Climate Change Test 1 Definitions

Chemical Weathering

Process by which rain and groundwater, made slightly acidic by dissolved carbon dioxide, very slowly dissolves rock at Earth's surface

Climate

The average weather at a place over time

Weather

Described by characteristics such as temp, winds, precipitation, and humidity

Glacial Period

Time where its cold

Interglacials

Time where its warm

Holocene

A time of exceptionally stable and moderate climate, 11,700

Little Ice Age

A cold period in the North Atlantic after 1300 CE, Norse settlements in Greenland

Year without a summer

Short cold snap caused by the eruption of the Tambora Supervolcano in 1816

Drought

Time periods of lowered precipitation sufficient to reduce soil water, surface water, and groundwater levels, cause crops to fail

Desertification

Loss of vegetation due to drought and over harvesting, can destabilize soils and lead to loss of agricultural land and ability of societies to feed their people

Ecosystem Changes

Gain and loss of species, have been detected in many regions, mostly in mountains where species can move up and stay cool

Electromagnetic Radiation

How energy travels across space after being emitted from an object

Atmospheric Principle 1

Warm hair holds more water vapor. Air cant carry more water it makes morning dew

Earth's Gases

78% Nitrogen, 21% Oxygen, .9% Argon

Global Warming Potential

Measure of how much heat a greenhouse gas traps in the atmosphere up to a specific time horizon, relative to carbon dioxide

Fronts

Separating air masses, boundaries between warm and cold air

Cold Fronts

Signal the arrival of colder and drier air, are steep and pass quickly though an area with a band of showers

Orographic Effect

Removal of water from air masses moving over mountain ranges

Polar Jet Streams

Boundary between warm, subtropical air and cold, polar air, shifts and bends regularly.

Atmospheric Blocks

Result when weathers systems, typically large, high pressure systems, stall and move slowly if at all

Arctic

Warming at twice the rate of the rest of the planet

Mixed Layers

Topmost layer of the ocean where temp, salinity, and dissolved gas concentrations are similar at all depths because of mixing by wind and resulting waves

Calcifies

Animals that make their shells out of calcium and carbonate ions in ocean water

Warm Currents

Often found on east coasts, headed away from Equator

Cold Currents

Often found on west coasts, headed towards Equator

Photosynthesis

Absorbing CO2 and solar radiation, creating food, in summer plants absorb so much CO2 that the atmospheric CO2 shows a significant decrease

Limestone

Formed on ocean floor from Calcium-Carbonate shells. Sometimes brought up above sea level. by plate tectonics

Ablation

Loss of ice that decreases glacier mass

Glacier Mass Balance

Balance between accumulation and ablation on a glacier

Ice Sheets

Continental-scale masses of flowing ice covered land and sometimes discharging into the ocean

Mountain Glacier Retreats

As mountain melts they shrink back up into valleys to higher elevations and colder temp

Hurricanes

Tropical storms with well-defined circulations and wind speeds over 74 mph

Warmer Air

More moisture witch then makes more rainfall

Vector-Born Diseases

Transmitted by other living things, such as insects, kill millions every year

Malaria

Parasite which is spread by the Anopheles mosquito

Lyme Disease

Tick-borne illness may in part reflect a warming climate as well as changes in land use

Sea Level Rise

Rising water levels caused by increased ocean water volume. Flooding city's and killing farm lands

Heat Waves

Prolonged periods of abnormally hot weather, causes deaths

Emotional Level

Polar Bears are a icon for the Arctic. Shortening of ski and ice fishing

Earth's Energy Balance

Changes in Earth's average temp. Warm house loses heat faster, heat loss balance.

Wavelength

Distance between two wave crests

Blackbody Radiation

All matter emits electromagnetic radiation and the wavelength of radiation emitted is determined by its temp

Electromagnetic Spectrum

Its emitted by bodies of matter, a range of different wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation

Shortwave Radiation

Sun's emitted energy, used by plants for photosynthesis

Longwave Radiation

Earth's emitted energy

Solar Output

Global average temp=Energy in-Energy out

Albedo

More is more reflective. Global average is 30%

Earth's Emissivity

Energy out

Atmosphere

Global mean annual temp, moving mixture if gases surrounding Earth

Greenhouse Effect

Additional energy hitting Earth's surface due to atmospheric greenhouse gases

Global Climate System

Distribution and characteristics of regional climates on Earth

Global Mean Annual Temperature

Allow easy comparison of today's global climate with past or future global climates, we use one number

