CSS - PMS - CCE - PCS - General Science
Climate Change
Why are climate projections not the same as daily weather forecasts?
A. Weather forecasts cover centuries exactly
B. Climate models ignore physics
C. Climate projections estimate long-term statistical patterns under assumptions, not exact day-to-day weather
D. Climate has no relation to atmosphere
Correct Answer: C
Climate and weather operate at different time scales and questions.
CSS - PMS - CCE - PCS - General Science
Climate Change
What is a carbon sink?
A. Any source that emits only carbon
B. A reservoir that absorbs more carbon than it releases over a given period
C. A device that measures wind speed
D. A unit of temperature
Correct Answer: B
Forests, soils and oceans can act as carbon sinks.
CSS - PMS - CCE - PCS - General Science
Climate Change
Which sector is strongly linked to methane emissions?
A. Wind turbines only
B. Livestock and fossil-fuel systems
C. Photosynthesis only
D. Solar panels only
Correct Answer: B
Methane comes from ruminants, rice cultivation, landfills and fossil-fuel production among other sources.
CSS - PMS - CCE - PCS - General Science
Climate Change
Why does global sea level rise as the climate warms?
A. Earth's oceans lose water
B. Gravity stops working
C. Melting floating sea ice alone adds all rise
D. Thermal expansion of seawater and melting land ice
Correct Answer: D
Ocean warming expands seawater while glaciers and ice sheets add water to oceans.
CSS - PMS - CCE - PCS - General Science
Climate Change
What is climate adaptation?
A. Increasing fossil fuel use
B. Only reducing CO2 emissions
C. Adjusting systems and behavior to reduce harm from actual or expected climate impacts
D. Eliminating all weather
Correct Answer: C
Adaptation reduces vulnerability to climate effects such as heat, drought and sea-level rise.
CSS - PMS - CCE - PCS - General Science
Climate Change
What is climate mitigation?
A. Measuring daily weather
B. Predicting one storm
C. Actions that reduce greenhouse gas emissions or enhance carbon sinks
D. Adjusting to unavoidable impacts only
Correct Answer: C
Mitigation addresses the causes of climate change.
CSS - PMS - CCE - PCS - General Science
Climate Change
Which human activity is a major source of carbon dioxide emissions?
A. Photosynthesis
B. Tree growth
C. Burning fossil fuels
D. Wind energy generation
Correct Answer: C
Coal, oil and natural gas combustion releases large amounts of CO2.
CSS - PMS - CCE - PCS - General Science
Climate Change
What is the greenhouse effect?
A. Heating caused by Earth's magnetic field
B. Warming caused when greenhouse gases absorb and re-emit outgoing infrared radiation
C. Cooling caused only by oxygen
D. Reflection of all sunlight by plants
Correct Answer: B
Greenhouse gases reduce the rate at which infrared energy escapes to space.
CSS - PMS - CCE - PCS - General Science
Climate Change
Which gas is the largest contributor to current human-caused warming from long-lived greenhouse gases?
A. Argon
B. Oxygen
C. Nitrogen
D. Carbon dioxide
Correct Answer: D
CO2 emissions from fossil fuels, land-use change and industry are the dominant long-lived anthropogenic forcing.
CSS - PMS - CCE - PCS - General Science
Climate Change
What is climate change?
A. Long-term shifts in climate patterns, including temperature and precipitation
B. Only daily temperature variation
C. Any single rainy day
D. The movement of one cloud
Correct Answer: A
Climate change concerns persistent changes in statistical climate conditions over decades or longer.