Climate Change 1 ENSC UVM

Climate in the news: Nepal flood may have been caused by ice snapping off glacier because of…

increasing average annual maximum temperatures

Climate in the news: How much land burns each year in US wildfires has been in an ___ trend with ___severity fires

Upward, high

Climate in the news: Fatal overdoes in relation to…

Temperature extremes

Evidence for human impacts on the climate system

How and what do climate scientists do?

Scientist: Eunice Foote

Greenhouse effect

Scientist: Wally Broecker

Ocean and glacier history

Scientist: N’Datchoh Evelyne Toure

Climate models

Scientist: Julienne Stroeve

Sea ice

Scientist: Henri Bader

Ice physics

57% of US adults think global warming is mostly caused by…

Human activities

Open response: How is climate change affecting your life?

Outdoor recreation, food, health

Climate in the news: UN says world will miss its climate target. The last __ number of years were the hottest on record.

10

Climate in the news: post Paris agreement, emissions..

Rising but less fast

Climate in the news: ___ power has been the largest source of new electricity generation for the last three years

solar

Climate in the news: ___ vehicles are more prevalent especially in China.

electric

Climate in the news: Use of (energy source) is slowing world wide, especially in America but is growing in China.

Coal

Causes of sea level rising

thermal expansion and land ice

Define thermal expansion

warmer water expands, is less dense

Difference between climate and weather, according to Mark Twain “___ is what we expect, ___ is what we get”

climate, weather

Climate of a location is defined by its long term patterns of..

temperatures and precipitation

The Cryosphere includes:

polar ice caps, permafrost, sea ice, seasonal snow cover, mountain glaciers

Adaption or Mitigation: actions to reduce emissions that cause climate change

Mitigation

Adaption or Mitigation: actions to manage the risks of climate change impacts

Adaption

Describe a climate change denial claim

• 
  

Climates have changed before, it’s the sun, it’s not bad, there is no consensus, it’s cooling, models are unreliable, temp record is unreliable, animals and plants can adapt, it hasn’t warmed since 1988, antarctica is gaining ice

Geosphere

land

Hydrosphere

oceans, lakes, river

Biosphere

ecosystems

Atmosphere

air

Longer waves have __ energy than shorter waves

less

Earth’s average temp =

energy in - energy reflected - energy emitted

In earth’s artmosphere: Incoming and Reflected energy are __ wave radiation

Short

What are the three temperature knobs:

Solar output, albedo, greenhouse effect

Which knobs are being impacted by humans and how?

Albedo is lowering, greenhouse effect is increasing

General indicator: Global average annual temperature is

14 Celsius, 57 Fahrenheit

General indicator: what was the global average annual temperature in the last ice age (20,000 years ago)?

9 Celsius, 48 Fahrenheit

Changes in earth’s average temperature are caused by a change in earth’s…

energy balance

The global mean annual temperature from 100 million years ago has gone (up or down)?

down

Like a house, the rate of heat loss balances heat input from a furnace. This is a metaphor for…

earth’s energy balance

Global temperature equation: “Energy in” is

solar output

Global temperature equation: “Energy reflected” is

Albedo

Global temperature equation: “Energy emitted” is

Earth’s emissivity to space

How much of the recent warming is solar output irradiance responsible for? (little or a lot)

little

Which surface’s albedo would be above 50% reflectivity? (3) least to most

Ice, cloud, snow

Which surface’s albedo would be below 50% reflectivity? (3) least to most

water, forest, sand

Earth’s emissivity: greenhouse gasses let ___ pass through

solar radiation

Earth’s emissivity: greenhouse gasses __ radiation emitted from earth

absorb

Earth’s emissivity: greenhouse gasses act as a blanket, preventing earth’s…

emitted energy from escaping

(Most things, nothing, or everything) with a temperature above 0 emits radiation.

everything

Stefan-Boltzmann law says that the warmer an object is,…

The more radiation it emits and the shorter the radiation’s wavelength

Stefan-Boltzmann law:
P=σAT4

What does P mean?

Total power radiated

Stefan-Boltzmann law:
P=σAT4

What does T^4 mean?

Temperature

Gases in earth’s atmosphere collectively absorb a lot of

earth’s outgoing radiation

John Tyndall, an irish physicist, demonstrated the connection between…

atmospheric carbon dioxide and the greenhouse effect

___beat Tyndall to the discovery three years beforehand.

Eunice Foote

Tropical regions are generally warmer than polar regions because…

earth’s geometry

The amount of radiation to hit the North pole, South pole, and equator are

equal just more distributed at the poles

Seasons are a consequence of

earth’s tilt

True or False: Earth’s geometry can explain all regional climates, patterns of precipitation.

False

Ignoring the greenhouse effect, which traps outgoing energy, radiation balance of earth suggests global average temperature of (in Fahrenheit)

0

What is the most effective greenhouse gas?

Water, H2O

Carbon dioxide is how much of the earth’s atmosphere?

0.04%

This GHG has a lower warming potential but there is much more of it in the atmosphere

Carbon Dioxide

This GHG has a higher warming potential but there is much less of it in the atmosphere

Methane

Three main greenhouse gases that take up small parts of the atmosphere:

Carbon dioxide, methane, and Nitrous oxide

Air can hold more water vapor when it is

warm

Name greenhouse gases from least to most strong

carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide

Name how long greenhouse gases last from the shortest to longest

methane, nitrous oxide, carbon dioxide

Radiation imbalance: Net loss at poles, net gain at equator, and an energy imbalance…

in between

Global scale circulation: air rises at the ___, then sinks at 30 N + S which create __conditions.

Equator. High pressure and warm, dry conditions.

Boundary between warm, subtropical air and cold, polar air. Which shifts and bends regularly is…

Polar jet stream

The warming of the arctic may be causing the polar jet stream to become more

wavy

Carbon reservoirs: GTC from most to least

Rocks and sediments, deep ocean, plant/soils, surface ocean

Dr. Charles Keeling alerted the world about rising carbon dioxide levels from

human activities