Unit 6 Lecture 32

Question 1

What is the difference between climate and weather?

Answer 1

Weather: Short term conditions of atmosphere (temperature, precipitation, etc.)

Climate: Long term average weather for a certain place (climate can change over long periods of time)

Question 2

What has been shown in a global surface temp since the 1980s graph

Answer 2

• prior to 1950 temps were on average cooler than the average temp
• Since 1980, temperatures have been increasing and on average higher than average temp

Question 3

How do we calculate global average temperature

Answer 3

We calculate the ‘anomaly’
- calculate the average temp for that period of time for any of these points that have data
- For each year you calculate the average temperature for that year and then calculate the deviation from the average for that specific weather station

Question 4

___ degree farenheit increase per year over the past 40 years

Answer 4

0.3

Question 5

What were the 11 warmest years on record?

Answer 5

2007 to 2015

Question 6

Climate change is _______

Answer 6

heterogeneous
- some areas are hotter, some areas are colder, but overall definitely hotter

Question 7

What cause there to be a deviation difference from the 80s to the 00s

Answer 7

The passing of the clean air act
- Pollution has the effect of reflecting radiation from the sun; less energy of the sun gets through and has a global cooling effect

Question 8

What used to be the hottest year on record for the 00s

Answer 8

1932

Question 9

Why is climate change important?

Answer 9

We are seeing changes in natural disaster; California fires

Question 10

What is that one quote Lyons said about climate change

Answer 10

Cannot say climate change is causing these storms, but we can see its affecting the intensity
- hurricanes
- fire
- hot days
- snow storms

Question 11

Temperature increasing overtime is strongly correlated with atmospheric concentrations of what two elements?

Answer 11

CO2 and Methane (CH4)

Question 12

Does carbon dioxide and methane levels have a direct relationship with temperature of indirect relationship with temperature?

Answer 12

Direct positive
- As CO2 and CH4 levels go up, temperature goes up

Question 13

CO2 levels have not been as high as they are in how long?

Answer 13

25 million

Question 14

What are the two major effects increasing atmospheric carbon

Answer 14

• Greenhouse effect
• Ocean acidification

Question 15

How did scientists measure the CO2 levels

Answer 15

Recorded daily average of CO2 level on a mountain top (Mauna Loa)in Hawaii that proved its been increasing

Question 16

Explain the greenhouse effect

Answer 16

Essentially we have our sun that gives us energy, some is absorbed by atmosphere, some reflected by clouds, some reflected by surface, and most is absorbed by the earth
- Radiation is then emitted by the surface and a lot goes our a long-wave radiation
- Problem comes when we have greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere
- This energy that’s emitted, instead of escaping, it gets radiation back to the earth and reabsorbed (this is what warms the planet)

Question 17

Is the greenhouse effect new?

Answer 17

No it naturally happens to some extent, it makes the earth habitable, BUT increased atmospheric carbon exacerbates the effect

Question 18

There is an increase/decrease in arctic sea ice

Answer 18

Decrease

Question 19

What could POTENTIALLY happen with the melting of the arctic?

Answer 19

• There are a lot of minerals buried in the ice from years and years ago
• Right now Russia and Canada claim the arctic, and Russia has plenty of ice breaker machines
• The concern is that in 2040 (predicted year of arctic melting), tensions will rise with getting access to these minerals with Canada and the US
• To play devils advocate, the ice melting could open up the NW passage helping shipping

Question 20

When does sea levels rise?

Answer 20

Not when the arctic melts, or any ice in the water because thats already factored for

Sea levels rise when land ice melts like Greenland because that water is not counted for

Question 21

How is the ocean acidifying?

Answer 21

• The ocean absorbs a lot of the excess carbon that we are putting into the atmosphere increasing ocean temperatures
• This absorption of carbon lowers the pH of the ocean making carbonic acid, acidifying the ocean

Question 22

What percent of excess carbon is absorbed by the ocean?

Answer 22

25%

Question 23

Why is the acidification of the ocean bead for marine life?

Answer 23

• Corals and shells are made with calcium carbonate (CaCO3), BUT the acid in the ocean is dissolving this
• If organisms cannot make CaCO3 they cannot make their shells
• The energy from the sun is becoming too much for the coral and is bleeding and dying.
• If coral die they stop providing ecospace for other species

Question 24

Where is the coral experiencing the most bleaching?
Northern sector
Central sector
Southern sector

Answer 24

Northern Sector

Question 25

What is the target ocean temp for the Paris Agreement?

Answer 25

2 degrees celsius which is still too much and corals would die

Question 26

How did we study the potential effects of acidification?

Answer 26

• Areas where there are vents in the ocean where magma seeps out
• These have higher CO2 at these areas, and therefore lower pH and higher acidity
• Study the diversity as you get closer and closer to the areas of increase acidity

Question 27

What did they see when studying the effects of acidification

Answer 27

As you move away from higher pH population size goes down rapidly to 0 as does species diversity, leading to ocean mass extinction

Question 28

The effects of current climate change are most like which mass extinction?

Answer 28

End permian