Assignment
Introductory Geology Climate Change
1. Based exclusively on the data provided and your graph, what conclusion would you make regarding climate change?
a. Sea ice is expanding, which indicates an increase in temperature
b. Sea ice is expanding, which indicates a decrease in temperature
c. Sea ice is contracting, which indicates an increase in temperature
d. Sea ice is contracting, which indicates a decrease in temperature
2. What is slope of the line of best fit for this data?
a. 0.008 million square kilometers per year
b. 0.05 million square kilometers per year
c. -0.05 million square kilometers per year
d. 0.017 million square kilometers per year
e. -0.17 million square kilometer per year
f. 0.033 million square kilometer per year
3. Even though the above data is accurate, give and explain two reasons why this dataset might lead you to an incorrect conclusion regarding global climate change.
4. What is the slope of the line of best fit you estimated for this data set? Make sure to show your work.
5. What conclusion about climate change could you make from this dataset? How does your result for the extended dataset compare to the results from the data presented in the article (Part A)?
6. What is the slope of the line of best fit you estimated for this data set? Make sure to show your work.
7. What conclusion on climate change could you make from this dataset? How does your result for the North Pole compare to that of the South Pole (Part B)?
8. Examine and describe the ocean currents flowing in the Atlantic Ocean from the equator to the North Pole starting from Brazil (6 08 54.55S 35 58 24.09W).
Do these currents reach the northern polar ice sheet? If the tropics become warmer, how would this affect the northern ice sheet?
9. Examine and describe the ocean currents flowing in the Pacific Ocean from the equator to the South Pole starting from Somalia (0 32 32.23N 44 09 15.47E). Do these currents reach the southern polar ice sheet? If the tropics become warmer, how would this affect the southern ice sheet?
10. Based on your answer to questions eight and nine, explain why we see different trends in the sea ice extent in the south (Part B) and north poles (Part C).
11. How might the changes you saw in the previous exercises relate to global albedo, sea level, ocean salinity, and temperature?
12. Do you think any conclusions (if any) regarding climate change should be made based on the data presented in this assignment?
13. What data do you think are needed to make a conclusion regarding climate change?