Climate Change exam 1

What is a "system," and how does that apply to the climate?

set of interconnected components that interact & exchange matter. climate system made of interacting subsystems (atmosphere, hydrosphere, etc)

What's the difference between climate, climate change, and climate variability?

average weather conditions, long term shift/trend, shorter term fluctuations

climate forcing

pushes the balance to warming/cooling. volcanic eruptions, greenhouse gas, aerosol pollution

What is the current state of Earth's climate (energy balance, temperature, stability)

positive energy imbalance (more retained than radiated back), warmer and warmer each decade

What are the main gases making up the atmosphere?

nitrogen, oxygen, argon, co2, methane, water vapor

What are the layers of the atmosphere, in order from the surface up?

troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere, exosphere

Where is most of the ice in the cryosphere held?

antarctic ice sheet

How does the Köppen-Geiger scheme classify climate zones?

tropical, dry, temperate, polar

GCOS- defines ECVs

global climate observing system

ECVs

essential climate variables

GOES

geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites

SMCD

atellite Meteorology and Climatology Division

ASOS

Automated Surface Observing System

Argo

global network of floats in ocean connecting data otherwise hard to record

statistical analysis

collecting, organizing, analyzing, interpreting data to find trends. Descriptive & inferential statistics

What are common ways to display statistical data, and what is each generally used for?

tables (raw values), bar graphs (comparing), line graphs (trends), scatter plots(relationships)

What's the difference between one-dimensional and two-dimensional data?

One-dimensional (univariate) data examines a single variable (e.g., temperature over time at one site). Two-dimensional (bivariate) data examines two variables together, often to look for a relationship (e.g., temperature vs. CO₂).

How does a logarithmic axis differ from a standard (linear) axis?

On a standard axis, equal spacing represents equal additive increments. On a logarithmic axis, equal spacing represents equal multiplicative factors (orders of magnitude) — useful for data spanning a huge range of values or showing exponential trends clearly.

ACE value

Accumulated Cyclone Energy

What are the three main methods of descriptive statistics?

Central tendency, dispersion, and shape/relative position.

Mauna Loa CO2 keeling curve

monitired since 1958. co2 dips during growing season, rises in winter

recurrence interval

time expected between events. RI = (n + 1) / m

What are climate normals, and what are their limitations?

30-year averages of climate variables. hides rapid change

PRISM project

Project from Oregon State University that seeks to address elevation challenges in characterizing climate analysis over complex terrain

ACIS

gathers together archived climate data and presents it to the user in a visually amenable format