Lesson Flashcards
What is the IPCC?
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Established by the UN in 1988. Focuses on human-caused portion of climate change. IPCC publishes various journals and reports including the Global Warming of 1.5 C and climate Change.
What is the human-caused portion of climate change called?
Anthropogenic
What are the five components of the climate system?
- Air - Atmosphere
- Water - Hydrosphere
- Ice - Cryosphere
- Earth - Lithosphere
- Life - Biosphere
Define Weather
Atmospheric conditions, right now, that you can see, feel, and measure at any given place and time. A batter’s at-bat or game statistics.
Define Climate
Long-term average of weather for a given location and season. Climate is typically defined based on 30 years of historical weather patterns. A batter’s career statistics.
What 6 aspects of the earth influences climate?
- Latitude
- Altitude
- Location
- Cloud Cover
- Humidity
- Wind
Define Climate Variability
The change in weather patterns due to natural causes within short to medium time spans. Examples include La Niña and El Niño.
Define Climate Change
The change in the state of the climate persisting for an extended period - decades or longer. Can result from natural and/or human causes.
Define Energy Balance
The balance between energy that enters, leaves, and accumulates within the climate system. Radiant energy from the sun provides most of the input. Radiation into space, most of the output.
Define Radiative Forcing
The difference between energy input and output. Energy reflected into space minus energy absorbed by the earth - the Energy Budget. When more energy is reflected than absorbed, the earth cools. When more energy is absorbed than reflected, the earth is warming.
Natural radiative forcing after the Ice Age was ~1.0 watt/square meter.
Current GHG impact adds 3.0 watts/m2
Define a Climate Forcing
A perturbation of the earth’s energy balance that effects the temperature of the planet. AKA Radiative Forcing. Can impact how much energy is received from the sun, or that is radiated back into space. Natural forcing examples include changes in the Earth’s orbit, volcanic eruptions, and changes in emitted solar radiation. Human forcing includes GHG emissions, and land-use changes impacting reflectivity.
Climate forcing includes aerosols (dust, wildfire smoke, smog, industrial smoke, and cataclysms).
Differs from a climate stressor which is the result of a forcing. For example, a rise in surface temperature.
What are the three categories of orbital mechanics that are climate forcings?
Eccentricity - Shift in earth’s orbit
Obliquity- Shift in earth’s axis
Precession - Tendency for earth to wobble
What is TSI?
Total Solar Irradiance. The amount of radiation received outside the earth’s atmosphere.
What is the term for the percentage of solar radiation reflected by the surface of an object or area?
Albedo. There is land albedo, ice albedo.
Define the Greenhouse Effect
The radiative effect of all infrared-absorbing constituents (eg GHGs)in the atmosphere. The top GHGs are water vapor and carbon dioxide.
Most radiation from the sun is absorbed by the earth’s surface which warms it (the remainder is reflected by the atmosphere). The earth, in turn, emits infrared radiation into the atmosphere. GHGs reflect some of this radiation back onto the earth’s surface and lower atmosphere. The result is a warming.
Other GHGs include Methane, Nitrous Oxide, and Chlorofluorocarbons.
The highest historical level of CO2 was 300ppm. Today, the average is 407ppm.
2100 estimates range from 550-900ppm.
