Changing Climate Flashcards
What is it called when the earth’s climate is in a warmer period?
interglacial phase
What is it called when the earth’s climate is in a cooler period?
glacial phase
What was the last major cold period called?
Pleistocene
What is the current warm phase known as?
Holocene
What is the Quaternary Period?
The third and last of the three periods of the Cenozoic Era
How much has the earth’s average surface air temp increased since 1900?
1°C
What period was the warmest on record?
2010-2020
What are the two warmest years since records began?
2016 and 2020
How do ice cores detect changes in temperature?
When snow falls it traps air into the ice. When scientists take a core of ice it reveals the atmospheric gas concentrations at the time the snow fell. This is used to calculate temperature at that time. The ice can reveal the temperature of each year for the past 400,000 years
What is Early spring?
In recent years there have been signs of seasonal shift, spring arrives earlier and winters less severe
From 1900-2019, how much do sea levels rise?
0.21m
Explain the greenhouse effect
The atmosphere allows the heat from the Sun (short-wave radiation) to pass through to heat the Earth’s surface. The Earth’s surface then gives off heat (long-wave radiation).
This heat is trapped by greenhouse gases (eg methane, carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide), which radiate the heat back towards Earth.
This process heats up the Earth
Human factor’s that contribute to global warming
Burning Fossil Fuels, Deforestation, Dumping Waste in Landfill (methane), Agriculture (release of Nitrogen oxide)
Natural Factors that contribute to global warming
Volcanic Activity, Solar Output, Orbital Changes (milankovitch cycle)
What is the Milankovitch Cycle?
the collective effects of changes in the Earth’s movements on its climate over thousands of years
