I've been working on a climate quiz, that (with some adaptation) could serve several purposes -

• Trivia Night questions;
• Feedback for people who don't know what they don't know,
• Assessment of the knowledge of self-proclaimed experts, etc;
• Integration with the SkS smartphone apps, as Semperviren suggested last August (link)?  (And this quiz could be integrated with, or kept alongside, the SkS "one-line rebuttal" flash cards (link))

It's got 2 sections - first a set of multiple-choice Qs, then some Qs with one-liner answers.  My goal is for each correct answer to have a URL backing it up. Anything wrong/misleading? Better URL for an answer, or better/any reference for the facts laid out in a question?

It needs "projections for the future" questions, and policy-related Qs; does anyone have a set of these?

Have I missed any other important areas?

Anyone have a set of "image"-based Qs - e.g. NASA GISS "checkered" data as a mystery image ( tinyurl.com/MysteryImage discussed at http://www.cejournal.net/?p=4525 )

And how could this quiz be integrated into the SkS site, or does it belong somewhere else?

Multiple choice:

1. When "Mighty oaks from tiny acorns grow", where has most of the oak wood come from?
   a) the oxygen in air
   b) the carbon dioxide in air
   c) water
   d) humus in soil
   e) minerals in soil
   Answer: b http://eo.ucar.edu/kids/green/cycles6.htm

2. Fossil fuels are the carbon-rich remains of...
   a) ancient plants and animals that didn't rot or burn
   b) cosmic dust
   c) chemical reactions of inert matter
   Answer: a http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fossil_fuel

3. Carbon dioxide (CO2) gets into the air from...
   a) plant and animal respiration
   b) burning or rotting plant matter
   c) volcanos
   d) burning fossil fuels
   e) dissolved CO2 from the sea and other bodies of water
   f) all of the above
   Answer: f http://www.yaleclimatemediaforum.org/2010/12/common-climate-misconceptions-atmospheric-carbon-dioxide/

4. Carbon dioxide (CO2) is a greenhouse gas. This...
   a) is disputed by scientists
   b) means that it warms the earth like a blanket, keeping it from losing heat to space
   c) gives the sky its color
   Answer: b http://rabett.blogspot.com/2008/09/survival-blanket-outbreak-of-the.html

5. CO2 in our atmosphere is a trace gas; its concentration in the air is 387 parts per million, less than a tenth of one percent. If there were no CO2 in the air _at all_, earth's surface would become:
   a) about the same temperature as now
   b) 5 or 10 degrees F colder
   c) "snowball earth", more than 60 degrees F colder and covered in ice
   Answer: c http://chriscolose.wordpress.com/2010/08/27/adding-up-the-greenhouse-effect-attributing-the-contributions/
   ("35 K after water vapor and albedo kicks in, and triggers a snowball Earth where the whole planet is ice covered")

6. Since we started burning fossil fuels with the Industrial Revolution, atmospheric CO2 has increased by:
   a) less than 5%
   b) about 10%
   c) more than 30%
   Answer: c http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2004/12/how-do-we-know-that-recent-cosub2sub-increases-are-due-to-human-activities-updated/

7. This increase in atmospheric CO2 is:
   a) partly natural, partly due to human activities
   b) almost entirely due to human activities
   Answer: b http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2004/12/how-do-we-know-that-recent-cosub2sub-increases-are-due-to-human-activities-updated/

8. There are natural carbon cycles - CO2 enters the atmosphere from sources like volcanoes, forest fires, and rotting wood; and leaves via sinks like plants, rock weathering, and oceans.

   Think of atmosphere as being a bathtub - the tub level is the CO2 concentration, and CO2 comes into it through the faucet, and drains out through uptake by our trees and oceans. Currently, our emissions have increased the faucet flow by 2% (URL?), and natural absorption processes have increased the drain flow by half that, 1% (URL?). Outcome: the atmospheric CO2 concentration - the tub level - will:
   a) decrease
   b) stay unchanged
   c) increase
   Answer: c http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/28/the-greenhouse-effect-and-the-bathtub-effect/

9. Now say we decrease the faucet flow by 20%; the tub level will proceed to...
   a) decrease
   b) stay unchanged
   c) continue to increase
   Answer: c http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/28/the-greenhouse-effect-and-the-bathtub-effect/

10. Effectively, how long will the CO2 emitted by burning a gallon of gas continue to affect the climate?
    a) days
    b) months
    c) centuries, plus 25% that sticks around forever
    Answer: c http://www.skepticalscience.com/co2-residence-time.htm ("Therefore a time scale for CO2 warming potential out as far as 500 years is entirely reasonable (See IPCC 4th Assessment Report Section 2.10)."), http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2005/03/how-long-will-global-warming-last/

