SIO15 Midterm 2, Friday Dec. 1, 2017 TEST VARIATION: 2 1) Why does San Diego have flood control channels? a) many hurricanes make landfall and bring devastating floods b) strong winter storms can bring heavy rain c) San Diego has one of the highest precipitation rates in California d) the city installed them to replace the ailing water mains e) to collect drinking water 2) After rainfall, where is the flood stage reached earlier, in urban or rural areas? a) urban b) rural c) both the same 3) After rainfall, the discharge in the city is higher than in the countryside. 4) Which of these has the highest albedo? a) oceans b) lakes c) grass d) glacier ice 5) How do near-coastal climates differ from continental climates at the same latitude? a) hotter summers, colder winters b) hotter summers, milder winters c) cooler summers, milder winters d) cooler summers, colder winters 6) Which of these is most abundant in Earth s atmosphere? a) Nitrogen b) Oxygen c) Carbon Dioxide d) Methane e) Water Vapor 7) Which of these best describes a monsoon? a) strong winds b) blowing snow and low visibility c) large and frequent thunderstorms d) seasonal heavy rainfall e) monthly droughts 8) Which of these is described by fast high-altitude winds? a) tornado b) hurricane c) supercell thunderstorm d) jet stream e) trade winds
9) Where would we find the intertropical convergence zone? a) at the bottom of the troposphere b) at the top of the troposphere c) at about 30º latitude d) near the equator 10) What happens when an air pocket rises adiabatically? a) it contracts b) it warms c) it cools d) no change 11) What fraction of wildfires are caused by humans? a) 10% b) 15% c) 25% d) 50% e) 85% 12) Which of these is not a reason why nature needs fire? a) recycling of organic material b) improve root growth c) germination d) pest control 13) Under normal weather conditions, how does a fire spread fastest? a) uphill b) downhill c) into the area already burned d) sideways 14) Low relative humidity cuts short which of these stages of fire? a) preheating b) pyrolysis c) flaming combustion d) glowing combustion 15) Which of these describes the urban heat island effect? a) paved ground retains more heat than soil b) less trees leads to less evaporation which leads to less cooling c) use of air conditioning inside leads to more heat outside d) all of the above e) a) and c) 16) Heat waves can be hazardous to air traffic. 17) Which of these best describes the wind chill factor? a) winds make the air feel warmer b) relative humidity make the air feel warmer c) winds make the air feel colder d) relative humidity make the air feel colder
18) Which front is associated with extended rainfall in advance of the front? a) superfront b) stationary front c) warm front d) cold front 19) Which of these best describes a blizzard? a) particularly severe cold wave b) a thunderstorm during winter c) strong winds and blowing snow d) onset of a new ice age 20) Which of these conditions is typically NOT associated with thunderstorms? a) cold front moving in b) strong convective lifting during the summer c) prolonged rain d) strong convective lifting during the winter 21) Which of these U.S. states has the highest occurrence of thunderstorms? a) Florida b) Texas c) Kansas d) Oklahoma e) California 22) In the northern hemisphere, tornadoes always rotate counter-clockwise, just like storms? 23) When is hurricane season in the northern hemisphere? a) Jan - Dec b) April - July c) June - October d) October - February 24) Which ocean has the highest occurrence of hurricanes? a) North Atlantic b) Indian Ocean c) East Pacific d) West Pacific 25) More hurricanes occur in the Atlantic during an El Niño. 26) Why do east Pacific hurricanes currently not make landfall in southern California? a) all eastern Pacific hurricanes travel southward b) Mexican hurricanes form in the southern hemisphere c) no hurricanes ever form in the eastern Pacific d) the cold California Current prevents hurricanes from sustaining themselves 27) CFCs are more effective at trapping heat than CO 2 is?
28) Greenhouse gases trap which kind of sunlight? a) visible b) ultraviolet c) infrared d) the whole spectrum e) Earth s greenhouse does not trap any sunlight 29) How do aerosols in the upper atmosphere influence the global climate? a) warming b) cooling c) no effect 30) About where was global sea level during the last ice age? a) about the same as today b) 100 m higher c) 100 m lower d) 10 ft higher e) 10 ft lower 31) Which of these greenhouse gases is NOT a natural product? a) CFCs b) CO 2 c) CH 4 d) H 2 O e) O 3 32) Which of these is responsible for the ozone hole? a) CFCs b) CO 2 c) O 3 d) UV radiation e) increase in solar activity 33) Which of these is the successor to the Kyoto Protocol? a) Montreal Protocol b) Paris climate agreement c) Madagascar accord d) Copenhagen treaty e) Marrakesh compound 34) In the Keeling Curve, how do seasonal variations compare to the overall trend? a) opposite b) same c) much larger d) much smaller 35) How do humans contribute to desertification? a) slash-and-burn farming b) overpopulation c) overgrazing d) all of the above e) b) and c)
36) Which of these is NOT a proper description of tropical soil? a) humus layer is particularly vulnerable to erosion b) thick soil profile c) thin humus layer d) thick humus layer e) organic material decays very quickly 37) In the U.S., how long does it take to grow 1 inch of topsoil? a) 30 days b) 3 months c) 30 months d) 3 years e) 30 years 38) On which continent do we find the Sahel? a) North America b) South America c) Europe d) Africa e) Australia 39) What could be a negative side effect of seawalls? a) seawalls prevent formation of ocean tides b) seawalls accelerate beach erosion c) too much sand piles up in front of the seawall d) seawall increase the number of winter storms e) all of the above 40) What does LED stand for? a) low Earth distance b) light entering domain c) light-emitting diode d) low-energy doppler 41) Which of these has a tropical climate? a) Amazon Basin b) Madagascar c) Sahel d) Sahara Desert e) a) and b) 42) Which epic flood caused a mass exodus of black people out of the Deep South? a) 2012 Superstorm Sandy b) 1993 Mississippi Flood c) 1927 Mississippi Flood d) 1982 Hurricane Andrew 43) What was so special about late 2017 Hurricane Ophelia? a) it formed in the Mediterranean Sea b) it struck west Africa c) it struck Ireland as an extra-tropical storm d) it struck Argentina e) if formed in the southern hemisphere and then crossed the equator