Homework 12 - Student

Short Answer

1) The five spheres that comprise the climate system are ________.
Atmosphere
Hydrosphere
Geosphere
Biosphere
Cryosphere (the world of ice and snow)
2) Clean, dry air is composed almost entirely of two gases: ________ and ________.
Nitrogen
Oxygen

3) The most important trace (greenhouse) gas is _________ .

CO2

4) The last topic of this course on CLIMATE and CLIMATE CHANGE compares and contrasts natural and
human-induced causes for global climate change. This topic is arguably the most significant that we
currently face as a global community. In your opinion, which of these causes has had the greatest effects
on climate over the last three million years and why? To what extent has the principal cause changed
over time?
While ! think that humans do influence climate change by releasing greenhouse gasses into the
atmosphere, ! believe that climate change would occur with or without human inference.