Lecture 9: Weather and Climate

Question 1

Weather

Answer 1

The state of the atmopshere at a specific time and place

-components: temp, Pressure, humidity, winds, clouds, visibility

Question 2

Climate

Answer 2

• average of atmosphere over a long period

- calculated over 30 year period

Question 3

Gases in Atomosphere

Answer 3

Nitrogen: added with decaying matter, removed with bacteria in soil
Oxygen: added with plants
CO2: added with burning fossil fuels, removed with plants
Water vapour: variable in conc.
Ozone: found in stratosphere, protects from UV
Methane: bacteria in second stomachs of cows, sheep etc., as well as mines, oil wells, gases pipelines, rice, landfills
Halocarbons: come from CFCs in the atmosphere

Question 4

Atmosphere

Answer 4

gases

Question 5

Hydrosphere

Answer 5

Large Water bodies

Question 6

Lithosphere

Answer 6

Plate tectonics, orogeny (mountain formation)

Question 7

Cryosphere

Answer 7

glaciers, ice sheets, snow cover

Question 8

Biosphere

Answer 8

flora and fauna, and people

Question 9

65 mya

Answer 9

• Earth was free of ice and warmer than today

- meteorite struck and rapidly cooled Earth by dust reflecting sun

Question 10

Last Glacial Period

Answer 10

18000 years ago: all Canada iced (Yukon too dry for snow)

-Bering Land bridge was exposed with lower sea levels

Question 11

Halocene Epoch

Answer 11

warming time 10000 years ago
-Medival warming period(900-1200AD) mild temps
The Little Ice Age: (1550-1700 AD) widespread cooling

Question 12

SunSpots

Answer 12

cool region of high magnetism on the sun, surrounded by faculae
-sun spots have cycles every 11 years

Question 13

Faculae

Answer 13

Bright areas on the sun that emit high amounts of energy

Question 14

Maunder Minimum

Answer 14

period with no sunspots-> the Little Ice Age

Question 15

Ice Cores

Answer 15

Width of Ice layer provides insight on temperature and snowfall that year
-up to 600 000 years

Question 16

Dendrochronology

Answer 16

study of tree rings

• wide rings mean warmer/wetter years
• up to 1000 years

Question 17

-Milankovitch Theory

Answer 17

3 phenomena of orbit that lead to climate change

-eccentricity, precession, obliquity

Question 18

Eccentricity

Answer 18

Changes in orbit from circular to elliptical

• 100 000 years
• leads to ice ages

Question 19

Precession

Answer 19

wobble in Earth’s axis

-23 000 years

Question 20

Obliquity

Answer 20

• changes in the tilt of Earth’s axis

- 41 000 years

Question 21

Stratospheric Ozone

Answer 21

• formed naturally in stratosphere

- blocks 7% of Sun’s energy in the form of UV

Question 22

Photochemical Ozone

Answer 22

forms in troposphere with other gases

-bad for breathing in

Question 23

Montreal Protocol

Answer 23

1987

-countries agree to lower the concentration of CFCs

Question 24

Acid Precipitation

Answer 24

• acidified precipitation with pollutants (sulfur oxide, nitrogen oxide)
• slowstree growth, reduces fish population, erodes limestone

Question 25

Canada-US Air Quality Agreement

Answer 25

1991

Same protocol across borders for acid precipitation

Question 26

Positive Feedback

Answer 26

-event that encourgaes the amplification of a process

Question 27

Climate Models

Answer 27

Estimating how much Earth will warm

• next 100 years, increase by 1.5 deg. C
• use series of mathematical equations

Question 28

Kyoto Protocol

Answer 28

1997

Agreement to decrease greenhouse gases to 5% below 1990 levels by 2010

Question 29

Impacts of Climate Change

Answer 29

-polar regions warm the most
-boreal forest shift north
-precipitation patterns change, affecting habitats
-increased intensity of tropical storms/hurricanes
ON HUMANS: food production, tourism, human health, malaria increase
ON BIODIVERSITY
-bleaching of coral
-loss of flora/fauna
-extinction of polar bears