L8 - Climate Forcing Extended

Question 1

What happens when there’s fewer low hanging clouds (over ocean vs land)?

Answer 1

Ocean: Fewer low-hanging clouds result in greater long-term energy absorption because of the ocean’s thermal inertia, which allows it to store heat over extended periods. This contributes to large-scale climate changes.
Land: The effects are more immediate, with stronger local heating and faster temperature changes, leading to potential impacts on ecosystems, agriculture, and human infrastructure.

• can amplify global warming as less albedo effect
• influences weather

Question 2

explain lapse rate feedback

Answer 2

• Initially reduced LW emissions at tropopause when increased GHG
• Restored balance at tropopause after some time
• BUT increased LW radiation at surface

Question 3

are gases well mixed in the stratosphere?

Answer 3

No due to the temperature profile

Question 4

Describe polar amplification?

Answer 4

Increased heating at the poles due to albedo effect and increase in lapse rate, where there is a stronger temp change at the surface than in the tropopause

Question 5

Greenhouse effect components?

Answer 5

Emissivity AND temperature difference between surface and atmosphere (lapse rate)

Question 6

What is effective temperature?

Answer 6

Combination of Ta of upper and lower atmosphere (cooler at top) - determines how much goes through tropopause to troposphere

Question 7

What is the Global Carbon Project?

Answer 7

The GCP integrates knowledge of GHG for human activities and the earth system. Includes budgets for 3 dominant GHG and efforts in urban, regional, cumulative and negative emissions

Question 8

Budget

Answer 8

total amount of emissions that can be released while staying within climate change target e.g. limiting warming to 2 degrees

Question 9

Budget imbalance

Answer 9

difference between estimated emissions and sinks. It is total emissions minus the estimated growth in the atmosphere, land and ocean sinks. Reflects the limits of our understanding of the carbon cycle

Question 10

Bunkers

Answer 10

fossil fuels used for international shipping and aviation

Question 11

Largest contributors to land use change fluxes?

Answer 11

Brazil, Indonesia and DR Congo

Question 12

What is the substitution method?

Answer 12

When non-fossil sources are scaled up by an assumed fossil efficiency of 0.38