class 3 climate systems 1

do kalvin and celsius use the same increment

yes, 1 degree celsius=1 kelvin

formula to calculate Farenheit

formula to calculate celsius

difference between climate and weather

climate: longer time scales (what weather looks like in 10 years)

weather: shorter time scales (what the weather looks like on a day to day basis)

climate is what you expect and weather is what you get

what is insolation

amount of solar radiation falling on a surface of earth

who gets more insolation the polar or the equator

the equator b/c the sun is more concentrated their the equator is warmer

albedo

earths reflectivity

the latin word for whiteness

used to describe how much sunlight is reflected from the surface of the earth

albedo with urban vs rural areas

urban: surface absorbs more heat, less colling from evaporation and plant transpiration

rural: surface absorbs less heat, more cooling from evaporation and plant transpiration

an example of how to help urban areas with low albedo

paint rooftops white

aftermath of Mt. pinatubo erupting in 1991 (volcano) (global cooling)

ash and sulfuric acid go up into the atmosphere and it reacts causing the sun to be reflected away from earth. which causes global cooling

greenhouse effect

amount of reflected light that is trapped

greenhouse effect with normal CO2

• The greenhouse effect is a natural process that keeps Earth warm enough for life.

• How it works:

  1. The Sun sends energy (light) to Earth.

  2. Earth absorbs some energy and radiates heat (infrared energy) back.

  3. Greenhouse gases in the atmosphere—like CO₂, methane (CH₄), and water vapor—trap some of this heat, preventing it from escaping into space.

• Without it, Earth would be about -18°C, instead of the 15°C we have now—way too cold for most life.

✅ Key idea: Greenhouse gases = Earth’s natural blanket. Keeps us alive.

greenhouse affect with too much CO2

• Humans are adding extra greenhouse gases by burning fossil fuels, deforestation, and industrial activities.

• More greenhouse gases → more heat trapped → global warming.

• Effects include:

  • Extreme heat waves

  • Melting ice & sea level rise

  • More intense storms

  • Ecosystem collapse

So, the same natural greenhouse effect that kept us alive is now too strong, causing dangerous climate change

planet that has no green house effect

• The Moon has almost no atmosphere, so it has no greenhouse effect.

• Result:

  • Daytime temperatures are extremely hot (~127°C)

  • Nighttime temperatures are extremely cold (~-173°C)

• This shows that without a greenhouse effect, life as we know it wouldn’t survive.

has the climate always changed

yes

why do we have seasons

tilt of the earth

when the northern hemisphere is tilted away from the sun it is winter

41,000 year cycles

axial precession

26,000 year cycle

as earth rotates it wobbles due to tidal forces

how many years it it for chnages in orbit

100,000 year cycle

what do orbit, tilt, and axial precession all impact

they all impact insolation

how has carbon dioxide impacted the past

it has caused massive extinctions

what is making us warmer

greenhouse effect

why does the atmosphere let heat in but not out

greenhouse gases let visible light from the sun pass through

greenhouse gases trap infrared waves

when visible light hits earth it is reradiated in all directions as infrared waves which is heat

some effects of rising temperature

winter warming three times faster than summer

warming summers feel like the south

why does sea level rise

-melting glaciers and ice sheets

-expansion of warming sea water

-as water gets warmer it expands. ice melts water expands=sea level rise