11. As of 2002, roughly what proportion of the historical GHG emissions - that will continue to affect the climate for centuries or longer - has come from the U.S.? Europe? China?
    a) 1/3, 1/4, 1/12
    b) 1/3, 1/3, 1/5
    c) 1/4, 1/4, 1/4
    d) 1/4, 1/2, 1/5
    Answer: a (29.3, 26.5, 7.6) http://www.envirowiki.info/Historical_greenhouse_gas_emissions (Table after Baumert et. al., Chapter 6[2] Cumulative CO2 Emissions, 1850–2002)

12. Other greenhouse gases besides CO2 are...
    a) oxygen and argon
    b) methane, water vapor and nitrous oxide
    Answer: b http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenhouse_gas

13. Before we humans, the earth has undergone cycles of warming and cooling. This means that...
    a) humans cannot change the earth's climate
    b) natural forces can also cause the climate to change
    Answer: b http://www.skepticalscience.com/climate-change-little-ice-age-medieval-warm-period.htm
    ("Climate reacts to whatever forces it to change at the time...")

14. Are natural cycles causing the current warming?
    Over many thousands of years, the earth naturally goes through various "wobbles" in its rotation and in its orbit around the sun. These natural Milankovitch cycles change how the sun warms the earth, producing a "solar forcing". Their cycle lengths vary from 21,000, to 400,000 years, with the strongest one for earth's climate being the 100,000 year cycle.
    In the absence of humans, what would these cycles be doing now, to earth's temperature?
    a) rapid cooling
    b) rapid warming
    c) v-e-r-y slow cooling (over thousands of years)
    d) v-e-r-y slow warming (over thousands of years)
    Answer: c http://tamino.wordpress.com/2011/01/25/milankovitch-cycles/

15. In the last 50 years, what % of the earth's warming is estimated to be due to human activities?
    a) 10%
    b) 50%
    c) 85-120% (the number can be over 100% if it has to mask a cooling factor)
    Answer: c ("somewhere between 80 to 120% of the warming" - Gavin Schmidt) http://climateprogress.org/2009/12/02/realclimate-gavin-schmidit-what-fraction-of-global-warming-is-due-to-human-causes-vs-natural-causes/

16. Volcanoes release how much CO2 compared to emissions from human activities?
    a) under 3%
    b) 40%
    c) 90%
    d) 170%
    Answer: a http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2006/05/current-volcanic-activity-and-climate/ , http://scienceblogs.com/illconsidered/2006/02/volcanos-emit-more-co2.php

17. Why are we concerned about the measly one degree C of warming we've seen so far?
    a) it's what it portends; this is the predicted signal just starting to emerge from the noise; there's more warming already "in the pipeline"
    b) future global temperature rise won't be uniform and risks global climate disruption
    c) look what's happening already, with glaciers, sea ice, & increased weather extremes
    d) all of the above
    Answer: d http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn7161 http://iopscience.iop.org/1748-9326/2/2/024002/fulltext (Hansen, inertia Environ. Res. Lett. 2 (April-June 2007) 024002) , http://initforthegold.blogspot.com/2010/08/name-of-problem.html
18. When the earth warms, what % of the heat goes into the oceans, and what % into land and atmosphere?
    a) 10% into oceans, 90% land+atmosphere
    a) 50% into oceans, 50% land+atmosphere
    b) 95% oceans, 5% land+atmosphere
    Answer: b http://www.skepticalscience.com/How-do-we-know-global-warming-is-still-happening.html

19. Over the last decade, the atmosphere has continued to warm, but more slowly. Does this mean global warming has stopped?
    a) no; the oceans have continued to warm
    b) no; 1998 was an unusual year for well-understood ocean-circulation reasons (El Nino)
    c) no; 10 years isn't a long enough time to be drawing conclusions. If we're going to say that GW stopped now, then we'd have to say that it's stopped numerous times in the past century too - yet it always resumed rising.
    d) all of the above
    e) none of the above; we can go back to burning oil and coal with a clear conscience.
    Answer: d http://www.skepticalscience.com/global-warming-stopped-in-1998-intermediate.htm

20. If you want to interpret the global surface temperature data to say that global warming stopped in 1998, during how many times did global warming stop in the 20th century?
    a) none
    b) 2
    c) 7 or more
    Answer: c http://www.skepticalscience.com/graphics.php?g=14

