Warming oceans, rising seas and melting ice

Grade 9 Science Worksheet - Building Confidence

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Use this

   A climate chart with ocean heat content and sea level both rising.

2. 1.

   About what share of the excess heat trapped by greenhouse gases does the ocean store, by Ari's reading (NOAA)?

   • About 1%
   • About 91%
   • About 9%
   • About 50%
3. 2.

   How can satellites help track ocean heat across the globe, by Bo's reading (NOAA)?

   • They count icebergs, since each one stores ocean heat
   • They measure sea-surface height, since warmer water expands
   • They see heat glowing from the deep sea floor
   • They track air heat, since the air stores most of it
4. 3.

   Note: Total 1901–2018, about 0.20 m. Using the table, what was the average rate of sea-level rise from 2006 to 2018, by Jun's reading (IPCC AR6)?

   • 1.3 mm a year
   • 1.9 mm a year
   • 0.20 m a year
   • 3.7 mm a year
5. 4.

   A climate chart with ocean heat content and sea level both rising. Which two things mostly cause today's sea-level rise, by Milo's reading (NOAA)?

   • More rivers flowing, and bigger waves at sea
   • Melt water from land ice, and warm seawater expanding
   • Seawater shrinking as it warms, and new icebergs
   • Melting floating sea ice, and more rain over the ocean
7. 5.

   What is sea ice, by Noah's reading (NSIDC)?

   • Glacier ice that slid off the land into the sea
   • Frozen ocean water that forms and melts in the ocean
   • Frozen river water carried out to the sea
   • Snow piled up on land along the coast
8. 6.

   Which kinds of ice start on land, by Pia's reading (NSIDC)?

   Use the picture in question 5.

   • Sea ice and the pack ice around it
   • Frozen ocean surface water near the poles
   • Glaciers, ice shelves and icebergs
   • Sea ice, which freezes from seawater
9. 7.

   IPCC AR6: how did Arctic sea-ice area in September change from 1979–1988 to 2010–2019, by Ren's reading?

   Use the picture in question 5.

   • It grew by about 40%
   • It shrank by about 40%
   • It held steady
   • It shrank by about 4%

10. Use this

    A pH scale with a small step down from about 8.2 to about 8.1.

11. 8.

    How much has surface ocean pH fallen since the industrial revolution, by Tala's reading (NOAA)?

    • About 1 pH unit
    • About 0.1 pH units
    • About 30 pH units
    • It rose about 0.1 pH units
12. 9.

    NOAA: pH fell 0.1, but the pH scale is logarithmic. About how much did acidity rise, by Zee's reading?

    • About 1%
    • About 30%
    • About 0.1%
    • It fell about 30%
13. 10.

    What forms when CO₂ dissolves in seawater, by Esme's reading (NOAA)?

    • A strong acid that boils the water
    • Table salt
    • Pure oxygen gas
    • Carbonic acid, a weak acid