Key Terms Chapter 8 - Dynamics Of Climate Change Flashcards
Feedback loop
Process in which part of a system’s output is returned to the input
Positive feedback loop
Acts to increase effects of interacting parts
Negative feedback loop
Acts to decrease the effects of the interacting parts and helps to maintain a system’s equilibrium
Electromagnetic radiation
Energy that travels as waves that move outward in all directions from a source
Thermohaline circulation
A three-dimensional pattern of ocean circulation driven by wind, heat, and salinity that is an important component of the ocean-atmosphere climate system
Energy budget
Description of the total energy exchange within a system: how energy from sun enters, moves through, leaves earth system
Concentration
Amount of a particular substance in a specific amount of another substance
Parts per million (ppm)
Unit of measurement that indicates the number of parts of a substance per million parts of another substance
Greenhouse gas
Gas that absorbs and prevents escape of radiation as thermal energy
Sink
Process that removes greenhouse gases from atmosphere
Anthropogenic greenhouse effect
Increased capacity of the atmosphere to absorb thermal energy because of an increase in greenhouse gases through human activities
Global warming potential
Ability of a substance to warm the atmosphere by absorbing thermal energy
Biogeochemical cycle
Natural process that exchanges matter/energy between the abiotic environment to biotic and back
Store
Part of a Biogeochemical cycle where matter/energy accumulates (reservoir)
Global carbon budget
Relative amounts of carbon in different stores, accounting for the exchanges of carbon between stores of carbon cycle