21. During the last glacial maximum (when glaciers covered much of the earth) about how many degrees F was the earth cooler than today?
    a) 5
    b) 10
    c) 20
    Answer: b http://ourchangingclimate.wordpress.com/2009/01/07/tipping_points_melting_ice/ (graph)

    How many of the last 10 years were among the 10 hottest years on record?
    a) 3
    b) 0
    c) 9
    2010, 2005, 1998, 2003, 2002, 2009, 2006, 2007, 2004, 2001
    Answer: c http://climateprogress.org/2011/01/12/noaa-2010-tied-with-2005-for-hottest-year-on-record/

22. How many national extreme (all-time record high temperature) heat records were set in 2010?
    a) 2
    b) 8
    c) 19
    Answer: c http://climateprogress.org/2011/01/12/noaa-2010-tied-with-2005-for-hottest-year-on-record/

23. To keep the temperature rise below 4F, how much of earth's known fossil fuel reserves can we burn?
    a) less than a quarter
    b) about a tenth
    c) 80%
    Answer: a http://tinyurl.com/meinshausen

24. If we reduce our CO2 emissions by 20%, atmospheric CO2 levels will
    a) decrease by 20%
    b) decrease by 10%
    c) level off
    d) continue to increase
    Answer: d http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1853871,00.html?xid=rss-health , http://web.mit.edu/jsterman/www/Understanding_public.html

25. The last time atmospheric CO2 was at its current level (~390 ppm), sea level was
    a) about the same as now
    b) about 30 feet lower
    c) 75-120 feet higher
    Answer: c http://climateprogress.org/2009/10/18/science-co2-levels-havent-been-this-high-for-15-million-years-when-it-was-5%C2%B0-to-10%C2%B0f-warmer-and-seas-were-75-to-120-feet-higher-we-have-shown-that-this-dramatic-rise-in-sea-level-i/

1. CO2 levels have changed before, and been much higher than now; why should we worry about it now?
   Answer: the rate of change is what's unnatural, & the fact that we have built civilizations that are adapted to the current climate (and sea level), and world population is bursting at the seams. Plus when CO2 was much higher than now, it was also much hotter. http://e360.yale.edu/digest/analysis_contends_co2_levels_may_reach_levels_not_seen_in_30_million_years/2757/

2. Atmospheric CO2 is now about 390 ppm. Prior to 1960, the last time CO2 levels were even over 300ppm was...
   Answer: at least 650,000 years ago http://climate.nasa.gov/images/evidence_CO2.jpg

3. How do we know the increase in atmospheric CO2 is our doing?
   Answer: 2 independent methods - C isotopes, & calculations of how much we're emitting. http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2004/12/how-do-we-know-that-recent-cosub2sub-increases-are-due-to-human-activities-updated/

4. The atmospheric increase is only about half of the carbon we've been emitting; where are the other "sinks", where has the other half been going?
   Answer: Ocean, forests and soil http://blogs.nature.com/climatefeedback/2008/09/annual_carbon_budget_were_all_1.html

5. Natural sources of CO2 - rotting plant matter, etc - dwarf the CO2 from human activities, which is just a tiny fraction. How can this tiny fraction matter?
   Answer: the natural sources and sinks balance; but like a small debt that goes unpaid, the human-emitted CO2 accumulates. http://www.yaleclimatemediaforum.org/2010/12/common-climate-misconceptions-atmospheric-carbon-dioxide/

6. Why are individual events (Tennessee flooding, Amazon drought, Russian heat wave, Brazil flooding, Brisbane AU flooding) not specifically identified as absolutely being caused by the increase of CO2 in the atmosphere?
   Answer: climate change changes the probability of an event - "climate trains the boxer but weather throws the punches" http://climateprogress.org/2010/08/05/russia-medvedev-global-climate-change-drought-heat-wave-grain-harvest/#comment-289207

7. What is the most obvious characteristic of climate during the 10k years of human civilization, compared to climate during the entire duration of the human species?
   Answer: unusually stable. http://initforthegold.blogspot.com/2010/09/cozycene.html

8. What's the danger of extra CO2 in the ocean?
   Answer: acidification - damage to small organisms like coral and plankton that need to create shells http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2005/07/the-acid-ocean-the-other-problem-with-cosub2sub-emission/

9. Can we rely on these sinks (ocean, vegetation) to continue taking up half our CO2?
   Answer: no; they already show signs of slowing uptake. And vegetation is carbon neutral - releasing its CO2 after death - unless sequestered. http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2007/11/is-the-ocean-carbon-sink-sinking/

