Global Sustainability Exam 3

What 3 natural factors most influence Earth’s climate?

1.) oceans - store heat and moisture transport would be deleted
2.) sun - w/o it the Earth would be dark and frozen
3.) atmosphere - Earth would be colder and day/night temp. extremes would occur

What is the greenhouse effect and how does it work?

gases absorb heat radiated from the earth’s
surface and emit it back into the lower atmosphere

What are common greenhouse gases?

Water vapor, Methane, nitrous oxide, Carbon dioxide

What has been the pattern in CO2 and methane concentrations over the past 800,000 years? How do the present CO2 and methane concentrations compare with those over the past 800,000 yrs?

Methane and CO2 concentrations have fluctuated in conjunction with temperature changes consistently over the last 800,000 years. The present concentrations of both CO2 and methane are both higher than ever.

How did scientists reconstruct past CO2 and CH4 concentrations?

?

What are the 2 main sources of the extra atmospheric CO2? Where else is this extra CO2 going besides the atmosphere?

The 2 main sources of the extra atmospheric CO2 are deforestation and emissions. The remaining Co2 goes to plants/forests and the ocean