1. In which year was the greenhouse effect first identified?
a) 1985 by Al Gore b) 1958 by David Keeling c) 1823 by Jean-Baptiste Fourier
2. The greenhouse effect:
a) Is an inconvenient truth b) Was begun by the Industrial Revolution c) Has enabled life on Earth
3. Of the greenhouse gases that warm the Earth, the most abundant is:
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a) Methane b) Carbon dioxide c) Water vapour
4. Every year burning fossil fuels add:
a) 0.2 per cent as much CO2 as is produced naturally by the oceans and biosphere b) 2.3 per cent as much CO2 as is produced naturally c) 3.4 per cent as much CO2 as is produced naturally
5. This man-made contribution to atmospheric CO2:
a) Has no effect because it is so small b) Is significant because it is more potent than naturally produced CO2 c) Is significant because it has overloaded the Earth’s natural ways of absorbing CO2
6. CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere have risen:
a) By 10 per cent since the Industrial Revolution b) By 25 per cent since the Industrial Revolution c) By 35 per cent since the Industrial Revolution
7. The largest CO2 emissions since industrialisation have come from:
a) 1st China, 2nd India, 3rd US b) 1st US, 2nd Britain, 3rd Germany c) 1st US, 2nd Russian Federation, 3rd China
8. The largest per capita emissions have come from:
a) 1st US, 2nd Britain, 3rd Germany b) 1st US, 2nd Belgium, 3rd Britain c) 1st Luxembourg, 2nd US, 3rd Britain
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9. When were man-made CO2 emissions identified as a problem?
a) In the 1980s by Al Gore b) In the 700s by the Mayan calendar-makers c) In the 1890s by Svante Arrhenius and P. C. Chamberlain
10. The Viking colonisation of Greenland indicates that:
a) Greenland was green and covered in grass and warmer than today b) The Vikings knew how to survive in cold climates c) The climate was relatively mild, but not as warm as today
11. In the past 100 years the global average temperature:
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a) Has remained the same as it always was b) Has risen by 0.54C c) Has risen by 0.76C
12. In the past ten years:
a) A period of global warming has ended b) Annual global average temperatures have risen c) Average temperatures appear level, but the long-term trend is still upwards
Answers
Mostly a: Mostly wrong. Greetings, Mr Clarkson.
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Mostly b: Getting warmer, but not quite right.
Mostly c: Mostly correct. Congratulations, Mr Gore.
Sources: The Met Office, Department for Energy and Climate Change, Sustainable Energy Without Hot Air by David MacKay