Chapter 21 Flashcards
What is weather
What the atmosphere is doing over short time scales.
What is Climate?
Average weather pattern in a region over a long period of time.
What is anthropogenic climate change?
Changes to the earth’s climate caused by humans activity.
What is the troposphere?
The lowermost layer of the atmosphere, defined by a decrease in temperature with altitude.
What is the stratoshpere?
The layer of the atmosphere directly above the troposphere. Characterized by an increase in temperature with altitude.
What is Albedo?
The percentage of radiation reflected from a surface.
What defines a greenhouse gass
A gas that absorbs long wavelengths.
What is the radiative balance
The balance between the amount of energy entering and exiting the Earth system.
What are forcings?
Factors that affect the radiative balance of the Earth leading to global warming or global cooling.
What are sunspots and how do they affect climate change?
They are dark spots on the sun caused by intense electromagnetic activity. The absence of sunspots cause causes the earth to cool.
What are erosols?
Small particles suspended in the atmosphere. They help to reflect sunlight and to cool the planet.
What is the earth’s radiative balance controlled by?
Long wave radiation emitted to space
Solar energy entering the earth system
Solar energy absorbed by the earth system.
What is Paleoclimatology?
The study of ancient climate.
What is the average global albedo?
Controls the amount of solar radiation absorbed at teh surface
What does the concentration of greenhouse gases control?
The absorption of outgoing terrestrial radiation.
