APES Unit 1 - Soils & plate tectonics - Atmosphere - El nino/La nina - Ocean currents - Wind Currents - Greenhouse Gasses

Global change

change that occurs in the chemical, biological, and physical properties of the planet

what is an example of global change

ice ages

global climate change

changes in the average weather that occurs in an area over a period of years/decades

natural v antropogenic

antropogenic is human made

Global warming

warming of the oceans, land masses, and the atmosphere

How does the sun heat the earth

sun emits solar radiation that strikes the earth and as the planet warms it emits radiation back toward the atmosphere

incoming solar energy > reflected solar energy + radiated infared

Sun energy

high - energy visisble radiation and ultraviolet light

Eath energy

infared light (gets absorbed by gases that emit energy back to space)

greenhouse effect

absorption of infrared radiation by atmospheric gases and reradiation of the energy back toward earth

What is the most common gas in the atmopshere

nitrogen

do nitrogen or oxygen absorb infared radiation?

no - they do not contribute to the heating of the earth

what is the most common greenhouse gas

water vapor

greenhouse warming potential

estimate of how much a molecule of any compound can contribute to global warming over a period of 100 years relative to a molecule of CO₂

What is humans effect on greenhouse gases?

increase all of them besides water vapor

What are the natural sources of GHG?

volcanic eruptions (CO₂ + lasts a few years)

Decompostion and digestion (CO₂ + wetlands largest source)

Dentrification (low oxygen environment + nitrus oxide)

Evaopration (increase water vapor in atmosphere

What are the anthropogenic sources of GHG?

Burning fossil fules (CO₂ + Methane + Nitrus Oxide)

Agricultural practices (variety of GHG, overirrigation → low oxygen in soil → methane + livestock increaes methane)

Deforestation (carbon that made up trees is released)

landfills (create methane)

industrial production of new GH chemicals (CFC)

What categorizes the intensity of a GHG?

residence time and GWP

Where does the GHG effect take place

ozone layer and troposhere

How much of the atmosphere is GHG?

less than 1%

What are the GHG?

CO₂, Methane, H₂O, Nitrous Oxide, CFC’s, HFC’s, O₃, Water vapor

What is the troposhperic oxone?

chemical smog

Which layers of the atmosphere have the greatest air pressure

the layers closest to the earth

troposhere

a layer of the atmosphere closest to the surface of the earth - 10 miles

temperature decreases with distance from earths surface

What is the densest layer in the atmosphere

troposhere

Where is most of the atmospheres nitrogen, oxygen, and water vapor

troposhere

where does weather occur

troposhere

Stratosphere

layer above troposphere (10-31 miles) above surface of earth

Temperature increases with distance from earth

which layer is home to the ozone layer

stratosphere

what is the purpose of the ozone later

absorb UV-B and UV-C radiation and convert it to infared to be released as heat to protect organisms from UV

Thermosphere

blcoks x-ray & uv & contains charged gas molecules that glow and produce light with solar energy (aurora borealis)

Temperature change in the mesosphere

colder as distance increases

Temperature change in the thermosphere

warmer as distance increaes

Temperature change in the exosphere

colder as distance increases

Causes of unequal warming across the planet

variation in the angle at whcih the suns rays strike

some areas of earth reflect more solar energy then others

variation in the amount of surface area over which the suns rays are distrbiuted

albedo

% of incoming sunlight reflected from a surface

How are season created?

The tilt of the earth causes seasonal changes as the earth orbits around the sun

How much nitrogen is in the atmosphere?

78%

How much oxygen is in the atmosphere?

21%

How much trace gases is in the atmosphere?

less than 1%

UV-A

low energy ultraviolet radiation

UV-B & UV-C

shorter & higher energy

UV-B increae skin cancer and cataracts and suppresses immune system (harmful to plant cells because it decreases their ability to convert sun to oxygen

What absorbs UV?

Stratospheric ozone abrobs all of UV-C and some of UV-B

How is stratospheric ozone created?

O₂ + UV-C → O + O (breaks up the oxygen)

O + O₂ → O₃

O₃ + UV-B/UV-C → O₂ + O

what state is stratospheric ozone in?

steady state

How is ozone broken down?