Carbon Dioxide, Methane, Nitrous Oxide

Main drivers of change in the GMAT

Regional Climate

Long-Term, average temp and precipitation patterns

First Order Control

Earth's geometry, concentration of flashlight analogy

Water Vapor

Greenhouse gas, responsible for 50% of global greenhouse effect. Not released by humans

Residence Time

A gases characteristic, average time a molecule that has remains unaltered in the atmosphere

Troposphere

Layer of the atmosphere which extends from sea level to about 10km. What we live in

Lapse Rate

Decrease in temp with elevation in the troposphere

Stratosphere

Layer of Earth's atmosphere above the troposphere and extending to about 50 km above sea level

Warm Fronts

Signal the arrival of warmer and more moist air, shallow as they advance into cold air

Atmospheric Principle 2

Heated air becomes less dense and rises

Atmospheric Circulation and Climate

Latitude can have an impact on precipitation, just like it does with temp

Global Circulation Cells

Stable patterns of air flow, in which air moves up from Earths surface, then flows laterally before descending over 30 degrees of latitude

Hadley Cells

Atmospheric circulation cells between the equator and 30 degrees North and South Latitudes

Ferrel and Polar

Two other circulation cells

Koppen-Geiger Climate Classification

Most common characterization of climate zones, controlled by these large scale circulation cells. A map of world climate zones

Atmospheric Principle 3

Air moves from high pressure to low pressure zones

Atmospheric Pressure

Mass of air above a point on the ground

High Pressure Areas

Air is inking towards Earth's surface, increasing the mass of air above a point on the ground and resulting in fair weather

Low Pressure Areas

Air is rising away from Earth's surface, lowering the mass of air above a point on the ground and generating precipitation

Coriolis Effect

Earth rotates under the air rushing towards equator, its "lags" behind

Jet Streams

High altitude rivers of air at boundaries of circulation cells, fast flowing rivers of air km above Earth's surface, at the top of troposphere. Located at boundaries of atmospheric circulation cells

Stratification

Distinct vertical layering of ocean water layers

Thermocline

Layer of ocean water below solar-heated surface water where temp decreases with depth

Deep Ocean

Deepest layer of the ocean where sunlight is completely absent and water temp remain near freezing point of water

Salinity

Amount of salt dissolved in water

Ocean Density

Affected by temp and salt content. Lower temp is more dense, more salt is more dense

Acidity

Imbalance of hydrogen ions over hydroxide ions in a solution will increase

Ocean Acidification

More dissolved CO2=more carbonic acid=more acidic water, pH=measure of acidity, lower=more acidic

Ekman Transport

Movement of the ocean mixed layers at an approximately 90 degree angle away from overhead wind direction

Ocean Gyres

General patterns of surface water movement in the ocean, areas of circular surface water movement centered around 30 degrees latitude in the world's oceans basins

Downwelling

Water sinking to deep ocean because of higher density

Thermohaline Circulation

Density-driven vertical water movement forced by differences in the temp and salinity of ocean water

Upwelling

Winds push water away from an area, deep water rises to fill the gap

Great Ocean Convery

Describe the linked global surface and deep currents that flow due to thermohaline

Boundary Currents

Surface oceans currents that flow parallel to nearby coastlines, regulate the climates of nearby coastal areas

Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation

Thermohaline-driven pattern of surface and deep water movement in the Atlantic Ocean

3D Ocean

heat absorbed by surface ocean can get pulled down into the deep ocean

Carbon Cycle

Term used to describe how the element carbon is converted between gas, aqueous, and solid forms and how carbon moves between reservoirs on the Earth over time

Elemental Carbon

An atom with 6 protons, 6 neutrons, and 6 electrons

Carbohydrates

Plants have evolved to use energy from solar radiation to combine the carbon on atmospheric carbon dioxide with hydrogen and oxygen

Gigatons

What the amount of carbon on Earth is measured by, unit of mass equivalent to one billion metric tons

Carbon Reservoir

Physical locations in which carbon is stored as a molecular component of gases, liquids, or solids

What form is carbon present on Earth

Atmosphere, Oceans, Plants/Soils, Rocks and Sediments

Largest Carbon reservoir on the planet

Atmosphere, Surface Ocean, Plants/Soils, Deep Ocean, Rock and Sediments

Inorganic Carbon

carbon not associated with living or dead organisms

Organic Carbon

Carbon associated with living or dead organisms

Marine Snow

Mix of fecal pellets and dead marine life mostly single celled animals

Carbon Exchange

Transfer of carbon from reservoirs to another, measured as a rate of carbon movement over time