Exam 2 Flashcards
How do we know it’s from fossil fuels
Combustion Reactions
Burning carbon dioxide
uses up oxygen, CO2 increases and O2 decreases
How we know (O2)
Ralph Keeling and others have been measuring O2 decline and CO2 rising
Origins of oil and gas (i.e. methane)
marine organisms, heat and pressure created oil or petroleum (natural gas can form here and from coal)
Former ocean muds can become
Shale, which is full of natural gas and can contain petroleum.
Another source of natural gas in ocean and permafrost deposits
Methane hydrates
Origin of coal
plants who died long ago
We are turning solid and liquid carbon into…
gas which some makes it into space and some builds up in the atmosphere
Suess effect
increase of c12 and decrease of c13 due to burning fossil fuels
Milankovitch Cycles
Eccentricity- we get less energy in northern summer (happens every 100,000 years) we are cooler since we are further away from the sun. Tilt- cooler temps from tilting away from the sun (happens every 41,000 years). Wobble- Effects seasons based on angle (happens every 20,000 years)
How to make an ice age
Triple Cooling (all three cycles cooling at once) Snow isn’t fully melted and accumulates forming ice.
Warm years between ice ages
Interglacial
IPCC finding 1
It is certain that global temperatures has increased since the 1800s
LIA
Little Ice Age was generally cooler period of time about 600 to 200 years ago. Europe and North America
MCA
Medieval Climate Anomaly was a generally warmer period about 1200 to 600 years ago
Hockey Stick
Michael Mann, temp records from the last 1000 years from tree rings.
Sunspots
Displays of activity from the sun usually follow a cycle of 11 years.
Solar Maximum
When the suns activity is at its peak every 11 years, has ties to heavy rainfall in areas such as africa
El Nino
every 3-7 years the easterly winds over Peru and Ecuador weaken and it becomes much rainier
Tropical easterly winds
blow sea water away from the coast of south america
Coastal upwelling
Warm water is pushed away from the coast and cold water rises from the deep
GCM
Global Climate Model, it can combine many processes to simulate a global climate system. Atmosphere, oceans, land, cryosphere.
CMIP5
Coupled Model Intercomparison Project, Phase 5. A model based on an atmospheric model combined with an ocean model.
Temp vs Precip
Temperature is easier to model than precipitation.
Down-Scaling Models
Define certain regions or areas for more specified results
Coarser grids
fewer points to calculate, but also less detail.
Future Scenarios
A2- Burn it all (extreme warming) (6-11f) (4-6 inches precip), B- don’t burn it (least warming) (1-6f) (little to no precip change)
Green Sahara
10,000-6,000 years ago, warmer climate with stronger monsoons
Greenland Ice Sheet
Central ice is about 2 miles thick, temps at the peak during summer are about -14f.
Reasons for GIC melt
ocean current change, sea level rise, warmer air, meltwater.
Equilibrium Surface
Level where ice melts on an ice sheet and where it doesn’t
Moulin
A shaft that drains water down into an ice sheet
Melt time for GIS
Decade (0.05%), Century (0.5%), Thousand (5%)
Arctic Sea Ice
Area melting since 1970s, melting due to global warming, less albedo, changing ocean currents and winds.
Albedo
how much sunlight is reflected by the ice
Satellites
they can measure sea levels globally with extreme precision.
Long-term factors (sea level)
melting ice and thermal expansion (roughly equal)
Sea level rise yearly
3-4mm
Rise since 1900
19 cm
Rise by end of century
0.5-1 m
Periodic rises in level
Storm Surge BABBYYYYY
Changes (elevation)
Some places (ports) dropping (due to soil base, infrastructure and removal of natural gasses), others rising
Options
Adaptation, Denial, Euphemism, Dam it
Hydro Power
Water turns turbines which converts potential energy into mechanical energy. Turbines turns generators turning mechanical into electricity, transformers make the electricity suitable for distance travel.
Solar Power
Conversion of energy from sun rays to chemical or thermal energy. Energy from the sun is absorbed PV (photovoltaic) cells in the panel. Energy creates electrical charges that move in response to an internal electrical field in the cell, then the energy is moved to the population.
Wind Power
Generation of electricity utilizing the kinetic energy from the wind, turbine blades spin by the wind which causes the mil to spin, the mil uses the force of the wind on a rotor which spins a generator.
Geothermal Power
Dry steam- steam powers the turbine then into a condenser, Flash steam- hot water is depressurized (flashed) into steam to power a turbine, Binary cycle- Water used to heat a low steam-point liquid (isobutane) to produce steam for a turbine
