Introduction to climate change Flashcards
How do you define climate?
WMO define climate as a 30-year average on the weather. Averaging time is somewhat arbitrary. Importantly, it is not just the mean climate but the statistics on the weather as well.
How does greenhouse effect keep Earth 30 C warmer than it would be without an atmosphere?
Absorbed solar radiation (mainly at surface) is emitted as thermal infrared wavelengths back to space. Greenhouse gases (water vapour and CO2 etc.) absorb and trap this radiation, warming the atmosphere and surface.
How do we measure the Earth’s surface average temperature and its change over time?
Historically people have measured air and sea surface temperature with various types of thermometers in various types of ways – principally for weather forecasting. Still done today but becoming more automated. Careful quality control combines data from different locations, making allowances for missing data region and instrument changes to come up with a consistent climate record.
What is radiative forcing?
The change in energy imbalance of the Earth system caused by a human or natural driver of climate change.
How are climate projections made?
Climate projections are made by a climate model (can be a simple or complex representation of the Earth system) employing emission scenarios and a set of initial conditions as to the current climate.
What is the IPCC?
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
when was the ipcc established
1988
what is the UNFCCC
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
what does the UNFCCC run
the internation negotiations on climate policy
what are the aims of the paris agreement
COP21 in Paris – this aims to limit warming to well below 2°C – with an ambition of reaching 1.5°C, with a balance of sources and sinks of greenhouse gas emissions by the second half of this century.
what was the policy called that was made in paris
COP21
