Decoding

What are greenhouse gases?
How common are they in the atmosphere? -
How were they discovered?

Sunlight passes through them and warms the planet, and they can captured sunlight and cast a blanket, trapping heat. (heat trapping gasses)
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How do they effect earth's temperature?

Greenhouse gases trap heat, increasing Earth's average temperature. This effect stabilizes Earth's climate but, when intensified by excess emissions, leads to global warming.

What is the evidence of long-term climate change?

Rising global temperatures.
Melting glaciers and ice sheets.
Rising sea levels.
Shifts in ecosystems and weather patterns.
Historical data from ice cores, tree rings, and sediment layers showing changing temperature and CO2 levels.

How do we know that historically there was a different climate pattern?

Scientists study ice cores, tree rings, and marine sediments to reconstruct past climates. Ice cores provide trapped air bubbles containing ancient atmospheric gases, while sediment layers and fossils reflect changes in climate over millions of years

What is the Keeling Curve?
What does it measure?

The Keeling Curve is a graph that shows the ongoing rise in atmospheric CO2 levels measured at Mauna Loa Observatory since 1958.
carbon dioxide

When did we begin making these measurements?

60 years ago

What variations and long-term trends have we observed with these data?

The zig zagging was increasing each year, accelerating upwards. Rapid rise

How do we know the concentration of atmospheric gases and temperature of earth's early environment? In other words, how do scientists gather data about these variables from 10,000 years ago?

Drilling, they drill 2 miles down into the ice, which contain trapped air bubbles

How did scientists validate the data from the ice cores? (compare to keeling curve?)

Ice core data is compared to the Keeling Curve and other modern measurements to confirm trends and reliability.

What long term patterns did the ice-core samples show?

It has been higher than last 800,000 years? Pattern repeats itself, some cycles are a little different

How do scientists infer temperature for earth's past climate?

(looking in seashells) layers, like tree rings, it shows how they formed. Rinds incorporate water from sea, oxygen comes in different forms. The colder the water the more oxygen 18 in water, and can infer temperature when it was formed.

How are temperature and CO2 related?

Warm to ice triggered by earths orbit, paired with co2 with ice core, the graphs nearly are a perfect match. As c02 goes down so does temp, it goes up so does temp. As co2 goes up, temperature does too.

What are natural sources of CO2?

Volcanos, decay of forests, or huge fires.

How are humans adding CO2 to the atmosphere?

Burning of fossil fuels, like coal.

How can scientists differentiate between natural and human-made CO2 sources?

Analyzing ratio of carbon, can tell if it is ancient. Burning coal is ancient, emitting carbon that is different.

What factors affect our global weather?

Heat in Earth's system.
Ocean circulation.
Atmospheric circulation.
Sunlight distribution.

How much heat is in the earth's system.

89%, is stored in the ocean, with 6% on land, 1% in the atmosphere, and 4% available for melting ice.

What influences global air circulation patterns?

Trap more heat in system, you change the weather.

What four major environments/factors do scientists include in their climate models?
Atmosphere

Traps heat; key focus for emission reduction.

Oceans

Absorb Co2 and heat but face acidification risks

Land

Forests and soils act as carbon risks

Ice/Glaciers

Reflect sunlight; melting contributes to sea level rise

How are these related to one another?

Changes in one system (e.g., warming oceans) impact others (e.g., ice melt), creating feedback loops.

How are the climate models built and tested/vetted?

Models use historical data, current trends, and physics-based simulations, tested against observed climate changes to validate accuracy.

What are some factors that complicate the models?

Unpredictable human behaviors.
Feedback mechanisms (e.g., permafrost melting).
Complex interactions between systems.

What is meant by old water?

Soaks up heat like a sponge, has not been in contact with surface in time has not seen heat that has been accumulating in atmosphere (a degree and a hald fah, heaten up eacg yrsr

What is meant by calving?

Ice bergs break off in process called calving. (Some are as massive as empire state building)

How much ocean water is trapped in the glaciers?

69% of the planet's freshwater is stored in glaciers and ice sheets

What three options are presented in the movie as ways to deal with climate change?

Mitigation: Reducing emissions.
Adaptation: Preparing for impacts.
Suffer

What are some of the places we are beginning to see the effects of climate change?

Arctic ice melting.
Coral reef bleaching.
Increased extreme weather events (e.g., hurricanes, heatwaves).

What are some ways we can mitigate climate change?

Transition to renewable energy.
Enhance carbon sequestration through reforestation.
Reduce emissions via policy and innovation.

What is the most uncertain variable with respect to climate change?

Human behavior and policy decisions are the largest uncertainties.

When did climate change become a bipartisan issue?

Climate change became politically divisive in the U.S. during the late 20th century as fossil fuel interests influenced policy debates.

What is the role of each of these in CO2 sequestering and/or temperature mitigation?

Role in CO2 Sequestering Role in Temperature Mitigation
Acts as a medium for CO2; affected by emissions. Absorbs and redistributes heat, driving weather and climate systems.

Oceans

Co2: Absorb about 25-30% of emitted CO2, storing it in deep waters.
Temp: Store heat, slowing atmospheric warming but leading to ocean warming.

Land

Co2: Forests, soils, and wetlands act as carbon sinks, capturing CO2 through photosynthesis.
Temp: Regulates local climates and reduces CO2 through vegetation.

Ice and Glaciers

Co2:Reflect sunlight (high albedo), helping cool the Earth.
Temp: Trap CO2 and methane in ice; melting releases greenhouse gases.