Basic Earth System Issues Flashcards
Earth system science
Studying the Earth as if it were a single entity with interacting components
Inductive Reasoning
Generalizing something based on an observation
(most major scientific theories)
Deductive reasoning
If-then conclusion based on premises
(model projections, careful, reasoning be foolproof)
Heisenberg uncertainty principle
Conceptual Models
daisy world
EMICs
describe GCMs
full-form, detailed, slow
Hypothesis
An idea or proposition that can be tested with observations or experiments about the natural world
Testable explanation for observations
Scientific hypothesis
scientific evaluation and falsifiable
Falsifiable
Sentences worded in a way that they can be proven incorrect
Theory
When multiple hypotheses are tested positive
Highest level of scientific knowledge
Rigorous
Disaprovability
Assumptions
Observations
Fact
Law
Difficult to establish
Arrogant to presume
System
components of a set that work together as one
Earth system
Atmosphere
Biosphere
Lithosphere
Hydrosphere
Anthropocene
recent and current geological period dominated by humans and their major impacts
Feedback
how part of a system responds to change or information from another
Positive feedback
amplifies stimulus or change
(ie compound interest)
Negative feedback
reduces or dampens change
(ie friction)
Negative Feedback Loop
System positive feedback example
when white ice melts it is replaced by black sea water which absorbs more sunlight which increases the temperature which causes more ice to melt (repeats)
Positive to negative feedback
Climate feedback
Feedback masking change
Uniformitarianism
Catastrophism
Sudden, devastating, and extreme events dominate POV Earth’s history
Geological catastrophism
rocks only recorded these kinds of events and not daily ones
Environmental catastrophism
suggests that the system is controlled by these kinds of events (and prone to positive feedback)
Stock
amount in a reservoir
Flux
The rate of entrance and exit
Equilibrium
input and output are balanced
Residence time
stock divided by flux
volume divided by outflow
volume * (time/volume) = time
Exponential growth
when rate of increase is proportional to stock (continuous compounding)
N(t) = Noe^kt
Doubling Time
- E^kt = 2
- kt = ln(2) = 0.693
-> t = 0.693/k
what does k in N(t)=Noe^kt equal?
growth rate
percent/year
(multiply by 100 to get rid of percent)
Linear system
output change is equal to input change
(ie spring, fertilizer)
Nonlinear system
output increases or buffers input
(ie glaciation, vegetation and rainfall)
Uncertainty
nonlinear system are unpredictable
Removable cognitive
Irremediable cognitive
Voluntative
