34. Climate Change Flashcards
Anthropogenic
originating from human activity
Climate
Seasonal average of weather at a particular location
Weather
State of the atmosphere in a location at a discrete point in time
Climate change
changes in average weather conditions of a particular location
Global warming
increase over time in the average temperature across the entire planet
What are the 4 most important greenhouse gasses emitted from human activity
carbon dioxide
methane
nitrous oxide
chlorofluorocarbons
What is used as a reference for global warming potential
CO2
Why is CO2 more important to global warming if other gasses have higher global warming potenial
it is emitted in the highest volumes
How is historical climate evaluated?
Ice cores and tree rings
What is the Keeling curve
what sectors are increasing gas emissions
industry
electricity an heat production
agriculture, forestry, and other land uses
Representative Concentration Pathway
Greenhouse gas trajectories used to model future climates
Named after different ranges of radiative forcing values
How will increasing greenhouse gas emissions affect things
further global warming
major ecosystem disruptions
risk for food security and human livelihood
social disruption
