Week 6 Climate Change Flashcards
Define weather
describes short term atmospheric conditions considering:
humidity, clouds, temperature, ppt
Define climate
long term average of weather conditions in a region over time
Define climate change
altered patterns of weather over decades
What sphere’s are related to the carbon cycle?
Atmosphere
in the form of CO2 and CH4 (methane)
Lithosphere
carbon stored in carbonate rocks, coal, and soil
Biosphere
stored in living organisms
Hydrosphere
carbon dissolves in the water as carbonic acid
Cryosphere
stored in permafrost (frozen soil) and co2 and in ch4 gas in bubbles
How do greenhouse gases affect Earth’s surface temperature?
GHGs absorb and emit INFRARED radiation, less radiation is going out into the atmosphere and remaining on the surface. Increasing Earth’s average temperatures.
Natural vs Human enhanced green house effect
Natural green house effect allows more heat to escape into the atmosphere and keeps earth at a habitable temperature.
Human enhanced green house effect disrupts the natural carbon cycle, re-emits heat and radiation, warms temperatures. INTENSIFIES
What are the control variables and planetary boundary for climate change?
control variable:
Atmospheric CO2 concentration (ppm),
Energy imbalance at the top of the atmosphere (W/m²).
Planetary:
< 350 ppm CO2, +1 W/m² (relative to pre-industrial levels).
Current values: CO2: 417 ppm, Energy imbalance: 2.3 W/m². PASSED
What are the sources and sinks of carbon in the global carbon cycle?
Sources: Combustion of fossil fuels releases old, slow carbon into the atmosphere.
Sinks: Biosphere, oceans, and lithosphere act as sinks, sequestering carbon.
How does carbon move through the carbon cycle? Atmosphere and Biosphere
The magical “plant diet”
Green plants take in atmospheric CO2 and combine it with water to make carbohydrates through photosynthesis - this is how plants grow and gain mass.
How does carbon return to the atmosphere?
Plants can break carbohydrates down into CO2 and water: the CO2 is released back to the atmosphere via respiration
When plants die, bacteria, and fungi can break down the carbon and convert it to CO2 through decomposition
Combustion can transform carbon in plants back to CO2
How does carbon move in lithosphere and atmosphere?
Young fast carbon: found in plants and other living things, can move easily into and out the carbon cycle
Old slow carbon: found in fossil fuels; has been trapped in a form of natural gas oil and coal, unlikely that carbon will enter the cycle naturally.
How is the global carbon budget changing over time?
Anthropogenic emissions of carbon are negative values (loss from spheres).
Positive values indicate gains (spheres acting as carbon sinks).
Evidence for changing climate
-warming air
-warming ocean
-shrinking glaciers and sea ice
rise in sea level
-changes in biosphere
What wavelengths are the strongest and weakest?
High frequency short wavelengths high energy
Low frequency long wavelengths low energy
