Questions: Climate Science: From Weather Prediction to Global Warming
5 questions to test your understanding
Score: 0 / 5
Question 1 Multiple Choice
Who was the first scientist to calculate a specific temperature increase from doubling atmospheric CO2?
AJohn Tyndall
BJoseph Fourier
CSvante Arrhenius
DCharles Keeling
Swedish chemist Svante Arrhenius published his calculation in 1896, estimating that doubling CO2 would raise global temperatures by approximately 5°C. His estimate was remarkably close to modern projections. He did not view this as alarming — he thought warming might benefit agriculture — and the change would take thousands of years at 19th-century emission rates.
Question 2 Multiple Choice
In what year did Charles Keeling begin systematic measurements of atmospheric CO2 at Mauna Loa, Hawaii?
A1945
B1958
C1972
D1988
Charles Keeling began continuous CO2 measurements at Mauna Loa Observatory in 1958, as part of the International Geophysical Year. The resulting 'Keeling Curve' — showing steady annual increases in atmospheric CO2 — became one of the most important datasets in climate science, providing direct evidence that human emissions were accumulating in the atmosphere.
Question 3 Short Answer
What did ice core records reveal that changed scientists' understanding of climate change risks?
Think about your answer, then reveal below.
Model answer: Ice cores drilled from Greenland and Antarctica revealed that climate had shifted rapidly and dramatically in the past — sometimes by several degrees within decades, far faster than anyone had assumed. They also showed that current atmospheric CO2 concentrations were unprecedented in at least 800,000 years of ice core records. This evidence undermined the assumption that climate change would be slow and gradual, raising concerns that the Earth system contained tipping points — thresholds beyond which rapid, potentially irreversible changes could occur.
The EPICA ice core project and Greenland ice core projects provided climate records extending back hundreds of thousands of years, fundamentally reshaping understanding of climate variability.
Question 4 True / False
The scientific consensus on human-caused climate warming was established by the 1970s.
TTrue
FFalse
Answer: False
In the 1970s, there was genuine scientific debate, with some researchers concerned about cooling from aerosol pollution. The consensus on warming emerged in the 1980s as CO2 measurements accumulated, climate models improved, and actual temperature trends became detectable. The IPCC's 1995 Second Assessment Report was the first to declare that 'the balance of evidence suggests a discernible human influence on global climate.'
Question 5 Short Answer
How did the fossil fuel industry's response to climate science parallel the tobacco industry's response to evidence linking smoking to cancer?
Think about your answer, then reveal below.
Model answer: Historical research (Naomi Oreskes, Erik Conway, and internal documents released in litigation) has shown that major fossil fuel companies including ExxonMobil conducted internal research in the 1970s and 1980s confirming climate change risks, then funded public campaigns sowing doubt about that same science. This mirrored tobacco industry tactics: not disproving the science but creating the appearance of controversy, funding contrarian researchers, lobbying against regulation, and emphasizing uncertainty. The strategy delayed policy responses by decades.
The sociology of manufactured scientific doubt is an important part of climate science history — understanding how vested interests can distort public understanding even when scientific consensus is strong.