10. A molecule of water vapor is a far more powerful greenhouse gas than is a molecule of CO2. So why are we more concerned about CO2 than water vapor?
    Answer: CO2's atmospheric lifetime is centuries, while water vapor rains out within days. And water vapor is a feedback, CO2 is the control knob, or the transistor - a higher-CO2 atmosphere creates warmth, which holds extra water vapor, that produces further warming. http://www.skepticalscience.com/water-vapor-greenhouse-gas.htm

11. What is the difference between climate and weather?
    Answer: "Climate is what you expect, weather is what you get"; when measured by temperature, climate is typically averaged over decades. http://dnr.wi.gov/climatechange/weather.htm

12. CO2 is natural and abundant and essential for plant growth; how can it be pollution?
    Answer: it affects temperature and acidity, too much or too little is uncomfortable. Horse manure is also natural and (in some areas) abundant... http://www.skepticalscience.com/CO2-is-Good-for-Plants-Another-Red-Herring-in-the-Climate-Change-Debate.html

13. What sea life is expected to suffer with ocean acidification?
    Answer: plankton and corals http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/12/13/carbon-dioxide-is-double-threat-to-reefs/

14. For how many years in a row has the average global temperature been warmer than the 20th century average?
    Answer: 34 http://scienceblogs.com/classm/2011/01/fit_to_be_tied.php

15. "He was a registered Republican"..."He just didn’t think of [climate change] as a political issue at all." Who was this?
    Answer: Charles David Keeling, climate scientist who discovered the Keeling Curve (of increasing CO2 year by year in our atmosphere) (A Scientist, His Work and a Climate Reckoning - http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/22/science/earth/22carbon.html?pagewanted=1&hp )

Here's a pic to illustrate your Explain Q. 1:

Editorial suggestion: for clarity, change format:

"Answer: x URL"

=> "Answer: x); URL"

18: Shouldn't the answer be c)? Actually, your numbering for that question is screwed up anyway: "a, a, b". The 3rd choice is correct.

22: If you don't deal with cold as well as hot national extremes, this could be seen as a bias, and set up the quiz-master for a booby-trap. In fact, AGW would lead one to expect both kind of extremes, so you may as well grasp the nettle firmly.

23: Might be more meaningful to focus the question on coal: I think most people think the oil will be gone before long, probably before we get around to renewables; but there are hundreds of years of coal left.

Added a few new Qs to the end of the "multiple choice" and "explain" sections.

We'll see how it looks here, then I'll upload as flashcards.

1. When "Mighty oaks from tiny acorns grow", where has most of the oak wood come from?
   a) the oxygen in air
   b) the carbon dioxide in air
   c) water
   d) humus in soil
   e) minerals in soil
   Answer: b); - http://eo.ucar.edu/kids/green/cycles6.htm

    

2. Fossil fuels are the carbon-rich remains of...
   a) ancient plants and animals that didn't rot or burn
   b) cosmic dust
   c) chemical reactions of inert matter
   Answer: a); - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fossil_fuel

    

3. Carbon dioxide (CO2) gets into the air from...
   a) plant and animal respiration
   b) burning or rotting plant matter
   c) volcanos
   d) burning fossil fuels
   e) dissolved CO2 from the sea and other bodies of water
   f) all of the above
   Answer: f); - http://www.yaleclimatemediaforum.org/2010/12/common-climate-misconceptions-atmospheric-carbon-dioxide/

    

4. Carbon dioxide (CO2) is a greenhouse gas. This...
   a) is disputed by scientists
   b) means that it warms the earth like a blanket, keeping it from losing heat to space
   c) gives the sky its color
   Answer: b); - http://rabett.blogspot.com/2008/09/survival-blanket-outbreak-of-the.html

    

5. CO2 in our atmosphere is a trace gas; its concentration in the air is 387 parts per million, less than a tenth of one percent. If there were no CO2 in the air _at all_, earth's surface would become:
   a) about the same temperature as now
   b) 5 or 10 degrees F colder
   c) "snowball earth", more than 60 degrees F colder and covered in ice
   Answer: c); - http://chriscolose.wordpress.com/2010/08/27/adding-up-the-greenhouse-effect-attributing-the-contributions/ ("35 K after water vapor and albedo kicks in, and triggers a snowball Earth where the whole planet is ice covered")

    

6. Since we started burning fossil fuels with the Industrial Revolution, atmospheric CO2 has increased by:
   a) less than 5%
   b) about 10%
   c) more than 30%
   Answer: c); - http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2004/12/how-do-we-know-that-recent-cosub2sub-increases-are-due-to-human-activities-updated/

    

7. This increase in atmospheric CO2 is:
   a) partly natural, partly due to human activities
   b) almost entirely due to human activities
   Answer: b); - http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2004/12/how-do-we-know-that-recent-cosub2sub-increases-are-due-to-human-activities-updated/

    

8. There are natural carbon cycles - CO2 enters the atmosphere from sources like volcanoes, forest fires, and rotting wood; and leaves via sinks like plants, rock weathering, and oceans.

