Heat
What is the variable that measures the effect of humidity on how hot it feels?
Heat index; also acceptable: wet bulb temperature
Which side of a mountain experiences more rain?
Windward (This is where orographic lifting cools down the air so that water vapor condenses)
Drought conditions are more likely in drought-prone regions in a warmer world because rising temperatures [increase/decrease] evaporation rates and [increase/reduce] soil moisture.
increase; reduce
Most extreme events have a ____ return period under global warming.
Shorter
Which country has the highest cumulative CO2 emissions?
United States
What is the effect that explains why cities are warmer than areas with high vegetation?
The urban heat island effect
Low pressure systems are associated with _____ and high pressure systems are associated with _____.
rain; clear skies
A reservoir drying up is an example of __________ drought.
hydrological
In general, climate change is making extreme heat _________ likely and extreme cold ________ likely.
more ; less
GDP and emissions of a country are [positively/negatively] correlated.
Positively
Vegetation has a _______ albedo than most developed surfaces and cools the surrounding area through ________.
lower ; evapotranspiration
Two mechanisms for forming precipitation are surface [convergence/divergence] and [upslope/downslope] winds.
convergence; upslope
A location in a drought is more susceptible to floods due to ______.
Drier soil leads to worse floods when it rains.
What effect would increased internal variability have on the temperature distribution?
The distribution would become wider, the average would not change
Over most of Earth's history, the climate was much _____ than it is nowadays.
warmer
Name one direct and one indirect health effect of extreme heat.
direct = heat stroke, heart attack
indirect = pollution (ozone and particulate), lung problems
In the Hadley circulation, rising motion is located at the _________ and sinking motion is located at the __________ .
Intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ)/equator ; horse latitudes/subtropics/30° N/S.
This figure shows the source of water used for irrigation across different regions of the USA. In the short run, which region is the least vulnerable to drought?
Corn Belt; Least surface water usage
What does the decimal number in the SSP scenarios stand for? (e.g., 8.5 in SSP5-8.5)
Radiative forcing in W/m2 in this scenario by 2100
Which sector is responsible for most of Seattle's GHG emissions?
Transportation (58% in 2022)
Compared to dry regions, humid regions tend to have cooler summer daytime temperatures due to ________, but warmer nighttime temperatures due to ________.
evaporative cooling ; water vapor's greenhouse effect
Name two of the three main contributors to monsoon rainfall.
movement of the ITCZ; differential heating of land and ocean; orographic lift (upslope winds)
What factor(s) make it difficult for climate scientists to predict trends in floods and droughts?
Too much human influence (e.g., land use changes, agriculture, etc.)
When conducting an extreme-event attribution study, how do scientists know if the changes they’re seeing are due to anthropogenic forcing and not another factor?
Running an ensemble of control simulations with these other forcings disabled.
Snowball Earth is caused by a runaway _____ feedback
ice albedo