CFC’s (When CFC’s combine with UV they release Cl)

O₃ + Cl → ClO + O₂

ClO + O → Cl + O₂

Destroys the ozone molecules and creates a positive feedback loop of creting Chlorine to break down the ozone molecules

What is the ozone hole?

evere thinning of the ozone layer over antartica

Cold speeds up the reactions with CFC’s in the ozone layer

What is the impact of Ozone depletion?

a decrease in stratospheric ozone increases the amount of UV-B

Montreal Protocol

1987 - a landmark international environmental agreement designed to protect Earth's ozone layer by phasing out the production and consumption of ozone-depleting substances

Ozone in troposphere

GHG, unnatural, harmful

What was the replacement for CFC’s

HFC’s - No Cl to be a catalyst but it is still a robust GHG

Insolation

incoming solar radiation

solar radiation/area

(Solar radiation is constant the area it is hitting changes)

Tropic of cancer

Northern Hemisphere

Tropic of Capricorn

Southern Hemisphere

Equator

Imaginary Middle line cutting the earth in half

Winter sostice

Dec 21-22

Polar night

Shortest day of the year

Vernal Equinox

March 20-21

12 hours of day 12 hours of night

Summer Solstice

June 20-22

Longest day

Midnight Sun

Atumnal Equinox

September 22-23

12 hours of day and 12 hours of night

How much ozone can one Cl break down?

100,000

Watershed

All land in a given landscape that drains into a particular steam, river, or lake (Highest points around a river)

Tributary

Small river that leads to wide river that courses through the watershed

Delta

point where river meets larger body of water and goes to a triangle shape

groundwater

beneath watershed

source zone

head of river from snow pack melt or rain

Transition Zone

between headwaters that are clear cold and fully oxygenaited

Floodplain

where river spreads out - increase sedimentation, decrease oxygen, increase temperatrue

How do rivers flow?

Because of gracity

Rain impact on watersheds

runs downhill with watershed and percolates through soil to groundwater making sure to carry everything with it into the river

Logging - impact on water sheds

remove trees & roots that held soil so when it rains soil can rush its sediment into river

Industrial impacts on watersheds

Any pollution (including air) can end up in river

City impacts on watersheds

Anything on concreate washes into rivers

Livestock & cropland impacts on watersheds

Pesticides, fertilizer & animal waste washed into river

Residential impacts on watersheds

Pesticides, fertilizers, ect - go into river when it rains

Dams impacts on watersheds

Block flow of sediment necessary for habitats further downstream that depend upon these nutrients to be delivered by river

What facotrs impact how air circulates?

Density, water vapor capactiy, adibatic heating or cooling, and latent heat release

Density

mass of all molecules in the air in a given volume

Does less dense air rise or fall?

rise

Does warm air have a higher or lower density?

lower

Saturation point

maximum amount of water vapor in the air at a given tempeature

when air temp falls does its saturation point increase or decrease?

decrease

As air rises does pressure increase or decrease?

decrease

What does lower pressure allow rising air to do?

expand which decreases air temp

adiabatic cooling

cooling effect of reduced pressure on air as it rises higher in the atmosphere and expands

Adiabatic Heating

Heating effect of increased pressure on air as it sinks toward the surface of earth and decreases in voluem

Latent heat release

release of energy when water vapor in atmosphere turns into liquid warm

atmospheric convenction current

global patterns of air movement that are initiated by the unequal heating of earth - involve air that abrobs & releases heat as air moves up into atmosphere and back to earth

What does the warming of humid air at earths surface do?

decrease density → air rises → pressure decreases → adibatic cooling → cooling leads to saturation point → condensation → cloud formation → percipitation/latent heat release

Hadley Cell

a convection current in the atmosphere that cycles between the equatior and 30 degrees north and 30 degrees south

How do hadley cells work?

unequal warming of tropics causes air in the equator to expand and rise. Rising air cools (adibatic cooling) and sinks again)

circulation of hadley cells is driven by intense solar energy that strikes earth near equator

Intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ)

latitude that recieves the most intense sunlight which causes the ascending branches of the two Hadley cells to converge (dense clouds & intense thunderstorms )

Polar Cells

A cronvection current in the atmposhere formed by air that rises @ 60 degrees north and 60 degrees south and sinks @ the poles (90 degrees)

Ferell Cells

A convection current in the atmopshere that lies between hadley cells & polar cells - - do not form distinct convection cells but are driven by the cirrculation of the neighboring hadley cells & polar cells)

How do the cells help distribute air throughout the tropics

Some of the warmer air from the hadley cells moves toward the poles and some of the cooler air from the polar cells moves toward the eqauator

Coriolis effect

deflection of an objects path due to the rotation of the earth

Where does the earths surface move the fastest?

the equator

Northeast & Southeast trade winds

permanent east-to-west prevailing winds blowing in Earth's tropical and equatorial regions

Rain Shadow

Region with dry conditions found on the leeward side of a mountain range as a result of humid winds from the ocrean causing percipitation of the windward side - lush vegetation on the windward side

How are the winds deflected?

instead of going directly North to south they are slightly curved - causing predictable wind patterns

What land type is at the equator?

deserts because dry air descends from upper atmosphere

how does solar energy drive movement of hadley cells

uneven heating of Earth's surface, which creates a massive thermal convection loop between the equator and 30 degrees latitude