Study Guide for Test 2 (Climate)

1.       Which gasses are thought to contribute to the greenhouse effect, and which of them is most responsible for it?  What would our climate be like if there wasn’t a greenhouse effect?

2.       Be able to define and explain the difference in the terms greenhouse effect, global warming, and anthropogenic climate change.

3.       Be able to give examples of proxies and what we can know with certainty about them

4.       Describe how why some scientists think oxygen isotopes can be used as a proxy

5.       Explain why pollen might be used as a proxy

6.       What do tree rings tell us about the past climate?  What do plant pollens tell us about the past climate?

7.       How are bubbles in ice cores used by climatologists

8.       How long have we been tracking CO2 levels in the air

9.       What is photorespiration, and how does it differ from photosynthesis?  What causes it?

10.   Explain what gasses are taken in and what are given off during photosynthesis

11.   What is carbonic acid and how is it formed

12.   Be able to explain the connection between carbon dioxide emissions and public policy

13.   Be able to explain IN DETAIL the ways that oxygen isotope ratios are used as climate proxies

14.   What is paleoclimatology