"unit 2"

Paleoclimatology

The study of past climates.

Ice Cores

Cylinders of ice drilled from ice sheets and glaciers, used to reconstruct past temperatures and atmospheric composition.

Sediment Cores

Samples of sediment taken from the ocean or lake floors, used to analyze past environmental conditions.

Tree Cores

Cylinders extracted from living trees that are used to analyze the age and climatic conditions of the tree.

Foraminifera

Single-celled marine organisms with fossilized shells used to reconstruct ocean temperatures.

Clathrate

A structure in which water molecules under certain conditions bond to form complex networks of molecules forming cage-like structures that encapsulate a gas.

Oxygen-18

A stable isotope of oxygen used in ice core analysis to determine past temperatures.

Carbon-14 dating

A radiocarbon dating meathod used to find the age of upper layers of the ice cores. (t½=5,730 ± 40 yr)

Anthropocene

A proposed epoch dating from the commencement of significant human impact on Earth's geology and ecosystems.

MethaneSAT

A satellite that uses Infrared Spectrometry to measure methane emissions in the atmosphere.

Tetrodotoxin

A potent neurotoxin found in some animals.

IUCN Conservation Status

Divides species into nine categories to indicate their conservation status.

Biodiversity

The variety and variability of life on Earth; a measure of the variety of organisms present in different ecosystems.

Anthropocene

The current geological epoch, characterized by significant human impact on the Earth's geology and ecosystems.

Koeppen climate zones

Climate classification system that divides climates into tropical, dry, temperate, continental, and polar zones.

Coral bleaching

The loss of algae that live symbiotically with coral, often due to warming waters.

Chytridiomycosis

the fatal skin disease impacting amphibians, thought to thrive in warmer, drier climates.

1989

The last time the Golden Toad was seen in its natural habitat.

Solanaceae

Contains scopolamine, atropine, nicotine, and capsaicin.

Ecosystem

A community of plants, animals, and microscopic organisms, and their physical environment, interacting to form a complex whole and food webs.

The Population Bomb

The Ehrlichs predicted worldwide famines due to overpopulation and advocated immediate action to limit population growth.

World Population Growth

Predicted to reach 8.5 billion by 2030, 9.7 billion in 2050, and 10.3 billion in 2100.

Top 10 Most Populous Countries (July 1, 2025 projections)

India, China, United States, Indonesia, Pakistan, Nigeria, Brazil, Bangladesh, Russia, Mexico

Carrying Capacity

The maximum population size of a biological species that can be sustained in a specific environment.

Thomas Malthus

Warned of future difficulties with population increasing geometrically while food production increased arithmetically, leading to famine unless birth rates decreased.

Global Footprint Network

Estimated that humans have outgrown the sustainable capacity of the planet by 40%.

Factors Determining Carrying Capacity

Available land area, food supply, water, energy supply, climate decline, consumption levels, and technological innovations.

Earth's Carrying Capacity Estimates

Estimates vary widely, with the majority suggesting a limit at or below 8 billion people.

Demographic Transition Model

A model that describes the transition from high birth and death rates to low birth and death rates as a country develops economically.

Energy Utilization, GDP, and Population Growth

Highlights how population growth, energy utilization, and GDP are interconnected.

National Solar Radiation Database

A database providing extensive solar radiation information for various users.

Integrated Multi-satellitE Retrievals for GPM (IMERG)

Uses a combination of passive microwave sensors to estimate precipitation.

JASON-3

Detailed measurement of sea level and currents used to monitor climate change and track phenomena like El Niño.

Fixed Buoys

Measures temperature, salinity and pH at various depths.

ARGO

Measures the temperature and salinity of the upper 2000 m of the ocean.

GSAT

Global Surface Air Temperature

Climate Models

Simulates the physics, chemistry, and biology of the atmosphere, land, and oceans to understand climate change.

CMIP6

Climate models from IPCC AR6.

Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs)

A set of emissions scenarios driven by different socioeconomic assumptions.

Community Earth System Model (CESM)

Accounts for clouds, precipitation, sea ice, winds, heat and salinity exchange, atmospheric and ocean model layers, ocean bottom topography, vertical overturning, geography, land surface processes, soil moisture, outgoing heat energy, incoming solar energy, transition from solid to vapor, evaporative and heat energy exchanges, snow cover albedo and runoff.