Brynn Marie Evans

Questions and answers to the Mechanical Turk survey are below:

1. Please describe what *Climate Change* means to you.

The average course or condition of the weather at a particular place over a period of many years as exhibited in absolute extremes, means, and frequencies of given departures from these means, of temperature, wind velocity, precipitation, and other weather elements. (Sources 1, 2)

2. Please describe what *Greenhouse Effect* means to you.

An increase in the equilibrium temperature of the atmosphere caused by the addition of gases or aerosols which inhibit the outward flow of infrared radiation. (Sources 1, 2)

3. Please describe what *Ozone Problems* means to you.

(1a) Elevated concentrations of tropospheric ozone caused by the photochemical reaction of oxides of nitrogen and reactive organic compounds released by industrial society; (1b) human health effects resulting from this elevated concentration; (2a) depleted concentrations of stratospheric ozone resulting from long-lived catalysts released to the atmosphere by industrial society; (2b) increase in cataracts and skin cancer due to increased UV radiation reaching the earth’s surface because of depressed concentrations of stratospheric ozone. (Sources 1, 2)

4. Approximately how many millions of barrels of oil does the U.S. consume every day?

About 20-21 million barrels of oil.

5. Approximately what was the cost of a barrel of oil in the past week (end of August, early September 2008)?

Approximately $110. Yearly high was $146 in July. (Sources 1, 2)

6. The U.S. is a major exporter of oil around the world.

False! The U.S. produces some oil, but it is not a major supplier of oil to the rest of the world. Plus, the U.S. imports about 70% of the oil we consume. (Source)

7. Who were the top 2 exporters of oil around the world in 2007?

Saudia Arabia and Russia. (Source)

8. How does the “supply and demand” problem affect gas prices?

“Supply and demand” is an economic model for describing how the price of an item is affected by market variables. The market variables are supply: how much of the item is available; and demand: how much the consumer wants to buy it. With lots of supply, prices can be very low; companies don’t need to charge a lot for the item in order to make a profit. With lots of demand, prices may be very high because there is a lot of competition, a lot of desire, for that item. (A gross oversimplification.)

In our current situation, we have only a fixed amount of oil produced every month and every year—there are only so many drilling sites and only so much refining capacity. This means that our supply is relatively fixed. However, worldwide demand is increasing every year and this results in higher gas prices. Basically: more countries are trying to buy more gas for themselves from this fixed stock pile of available oil. It’s like an auction. With one item up for sale and 10 bidders who want it, the final cost of that item will be higher than if only 1 or 2 bidders wanted it.