Climate Change Flashcards
As mountain ranges form, _______ climates change.
Regional
What is the difference between regions with large bodies of water, and those regions without large bodies of water?
When surrounded by large bodies of water, you get more moderate climate, when you have fewer large bodies of water you get harsher winters and hotter summers.
Explain how eccentricity, precession and tilt contribute to interglacial and glacial periods.
Earth’s orbit around the sun changes due to eccentricity, tilt and its wobble.
What is Albedo?
A measure of how much of the suns radiation is reflected by a surface.
Ice and snow have high Albedo (therefore it’s ____)
Cold
Grass and trees have a low albedo (therefore it’s _____)
Warm
What is the albedo effect?
An increase in the earths temperature causes ice to melt, so more radiation is absorbed by earths surface, leading to further increases in temperature.
The albedo effect is a ______ feedback loop
Positive
In terms of climate, what is considered a short period of time?
10s to 100s of years.
How can volcanoes affect climate short term?
More dust in the air inhibits the suns energy from reaching that area causing it to cool down
What is El Niño?
Change in prevailing winds lead to a change in the direction of ocean currents which causes drastic changes in climate.
What are proxy records?
Stores of information in tree rings, ice cores, and fossils that can be measured to give clues to what the climate was like in the past.
The suns radiation reaches earths surface at different _______
Intensities
Water and land absorb energy at _________
Different rates
Water absorbs _____ thermal energy than air
More
Thermal energy is _______ from areas that receive _______ of radiation to areas that receive _______ radiation
Transported, a lot, less
Is cold or hot air more dense?
Cold
Is hot or cold water more dense?
Cold
What does the uneven heating of air or water create?
Currents
A circular current in air and other fluids (water) caused by the _____ of warm fluid as cold fluid _______
Rising, sinks
As warm air rises, it creates an area of ____ pressure below it
Low
As cool air falls, it creates an area of ____ pressure
High
Air flows from areas of high pressure to areas of low pressure - this makes air currents or ______
Wind
High and low pressure along with the rotation of the earth causes winds that curve around the globe in the ____________ almost all the time
Same direction
As water travels to the poles, it gets colder and saltier and therefore ____ dense
More
Dense water at the poles will _______ to the ocean floor
Sink
Warm ocean currents ______ the air above them which moves to the land and produces rain
Heat
Cold ocean currents ______ the air above them causing cool, dry air to reach the land creating desert areas
Cool
What is the greenhouse effect?
It is a natural process that has been happening for hundreds of years. Gases and clouds absorb infrared radiation emitted from earths surface and radiate it, heating the atmosphere and earths surface.
What are greenhouse gases?
Any gas in the atmosphere that absorbs lower energy infrared radiation
Name the greenhouse gases
Oxygen Nitrogen Carbon dioxide Water vapour Methane Ozone Nitrous oxide
Which gases have the highest contributions to the greenhouse effect?
Carbon dioxide
Water vapour
Methane
What is a positive feedback loop?
A continuous cycle of cause and effect
A produces more of B which in turn produces more of A
What are 3 examples of positive feedback loops?
Water vapour + temp
CO2 + temp
Albedo effect
What is negative feedback loops?
A Self regulation system that works to maintain stability
Ex. Thermostat
When was the industrial era?
1750
What does anthropogenic mean?
Human influenced
What are the anthropogenic gases?
Carbon dioxide
Methane
Nitrous oxide
Chlorofluorocarbons
What anthropogenic sources cause carbon dioxide?
Burning fossil fuels (coal, gasoline)
Deforestation
What anthropogenic sources causes methane?
Agricultural activities-rice farming, cattle ranching
Landfills and sewage treatment plants- methane is created when organic material decays
Coal mining and natural gas extraction
What anthropogenic sources cause Nitrous oxide?
Management of livestock feed and waste
Use of nitrogen fertilizers
What anthropogenic sources causes CFCs?
No natural sources of CFCs
Leaks out of refrigerators and ACs
How does an increase in atmospheric CO2, affect the global temperature?
More GHG causes more infrared radiation back to earth causes higher temps
As the surface of the earth warms up from the suns energy it gains ______ energy and then converts it to ________ _______ radiation
Thermal, low-energy infrared
The amount of energy ______ by earths system is equal to the amount of energy earths system _______ from the sun
Radiated, absorbs
Because of this balance of energy, earths global temperature stays ______ _______
Fairly consistent
The balance between energy _______ from the sun and energy _______ from earth ensures that earths global temperature remains fairly consistent
Absorbed, emitted
Without a climate system, the earth would still reach an energy ______ however, earth would be much _____
Equilibrium, colder
The energy from the sun is ______ ______ near the earths equator since it hits earths surface directly
More intense
Energy from the sun is ______ _____ near the earths equator since it hits earths surface directly
More intense
Energy from the sun is ______ ________ near the two poles since energy hits earths surface at an angle and spreads over a larger area
Less intense
What is weather?
Atmospheric conditions, including temperature, precipitation, wind and humidity in a particular location over a short period of time.
What is climate?
The usual pattern (the average) of the weather in a region over a long period of time (usually 30 years)
The climate of a region determines the types of plants and animals that live there
What are the factors affecting the climate?
Distance from equator (latitude) Presence of large bodies of water Presence of ocean and air currents Land formations Height above sea level (altitude)
What is the climate system?
The complex set of components that interact with each other to produce earths climate
What components include the climate system?
Atmosphere
Hydrosphere
Lithosphere
Living things
What is the climate system lowered by?
The sun
The energy that earth receives from the sun interacts with the components of the climate system to produce ____ _____
Climate zones
What happens when radiation contacts a particle of matter?
- The radiation may be absorbed by the particle to gain energy
- The radiation may be transmitted through the particle
- The radiation may be reflected off the particle
