Climate Change

Question 1

What is weather?

Answer 1

Refers to the state of the atmosphere at a particular place and time

Question 2

What is climate?

Answer 2

Long-term patterns of weather conditions in a particular area, typically observed over a period of 30 years or more.

Question 3

How is climate classified of a particular area?

Answer 3

Scientist classify climate of a particular area by studying two main features. Temperature and precipitation

Question 4

What is Earth´s Energy Budget?

Answer 4

EEB refers to the balance between the energy Earth receives from the sun - to the energy Earth radiates back into space.

Question 5

What does Earth’s Energy Budget do?

Answer 5

It keeps Earth’s climate relatively stable

Question 6

What is Solar Radiatrion?

Answer 6

Electromagnetic radiation emitted by the sun

Question 7

How is Solar Radiation measured?

Answer 7

All different types of radiation are measured on a spectrum.

Question 8

What are the layers of the atmosphere?

Answer 8

Troposphere
Stratosphere
Mesosphere
Thermosphere

Question 9

What are the three types of Solar Radiation?

Answer 9

UV radiation, Infrared Radiation and Visible light.
- The different types of solar radiation will interact differently with the atmosphere.

Question 10

What characteristics does UV Radiation have?

Answer 10

• Its invisible
• Causes sunburns, skin cancers, and eye damage.
• Is absorbed by the mesosphere
  -is my mortal enemy!

Question 11

What characteristics does Infrared Radiation have?

Answer 11

• We feel it as heat
• It is absorbed by both the troposphere and Earth’s surface

Question 12

What characteristics does Visible Light have?

Answer 12

• It has colors that can be seen by the human eye
• Is absorbed and reflected by Earth’s surface
• Reflected light becomes infrared

Question 13

What is the Albedo effect?

Answer 13

• Refers to the amount of light a surface reflect
• Lighter surfaces have a higher albedo ( Can reflect more light)
• Darker surfaces have a lower albedo ( absorbs more light instead)

Question 14

How does the albedo effect influence Earth’s climate?

Answer 14

It influences Earth’s climate because it determines the reflection/absorption of light from the sun.

Question 15

What Greenhouse gasses are in the atmosphere?

Answer 15

Carbon dioxide, methane, water vapour, nitrous oxide, ozone and fluorinated gases.

Question 16

What is Greenhouse gas?

Answer 16

The gases in the atmosphere that raise the surface temperature of Earth.

Question 17

What do Greenhouse gasses do with solar radiation?

Answer 17

Greenhouse gases absorb infrared radiation.

Question 18

What maintains Earth’s temperature?

Answer 18

The absorption of solar radiation in the troposphere is what maintains Earth’s surface temperature (IMPORTANT)

Question 19

What happens when there’s more greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere?

Answer 19

The more greenhouse gasses = the more trapped heat = resulting in an increase of temperature.

Question 20

What is the solar cycle?

Answer 20

The solar cycle is a 11 year process the sun takes in which the sun produces different amounts of energy that can increase and decrease Earth’s temperature slightly.

Question 21

What happens in a solar cycle?

Answer 21

The amount of energy the sun produces follows a pattern. The sun can produce high amounts of energy or low amounts of energy.

Question 22

What is uneven heating from the sun?

Answer 22

Solar radiation that hits near Earth’s South Pole and on the Equator has the same amount of warming.

Question 23

Why does light spread over a larger surface in the Polar region? and a lower surface area in the Equator region?

Answer 23

Light in the Polar region is spread over a much larger area because of the curvature of the Earth’s surface.
In the Equator region, light is spread over a much smaller surface due to less curvature.