Climate Change Flashcards
What does the Milankovitch Cycle include?
Eccentricity : Change in amount of radiation due to distance
Obliquity : Change in amount of radiation due to tilting
Precession : Change in amount of radiation due to wobbling
What are sunspots?
Dark regions on the sun surface
What does obliquity explain?
The seasons
What does precession explain?
Reversal of climate conditions between the North and South hemispheres
What is the global energy balance?
Energy entering earth’s surface = Energy lost by atmosphere (surface)
Energy gained by atmosphere = Energy lost by atmosphere ( atmosphere)
Energy entering the top of atmosphere = Energy leaving top of atmosphere (space)
How is methane produced?
By bacterial fermentation
Which halocarbons are there and which have been banned?
CFCs (banned)
HFCs (talks of being banned)
What is radiative forcing?
A measure of how much
an agent is affecting earth’s energy balance which can be positive or negative
Which sources are enhancing the natural green house effect?
Anthropogenic sources of a number of sources and aerosols
What do predictions of consequence rely on?
General Circulation Models/ Global Climate Models
What do GCM’s use?
approximations just like
mathematical models for predictions and projections of Earth’s climate system
What are Special Report on Emission Scenarios (SRES)?
- SRES are narratives around demographics, technology, economic forces and its effect on green house gases emissions
- They are not forecasts and likelihoods
- Provide alternate images on how the emission future might unfold
