Climate Change Quiz

What is climate?

• The average weather conditions for a location measured over a period of 30 years

• The day-to-day changes in the conditions of the atmosphere

• The long-term change in the average global temperature

• The repeating pattern of glacial and interglacial periods

What is the Quaternary period?

• A geological period that started about 2.6 million years ago and runs up to the present date

• A period of significant change in climate

• A period of repeating glacial and interglacial periods

• A period with reliable temperature measurements

What do the downward spikes on the graph represent?

• Glacial periods

• Interglacial periods

• Warmer temperatures

• Cooler temperatures

How often do the cold glacial periods repeat?

• Every 100,000 years

• Every 10-15,000 years

• Every 30 years

• Every 4 degrees

What do the upward spikes on the graph represent?

• Interglacial periods

• Glacial periods

• Cooler temperatures

• Warmer temperatures

How long do the interglacial periods last?

• 10-15,000 years

• 100,000 years

• 30 years

• 4 degrees

How do scientists know what temperatures were like in the distant past?

• By using proxy data or clues from the past

• By measuring temperatures with thermometers

• By analyzing ice cores

• By looking at tree rings

What does sediment at the bottom of the ocean reveal?

• Information about past water temperature and level of oxygen in the atmosphere

• Information about current weather conditions

• Information about glacial and interglacial periods

• Information about tree ring patterns

What do Antarctic ice cores reveal?

• Information about past concentrations of gases and temperature

• Information about current weather conditions

• Information about glacial and interglacial periods

• Information about tree ring patterns

How deep are the extracted ice cores?

• Up to three kilometers

• Up to one million years

• Up to six thousand years

• Up to 2.6 million years