4.4 Climate Change

1.Euglena is a unicellular organism that feeds on bacteria and uses CO2 as a carbon source. Which describes the nutrition of this organism?

2. Which characteristic of water vapour classifies it as a greenhouse gas?

3. Cladograms can be created by comparing DNA or protein sequences. The cladogram on the left is based on DNA sequences and the cladogram on the right is based on comparing protein sequences. What is the reason that cladograms based on DNA sequences are more reliable predictors of the phylogenetic relationship of species than cladograms based on protein sequences?

4. By which mechanism do greenhouse gases contribute to global warming?

5. The bacterium Neisseria gonorrhoeae causes infections related to the human reproductive system. The graph shows the percentage of samples in which this bacterium showed resistance to six antibiotics over a period of ten years. What is a possible explanation for the total percentage resistance being larger than 100% in 2010?

6. What contributes to rising atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide and increases in average global temperature?

7. What contributes to the enhanced greenhouse effect?

8. What contributes to the enhanced greenhouse effect?

9. The table shows the monthly CO2 concentrations in mg L–1 taken at two monitoring stations. What is directly indicated by the data?

10. What is the best definition of the greenhouse effect in the Earth’s atmosphere?

11. Human activity leading to the emission of greenhouse gases may be a cause of global warming. According to the precautionary principle, what should be done about greenhouse gas emission?

12. The table shows the monthly CO2 concentrations in mg L–1 taken at two monitoring stations. What is directly indicated by the data?

13. Global warming caused by the enhanced greenhouse effect is likely to have major consequences for arctic ecosystems. Which of the following are likely to occur in the arctic if the Earth’s surface temperature rises? I. Decreased rates of decomposition of detritus II. Increased range of predators from temperate regions III. Increase in numbers of pest species and pathogens

14. What do records from the twentieth and twenty-first century show about the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere?

15. What is an example of the precautionary principle?

16. What is a consequence of a global temperature rise on arctic ecosystems?

17. Which of the following are greenhouse gases? I.  Oxides of nitrogen II. Carbon dioxide III. Methane

18. What is a potential consequence of the rise in global temperatures on the Arctic ecosystem?

19. Which gas will enhance the greenhouse effect if released into the atmosphere?

20. Which of the following is a consequence of global temperature rise on arctic ecosystems?

21. Global warming threatens the survival of Arctic foxes. Which of the following factors could be involved? I. Competition with other fox species spreading north II. Reduction in numbers of prey species of Arctic foxes III. Decrease in oxygen availability to Arctic foxes

22. The following graph refers to questions 19 and 20. It shows variation in the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere as measured at Mauna Loa in Hawai’i. The small inset graph shows the variations in CO2 during a one year period. What is the main cause of the increase in CO2 levels from 1960 to 2000?