Conceptualizing Climate Change in the Past and Present Flashcards
Section I of USAD Social Science Resource Guide terms and definitions (55 cards)
Earth System Science (ESS)
A relatively new approach that looks at the interactions between and views the Earth’s land, oceans, and atmosphere as a single system
Anthropocene
A new geological epoch in planetary history in which humans have become the driving force in planetary change
What are the four subsystems?
Geosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere
Forcings
The specific causes of climate change that alter the balance of subsystems, often causing feedbacks to occur
Geosphere (Lithosphere)
It encompasses all land, earth, and rock that make up our planet
Earth’s crust
Where most of the interactions between the geosphere and other subsystems occur
Hydrosphere
All the water on the Earth, in the ground, and in the atmosphere (including clouds)
Cryosphere
Ice, which is included in the hydrosphere, though some scholars identify as its own subsystem
Atmosphere
The troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere, and exosphere
Greenhouse gas effect
When the concentration of certain gases released from the Earth’s other subsystems trap heat in the lower layers of the atmosphere
Biosphere
All living things on, in, and around the Earth
Milankovitch cycles
These steer the Earth into and out of periodic ice ages by influencing which parts of the Earth receive more, or less, solar energy
At which 3 intervals do Milankovitch cycles occur?
26,000 years, 41,000 years, and 100,000 years
Feedbacks
Reactions to climate change caused by forcings
Positive feedback
The original forcing and the feedback both push the climate in the same direction, either both warmer or both colder
Negative Feedback
Moderates climate change because the feedback pushes the climate back to its starting point in response to a forcing
Tipping point
A “point of no return”
Archives of society
A physical repository of written documents
Archives of nature
What is observable in nature that gives an indication of past climate conditions
Proxy
A natural feature that shows evidence of being impacted by climate conditions
What are 3 of the most revealing sources of climate history in the archives of nature?
Ices, trees, and soil
Ice core sampling
A technique of drilling long cylinders of ice out of deep glaciers
How are ice cores dated?
Snowfall from each year becomes the new top layer, trapping particles from atmosphere and freezing them in ice
Dendrochronology
The practice of determining whether a year was dry or rainy and the conditions of individual seasons from trees
