Quiz Yourself
Climate Change Quiz
Climate Change Quiz
How much do you know about the world’s greatest threat? We’re talking, of course, about climate change.
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Special thanks to Russell Scherr, Katelyn Crews, Katie Hohns, Lily Fowler, Lindsey Sparkman, and Noor Chowdhury for their essential work on this project.
Which of the following is a greenhouse gas (GHG)?
Greenhouse gasses may be a result of natural occurrence or human activity. These gasses include carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), water vapor, nitrous oxide (N2O) and ozone (O3). Fluorinated gasses are also considered to be greenhouse gasses. Greenhouse gasses act like a heat-trapping blanket, making the Earth habitable for humans. However, human activities have increased emissions of greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere beyond what the Earth can support, resulting in climate change.
What was agreed to in the “Paris Agreement” that came out of COP-21, held in Paris in 2015?
The Paris Agreement is an international treaty on climate change. It aims to keep the overall increase in global temperatures below 2 degrees Celsius, with the hope of limiting it to 1.5 degrees Celsius. Scientists believe that these are the largest increases in global temperature that we could experience without causing catastrophic change to the Earth’s climate.
What percentage of the global greenhouse gas emissions does the transportation sector emit?
Transportation is the fastest growing source of emissions worldwide, and now accounts for 20% of global greenhouse gas emissions - behind only the power sector. Of these global numbers, the U.S. is the greatest contributor to global transportation emissions. Most of this involves fossil fuels burned for road, rail, air and marine transportation. Petroleum-based fuels (i.e., gasoline and diesel) account for almost all of the world’s transportation energy.
Which of these countries emits the most carbon dioxide?
China is currently the largest single-country contributor to global GHG emissions. In 2020, China accounted for about 26% of global CO2 emissions, followed by the US at 11%, and then India at about 7%. While China has the greatest present emissions, the U.S. cumulatively has the largest GHG emissions.
Globally, which of the following economic sectors emits the largest percentage of greenhouse gas emissions?
The electric power sector accounted for 39.3% of global CO2 emissions in 2022 followed behind by the industry sector. While emissions are still on the rise, the rate of increase has slowed since 2021.
What is the Greenhouse effect?
The Earth receives solar radiation from the sun. Passing through the atmosphere, some radiation is absorbed by the Earth, while some is reflected back to space. When the exchange of incoming and outgoing radiation occurs, some of the radiation becomes trapped by gasses in the atmosphere. This creates a “greenhouse” effect and warms the planet.
Which of the following is NOT a consequence associated with climate change?
Climate change will impact the amount of mass migrations occurring for affected societies. As extreme weather events, such as droughts and floods, continue to occur across the globe, more and more locations are becoming uninhabitable for people to sustain livelihoods there. And so, mass migrations will continue to avoid the impacts of climate change. Displaced people experience all of these other problems associated with climate change and are already feeling the devastating impacts in the most vulnerable countries and communities.
What can you do to help fight climate change?
All of these actionshelp minimize your own carbon footprint. By taking public transport, less cars will be on the road emitting GHG. Most of the world’s land is set aside for livestock, so by consuming less, less resources get used up in meat’s production. Along with these important steps, we also suggest adding your voice to the issues surrounding climate change, supporting clean energy and taking personal actions to reduce your impact on the planet.
True or False: The overwhelming majority of scientists agree that climate change is real and caused by humans.
Studies show that 99 percent of climate scientists who are actively publishing agree that climate change is likely due to human activity. Most of the prominent scientific organizations across the globe have issued statements that publicly endorse this view.
True or False: Wasting less food is a way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
In the process of producing food, about 13% never makes it to the grocery store while around 17% gets wasted in households. This amounts to more than a third of food produced globally contributing to climate change. Some of this waste food spoils in transit, while consumers throw some of this food out after purchase. Approximately 8-10% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions relate to food waste.
Scientists measure changes in sea temperature by the decades. About how much have sea temperatures increased every decade since the 20th century?
From 1901 until 2020, sea surface temperatures increased an average rate of 0.14 degrees Fahrenheit per decade. The consistent rise in temperatures has been devastating on marine ecosystems. In 2023, scientists observed an increase in surface temperatures of 1.78°F in July.
Which years have been the hottest on record?
The past 8 years have been the warmest on global record, and 2020 is tied with 2016 as the hottest years, with a global average temperature 1.84 degrees Fahrenheit (1.02 degrees Celsius) warmer than the baseline 1951-1980 mean. 2022 comes close, tied with 2015, with temperatures being 1.6 degrees Fahrenheit (0.89 degrees Celsius) above the baseline. While these are the hottest years on record, 2023 is on track to be the hottest year.
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