Social Sciences Section 1 (WIP) Flashcards
Conceptualizing Climate Change in the Past and Present
Pleistocene
A geological epoch that started around 2.58 million years ago and was characterized by cycles of ice ages and interglacials
Holocene
A geological interglacial (warm) period that began around 11,700 years ago, at the end of the last ice age
Anthropocene
A proposed new epoch starting from 1950, based on unprecedented human-driven climate change.
Earth System Science (ESS)
A new approaching to studying the world, based on the interaction between the major four subsystems:
Geosphere, Hydrosphere, Atmosphere, Biosphere.
Geosphere (Lithosphere)
One of the subsystems of ESS; the earth and rock that comprise the Earth
Hydrosphere
One of the subsystems in ESS; all the water in, on, and around the Earth in various forms
Biosphere
One of the subsystems in ESS; all living organisms in and on the Earth
Atmosphere
One of the subsystems in ESS; the layers of gases encircling the Earth
Geological time scale
Measure of time based on the record of rocks in which change is sometimes
measured at the pace of millions or billions of years
Cryosphere
Part of the hydrosphere; all ice on Earth
Greenhouse gas effect
Higher concentrations of gases (CO2, methane, water vapor) that trap heat and warm the planet’s surface
Forcings
Factors that are external to a climate system and influence climate change, such as volcanoes, solar energy, and greenhouse gases
Milankovitch cycles
Patterns of the Earth’s movement in relation to the sun, at intervals of 100,000, 41,000, and 26,000 years resulting in ice ages when they line up.
Solar Energy
Positive feedbacks
In ESS, a phenomenon where climate change causes a natural reaction that increases climate change in the same way.
Melting Ice
Negative feedbacks
In ESS, a phenomenon where climate change causes a natural reaction that acts against the original direction of the climate change.
Polar Vortex, Great Lakes Lake-Effect
