Climate Change Flashcards
What is Climate Change?
It is any significant change in the Earth’s climate over a long period
What is the quaternary Period?
It is the most recent geological time period,spanning from about 2.6 million years ago to the present day.
What Happened in the Quaternary period?
> Global temperature has shifted between cold glacial periods that last for around 100,00 years and warmer interglacial periods that last around 10,000 years.
What is Global Warming?
It is the term used to describe the sharp rise in global temperatures over the last century.
How can Ice cores provide evidence for Climate change
> Ice sheets are made up of layer of ice
Scientist drill into ice sheets to get long cores of ice, by analysing the gases trapped in the layers they can tell what the temperature was each year.
How can Sea Ice Positions provide evidence for Climate change
> Sea ice forms around the poles in winter when ocean temperatures fall below -1.8 degrees.
By observing the minimum and maximum extent of sea ice each year, scientists can tell how ocean temperatures are changing.
How can Diaires/Paintings provide evidence for Climate change
Historical diaries can show what the climate was like in the past, by giving number of days of rain and snow.
Paintings of fairs and markets on frozen rivers show that winters in Europe were regularly much colder.
>However aren’t much reliable as there showing one person’s perspectives.
How can Temperature data provide evidence for Climate change
> Since the 1850s,global temperatures have been measured through thermometers, giving a reliable short term record.
.however, weather stations arent evenly distributed.
Explain Milankovitch Cycles?
1) Milankovitch cycles are variations in the way the earth moves around the sun.
2)They have 3 phases : Stretch, tilt and wobble.
3)These cycles affect how far the earth is from the sun and the angle that the Sun’s ray hit the earth.
4)This changes the amount of solar radiation the earth receives.
Explain Sunspots?
1)Sunspots are cooler areas of the Sun’s surface that are visible as dark patches.
>They increase the Sun’s output of energy
2)they go in cycles of about 11 years, there may be longer sunspot cycles of several hundreds of years.
3)Periods when there are very few sunspots and solar output is reduced may cause the Earth’s climate to become cooler in some areas.
Explain How volcanic Activity causes climate change?
> Major volcanic eruptions eject large quantities of material into the atmosphere.
Some of these particles reflect the Sun’s rays back out to space, so the Earth’s surface cools.
Volcanic activity may cause short-term changes in climate.
Explain what the natural greenhouse effect is?
> The temperature of the earth is a balance between the heal it gets from the sun and the heat it loses to space.
gases in the atmosphere naturally act like an insulating layer-they keep tap outgoing heat, helping to keep the Earth at the right Temperature.
What is the enhance greenhouse effect?
> There’s a scientific research that human activities are cauing global warming by making the greenhouse effect stronger.
What Human Activities contribute to Global Warming?
> Farming of Livestock
Burning Fossil Fuels
Cement Production
Deforestation
What is Global Environmental impacts for climate change?
> Temps expected to rise
Warmer temps=Glaciers to shrink and ice sheets to melt.
.The melting of ice can lead to sea level rise and decrease space for polar species.
Biodiversity decreases possibly leading to extinction of various species
