Environmental Studies · General Awareness

Greenhouse Gases and Atmosphere

1,328 Questions

Review important questions related to greenhouse gases, global warming, and atmospheric changes. The practice set focuses on identifying major pollutants and their environmental impact. These concepts are tested in the general awareness and environmental studies sections.

Greenhouse gas identificationGlobal warming processAtmospheric carbon dioxideMethane emissionsCement production emissions

Greenhouse Gases and Atmosphere Questions

Multiple choice physics heat and energy

Name of green house gases.

  1. methane

  2. oxygen

  3. nitrogen

  4. none of these
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation
  1. Carbon dioxide 
    2. Methane 
    3. Nitrous oxide 
Multiple choice physics heat and energy

Which of the following greenhouse gas is not present in very high quantity?

  1. methane

  2. ethane

  3. propane
  4. $CO _2$
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

A greenhouse gas is a gas that absorbs and emits radiant energy within the thermal infrared range. Greenhouse gases cause the greenhouse effect on planets. The primary greenhouse gases in Earth's atmosphere are water vapour $(H _2O)$, carbon dioxide $(CO _2)$, methane $CH _4)$, nitrous oxide $(N _2O)$ and ozone $(O _3)$. Among the given gases, $CO _2$ is not present in very high quantity.

Multiple choice physics heat and energy

The extent that a greenhouse gas warms the Earth depends on:

  1. the length of time it remains in the atmosphere

  2. its ability to absorb energy

  3. both A and B

  4. none of these
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Scientists use these factors to calculate a gass global warming potential, which measures how much heat it absorbs per pound.

Multiple choice physics heat and energy

Greenhouse gases keep the earth:

  1. Cool

  2. Warm

  3. No effect

  4. Information insufficient
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

Since greenhouse gases trap heat rays (infrared rays) which due to irradiation keeps the earth warm.

Multiple choice physics heat and energy

Greenhouse gases absorb:

  1. Ultraviolet radiations

  2. Visible light radiations

  3. Microwave radiations

  4. Infrared radiations
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

They trap the heat rays because they have certain properties which are either enhanced or reduced due to heat.Capturing infrared rays is a characteristic properties of greenhouse gases.


Multiple choice physics heat and energy

After $CO _2$, which greenhouse gas accounts for the next largest share?

  1. Suphur dioxide

  2. Methane

  3. Nitrous Oxide

  4. Hydrofluorocarbons
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

Methaneemitted from landfills, coal mines, oil/gas operations, and agricultural livestockaccounted for 10 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.

Multiple choice physics heat and energy

What greenhouse gas was not present in the atmosphere in pre-industrial times (before 1750)?

  1. Trichlorofluoromethane

  2. Carbon dioxide

  3. Nitrous oxide

  4. Methane
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Trichlorofluoromethane is a type of fluorocarbon. Fluorocarbons were not present in the atmosphere before 1750. Today trichlorofluoromethane is present in the atmosphere at 242 to 244 parts per trillion (ppt).

Multiple choice physics heat and energy

What is the largest source of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions?

  1. Agriculture

  2. Transportation

  3. Electricity Production

  4. Home Heating
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Electricity production accounted for 31 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions in 2013, followed by transportation at 27 percent.

Multiple choice physics heat and energy

What can remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere?

  1. Vegetation

  2. Oceans

  3. Carbon capture equipment

  4. All of the above
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

Vegetation and the oceans absorb somebut not all $CO _2$ emissions. Power plants can use carbon capture and sequestration technology to reduce emissions.

Multiple choice physics heat and energy

Which of the following is a greenhouse gas?

  1. Water vapour

  2. Methane

  3. Carbon dioxide

  4. All of the above

Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

All the gases which has the properties that may be influenced by heat rays,has the capability to absorb infrared rays and hence act as greenhouse gases.

Multiple choice physics heat and energy

The green house gas is

  1. oxygen

  2. nitrogen

  3. chlorine

  4. carbon dioxide
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

The green house gas is $CO 2$.
A greenhouse gas (sometimes abbreviated GHG) is a gas in an atmosphere that absorbs<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absorption%28electromagnetic_radiation%29"> and emits radiation within the thermal infrared range. This process is the fundamental cause of the green house effect. The primary greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmophere are water vapor, $CO _2 $, $CH _4$ , nitrou oxide and Ozone.
Thus Option D is correct.

Multiple choice physics heat and energy

Which greenhouse gas has the highest global warming potential?

  1. Carbon dioxide

  2. Mathane

  3. Nitrous Oxide

  4. Suplhur Hexafluoride
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

This fluorinated gas absorbs the most heat over a hundred-year period. Its global warming potential is 23,500, compared to 28 for methane and 1 for carbon dioxide.

Multiple choice physics heat and energy

How long does methane stay in the atmosphere?

  1. $1$ month
  2. $1$ year
  3. $6$ years
  4. $12$ years
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

On average, methane lingers in the atmosphere for $12$ years, while $CO _2$ can remain for thousands of years.

Multiple choice physics heat and energy

Methane is a green house gas because

  1. It absorbs longer wavelengths of the electromagnetic spectrum while transmitting shorter wavelengths

  2. It absorbs shorter wavelengths of the electromagnetic spectrum while transmitting longer wavelengths

  3. It absorbs all wavelengths of the electromagnetic spectrum

  4. It transmits all wavelengths of the electromagnetic spectrum
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Methane allows sunlight (shortwave radiation) to pass through the atmosphere freely, where it is then partially absorbed by the surface of the Earth. But some of this energy bounces back out towards space as heat. Of the heat emitted back to space, some is intercepted and absorbed by methane in the atmosphere. This molecular structure allows it to absorb some of the escaping heat and then re-emit it towards the Earth which increases global temperatures.

Multiple choice physics heat and energy

The greenhouse effect is caused by:

  1. Greenhouse gases in the lower atmosphere absorbing solar radiation

  2. Greenhouse gases in the lower atmosphere absorbing radiation from the Earth's surface, and preventing much of it escaping into space

  3. Too much heat in the atmosphere

  4. Too much sunshine reaching Earth
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

The greenhouse effect simply describes the fundamental role our atmosphere plays in sustaining life on Earth. Energy from the sun in the form of sunlight passes through our atmosphere and warms the surface of the Earth which then emits the energy back into the atmosphere in the form of infrared radiation. Greenhouse gases, which make up only about one per cent of the atmosphere, absorb and re-emit some of this heat, preventing much of it leaving the Earth's atmosphere. This keeps the blue planet at a comfy temperature to sustain life.
But over time, climate scientists argue, our atmosphere has accumulated more greenhouse gases, in particular carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and fluorocarbons. This increased concentration of atmospheric gases traps more heat close to the Earth's surface in the lower atmosphere and increases the average global temperature. This process, called the 'enhanced greenhouse effect', is fundamental to global warming.