   Think of atmosphere as being a bathtub - the tub level is the CO2 concentration, and CO2 comes into it through the faucet, and drains out through uptake by our trees and oceans. Currently, our emissions have increased the faucet flow by 2% (URL?), and natural absorption processes have increased the drain flow by half that, 1% (URL?). Outcome: the atmospheric CO2 concentration - the tub level - will:
   a) decrease
   b) stay unchanged
   c) increase
   Answer: c); - http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/28/the-greenhouse-effect-and-the-bathtub-effect/

    

9. Now say we decrease the faucet flow by 20%; the tub level will proceed to...
   a) decrease
   b) stay unchanged
   c) continue to increase
   Answer: c); - http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/28/the-greenhouse-effect-and-the-bathtub-effect/

    

10. Effectively, how long will the CO2 emitted by burning a gallon of gas continue to affect the climate?
    a) days
    b) months
    c) centuries, plus 25% that sticks around forever
    Answer: c); - http://www.skepticalscience.com/co2-residence-time.htm ("Therefore a time scale for CO2 warming potential out as far as 500 years is entirely reasonable (See IPCC 4th Assessment Report Section 2.10)."), http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2005/03/how-long-will-global-warming-last/

     

11. As of 2002, roughly what proportion of the historical GHG emissions - that will continue to affect the climate for centuries or longer - has come from the U.S.? Europe? China?
    a) 1/3, 1/4, 1/12
    b) 1/3, 1/3, 1/5
    c) 1/4, 1/4, 1/4
    d) 1/4, 1/2, 1/5
    Answer: a ; (29.3, 26.5, 7.6) http://www.envirowiki.info/Historical_greenhouse_gas_emissions (Table after Baumert et. al., Chapter 6[2] Cumulative CO2 Emissions, 1850–2002)

     

12. Other greenhouse gases besides CO2 are...
    a) oxygen and argon
    b) methane, water vapor and nitrous oxide
    Answer: b); - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenhouse_gas

     

13. Before we humans, the earth has undergone cycles of warming and cooling. This means that...
    a) humans cannot change the earth's climate
    b) natural forces can also cause the climate to change
    Answer: b); - http://www.skepticalscience.com/climate-change-little-ice-age-medieval-warm-period.htm
    ("Climate reacts to whatever forces it to change at the time...")

     

14. Are natural cycles causing the current warming?
    Over many thousands of years, the earth naturally goes through various "wobbles" in its rotation and in its orbit around the sun. These natural Milankovitch cycles change how the sun warms the earth, producing a "solar forcing". Their cycle lengths vary from 21,000, to 400,000 years, with the strongest one for earth's climate being the 100,000 year cycle.
    In the absence of humans, what would these cycles be doing now, to earth's temperature?
    a) rapid cooling
    b) rapid warming
    c) v-e-r-y slow cooling (over thousands of years)
    d) v-e-r-y slow warming (over thousands of years)
    Answer: c); - http://tamino.wordpress.com/2011/01/25/milankovitch-cycles/

     

15. In the last 50 years, what % of the earth's warming is estimated to be due to human activities?
    a) 10%
    b) 50%
    c) 85-120% (the number can be over 100% if it has to mask a cooling factor)
    Answer: c ; ("somewhere between 80 to 120% of the warming" - Gavin Schmidt) http://climateprogress.org/2009/12/02/realclimate-gavin-schmidit-what-fraction-of-global-warming-is-due-to-human-causes-vs-natural-causes/

     

16. Volcanoes release how much CO2 compared to emissions from human activities?
    a) under 3%
    b) 40%
    c) 90%
    d) 170%
    Answer: a); - http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2006/05/current-volcanic-activity-and-climate/ , http://scienceblogs.com/illconsidered/2006/02/volcanos-emit-more-co2.php

     

