Q 01/05

Which greenhouse gas, far more abundant than carbon dioxide, has its level set by temperature rather than emissions?

A) Water Vapor

B) Methane

C) Nitrous Oxide

D) Ozone

Answer · why

A) Water Vapor

Water vapor does about half of all the atmosphere's heat-trapping, but because warmer air holds more of it, it amplifies warming that other gases star...

Q 02/05

Which 1997 treaty committed industrialized countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions?

A) Paris Agreement

B) Montreal Protocol

C) Stockholm Convention

D) Kyoto Protocol

Answer · why

D) Kyoto Protocol

The Kyoto Protocol was signed by the Clinton administration in 1998 but never sent to the Senate for ratification, and the treaty did not enter into f...

Q 03/05

At which Hawaiian observatory has CO2 been measured continuously since 1958, producing the Keeling Curve?

A) Haleakalā

B) Mauna Loa

C) Mauna Kea

D) Kīlauea

Answer · why

B) Mauna Loa

Mauna Loa was chosen because the high, remote volcano is far from continents and has little vegetation, so its air reflects the well-mixed atmosphere ...

Q 04/05

What is the largest human activity contributing to rising atmospheric carbon dioxide levels?

A) Agriculture

B) Deforestation

C) Burning Fossil Fuels

D) Industrial Processes

Answer · why

C) Burning Fossil Fuels

Burning fossil fuels is the leading cause, and scientists can prove it: fossil carbon contains no radioactive carbon-14, and the air's share of that i...

Q 05/05

What natural process has atmospheric gases trap heat and warm Earth's surface?

A) Ozone Depletion

B) Thermal Inversion

C) Albedo Effect

D) Greenhouse Effect

Answer · why

D) Greenhouse Effect

The greenhouse effect was measured in the laboratory by John Tyndall in 1859; Swedish meteorologist Nils Gustaf Ekholm attached the greenhouse name to...