Climate Change and the Greenhouse Effect Lecture Notes

A Comprehensive set of vocabulary flashcards covering climate zones, factors affecting regional climate, the greenhouse effect (natural and anthropogenic), feedback loops, and paleoclimatology based on the lecture notes.

Climate

The usual pattern of weather in a region over a long period of time, which traditionally requires studying weather for about 30 years.

Weather

The specific atmospheric conditions outside on a particular day, including factors such as temperature and precipitation.

Climate Zones

Regions identified traditionally by scientists using temperature, precipitation, and plant communities; main types include tropical, moderate, polar, dry, and continental.

Ecoregions

New climate zones that classify areas based on ecosystems, including temperature, precipitation, plants, landforms, soil, and animals.

Bioclimate profile

A series of graphs describing only temperature and precipitation that display a location's projected climate 40 to 80 years into the future.

Latitude's Effect on Climate

The factor where climate is warmer toward the equator and colder toward the poles.

Ocean Currents' Effect on Climate

Cold currents make local climate cooler and dryer, while warm currents make it warmer and wetter.

Altitude

The height above sea level; air temperature is cooler at higher altitudes.

Greenhouse Effect

A natural process whereby gases and clouds absorb infrared radiation emitted by Earth's surface and radiate it, heating the atmosphere.

Greenhouse Gases

Gases that exist in very low concentrations in the atmosphere and absorb lower-energy infrared radiation; examples include $H_2O$, $CO_2$, $CH_4$, $O_3$, and $N_2O$.

Carbon Sinks

Living things and oceans that serve as important reservoirs for absorbing and storing carbon dioxide.

Methane ($CH_4$)

A greenhouse gas that is 23 times more powerful than carbon dioxide; its atmospheric concentration has risen from $0.700\,ppm$ to $1.785\,ppm$ since the industrial age.

Nitrous oxide ($N_2O$)

A greenhouse gas produced naturally by bacteria in soil and water that is almost 300 times more powerful than carbon dioxide.

Convection Current

A circular current created by the movement of warm and cold air, serving as one of the main ways energy is transported in the atmosphere.

Thermohaline Circulation

The process where cold, dense ocean water at the poles sinks to the floor and warmer surface water from the equator flows to take its place.

Milankovitch Theory

The theory that climate cycles are triggered by three changes in Earth's orbit: eccentricity, tilt, and precession.

Eccentricity

The variation in the shape of Earth's orbit occurring in a cycle of $100,000$ years.

Tilt

The back-and-forth movement of Earth's axis occurring over a cycle of about $41,000$ years.

Precession of tilt (wobble)

The slow wobble of Earth as it spins, occurring in a cycle over $26,000$ years.

Feedback Loop

A process where small changes are made bigger or smaller by subsequent effects, such as the water vapour or albedo effect loops.

Albedo

The proportion of radiation reflected by a surface; for example, ice has a high albedo.

Albedo Effect

A feedback loop where a drop in temperature leads to more ice formation, reflecting more radiation and causing temperatures to decrease further.

Proxy Records

Indirect clues to past climates studied by paleoclimatologists, such as fossils, tree rings, ice cores, and coral reefs.

Ice Cores

Cylinders of ice drilled in Antarctica and Greenland containing trapped air bubbles that provide records of greenhouse gas concentrations going back $800,000$ years.

Thermal Expansion

The process where ocean water increases in volume as it warms up, serving as the main cause of rising sea levels.

Anthropogenic Greenhouse Effect

The human-caused increase in the natural greenhouse effect resulting from added gases like $CO_2$ (30%), $CH_4$ (20%), and $N_2O$ (10%).

Montreal Protocol

An international treaty that resulted in decreases in atmospheric CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons).

Climate Models

Complex computer simulations used by scientists to develop projections and forecast what Earth's climate will be like under specific conditions.

Nuclear Power

A clean energy source created by splitting the nuclei of atoms; it does not emit greenhouse gases but produces radioactive waste.

Biofuels

A clean energy source that uses plant-based fuels to produce energy.