Unit 3 Flashcards
What are the 5 elements of the earth’s climate system?
- Sun
- Atmosphere
- Oceans
- Water
- Land surface
What role does the sun play in defining the earth’s climate system?
Solar radiation is the external source of energy that drives the climate system.
What role does the atmosphere play in defining earth’s climate system?
The atmosphere has several layers that absorb harmful shortwave radiation, it also regulates earth’s temperature.
What role do the oceans play in defining the earth’s climate system?
Covering 70% of the planet’s surface, oceans absorb tremendous amounts of energy and tend to retain and slowly release this heat.
What role does water play in defining the earth’s climate system?
Phases of water that include liquid, frozen, and vapor all having distinctive influences on the heat generated or retained at the planet’s surface.
What role does land surface play in defining the earth’s climate?
What the surface is covered by (dark vs light colored surfaces) dictates the amount of energy reflected or absorbed.
How does the atmosphere modify incoming radiation from the sun.
The atmosphere operates like a window that’s transparent to many of the wavelengths of energy from the electromagnetic spectrum modifying the energy from the Sun. For example, X-rays and gamma rays are not able to penetrate while a small portion of UV and IR can. Visible light and radio waves have properties that allow them to penetrate through the atmosphere.
How do the oceans and land surface influence incoming energy by either reflecting or absorbing energy (based on features of albedo)?
Dark surfaces with a low albedo will absorb energy and light surfaces with a high albedo will reflect energy. When energy is absorbed it generates infrared radiation/heat.
How do the 3 phases of water influence how much reflection and absorption takes place?
Dark surfaces absorb energy while light surfaces reflect. This means that ice is very reflective and open water will absorb energy. Gases in the atmosphere will absorb and trap heat, that is what water vapor does.
What is the role of the atmosphere in distributing heat around the planet?
In atmospheric convection, heating of the ground surface heats the air, producing an updraft of less dense, warm air. There are areas within the atmosphere where warm material is rising in the center and cold material sinking.
The convection process ultimately causes air currents.
What is the role of the oceans in distributing heat around the planet?
The ocean conveyor belt operates on the basis of a thermohaline gradient. Cold salty water developed at the Arctic and Antarctic assist to move water and generate a consistent current that transports it into the Atlantic Ocean. It leads to a significant sea to air transfer of heat from the ocean to the atmosphere that is moved toward Europe by prevailing winds.
What is the role of GHG’s (natural and enhanced/human generated) in contributing to the temperature of the planet?
GHG’s act as a blanket within the troposphere to absorb, re emit and trap infrared radiation which then heats the planet.
What are examples of positive feedback occurring in the Arctic?
With the continual warming that has resulted in loss of sea ice, more energy is being absorbed and retained by the oceans which warms the oceans more which results in a further loss of sea this creates a continuous positive feedback loop.
How has the accelerated loss of sea ice resulted in Arctic amplification today?
As sea ice declines, it becomes younger and thinner, and therefore more vulnerable to further melting.
How has sea ice loss in the Arctic contributed to climate change through positive feedback?
As the atmosphere warms and sea ice melts, the darker ocean absorbs more heat, causes more ice to melt, and makes the Earth warmer overall.
