Chapter 14: Climate Change

Question 1

What is the Columbia Icefield?

Answer 1

The Columbia Icefield is a remnant of the massive ice sheet that once covered much of canada, sits upon some of the highest peaks of the canadian rockies

Question 2

What is the athabasca glacier?

Answer 2

a valley glacier(one of 6) that flows like a huge river of ice from the columbia icefield

Question 3

How has change in climate affected the athabasca glacier?

Answer 3

The glacier has lost one half of its volume, been retreating since 1844.

Question 4

What did the Fourth Assesment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel say?

Answer 4

That climate is changing and we are the cause, and its impacts will only become more severe from here on.

Question 5

Albedo

Answer 5

The reflectivity of a surface

Question 6

How much of the solar radiation towards earth is absorbed?

Answer 6

70%

Question 7

What are green house gases?

Answer 7

Atmospheric gases that absorb infrared radiation

Question 8

What defines INFRARED radiation?

Answer 8

IF radiation has long wave lengths than visible light.

Question 9

Give examples of green house gases

Answer 9

water vapour, Ozone(O3), Carbon dioxide(CO2), Nitrous Oxide(N2O), methane (CH4). Chloroflourocarbons(CFCs)

Question 10

What is the greenhouse effect?

Answer 10

When GHGs absorb radiation, they re-emit infrared energy of slightly longer(lower energy) wavelengths. Some of this energy travels back down to the surface, warming the earths surface and troposphere

Question 11

Global warming potential

Answer 11

Relative heat trapping ability in CO2 equivalents

Question 12

Which is the GHG of primary concern?

Answer 12

CO2. Although it has the smallest global warming potential, it is far more abundant in the atmosphere than other GHGs.

Question 13

how has the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere changed from the 1700s?

Answer 13

~280 ppm to 400 ppm

Question 14

What is a SINK?

Answer 14

a reservoir that accept more of the material than they release

Question 15

When was the main chapter of fossil fuel formation?

Answer 15

during the Carboniferous period 290-354 million years ago

Question 16

Which greenhouse gas is most abundant and contribute most to the greenhouse effect?

Answer 16

water vapour

Question 17

give example of positive feedback cycle with respect to climate change

Answer 17

Earths climate gets hotter–>melting of glaciers lead to exposure of rock and soil–> rocks store more heat instead of being reflected back to space

Question 18

give example of negative feedback cycle in terms of climate change

Answer 18

warming leads to evaporation->leads to water vapour–>causes increased cloudiness» slows global warming

Question 19

Aerosols

Answer 19

microscopic droplets that often add a cooling effect, can warm by absorbing solar energy

Question 20

Radiative forcing: positive forcing ______ the surface, negative forcing ______ it.

Answer 20

POSITIVE:WARMS
NEGATIVE:COOLS

think… good is bad and bad is good

Question 21

Milankovitch cycles

Answer 21

periodic changes in earths rotation and orbit around the sun

Question 22

Glaciation

Answer 22

when global surface temperatures drop and ice sheets move from the poles to the mid latitudes

Question 23

solar output

Answer 23

how much radiation the sun emits

Question 24

the ocean, as a sink, holds ___x more carbon than the atmosphere

Answer 24

50

Question 25

t/f: carbon absorption by the ocean speeds global warming.

Answer 25

f… this slows global warming but does not prevent it. the absorption of co2 by ocean is problematic bc it xauses the acidification of ocean water, causing shells and skelotons to dissolve releasijg more co2 (positive feedback)

Question 26

ocean circulation

Answer 26

ocean water exchanges huge amounts of heat with the atmosphere, and ocean currents move energy from place to place

Question 27

what are proxy indicators? examples?

Answer 27

indirecr evidence that serve as substitutes for direct measurements. ex glaciers hold clues to past climate

Question 28

fractionation

Answer 28

separation and differential concentration of isotopes of slightly different mass

Question 29

paleoclimate

Answer 29

evidence about our climate in the past

Question 30

what did the global temperature change video show?

Answer 30

earth getting hotter, five year temp anomalies shown in blue(cold)/yellow(hot)

Question 31

trend

Answer 31

= a pattern that persists within a data set, even after short-term fluctuations and anomalies have been accounted for

Question 32

what the intergovernmental panel on climate change 2007 report show?

Answer 32

trends in in surface temperature, precipitation patterns, snow and ice cover, sea levels, storm intensity, and other factors

Question 33

average surface temperatures on earth have been ___ since _____, with most of the _____ occurring in the last few ______

Answer 33

average surface temperatures on earth have been rising since 1906, with most of the increase occurring in the last few decades

Question 34

as oceans warm, they _____

Answer 34

expand. contributes to flooding.

Question 35

how does climate change affect agriculture?

Answer 35

growing seasons shortened, crop production decreases

Question 36

how does climate change affect forestry?

Answer 36

increased insect and disease outbreaks, increased chance of forest fire

Question 37

how does climate change affect health?

Answer 37

heat waves can cause death, respiratory ailments, expansion of tropical diseases, increased chance of drowning if storms become intense, hunger-related ailments

Question 38

what is a climate change intervention

Answer 38

= set of possible large-scale technological modifications to the global climate system

Question 39

climate change mitigation

Answer 39

= pursue actions that reduce greenhouse gas emissions, in order to lessen severity of future climate change

Question 40

what is a carbon offset?

Answer 40

a voluntary payment to another entity intended to enable that entity to reduce the greenhouse emissions that one is unable or unwilling to reduce oneself

Question 41

what do we call it when no net carbon is emitted?

Answer 41

carbon neutrality