Climate Change Flashcards by Eldridge Burgos

Long- term weather patterns prevailing over a given area on the planet

Climate

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Climate is usually tracked for at least?

30 years for a given region

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Climate is derived from the german word “klinein” meaning?

“to slope”

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5 Climate Types of the Köppen Classification

Tropical
Dry
Temperate
Continental Climate
Polar Climate

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Tropical Climate:
Monthly Average Temperature of ______ in the coolest months with significant Precipitation

18 C

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60 mm precipitation in driest month

Tropical Rainforest Climate

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< 60 mm precipitation in driest month [But greater than or equal to 100 – (r/25)]

Tropical Monsoon Climate

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60 mm & < 100 – (r/25)

Tropical Wet and Dry Climate

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Climate with low precipitation

Dry Climate

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Arid annual precipitation?

10-30 cm

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Semi-Arid annual precipitation?

25-50 cm

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Climate Type also knokwn as Mesothermal?

Temperate

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Climate type with > 0 °C but <18 °C in coldest month

Temperate

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Average temperature of Temperate Climate

-3 °C

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Climate with colder and longer winters, wide range of weather and seasonal patterns, and commonly tornadoes and thunderstorms

Continental Climate

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Climate type with the average temperature of 10 °C

Continental Climate

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Continental Climate has what average temperature during the cold months?

< 0 °C

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Climate type that has < 10 °C temperature in its warmest months

Polar Climate

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Average Temperature in Tundra?

0 - 10 °C

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Average Temperature in Ice Caps?

< 0 °C

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A long – term shift in weather conditions identified by changes in temperature, precipitation, winds, and other indicators.

Climate Change

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Climate Change can involve both?

Changes in average conditions
Changes in Variability (Extreme Events)

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The current warming of the earth is happening at a rate not seen in the past how many years?

10,000 years

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Who said that “Since systematic scientific assessments began in the 1970s, the influence of human activity on the warming of the climate system has evolved from theory to established fact.”

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)

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Scientific Information that shows signs of a changing climate can be taken from?

1. Natural Sources (such as ice cores, rocks, and tree rings) 2. Modern Equipment (like satellites and instruments)

Natural Causes of Climate Change

1. Orbital Changes 2. Volcanic Eruptions 3. Variation in Solar Radiation 4. Movement of Crustal Plates 5. El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO)

Includes the eccentricity, obliquity, and precession

Milankovitch Cycle

Known as the shape of the earth's orbit?

Eccentricity

The angle Earth's axis is tilted with respect to Earth's orbital plane

Obliquity

The direction Earth's axis of rotation si pointed

Precession

The energy emitted by the sun varies by 1.3 W/m2, wherein this change in solar radiation is related to?

The number of sunspots

The darker areas on the sun's surface?

Sunspots

More sunspots is equal to?

More solar activity

Sunspots develop where?

An intense magnetic field weakens the flow of gases that transport heat energy from the sun’s interior.

‘’Grand 'Solar' Minimum’’ ‘’Maunder Minimum’’

A period that coincided with "Little Ice Age" of extremely low solar activity from approximately AD 1650 to 1715 in the Northern Hemisphere,

In the movement of Crustal Plates, what affects global circulation patterns of air and ocean water and the climate of the continents.

As tectonic plates move over geological timescales, landmasses are carried along to different positions and latitudes.

One form of evidence for plate tectonics and an example of how plate tectonics affects climate is the

Location of coal mines

One form of evidence for plate tectonics and an example of how plate tectonics affects climate is the

Location of coal mines

One form of evidence for plate tectonics and an example of how plate tectonics affects climate is the

Location of coal mines

A periodic shift of the ocean-atmosphere system in the tropical Pacific that impacts weather around the world. (associated with floods, droughts, etc.)

El Niño – Southern Oscillation (ENSO)

Greenhouse Gases

*Water vapor *Carbon dioxide (CO2) *Methane *Nitrous oxide *Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)

A very important component of the atmosphere and is released through natural processes ( like volcanic eruptions) and through human activities, like burning fossil fuels and deforestation.

Carbon Dioxide (CO2)

The most abundant greenhouse gas, but because the warming ocean increases the amount of it in our atmosphere, it is not a direct cause of climate change.

Water Vapor

Human activities have increased the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere by 50% since the?

Industrial Revolution (1750)

The most important climate change driver over the last century.

Sharp rise in CO2

Methane also comes from? (both natural and human-caused sources)

1. Plant-matter breakdown in wetlands and is also released from landfills and rice farming 2. Livestock animals emit methane from their digestion and manure. 3. Leaks from fossil fuel production and transportation

Natural gas is how many percent methane?

70-90%

T/F The amount of methane in our atmosphere has more than tripled since pre-industrial times.

False, doubled.

T/F As a single molecule, methane is a far more effective greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide but is much less common in the atmosphere.

True

A potent greenhouse gas produced by farming practices (released during commercial and organic fertilizer production and use)

Nitrous Oxide

Nitrous oxide also comes from burning fossil fuels and burning vegetation and has increased by?

18% in the last 100 years

These chemical compounds do not exist in nature – they are entirely of industrial origin.

Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)

Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) are used as?

1. Refrigerants 2. Solvents 3. Spray-can propellants

An International agreement that regulates CFCs

Montreal Protocol

Emissions of some types of CFCs spiked for about five years due to violations of the international agreement but also sharply decreased in what year?

2018

Climate change evidences:

1. Rising ocean temperature 2. Rising Sea Level 3. Extreme Events

The earth stores about how many percent of the extra energy in the ocean?

90%

Global sea level rose how much in the last century?

8 inches (20 centimeters)

Rise of sea levels per year?

3.4 mm

T/F The rate in the last decade, however, is nearly triple that of the last century and accelerating slightly every year.

F, Last two decades and has nearly doubled

Roles of human activity in climate change:

1. Combustion of fossil fuel 2. Deforestation, urbanization, and shifts in vegetation patterns 3. Recent primary cause and can be the solution is human 4. Understanding causes of climate change can pave the way to solution

Commonly Known Alternative Energy Sources:

* Hydroelectric Energy * Solar Energy * Wind Energy * Biomass Energy

New Alternative Energy Sources:

* Geothermal Energy * Tidal Power

Main challenge of using alternative energy sources

A huge amount of decommission to the old power generation infrastructure and establish a new infrastructure

Why use alternative energy sources?

1. Free of cost 2. Do not tax the environment 3. Biggest leap to prevent further damage

Environmental problems that causes degradation:

* Land, Air, and Water * Population Growth * Urbanization * Industrialization