Climate Change - A Geoscience Perspective

We live on a dynamic planet where interactions of complex

systems control _____ _____ around the globe

Heat distribution

There is a link between _____ & global temperature.

CO2 atmospheric concentrations

Why is geoscience needed to understand climate change?

• Get a deeper & longer understanding

• Unravel the processes through which climate change is manifested

• CO2 is main driver of greenhouse insulation

_____ & _____ form in equilibrium w/ the enviornment.

Rocks; fossils

How is the geological record divided up?

Into epochs & stages of similar rocks & fossils

What do the boundaries between geological epochs represent?

Climate shifts w/ associated biodiversity crises/extinction & environmental changes

Our planet has been slowly _____ _____ over 5 million years

Cooling down

What is more effective at distributing heat: the ocean or the atmopshere?

The ocean

What happens after sea water at the poles freeze out freshwater?

• Leave behind dense, cold, salty water that sinks

• Drags water to poles, bringing hot water away from the equator

• Regulates & changes climate

What does AMOC stand for? Is this in the Northern or Southern hemisphere?

Atlantic Meridional Ocean Circulation; Northern

What happens when there is a large release of icebergs through ice surges?

• Large input of freshwater into Atlantic

• Reduction in deepwater formation

• Reduce in AMOC climate change

What does a warmer Climate mean for AMOC?

Less sea-ice → slowing of AMOC → slower cooling of Europe