Earth Systems and Climate Practice Flashcards

Flashcards covering Earth systems, energy flow, human impacts, and climate change factors based on lecture notes.

Earth's Internal Heat Flow

The driver of Earth's interior geologic system processes.

Photosynthesis

The fundamental process by which plants, algae, and some bacteria convert light energy from the sun into chemical energy in the form of glucose.

The Water Cycle

The solar-driven process of water evaporation, condensation into clouds, and precipitation back to Earth.

Wind

The movement of air resulting from differences in air pressure created by the uneven heating of Earth’s surface by the sun.

Climate and Weather Patterns

The distribution of solar energy across the globe, influenced by latitude and Earth's tilt, which acts as the primary driver of climate zones.

Carbon Cycle

Nature's way of reusing carbon atoms as they travel from the atmosphere into organisms into the Earth and back into the atmosphere.

Igneous Rock

Surface rock added through volcanism driven by internal forces.

Sedimentary Rock

Rock formed when mountains are torn away by erosion and carried to the sea.

Metamorphic Rock

A new kind of rock formed under the conditions of heat and pressure.

Human Land Control

Humans are the main agent of geologic change at the surface, controlling more than $50\%$ of Earth's land.

Land Mammal Biomass

Humans and livestock account for $96\%$ of the total biomass of all land mammals, while wild mammals account for only $4\%$.

Ocean Acidification

The result of human released carbon dioxide which has made the ocean $30\%$ more acidic.

Human-Induced Erosion

Activities like mining, farming, and road-building that erode Earth’s surface six times faster than all natural causes combined.

Earth’s Surface Energy Budget

A description of where energy comes from and goes, driven by incoming solar radiation mostly in the form of visible light.

Greenhouse Effect

The cycle where infrared energy reradiated from Earth's surface is absorbed by atmospheric gases and reradiated back toward the surface.

Convection

The process moving the air of the atmosphere, driven by the heating of air near the surface which makes it buoyant and causes it to rise.

Solar Nuclear Fusion

The source of sunlight energy involving the fusion of hydrogen atoms into helium within the sun’s core.

Early Earth Atmosphere

An atmosphere dominated by greenhouse gases such as methane, water vapor, and carbon dioxide when the surface was almost completely molten.

Atmospheric $CO_2$ Levels

Due to plant life and the ocean, carbon dioxide levels were brought down to nearly zero, specifically $0.04\%$, to prevent the surface from becoming uninhabitable.

Carbon Storage

Atmospheric carbon removed by life is stored in the ground as rocks like limestone and fossil fuels like coal, oil, and natural gas.

Carbonic Acid ($H_2CO_3$)

The product of carbon dioxide reacting with water vapor, which makes rain water slightly acidic and accelerates mineral weathering.

Fragmented Continents

Geographic distributions that experience steadier climates due to the moderating effect of surrounding ocean water.

Supercontinents

Large landmasses that tend to have monsoon climates with alternating wet and dry seasons.

Milankovitch Cycles

Variations in three orbital parameters controlled by the gravitational tugs of Jupiter and Saturn that regulate ice ages.

Ocean Circulation

The shifting of currents responsible for much of the regional climate variations occurring over decades.

Greenhouse Gases

Gases that are particularly effective at absorbing wavelengths corresponding to infrared radiation emitted by Earth's surface.

Global Warming Potential (GWP)

A measure of the heat-trapping capacity of a greenhouse gas over a given period compared to a similar amount of $CO_2$.

Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)

Gases that were banned because they destroy the protective ozone layer.

Molecular Radiant Energy Transformation

When gas molecules absorb radiation, the radiant energy transforms into kinetic energy, increasing the energy of molecular motions.

Water Vapor ($H_2O$)

The most powerful greenhouse gas, accounting for about $50\%$ of total infrared radiation absorption in the atmosphere.

Ozone ($O_3$)

A powerful absorber of dangerous ultraviolet radiation located in the stratosphere.

Absorption Modes

Ways a molecule can oscillate to absorb radiation; they increase if a molecule has more atoms and is asymmetrical.

Carbon Dioxide Absorption Modes

Carbon dioxide has two main modes of oscillation that absorb infrared radiation.

Methane Absorption Modes

Methane has four oscillating modes that cause a change in the dipole moment of bonds and absorb infrared radiation.

Incoming Solar Radiation

Roughly $55\%$ of solar radiation passes through the atmosphere to the surface, where $12\%$ is reflected and the rest is absorbed.

Outgoing Radiation

Energy reradiated by Earth's surface in the long-wavelength infrared spectrum.

Reflected Solar Energy

Of the sun's energy that reaches Earth's solid surface, about $12\%$ gets immediately reflected back to space.

Anthropogenic

A term used to describe anything caused or produced by humans.

Human Carbon Release Rate

As of 2019, humans released about $10\,Gigatons/yr$ of carbon into the atmosphere.

Fossil Fuel Burning

The primary source of anthropogenic carbon, used for electricity, transportation, industry, agriculture, and heat.

Global Agricultural Land Use

Currently, $40\%$ of global land area is used to grow crops and raise livestock.

Extreme Precipitation

Significant worldwide increase in one-day intense rainfall events over the past 50 years, predicted to continue with rising temperatures.

Alpine Glaciers

Sources of many rivers that store water year-round; their loss threatens human water supplies and groundwater recharging.

Anthropocene

A geologic time period defined by human activities changing Earth’s biomass at unprecedented rates.

Climate-Induced Disease Spread

The increase of disease-carrying parasites and bacteria thriving in warmer temperatures, often triggered by climate changes and human migration.