10.3 Atmospheric System Feedback

Multiple Choice

What needs to change about Earth's energy budget in order for the temperature to go up?

• Decrease incoming solar radiation
• Increase incoming solar radiation or decrease outgoing infrared radiation.
• Increase outgoing infrared radiation
• Reduce greenhouse gas concentrations

Multiple Choice

How would a change in albedo cause an increase in Earth’s temperature?

• If surfaces are darker, they reflect more sunlight, so more is reflected making it warmer.

• If surfaces are darker, they reflect less sunlight, so more heat leave Earth, making it cooler

• If surfaces are lighter, they reflect less sunlight, so more heat stays on Earth, making it warmer.

• If surfaces are darker, they reflect less sunlight, so more heat stays on Earth, making it warmer.

Multiple Choice

How can albedo be used as a reinforcing feedback?

• Albedo only influences ocean temperatures, not land surfaces.
• Albedo can reinforce warming by decreasing reflectivity as ice melts, leading to more heat absorption.
• Albedo has no effect on climate change or temperature.
• Albedo increases reflectivity as ice forms, reducing heat absorption.

Multiple Choice

How does cloud cover provide both a reinforcing and a counterbalancing feedback?

• Cloud cover provides reinforcing feedback by reflecting sunlight (cooling) and counterbalancing feedback by trapping heat (warming).
• Cloud cover only reflects sunlight without trapping heat.
• Cloud cover has no impact on temperature regulation.
• Cloud cover solely warms the Earth without any cooling effect.

Multiple Choice

How does the biosphere act as a counterbalancing feedback to carbon dioxide in the atmosphere?

• The biosphere releases CO2 through respiration and combustion.
• The biosphere has no effect on atmospheric CO2 levels.
• The biosphere only stores carbon in soil without affecting CO2.
• The biosphere absorbs CO2 through photosynthesis and acts as a carbon sink.

Multiple Choice

What human actions would decrease the ability of the biosphere to act as a counterbalance?

• Reforestation, clean energy use, and sustainable agriculture.
• Increased biodiversity and habitat restoration.
• Deforestation will reduce the number of trees acting as carbon sinks.

• Reduction of waste and recycling initiatives.

Multiple Choice

How is warming of the Arctic creating a reinforcing feedback?

• Sediments contain frozen methane gas. When the permafrost melts, the methane is released. Methane is a greenhouse gas, so this would increase Earth’s warming.

• Warming of the Arctic leads to more snowfall, which increases albedo and reduces heat absorption.
• Warming of the Arctic has no impact on ice cover or heat absorption.
• Warming of the Arctic increases ice cover, which raises albedo and decreases heat absorption.

Multiple Choice

How do greenhouses gases interfere with the counterbalance of Earth's energy?

• Greenhouse gases interfere with Earth's energy balance by trapping heat, leading to global warming.
• Greenhouse gases have no effect on Earth's energy balance.
• Greenhouse gases cool the Earth's surface by reflecting sunlight.
• Greenhouse gases increase the amount of oxygen in the atmosphere.

Multiple Choice

How would albedo and the melting of Arctic ice have a reinforcing feedback effect on Earth’s temperature?

• Increased albedo leads to more ice formation in the Arctic.
• Melting Arctic ice has no effect on global temperatures.
•  When the ice melts, the water beneath is a darker color. This absorbs more heat than the ice. More heat is absorbed, melting more ice.

• Albedo decreases as Arctic ice melts, cooling the Earth.

Multiple Choice

How does the loss of glacier ice have a reinforcing feedback effect on temperature?

• As with sea ice and the darker water underneath, the land under a glacier is darker than the ice. When the temperature rises and the ice melts, that land is exposed. Since it is darker than the ice, it absorbs more heat, further increasing the temperature.

• The melting ice creates more reflective surfaces, cooling the atmosphere.
• Glacier ice loss leads to increased snowfall in the region.
• The loss of glacier ice decreases ocean temperatures.