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Global Climate Change > The Atmosphere > Flashcards

The Atmosphere Flashcards

1
Q

changes in the system has profound effects on…

A

climate stability

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2
Q

Different layers of the atmosphere

A
  • Troposphere
  • Stratosphere
  • Mesophere
  • Thermosphere
  • Exosphere
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3
Q

Troposphere

A
  • 8-15 km high
  • Most of the weather processes occur here
  • 75% of the atmosphere’s mass (water vapor)
  • Where greenhouse gasses trap heat
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4
Q

Stratosphere

A
  • Has the ozone layer
  • Scatters UV radiation from the sun
  • Contributes to the warming of the atmosphere
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5
Q

Mesosphere

A
  • Where meteors burn up
  • Boundary between the atmosphere
  • Regulates the energy balance of the layers below and above
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6
Q

Thermosphere

A
  • absorbs intense solar radiation
  • influences atmospheric tides and some satellite operations
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7
Q

Exosphere

A
  • up to 10,000 km
  • outermost layer with very low density
  • minimal role in climate
  • transitional layer to space
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8
Q

What happens if there was no greenhouse effect?

A

our planet will be barren because it will be too cold to sustain life

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9
Q

What are the most common greenhouse gases?

A
  • CO2
  • Methane
  • Nitrous Oxide
  • Water Vapor
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10
Q

CO2

A
  • Fossil fuel combustion, deforestation,
    cement production, land-use changes
  • ~100-200 years
  • Primary driver of climate change; responsible for about 76% of anthropogenic GHG emissions.
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11
Q

Methane

A
  • Livestock digestion, rice paddies,
    landfills, natural gas leaks
  • ~12 years
  • More effective than CO₂ at trapping heat short-term
  • contributes to rapid warming due to high GWP
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12
Q

Nitrous Oxide

A
  • 300x worse than CO2 and methane
  • Agricultural fertilizers, industrial
    processes, fossil fuel combustion
  • ~114 years
  • less abundant but very potent
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13
Q

Water vapor

A
  • evaporation from oceans and water bodies
  • increases humidity and reinforces greenhouse effect
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14
Q

what is the keeling curve?

A

used to measure CO2 since 1956

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15
Q

extreme weather events

A

more greenhous gases -> warmer planet -> heat waves -> affects human health, agriculture and food security, ecosystems (some experience more drought while some more rain), etc

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16
Q

what is an example of a feedback loop?

A

melting ice will cause sea levels to rise and the darker water exposed by the lack of ice will absorb more heat and melt more ice

17
Q

How do extreme weather events impact biodiversity of ecosystems?

A
  • +1.5C: 4% lose half their habitat
  • +2C: 8% lose half their habitat
  • +3C: 41% lose half their habitat
18
Q

What is light zonation?

A
  • dividing the water into layers based on how much sunlight can reach them
  • These zones define various levels of productivity within an aquatic ecosystems such as a lake
19
Q

What is thermohaline circulation?

A

the process where deep-ocean currents are driven by differences in the water’s density, which is controlled by temperature and salinity

20
Q

What are ocean currents?

A
  • process of water moving heat from the equator
  • helps regulate the earth’s temperature
21
Q

The heat of global warming is going into:

A
  • oceans: 93%
  • melting ice: 3%
  • continents: 3%
  • atmosphere: 1%
22
Q

what are some negative ocean processes? And what are their consequences?

A
  • warming oceans -> ocean acidification -> coral bleaching
  • pollution -> disrupts fishing industries and coastal tourism
  • overfishing -> affects food web and fishing of big predators will cause overpopulation of other fishes
23
Q

What is the el nino phenomenon?

A
  • disrupts normal atmospheric circulation
  • Warmer waters shift eastwards and causes wetter conditions in the southern united states and drier conditions in SEA and australia
  • temporary spikes in global temperature
  • rooted in the interaction between the atmosphere and the ocean
24
Q

Ocean-atmosphere interactions

A
  • carbon cycle highlights relationship between the air and the ocean
  • can push the ocean absorption capacity to its limits -> impacts its role in maintaining carbon in the carbon cycle
25
Q

What are feedback loops?

A

Feedback loops are processes where the output of a system influences its own input

something that speeds up or slows down a warming trend

loops between the atmosphere and oceans can affect climate change

26
Q

Positive vs negative feedback loops

A

A positive feedback accelerates a temperature rise, whereas a negative feedback slows it down.

Positive loops make things grow or change really quickly.
Negative loops help keep things steady and under control.

27
Q

What is albedo?

A

the ability of surfaces to reflect sunlight (heat from the sun)

28
Q

High albedo vs low albedo

A

Light-coloured surfaces return a large part of the sunrays back to the atmosphere (high albedo). Dark surfaces absorb the rays from the sun (low albedo).

29
Q

What is black body? And what is black body absorption?

A
  • Blackbody is a physical object that absorbs all the energy from light or radiation that hits it
  • Black Body Absorption refers to how a blackbody absorbs all incoming electromagnetic radiation, regardless of wavelength or angle
30
Q

Permafrost as an example of a feedback loop

A

warming decreases permafrost which increases methane which causes more warming

31
Q

what are urban heat islands

A

more urban areas are warmer and have lower air quality

32
Q

What is the IPCC? What do they do?

A
  • Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
  • the scientific group assembled by the United Nations to monitor and assess all global science related to climate change
33
Q

What are climate models?

A

Climate models are simulations that scientists use to understand how the Earth’s climate works and predict how it might change in the future

can help policy makers and companies shape their actions on climate

34
Q

What is the point of mitigation and adaptation?

A

Mitigation and adaptation aim to help create strategies to combat the effects of climate change

35
Q

What is mitigation? Give examples

A

Action to reduce emissions that cause climate change

ex: Reduce emissions, Sustainable transportation, energy efficiency, clean energy

36
Q

What is adaptation? Give examples

A

Action to manage the risks of climate change impacts

ex: Manage risks of climate change impacts, Disaster management and business continuity, Infrastructure upgrades, Flood protection

Global Climate Change (6 decks)

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