1. What are the factors that control air temperature? What are the factors that control precipitation? What drives the annual temperature regime. What effect does a marine location have on temperature? What are examples of a Mediterranean climate, Dry Midlatitude climate, Moist Continental climate? What are examples of Boreal Forest, Tundra, and Ice Sheet climates?

2. How does rock weathering effect CO2 levels? Is something like the Tibetan Plateau normal in Earth history? How much different was the climate at the latitude of Orlando 50 Myrs ago than now? How much different was the climate at the latitude of New York 50 Myrs ago than now? What was the arctic climate like 50 Myrs ago? Is the current sea level normal for Earth? Prevailing westerly winds off the ocean create what kind of climate?

3. Do climate zones shift with continental drift? Is the Earth’s magnetic field constant over geological time? Why was the Cretaceous so much warmer? Why has the climate grown colder since the Cretaceous? What is an example of a trade-wind coastal climate? A moist subtropical climate? A marine west coast climate? What are examples of critters found in Dry Midlatitude or Tundra climates?

4. What causes changes in the volume of ocean ridges and, thus, ocean basin volume? What effect does continental collision have on ocean basin volume? What is the effect of ice sheets on sea levels? What is the effect of thermal contraction or expansion of seawater on sea level? How would the expansion of oceans effect climate? What accounts for Europe’s mild climate?

5. Where are we in the current Milankovitch cycle? What affect does mountain uplift have on the monsoon cycle? About how much carbon is typically in the atmosphere? What is an accumulation zone? Ablation zone? What happens to the crust when it is loaded with ice? What do we know about the Earth’s axial tilt?

6. Is today’s rate of physical weathering unusually high? What is a perihelion? Aphelion? How much less solar radiation does the Earth get at Aphelion? What is the tilt cycle and how long is it? How long is the precession cycle? What is insolation? What is the eccentricity cycle and how long is it? What are the three major greenhouse gases in the Earth’s atmosphere?

7. What are summer and winter monsoons? What is the ITCZ? How do African monsoons respond to insolation? What are three pieces of evidence for stronger monsoons in North Africa? What is the Milankovitch theory? What is a glacial equilibrium line? How does mountain building effect CO2? How does latitude effect the equilibrium line?

8. What happens with cold summers and warm winters? What is the climate point? How does elevation shift the climate point? How does insolation changes effect the climate point? Describe the lags between ice sheets and summer insolation? What is the response to ice loading on the crust? What is calving?

9. What happened to the glacial cycles 2.75 Myr ago? What happened to the glacial cycles 0.9 Myr ago? How do you know that gas trapped in ice cores samples ancient atmosphere? How much does the atmosphere cool with altitude. What is glacial rebound? How does glacial rebound explain the sinking of Holland?