GC170A1 Sect 01, 02  Introduction to Global Change

Final Exam Study Guide

 

Exam Date/Location-

3:30am-5:30pm, Friday May 4, room 308 Space Sciences

 

Exam composition-

100 M/C questions

About 50% from material from first half of class and 50% from material since midterm, but because of wide range of topics it is difficult to give the exact apportionment

 

Material-

All lecture material

ALL readings in syllabus (textbooks and other readings).

All Group Activities

All writing activities

 

What to study-

In addition to the readings and your own lecture notes, the writing activities, sample quizzes, actual quizzes, midterm study guide and midterm exam, plus the “class notes” summary of each lecture provided by Prof. Leavitt should be helpful.

 

Terminology

(For pre-midterm, see midterm study guide)

Post-midterm=

Montreal Protocol                               primary pollutant                     “missing” carbon sink

Kyoto Protocol                                   VOCs (a.k.a. HCs)                  carbon cycle

Ozone hole                                          temperature inversion  carbon source

Landfill                                               Green Revolution                    carbon sink

pH scale                                              soil horizon                              flux

eutrophication                         soil erosion/degradation          invasive species

radiative forcing                                  carrying capacity                     phenology

global warming potential (GWP)        population “pyramid” iridium anomaly

secondary pollutant                             land-use change                      “Bucky balls”/fullerenes

Biome                                                  primary productivity               biomass

Tipping point                                       “peak oil”                                litter

Reservoir                                             kerogen                                   “rule of 70”

Carbonate                                            CFCs/halons                            fuelwood

Acid deposition                                  buffering                                 estuary

Biotic components                              abiotic components                 biomass

Biodiversity                                        ruminant                                  temperature inversion

Biometric measurements                     ozone                                       carbonic acid

Isoprenes/terpenes                               trophic level                            primary producer/primary consumer/secondary consumer

Autotroph/heterotrophy                      point source (of pollution)      energy/trophic level pyramids

Photosynthesis                                    respiration                               catalytic converter

Cap & trade                                        sequestration                           photovoltaic

 

Concepts (For pre-midterm, see midterm study guide)

Post-midterm=

How tropospheric ozone is different from stratospheric ozone

Measures taken to reduce ozone hole (i.e., restore tropospheric ozone)

Why is pH of “acid rain” considered less than about 5.2 to 5.5, when anything below pH=7 is acid?

How has “cap and trade” been successful in reducing SO2 emissions?

Even if all SO2 emissions could be eliminated, why would acid rain still exist?

What are sources of CO2 into the atmosphere?  N2O?  CH4?

How could trees possibly be implicated in pollution?

What contributes to eutrophication and what are the consequences of eutrophication?

What are limitations of the “Green Revolution”?

What are consequences of soil degradation (mainly erosion)?

What human activities contribute to soil degradation?

What is temperate deforestation (as opposed to tropical deforestation)?

What are motives for tropical deforestation?

What is the value of tropical rain forests?

How can a population profile (pyramid) indicate whether a population is likely to increase rapidly or not?

Are fossil-fuel CO2 emissions very small compared to natural inputs to the atmosphere?  So what?

How are the nitrogen and carbon cycles related?

Why won’t world population continue to increase indefinitely?

What is current CO2 concentration? Is it the highest ever?

Is CO2 and air pollutant?

How is “seasonal biosphere” related to the changes in atmospheric CO2?

Why hasn’t the rise of CO2 over the last 50 years been constant from one year to the next?

Compared to the Earth’s “natural” radiation budget involving 345 W/m2 around our planet, how much of an effect does radiative forcing by greenhouse gases exert? (F14.55 Mackenzie)

What are dominant forms of carbon in the various reservoirs of the global carbon cycle?

How might global change affect invasive species?

What has caused massive extinctions during geologic time?

What factors influence productivity of biomes?

What types of terrestrial and marine biomes are highly productive?

Why is the biomass in oceans so much less than on land?

Give an example of how carbon in soils and plants differ among biomes?

 

Figures from Mackenzie text that were emphasized in the lectures (either in the exact form they appear in the text, or a similar figure from another source)-

F9.1, F9.4, F8.7, F9.10, F9.14, F9.20, F10.1, F10.3, F10.13, F10.17, F10.21, F10.23, F10.26, F10.29a, F11.1, F11.2, F11.3, F11.7, F11.12, F11.17, F12.2, F12.3, F12.9, F12.10, F12.11, F12.13, F12.20, F12.21, F13.13, F14.7, F14.11, F14.21, F14.40, F14.52, F14.55, F14.57, F14.58, F14.61, F14.64, F14.65, F14.71, F7.3, F7.4, F7.5, F6.11, F6.12, F6.17, F6.18,

Table 7.1

 

Handsome figures/discussion from Mann/Kump book-

p. 94-97, p. 104-105, p. 112-121, p. 139, p. 142-143, p. 161, p. 175