Beware Of Global Cooling! Trivia Quiz

Answer: Karl Friedrich Schimper

Karl Friedrich Schimper discussed his findings and theories with a contemporary, Louis Agassiz, who later published the theories and related works and claimed them as his own ideas. Schimper, however, was the man who first coined the term "Ice Age."

Answer: from the 16th - 19th centuries

Several factors may have entered into what Dutch native, François E. Matthes, called the "little ice age". Three very cold instances stand out as indicators of this series of rapidly cooling temperatures, especially in the northern hemisphere. The first occurred during the mid 1600s; the second around 1770, and the last around the 1850s, with each one followed by brief periods of slight warming trends.

Answer: the eruption of Krakatoa

After the eruption of Krakatoa (Krakatau),(which was thousands of times stronger than that of the atomic bomb that devastated Hiroshima, Japan during WW2,) massive tsunamis, earthquakes and other catastrophes followed.

Worldwide weather patterns were completely disrupted and colder temperatures were recorded for years. Weather patterns around the globe did not begin to return to normal until 1888.

Answer: 1816

When Mount Tambora in Indonesia erupted in 1815, the explosion was heard over 1,200 miles away. Afterwards, the extreme effects of it were still being felt as far away as North America and Europe in terms of weather-related disasters.
Crops failed, livestock died, and the worst famine of the 19th century resulted from the after effects of the explosion.

Answer: increases or decreases in solar activity

Some researchers believe that decreases in solar activity can cause cooling temperatures, while increases can create warming trends over a period of time. That is not to say that the Sun alone can influence such; activities on Earth can create such trends as well. Tsunamis, volcanic activity (or the lack thereof) and man's influence may also play roles in cooling or warming temperatures.

While no single cause can be determined, it may be safe to say that all of the above can be contributing factors at times.

Answer: The Global Climate Coalition

Global warming? Global cooling?

Who is right, in the ongoing debate as to whether "greenhouse gases" are contributing to the climate of the world super-heating?

Rather than attempting to tackle THAT hot-button issue, I will simply tell you that the Global Climate Coalition was formed in 1989, but ceased to function by 2002.

Some of its former members had included such businesses as Daimler/Chrylser Corporation, the Southern Companies, (home energy suppliers for the southeastern U.S.), Ford Motor Company, Texaco, British Petroleum, General Motors and Dupont.

Answer: Oymyakon and Verkhoyansk, Russia

Ironically, the name Oymyakon means "non-freezing water". What a name for one of the coldest places on earth! The name was derived from a hot spring that is located near the area. Nomadic tribes originally used the site as a place to water their herds of reindeer from the hot springs and later it was established as a permanent village by the Soviet government in an effort to contain the nomads from wandering and force them to settle down.

I don't think I'd care to live where temperatures dropped to an absolutely astonishing F -96.16 (that's C -71.2), way back in 1924!

It gets so cold at times in the winter that eyeglasses will actually freeze to people's faces, and burying dead bodies can present a challenge as well; with bonfires having to be lit and burned with the coals used in small increments for three days or so just to get the ground thawed enough to dig!

While Verkhoyansk also "enjoys" frigid temperatures, it has a very dry climate at least, averaging only about seven inches of precipitation each year.

Answer: 128.5 below zero (F)

An astonishing low temperature was recorded in July 1983 at the Russian Vostok research station in Antarctica; an unbelievable 128.5 degrees below zero!

Now that was cold!

Answer: Alaska and Montana

Prospect Creek Camp, in the Endicott Mountains of Alaska recorded the lowest temperature ever seen in the U.S. on Jan. 23, 1971 at -79.8 (F).

Rogers Pass in Montana recorded a temp of -69.7 (F) on Jan. 20, 1954.

Answer: Ranfurly

Ranfurly, on the South Island of New Zealand lies in a fairly elevated terrain and is protected from the rainfall that inundates the western side of the island by a mountain range, the Southern Alps.

In 1903, the area set a record cold temperature that hung around for a while as the air was trapped in place by the surrounding mountains.

- 25.6 (C) converts to -14.08 (F). That is still bitterly cold for a land that many of us think of as having a temperate climate. The central region of the country managed to get a pocket of cold air trapped in it, and while much of the early 1900s were cold, this proved to be its coldest temperature recorded at that time.