17. Why are we concerned about the measly one degree C of warming we've seen so far?
    a) it's what it portends; this is the predicted signal just starting to emerge from the noise; there's more warming already "in the pipeline"
    b) future global temperature rise won't be uniform and risks global climate disruption
    c) look what's happening already, with glaciers, sea ice, & increased weather extremes
    d) all of the above
    Answer: d); - http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn7161 http://iopscience.iop.org/1748-9326/2/2/024002/fulltext (Hansen, inertia Environ. Res. Lett. 2 (April-June 2007) 024002) , http://initforthegold.blogspot.com/2010/08/name-of-problem.html

     

18. When the earth warms, what % of the heat goes into the oceans, and what % into land and atmosphere?
    a) 10% into oceans, 90% land+atmosphere
    b) 50% into oceans, 50% land+atmosphere
    c) 95% oceans, 5% land+atmosphere
    Answer: c); - http://www.skepticalscience.com/How-do-we-know-global-warming-is-still-happening.html

     

19. Over the last decade, the atmosphere has continued to warm, but more slowly. Does this mean global warming has stopped?
    a) no; the oceans have continued to warm
    b) no; 1998 was an unusual year for well-understood ocean-circulation reasons (El Nino)
    c) no; 10 years isn't a long enough time to be drawing conclusions. If we're going to say that GW stopped now, then we'd have to say that it's stopped numerous times in the past century too - yet it always resumed rising.
    d) all of the above
    e) none of the above; we can go back to burning oil and coal with a clear conscience.
    Answer: d); - http://www.skepticalscience.com/global-warming-stopped-in-1998-intermediate.htm

     

20. If you want to interpret the global surface temperature data to say that global warming stopped in 1998, during how many times did global warming stop in the 20th century?
    a) none
    b) 2
    c) 7 or more
    Answer: c); - http://www.skepticalscience.com/graphics.php?g=14

     

21. During the last glacial maximum (when glaciers covered much of the earth) about how many degrees F was the earth cooler than today?
    a) 5
    b) 10
    c) 20
    Answer: b); - http://ourchangingclimate.wordpress.com/2009/01/07/tipping_points_melting_ice/ (graph)

     

22. How many of the last 10 years were among the 10 hottest years on record?
    a) 3
    b) 0
    c) 9
    2010, 2005, 1998, 2003, 2002, 2009, 2006, 2007, 2004, 2001
    Answer: c); - http://climateprogress.org/2011/01/12/noaa-2010-tied-with-2005-for-hottest-year-on-record/

     

23. To have a 75% probability of keeping the temperature rise below 2C, how much of earth's known remaining fossil fuel reserves can we burn?
    a) less than a quarter
    b) about a tenth
    c) 80%
    Answer: a); - http://tinyurl.com/meinshausen

     

24. Under "business as usual" (i.e., no regulations to reduce GHG emissions), about how likely is it that we can keep earth's temperature rise below 2C?
    a) 25%
    b) 10%
    c) 80%
    d) 0%
    Answer: d); - http://tinyurl.com/meinshausen

     

25. If we reduce our CO2 emissions by 20%, atmospheric CO2 levels will
    a) decrease by 20%
    b) decrease by 10%
    c) level off
    d) continue to increase
    Answer: d); - http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1853871,00.html?xid=rss-health , http://web.mit.edu/jsterman/www/Understanding_public.html

     

26. The last time atmospheric CO2 was at its current level (~390 ppm), sea level was
    a) about the same as now
    b) about 30 feet lower
    c) 75-120 feet higher
    Answer: c); - http://climateprogress.org/2009/10/18/science-co2-levels-havent-been-this-high-for-15-million-years-when-it-was-5%C2%B0-to-10%C2%B0f-warmer-and-seas-were-75-to-120-feet-higher-we-have-shown-that-this-dramatic-rise-in-sea-level-i/

     

27. When climate doubters argue that global warming isn't happening, one approach they use is to:
    a) show a short time series of just a few years, rather than decades;
    b) show a temperature record that's regional, not global;
    c) focus on anecdotal temperature measurement imperfections to argue that there's a consistent bias
    d) all of the above
    Answer: d);

     

1. CO2 levels have changed before, and been much higher than now; why should we worry about it now?
   Answer: The rate of change is what's unnatural, & the fact that we have built civilizations that are adapted to the current climate (and sea level), and world population is bursting at the seams. Plus when CO2 was much higher than now, it was also much hotter. http://e360.yale.edu/digest/analysis_contends_co2_levels_may_reach_levels_not_seen_in_30_million_years/2757/, Image: http://www.imaginaryplanet.net/weblogs/idiotprogrammer/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/image_thumb5.png

    

