Climate Change Environmental Science Fundamentals 5

Question 1

What is the difference between weather and climate in scientific terms?

Accepted Answer

Weather describes short-term atmospheric conditions; climate is the long-term average pattern over decades

Answer

Weather describes day-to-day atmospheric conditions like temperature and precipitation, while climate is the statistical average of those conditions over at least 30 years for a given region.

Question 2

How does the 'social cost of carbon' inform climate policy decisions?

Accepted Answer

It quantifies the economic damages caused by emitting one additional ton of CO₂

Answer

The social cost of carbon is an estimate of all the economic harms—from health impacts to property damage to agricultural losses—caused by emitting one ton of CO₂, used to weigh the true cost of emissions against abatement costs.

Question 3

What is 'carbon capture and storage' (CCS) and what is its primary limitation at scale?

Accepted Answer

Capturing CO₂ at emission sources and injecting it underground; limited by high costs and storage capacity uncertainty

Answer

CCS captures CO₂ at power plants or industrial facilities and injects it into geological formations, but remains expensive, energy-intensive, and faces uncertainty about long-term storage security at the scale needed.

Question 4

Which feedback mechanism involves increased water vapor amplifying warming caused by CO₂?

Accepted Answer

Water vapor feedback

Answer

As CO₂ warms the atmosphere, more water evaporates; since water vapor is itself a potent greenhouse gas, it amplifies the initial warming—this positive feedback roughly doubles the warming effect of CO₂ alone.

Question 5

What is 'environmental justice' in the context of climate change impacts in the United States?

Accepted Answer

The principle that low-income and minority communities bear disproportionate climate burdens and deserve equal protection

Answer

Environmental justice recognizes that marginalized communities in the US often face greater exposure to pollution, flooding, extreme heat, and other climate hazards while having fewer resources to adapt or recover.

Climate Change Practice Test

Climate Change Practice Test

Climate Change Environmental Science Fundamentals 5