M3 Flashcards
short-term changes in atmospheric variables such as the temperature, precipitation, wind, and barometric pressure in a given area over a period of hours or days
Weather
determined by the average weather conditions of the earth or of a particular area, especially temperature and precipitation, over periods of at least three decades to thousands of years.
climate
Is climate change new?
No
What’s different about this age of climate change?
It is accelerating at an alarming rate, and out of non-anthropogenic patterns
What are some measures for climate change? Name three
radioisotopes in rocks and fossils
plankton and radioisotopes in ocean sediments
materials trapped in ancient air in ice cores of glaciers
pollen from the bottom of lakes and bogs
tree rings
temperature measurements since 1861
how long does methane (CH4) stay in the air?
average 25 years
How much share of methane emissions has come from human activities in the last 275 years? What kind?
70%, livestock, gas, coal, landfill, rice production. Methane has trippled since then
How much stronger is the warming effect of CH4 than co2?
25 times
What are methane time bombs?
permafrost, tropical wetlands (if it rains more, decaying plants), maybe arctic ice
What is the role of water vapor in GHG warming?
It’s a secondary effect; it amplifies GHG as an effect of warming.
How do scientists know that increased solar output is not causing warming?
An increase in solar output would cause heating on the top of the earth, but the earth is heating up more from the bottom.
They determined that the energy output of the sun dropped slightly over the past decades
How much anthropogenic co2 emissionsdo oceans remove?
1/3rd
How else do oceans capture carbon?
By putting it into deep sea sediments, by making it carbonic acid, through photosynthesis of plants in it
What is shit about the ocean capturing carbon?
Ocean acidification, and the warmer it gets, the more co2 is released from it, more natural disasters with warming
What is the role of clouds in climate change?
We aren’t completely sure, but thin high clouds could cause more warming and low thick clouds could decrease warming; in any case there are more of them with oceanic warming
What are natural helpers against climate change?
Ice, oceans, plants, soil, aerosol
What is the boundary for average temperature?
2 degrees, some say 1.5 degrees increase since pre-industrial times
What is the boundary for amtospheric co2 levels?
450 ppm
How is ice warmed?
From the sea and the air at the same time
Sun reflects on white stuff
Albedo effect (1/3rd of solar)
What is the influence of warming on the jet stream?
arctic seawater tempreatures slow the jet stream.
What are the most important bodies of ice right now?
Greenland, south and north pole, glaciers, permafrost.
What would be the consequences for a +1 meter sea rise this century?
destruction of 1/3rd of coral reefs, wetlands, and deltas;
disruption of most coastal fisheries;
flooding, submersion and erosion of low-lying islands (pacific, carribean, us islands);
saltwater contamination of freshwater coastal aquifiers
With how much has ocean acification increased since 1800?
30%