Assignment 3 Flashcards
Largest present-day carbon reservoir?
Deep ocean.
Largest source of atmospheric CO2?
Respiration.
Why is deforestation a source of carbon?
Reduces land sink of CO2.
Why is residence time of anthropogenic surplus of CO2 in atmosphere many centuries to millennia?
Time needed for carbon to be permanently stored in seafloor sediments.
What type of cloud acts to enhance greenhouse warming? Most effective at cooling climate?
Cirrus; cumulus.
Why is ice albedo feedback positive?
Melting ice allows more solar energy to be absorbed by the surface.
Example of a negative feedback in climate system?
More vigorous plant growth w/ increasing CO2 in the atmosphere.
Difference between climate forecast and weather forecast?
Climate forecast is statistical; weather forecast for a specific date.
Two atmospheric processes that have to be parameterized in a global climate model?
Radiation, clouds.
Simplest way to describe chaos as applied to the atmosphere?
Future result is very sensitive to the initial conditions or nonlinear dynamics.
What does it mean to “validate” a climate model?
Compare prediction from the model with an observed data set.
Definition of “equilibrium climate sensitivity”?
Amount of warming when steady-state occurs after doubling of CO2 from pre-industrial times.
Why is equilibrium climate sensitivity always greater than transient climate response?
In transient response, climate system has not yet adjusted to its new final state.
