Environmental Science: Test 3 Chapter 18

Weather

is the day-to-day variations in temperature, air pressure, wind, humidity, and preceipitation

Climate

the result of long-term regional weather patterns

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

the confirmation that greenhouse gas emission have warmed the planet 1.1 degrees Celsius

Climates results from the combination of what?

ocean circulation, atmospheric circulation and precipitation, rotation and tilt of earth that creates seasons and solar radiation

Heat capacity

oceans absorb energy and heat is conveyed through currents and oceans play a dominant role in climate

Thermohaline circulation

pattern effects of temperature and salinity on the density of sea water

What can Thermohaline circulation do?

move warm water from equator to poles

Are all greenhouse gasses bad?

No as they are essential for life but the over concentration of them is bad

Greenhouse Effect

-as sunlight approaches earth, it interacts with the atmosphere and some is reflected back to space and most passes through to Earth’s surface

- this light is absorbed by plants oceans and land surfaces

-absorbed light becomes heat and is reemitted away from Earth’s surface in infrared wavelengths

• some infrared is absorbed by greenhouse gasses and some pass through to space

• energy absorbed by greenhouse gasses is reemitted in all directions and heats earth

Greenhouse gases come from two sources

Natural and Antrhopogenic Sources

Natural Sources

Volcanoes, clouds, natural GHGs

Anthropogenic Sources

burning fossil fuels, deforestation, CFCs, agriculture/livestock

What are Greenhouse gasses?

gasses in earth’s atmosphere that traps heat

Proxies

records providing info on climate through temperature, ice cover, precipitation, pollen, tree rings, landscapes, marine sediments, corals, speleothems

Pollen

Pollen is associated with specific trees that can only grow under certain conditions

Tree Rings

Use growth pattern of trees and width of rings across many

samples to understand climatic factors

Ice Cores

– Record atmospheric gas chemistry

– Can track the farthest back in time

• show climate change within decades

what was the length of longest analyzed ice core?

3,910 meters (10,465 ft) which is about 800,000 years of data

Observed Climate changes

• Increases in temperature extremes (hot and cold)

• Increase in intensity and frequency of heat waves

• Increased droughts

– Forest fires

• Increased flooding

• Permafrost melting

Ocean Acidification

Increase in acidity of oceans due to higher concentrations of CO2 in the atmosphere and warmer temperatures

Is ocean shiftng pH

shifting to neutral from a base, pH of 8-9 lowers towards 7

Global warming

Increase in overall global temperature and Global warming causes climate change

Climate change

– Changes in behavior of regional climate

– Global warming causes climate change

Adaptation

• adding changes because the impact has already happened

Anticipate harm and plan adaptive responses to decrease vulnerability of people, property, and the biosphere

Mitigation

• taking action before impact

Take action to remove factors causing climate change

If all glaciers melted what would be the sea level rise?

60-70m/200-230ft