels in the environment.

    geologic-history, reference-tables, earth-history, earth-history, geologic-time-units-and-the-events, standard-1-math-and-science-inquery, changing-length-of-a-shadow-based-on-the-motion-of-the-sun, standard-6-interconnectedness, models fig: esci12020-examw_g35.png

    12

    The burning of fossil fuels, represented in D, produces the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO2), which is associated with air pollution and global warming. Other than CO2, identify one other major greenhouse gas. [1]

    Allow 1 credit. Acceptable responses include, but are not limited to:

    • — CH4/methane

    • — H2O gas/water vapor

    • — N2O/nitrous oxide

    • — O3/ozone

    • — CFCs/chlorofluorocarbons

    Base your answers to questions 13 on the data table below and on your knowledge of Earth science. The table shows the area, in million square kilometers, of the Arctic Ocean covered by ice from June through November. The average area covered by ice from 1979 to 2000 from June to November is compared to the area covered by ice in 2005 for the same time period.

    meteorology, presentation-of-weather-data, standard-1-math-and-science-inquery, eccentricity-rate-gradient-standard-error fig: esci62013-examw_g53.png

    13

    Identify one greenhouse gas that is believed to cause global warming. [1]

    Allow 1 credit. Acceptable responses include, but are not limited to:

    • — carbon dioxide or CO2

    • — methane or CH4

    • — water vapor or H2O gas

    • — nitrous oxide or N2O

    • — ozone or O3

    • — chlorofluorocarbons or CFCs

    Base your answers to questions 14 on the table below and on your knowledge of Earth science. The table lists the average surface temperature, in kelvins, and the average orbital velocity, in kilometers per second, of each planet of our solar system.

    seasons-and-astronomy, the-solar-system, standard-1-math-and-science-inquery, eccentricity-rate-gradient-standard-error fig: esci82013-exam_g34.png

    14

    Approximately 97% of Venus’s atmosphere is carbon dioxide. Describe how carbon dioxide contributes to the unusually high average surface temperature of Venus. [1]

    Allow 1 credit. Acceptable responses include, but are not limited to:

    • — Carbon dioxide traps heat in the atmosphere.

    • — Carbon dioxide absorbs infrared and reradiates it back to Venus.

    • — Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas.

    Base your answers to questions 15 on the data table below and on your knowledge of Earth science. The table shows air temperatures recorded under identical conditions at 2-hour intervals on a sunny day. Data were recorded 1 meter above ground level both inside and outside of a glass greenhouse.

    insolation-and-the-seasons, variations-of-insolation, standard-1-math-and-science-inquery, geocentric-model-heliocentric-model fig: esci82014-examw_g45.png

    15

    Most atmospheric scientists infer that global warming is occurring due to an increase in greenhouse gases. State the names of two greenhouse gases. [1]

    (1)

    (2)

    Allow 1 credit if both responses are acceptable. Acceptable responses include, but are not limited to:

    • — carbon dioxide/CO2

    • — methane/CH4

    • — water vapor/H2O

    • — chlorofluorocarbons/CFCs

    • — nitrous oxide/N2O

    • — ozone/O3