Name Class Date
Chapter 21 Climate
Section 21.3 Climate Changes
(pages 600–603)
This section describes natural processes and human activities that affect climate.
Reading Strategy (page 600)
Identifying Cause and Effect As you read, complete the table below. For
more information on this Reading Strategy, see the Reading and Study
Skills in the Skills and Reference Handbook at the end of your textbook.
Climate Changes
Causes Effects
Plate Tectonics
Changes can result in short-term fluctuations.
Earth’s Orbital Motions
Eruption emissions can reflect more solar radiation,
lowering temperatures.
Natural Processes That Change Climate (pages 600–601)
1. Is the following sentence true or false? El Niño or a change in ocean
circulation can result in short-term climate fluctuations.
2. Use the words below to fill in the blank. The formation of sunspots
appears to correspond with periods in Europe and
North America.
cool warm rainy
3. Circle the letter of the motions of Earth that result in climatic
changes.
a. rotations
b. plate tectonics
c. changes in the shape of Earth’s orbit
Earth Science Guided Reading and Study Workbook ■ 213
Name Class Date
Chapter 21 Climate
Human Impact on Climate Changes (pages 602–603)
4. Circle the letter of the term for the natural warming of both Earth’s
lower atmosphere and Earth’s surface.
a. greenhouse effect
b. tropical warming
c. polar thawing
5. The major gases involved in the greenhouse effect are water vapor and
.
6. Is the following sentence true or false? The burning of fossil fuels and
the clearing of forests may have added to an increase of oxygen in the
atmosphere.
7. Use the graph below to answer the following questions.
a.-What was the approximate concentration of carbon dioxide in the
atmosphere in 1960?
b. What was the approximate concentration of carbon dioxide in the
atmosphere in 2007?
c. What is the approximate difference in carbon dioxide concentration
between 2007 and 1960?
8. What is global warming?
Earth Science Guided Reading and Study Workbook ■ 214
Name Class Date
Chapter 21 Climate
WordWise
Use the clues and the words below to help you write the vocabulary terms from the
chapter in the blanks. Then find and circle the terms in the puzzle. The terms may
occur vertically, horizontally, or diagonally.
Köppen
temperate
tropical
subtropical
polar
humid
subarctic
west coast
Clues
The zone experiences warm weather year-round.
The region located north of the humid continental climate and south of the
tundra has a climate.
The climate classification system uses mean monthly
and annual values of temperature and precipitation.
The zone is a region that experiences hot summers and
cold winters.
The dry-summer climate is sometimes referred to as a
Mediterranean climate.
Coastal areas between about 40° and 65° north and south latitude have
marine climates.
The southeastern United States has a subtropical
climate.
The zone is a region that experiences very cold
temperatures year-round.
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