Global Climate Change Evidence And Drivers Lec 18

Question 1

People often confuse what is happening where they live as an indication for what is happening globally, true or false?

Answer 1

True

Question 2

When was the 2nd warmest august behind 1998?

Answer 2

August 2011

Question 3

Global warming is now referred to as ?

Answer 3

Climate change

Question 4

What indicators increase in a warming world

Answer 4

Air temp
Humidity
Ocean heat content
Sea level
Sea surface temp
Temp over oceans and land

Question 5

In a warming world do the indicators increase or decrease?

Answer 5

Decrease

Question 6

How do we know with some certainty past climatic trends?

Answer 6

Proxy data

Question 7

The study of past climates

Answer 7

Paleoclimatology

Question 8

Physical characteristics of the past Environmental conditions

Answer 8

Proxy data

Question 9

Proxy data can come from?

Answer 9

Tree rings
Ice cores
Fossil pollen
Ocean sediments
Coral
Historic data (ships, newspapers wtc,)

Question 10

What are corals skeletons made from

Answer 10

Calcium carbonate

Question 11

What does calcium carbonate include?

Answer 11

Isotopes of oxygen and trace metals that can determine temp of water the coral grew

Question 12

Identify plant species from which they came?

Answer 12

Pollen grains with distinct shapes

Question 13

What do the pollen grains say?

Answer 13

Kinds of plant’s growing at time of deposit and climate of the area

Question 14

What influences tree growth, patterns in rings, and density

Answer 14

Climate conditions

Question 15

Trees contain?

Answer 15

Annual records of climate

Question 16

Earths oceans and lakes have?

Answer 16

Sediment

Question 17

What do scientists do with sediment?

Answer 17

Drill cores and examine the fossils and chemicals to interpret past climates

Question 18

A sedimentary rock with a hardened cement of calcium carbonate that binds other materials such as gravel, sand, clay and slit

Answer 18

Caliche (western USA)

Question 19

In an ice core which layer is more recent?

Answer 19

Top

Question 20

What do the air bubbles in ice core contain?

Answer 20

Chemicals

Question 21

World’s premier center for archiving, processing, and researching climate data

Answer 21

NOAA NCDC (National climatic data center)

Question 22

What are done with the NCDC’s observations

Answer 22

Processed
Quality controlled
Behavior is examined over time

Question 23

Has our past climate been stable?

Answer 23

No

Question 24

Why hasn’t past climate been stable?

Answer 24

-Earths orbit is round (closer to sun in summer)
-Earth’s current tilt is different from 9,000 yrs ago (cool summers & warm winters)
-Earth’s position is closer to the North star (in 12000 yrs itnwill point towards Vega)

Question 25

What 3 things explain past climate variation?

Answer 25

Milankovitch cycles

Question 26

What are theMilankovitch cycles?

Answer 26

Orbital eccentricity Axial tilt (angle) Axial precision ( direction)

Question 27

What is current axial tilt?

Answer 27

23.4 used to be 24.5

Question 28

What is driving rapid and large increase in global temp?

Answer 28

Human population; correlation between population growth and increased carbon emissions

Question 29

How many tons of CO2 added to atmosphere per person/ yr ?

Answer 29

1

Question 30

Large amount of green house emissions come from

Answer 30

Burning energy

Question 31

Long term storage of carbon?

Answer 31

Buried fossil fuels

Question 32

The keeling curve uses what pattern?

Answer 32

The sawtooth (plants take up CO2 during year)

Question 33

400 parts per mil for the first tome when?

Answer 33

May 9 2013

Question 34

When was the last time 400 parts per mil happened?

Answer 34

Before modern day humans (3-5 mil years ago)

Question 35

CO2 falls in summer and rise in the winter, true or false?

Answer 35

True

Question 36

Carbon comes in what 2 forms?

Answer 36

12 and 13

Question 37

Which carbon is lighter and more common?

Answer 37

12, 13 has an extra neutron

Question 38

Which carbon is left behind during photosynthesis? ( plants prefer one over the other)

Answer 38

13

Question 39

What is the process of plants using Carbon 12 called?

Answer 39

Stable Isotope Fractionation

Question 40

If increase in atmospheric CO2 is from burning fossil fuels, what is happening?

Answer 40

Relative amount of Carbon 13 to Carbon 12 will be decreasing

Question 41

Is there more or less carbon on earth?

Answer 41

No , it is just distributed differently. More in atmosphere than the ground