2. A 2C (two degree Celsius) rise in temperature is how many degrees Fahrenheit?
   Answer: 2* 9/5, or 3.6F http://climate.nasa.gov/images/evidence_CO2.jpg

    

3. Atmospheric CO2 is now about 390 ppm. Prior to 1960, the last time CO2 levels were even over 300ppm was...
   Answer: More than 650,000 years ago http://climate.nasa.gov/images/evidence_CO2.jpg

    

4. How do we know the increase in atmospheric CO2 is our doing?
   Answer: 2 independent methods - Carbon isotopes, & calculations of how much we're emitting. http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2004/12/how-do-we-know-that-recent-cosub2sub-increases-are-due-to-human-activities-updated/

    

5. The atmospheric increase is only about half of the carbon we've been emitting; where are the other "sinks", where has the other half been going?
   Answer: Ocean, forests and soil http://blogs.nature.com/climatefeedback/2008/09/annual_carbon_budget_were_all_1.html

    

6. Natural sources of CO2 - rotting plant matter, etc - dwarf the CO2 from human activities, which is just a tiny fraction. How can this tiny fraction matter?
   Answer: The natural sources and sinks balance; but like a small debt that goes unpaid, the human-emitted CO2 accumulates. http://www.yaleclimatemediaforum.org/2010/12/common-climate-misconceptions-atmospheric-carbon-dioxide/

    

7. Why are individual events (Tennessee flooding, Amazon drought, Russian heat wave, Brazil flooding, Brisbane AU flooding) not specifically identified as absolutely being caused by the increase of CO2 in the atmosphere?
   Answer: Climate change changes the probability of an event - "climate trains the boxer but weather throws the punches" http://climateprogress.org/2010/08/05/russia-medvedev-global-climate-change-drought-heat-wave-grain-harvest/#comment-289207

    

8. What is the most obvious characteristic of climate during the 10k years of human civilization, compared to climate during the entire duration of the human species?
   Answer: Unusually stable. http://initforthegold.blogspot.com/2010/09/cozycene.html

    

9. What's the danger of extra CO2 in the ocean?
   Answer: Acidification - damage to small organisms like coral and plankton that need to create shells - http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2005/07/the-acid-ocean-the-other-problem-with-cosub2sub-emission/

    

10. Can we rely on these sinks (ocean, vegetation) to continue taking up half our CO2?
    Answer: No; they already show signs of slowing uptake. And vegetation is carbon neutral - releasing its CO2 after death - unless sequestered. - http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2007/11/is-the-ocean-carbon-sink-sinking/

     

11. A molecule of water vapor is a far more powerful greenhouse gas than is a molecule of CO2. So why are we more concerned about CO2 than water vapor?
    Answer: CO2's atmospheric lifetime is centuries, while water vapor rains out within days. And water vapor is a feedback, CO2 is the control knob, or the transistor - a higher-CO2 atmosphere creates warmth, which holds extra water vapor, that produces further warming. - http://www.skepticalscience.com/water-vapor-greenhouse-gas.htm

     

12. What is the difference between climate and weather?
    Answer: "Climate is what you expect, weather is what you get"; when measured by temperature, climate is typically averaged over decades. - http://dnr.wi.gov/climatechange/weather.htm

     

13. CO2 is natural and abundant and essential for plant growth; how can it be pollution?
    Answer: It affects temperature and acidity, too much or too little is uncomfortable. Horse manure is also natural and (in some areas) abundant... http://www.skepticalscience.com/CO2-is-Good-for-Plants-Another-Red-Herring-in-the-Climate-Change-Debate.html

     

14. What sea life is expected to suffer with ocean acidification?
    Answer: Plankton and corals http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/12/13/carbon-dioxide-is-double-threat-to-reefs/

     

15. For how many years in a row has the average global temperature been warmer than the 20th century average?
    Answer: 34 - http://scienceblogs.com/classm/2011/01/fit_to_be_tied.php

     

16. "He was a registered Republican"..."He just didn’t think of [climate change] as a political issue at all." Who was this?
    Answer: Charles David Keeling, climate scientist who discovered the Keeling Curve (of increasing CO2 year by year in our atmosphere) (A Scientist, His Work and a Climate Reckoning - http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/22/science/earth/22carbon.html?pagewanted=1&hp )

     

17. During the 2000s, what was the ratio of record-setting high temperatures to record-setting low temperatures?
    Answer: 2:1 http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/12/warming-trend-seen-in-temperature-records/

     

