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Trivia Challenge:

Search the entire poster to find answers for the following:

1. What Nunavut town has 3 "Q's" in its name?
   
   
2. What is a "thermosyphon"?
   
   
3. What colour are the ptarmigans?
   
   

Did You Know?

Use the pieces of information under this heading ("Did You Know?") on the poster to answer the following true/false (T or F) questions. If the statement is false, cross out the incorrect word or number value, and write in the correct version.

Climate Change – The Basics:

1. Locate the box with the sun in it, and record the following information:
   ____ % of incoming solar radiation reflected back to space.
   ____ % of incoming solar radiation absorbed by the atmosphere.
   ____ % of incoming solar radiation absorbed by the earth's surface.
   
   
2. Predict the effects that melting of polar ice caps would have on these percentages (in 1 above).
   
   
3. What human-induced factors contribute to climate change?
   
   
4. What greenhouse gas is most closely linked to human activities?
   
   
5. What is the current concentration (parts per million by volume) of CO₂ in our atmosphere?

Climate Has Always Changed:

Examine the ice core data from the last 12 000 years:

1. Has most of the last 12 000 years in Nunavut been above or below present normal temperatures?
   
   
2. Estimate what percentage of the last 12 000 years has had above/below present normal temperatures:
   ~ ____ % above normal temperatures
   ~ ____ % below normal temperatures
   
   
3. Estimate what percentage of the last 150 000 was spent below present normal temperatures.
   
   
4. What was the eastern high arctic average summer temperature in the year you were born?
   
   

The Current Conditions:

1. Was the global ground surface temperature in the year 1500 warmer or cooler than today? By how many degrees?
   
   
2. Using the graph, comment on any trends in frequency of intense winter storms in the northern hemisphere.
   
   

Climate Projections:

1. What is the projected intermediate estimate for CO₂ concentration (ppm by volume) for the year 2100?
   
   
2. What technology was necessary for us to develop GCMs (general circulation models) of the Earth's climate?
   
   
3. How accurate are these models?
   
   

Glaciers and Sea-Level Rise:

1. From the map showing sensitivity to sea level rise, which province's Hudson Bay coastline is the least vulnerable (i.e. has the lowest sensitivity to sea-level rise), Manitoba, Ontario or Quebec? (Circle the right answer)
   
   
2. Which Ice Cap in the Arctic is beginning to show a trend toward more summer melt?
   
   

Of Ice and Men:

1. What traditional northern activities depend on sea ice?
   
   
2. What emergency occurred in early June 1997?
   
   
3. Predict how the opening of the "Northwest Passage" would:
   
   1. create social change:
      
      
   2. increase environmental hazards:
      
      
   3. raise sovereignty issues:
      
      

Life at Sea:

1. What do scientists predict will happen to the range of many marine species as climate changes?
   
   
2. What animals require strong sea ice to breed, nurse pups and rest?
   
   
3. How will Inuit hunters be affected as animals shift their range in response to climate change?
   
   
4. According to the News North, when it gets too warm, what do the animals do?
   
   

Northern Landscapes:

1. What is found beneath the ground surface in nearly all of Nunavut?
   
   
2. How will people be affected if the permafrost thaws?
   
   

Life on the Land:

1. How will the herbivores' food supply in the north be affected by climate change?
   
   
2. What small mammal pictured may be threatened by CO₂ trapped under the snow?
   
   
3. What is expected to happen to the range of plant species in the north?
   
   
4. How will warming affect birds in the region?
   
   

The Challenge:

1. How does Canada rank globally for CO₂ emissions?
   
   
2. What is the world average CO₂ emission (tonnes/year)?
   
   
3. Examining residential emissions of CO₂, what activity is responsible for 53% of these emissions? ______________________________
   
   Propose ways to decrease this output, from this source:
   
   
4. How might human health be affected by GHGs (greenhouse gases)?
   
   
5. Did any of the information on this poster alarm you in any way? If so, how?
   
   

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Downloads:

• Nunavut Exercise PDF version [PDF, 28.3 kb, viewer]
• Nunavut Answer Key PDF version [PDF, 33.8 kb, viewer]