atmo 210 exam 2

which human activities produce methane

landfills: decomposing waste

Livestock farming: cow digestion (human produced because humans increase the number of cows produced than what would’ve been natural)

how does continental drift and changes in the sun cause climate change?

Continental Drift: continents move slowly due to tectonic plates shifting → affects ocean currents, wind patterns, and how heat moves around the earth

Changes in the sun: sun’s energy output varies over time → more output leads to warmer temperatures and vise versa

Where are we in the Milankovitch cycle? what are the natural forces?

interglacial period, Holocene

• eccentricity: Earth's orbit around the Sun changes from more circular to more oval-shaped.

• Obliquity: Earth's tilt changes over time. A greater tilt means more extreme seasons, while a smaller tilt means milder seasons.

• precession: Earth wobbles like a spinning top, changing the direction its axis points and when seasons occur along its orbit.

Milankovitch cycles are natural causes of climate change. They happen over thousands to hundreds of thousands of years, unlike the rapid global warming primarily caused by human greenhouse gas emissions today.

what types of things could/couldn’t be responsible for modern climate change?

CAN: greenhouse gas emissions from humans (CO2 and methane), deforestation, urbanization

CAN’T: milankovitch cycles, volcanic activity

how would changing emissions affect temperature?

If emissions increase → it will become warmer

if emissions decrease → global warming slows down, but temps can still be warm

how would carbon dioxide levels affect temperature?

if CO2 levels increase: then more CO2 will be in the atmosphere, so it will get warmer

if CO2 levels decrease: then less CO2 in the atmosphere is trapped and warming is reduced

why is it easier to predict climate than weather?

• weather is short-term and more specific

• climate is long-term

• climate is predicted based on averages and patterns

• exact vs statistics

What is an RCP? What does the number next to it mean?

(EX: RCP8.5)

• Representative Concentration Pathways: scenarios used to predict future greenhouse gas concentrations and their radiative force by 2100

• the number is the approximate radiative forcing level, the higher it is the higher the forcing

what are the SSP’s? What’s the idea behind them?

Shared Socioeconomic Pathways: different possible ways human society could develop in the future

• they test how humans will affect global warming

• consider factors like populations, economic growth, technology, and inequality

What is IPAT? Which are increasing and Decreasing?

I = our impact on emission → increases when everything else increases

P = global population → increasing globally, at different rates in different countries

A = Affluence → increasing as ppl consume goods and use energy

T = technology → can increase or decrease environmental impact as technology advances

Which IPAT thing do we have the most willingness and ability to change?

technology

• we can make. technology that improves energy efficiency, develop cleaner sources of energy, and reduce methane and CO2 emissions

• this would reduce our impact on emissions

Where on Earth is climate change having the biggest impact?

The arctic

• melting ice sheets and glaciers → harming animal life and habitats

Where in the USA is climate change having the biggest impact? give and example

The Gulf Coast

• Ex: Louisiana → sea levels rising, beach erosion, threatens communities nearby

Why does exponential growth make a curve? Give an example that relates to climate change.

Exponential growth: something increases by a constant percentage over time rather than a constant number

• the increase gets bigger each time

• EX: if fossil fuel emissions increase by 10% each year, more CO2 enters the atmosphere each year, adding to climate change

Why is pinning down the social cost of carbon so hard?

• future climate damage is uncertain

• happens over a long period of time

• different places are affected differently

• it’s hard to put a dollar value on it

What are some climate change impacts that are NOT just due to temperature changes? Give a specific example how how seal levels rising impacts the USA

• sea levels rising, change in rainfall patterns, melting glaciers, ecosystem changes

• EX: sea levels rising increases coastal flooding and erosion in Louisiana → threatens homes, life, and animal life