18. What are 3 reasons why coal is the fossil fuel of most concern for global warming?
    Answer: There are large reserves; it's used in large (point source) power plants that present a clear target for effective impacthttp://www.worldchanging.com/archives/006997.html; and being high-carbon, coal emits more CO2 per unit energy (BTU) than oil or natural gas http://www.eia.doe.gov/ask/environment_faqs.asp

     

19. Roughly what % of climate scientists believe the last 50 years of global warming is significantly due to human activities?
    Answer: 97% http://www.skepticalscience.com/global-warming-scientific-consensus.htm

     

20. What are 4 arguments for starting to cut emissions as soon as possible?
    Answer: The sooner we start changing course, the less abrupt the transition;
    The sooner we start changing course, the more likely we'll succeed;
    The sooner we start changing course, the sooner we'll innovate solutions - right now. uncertainty on action discourages investment in green energy technologies;
    The sooner we start changing course, the less likely the need for draconian efforts that curtail our freedoms
    More energy independence means less funding for Middle Eastern terrorists;

     

21. What are 2 arguments for delaying action as late as possible?
    Answer: Profits in the fossil fuel industry can continue unabated;
    We can stick the young and middle-aged, and their descendants for generations to come, with our bill - http://www.skepticalscience.com/economic-impacts-of-carbon-pricing.html

     

22. How do studies from antiregulation sources like the Heritage Institute inflate the cost of climate action?
    Answer: By doing cost-benefit analyses that only estimate the costs, and ignore the financial benefits (which, for energy efficiency efforts, can be substantial - http://www.skepticalscience.com/economic-impacts-of-carbon-pricing.html

     

23. By about what % of U.S. Gross Domestic Product do nonpartisan analyses generally estimate that proposed greenhouse gas reduction laws will impact the economy?
    Answer: 1% or less - http://www.skepticalscience.com/economic-impacts-of-carbon-pricing.html

     

24. How did the actual costs of the cap-and-trade effort to solve acid rain compare with industry estimates beforehand
    Answer: Less than 1/4 of the prior estimates - http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=polluted_data)

     

25. How do the actual costs of regulatory efforts typically compare with estimates beforehand?
    Answer: Typically less than 1/2 of the prior estimates - http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=polluted_data)

     

1. 
   Answer: NASA GISS global monthly average surface temperature as deviation from 1950-1980 monthly average; rows=months, columns=years - http://www.cejournal.net/?p=4525

I need to fix the Category tags, but...

http://www.flashcardexchange.com/flashcards/view/1632109
http://www.flashcardexchange.com/flashcards/view/1632086
(1 set for Multiple choice, 1 set for 'explain')

 I'll check them later; gotta run...

I'd like others to be able to use these & the quiz Qs above, but I don't want to spend more time on them.

 Metaphors
   1. Bathtub faucet/drain,
   2. Bathtub waves
   3. Credit card balance
   4. Credit card interest lagging debt
   5. Insurance
   6. Russian Roulette
   7. Chemo for lung cancer vs quitting smoking
   8. Campsite
   9. Traveling a bumpy road into the future, and the only seats we have are on the back of the wagon
  10. Running low on wine at a party, where some guests newly arrived
  11. Freezer door left open
  12. Car toward a cliff in the fog


Concepts:
   1. Sea level rise vs. encroachment
   2. Using vs doing science
   3. Charney sensitivity vs earth system sensitivity
   4. "In the pipeline"
   5. Acting as a Citizen vs. Acting as a Consumer
   6. Statistical tests - significance and power
   7. Feedbacks, tipping points
   8. Who benefits, who is harmed
   9. Discount rate
  10. Externality
  11. Race to the bottom
  12. Climate models (& inherent bias re processes - e.g. http://climatecrocks.com/2011/01/26/graph-of-the-day-2/ )
  13. Effect of uncertainty on risk

....a friend at the Manpollo-forums has created a version which already has November included:

I'll poke him if he can add December as well (the data should be in by now) - the graphic might be better if it shows the whole year...

Cheers
Baerbel

Thank you Baerbel - and thank you for sharing your climate quiz Qs, which got this started.

Hi Anna,

you are welcome!

Would it help you if you had a PDF-version (or the original ppt) of my quiz where I've included several graphics from SkS? Obivously, the Q&A are in German.

If yes, I can send it to you, will just need your email-address. Or - if others are interested - I can just upload it to the SkS-file directory.

Cheers

Baerbel

Hi Folks,

after some emailing back and forth between Anna, John and myself, I created a drafted blog-post which you can find in the blog-post-forum. Feedback is very welcome!

Thanks and Cheers
Baerbel