climate change test Flashcards
study
what’s weather?
atmospheric conditions over a short period of time
what’s climate?
average weather in a region over a long period of time
what does eccentricity mean?
orbit
what does obliquity mean?
tilt
what does precession mean?
wobble
What are sunspots?
storms on the surface of the sun causing more heat to the earth
What are plate tectonics known for?
Being associated with the continental drift & have shaped the continents
what happens during a volcanic eruption?
Ashes and gases are erupted into the stratosphere and above
What happens after a volcanic eruption?
short periods (a few years) of cooling
what’s el niño?
large-scale cooling
what el nina?
large-scale warming
What happens when greenhouse gases are added?
It causes more heat to be radiated back into the earth instead of space
Definition of anthropogenic
human-made
what’s albedo?
measure of how much of the sun’s radiation is reflected by a surface
what’s the albedo affect?
increase in earths temperature causes ice to melt, so more radiation is absorbed by the earth’s surface leading to further increases in temperatures
What do feedback loops do?
they speed up or slow down a warming trend
What are examples of proxy records?
tree rings, ice cores, and fossils
what happens when permafrost melts?
carbon dioxide and methane is released into the atmosphere
What does the IPCC stand for?
Intergovernmental panel of climate change
Where did the kyoto protocol take place?
kyoto, japan
how many countries were part of the kyoto protocol?
canada and 160 countries
What was the agreement of the kyoto protocol?
the agreement was to set an average 5% reduction in global greenhouse gas emissions by 2012
What is carbon tax?
when companies and people are taxed for their not environmentally conscious decisions
What are the pros of fossil fuels?
It’s well-developed technology & it’s cheap and reliable
