Global Climate Change Final Exam

climate vs weather

climate- long term average weather pattern over many years, determined by the atmosphere and other ocmponents of earth system; relatively predictable if forcings (drivers of change) are known)

weather- short term variation (minutes to days) in teh atmospheric conditions taht determine temperature, precipitation, wind humidity, etc; highly variable and only predictable over a time frame of a few days

what are the climate change indicators

Climate change indicators are measurable signs of climate change in the Earth system. Key indicators include: global mean temperature, arctic sea ice extent, and sea level rise

how much has global mean temp changed

increased by approx 1.2 degrees C since preindustrial basline, most warming in polar regions

how much has arctic sea ice extent changed

decreased by 30% compared to 1979 baseline

how much has sea level rise changed

rising at a rate of approx 4 mm per year

positive feedback

process that amplifies initial temperature response to a forcing (forcing= something that creates change in climate system)

example of positive feedback

increase in GHGs causes an increase in warming.

increase in warming causes increase in evaporation

increase evaporation casues more water vapor in atmosphere

water vapor is a GHG! cycle continues

KNOWN AS WATER VAPOR FEEDBACK

negative feedback

process that dampens the initial temperature response to a forcing

example of negative feedback

known as Planck feedback

earth absorbs UV radiation and warms, but releases IR radiation to space, which cools the earth

How is contemporary climate change different from past climate change? (Paleoclimate)

Contemporary climate change is much faster than most natural changes in Earth's past.

in teh absense of green house effect, what woudl the average temp of earth be

-18C or -40F

UV vs IR radiation

UV radiation- low wavelength and high intensity

IR radiation- high wavelength and low intensity

what is the greenhosue effect

the absorption and re-admission of infrared radiation emitted by the Earth by some chemicals (greenhouse gasses) in the atmosphere)

you MUST get this word for word

two things can happen to UV radiation emitted by the sun adn intercepted by the earth

1)absorption

2) reflection

is earths energy budget balanced

yes

dont forget to explain earth energy budget adn balance between UV and IR radiation

what are the greenhouse gases

carbon dioxide

methane

nitrous oxide

ozone

watervapor

hwo do greenhouse gases trap heat

GHGs in the atmosphere absorb the IR radiation from earth and re-emit it in all directions, including back toward Earth's surface

what are the pools of the carbon xycle

oceans

soils

atmosphere

landplants

what are the fluxes in the global carbon cycle

photosynthesis

respiration

ocean uptake

ocean release

human emissions

pools

areas where elements are stored

fluxes

processes that transport elements from one pool to another

what does insolation stand for

incoming solar radiation

what is insolation

the amount of solar energy per unit area on a horizontal surface

how does insolation vary around the world (EXAM Q)

dependent on latitude! insolation is 2.5 times greater at the equator than poles

the variation of insolation is what drives patterns of ____ and ______

atmospheric (and oceanic) circulation

temperature will ___ with altitude, but convection is ___

decrease, high

convection

movement of air (circulation)

what creates the circulation patterns that influence the earth surface

high convection in the troposphere

what would the temperatures of earth look like if we had no circulation

polar regions get colder

equator gets warmer

(this is because circulation allows us to even out earths temps)

at the equator, ___ insolation will warm air near the Earth surface, causing it to _______

high insolation; expand and decrease in density

what is convection current

warm air rises cool air sinks

wind

result of a pressure gradient as air moves from areas of high pressure to low pressure

what creates circulation cells

movement of air from high pressure to low pressure on a global scale

what are the three generalized circulation cells

hadley cell

ferrel (mid-latitude) cell

polar cell

Hadley cell

0-30 degrees N and S of equator (the most equitorial)

*more fixed than the others*

Ferrel (mid-latitude) cell

30-60 degrees Nand S of hte equator

*definitely does NOT folow roles

Polar Cell

60-90 degrees N and S of the equator

*mostly fixed besides the polar vortex

what circulation cell would cleveland be apart of

CLE is 41 degrees N so we would be in Ferrel (middle of it) whcih explains our strong seasonal variation

intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ)

marks the boundary between Hadley cell

shifts position over the course of the year in response to seasonality

how does ITCZ shift

warm season shifts north

cold season shifts south

why are there three circulation cells in each hemisphere? (EXAM Q)

the earths rotation causes rising air to deflect to the east and west and creates three circulation cells in each hemisphere

the deflection of a moving object from rotating reference point is called the coriolis effect

what is the coriolis effect? (EXAM Q)

the deflection of a moving object from rotating reference point, seen in any rotating object

what direction does the earth rotate in

west to east (this is why we are ahead of time than california)

according to coriolis effect, if i am taking off straight towars the pole while starting at teh equator and do not take the coriolis effect into account, what direction will i end up

equator has most rotational speed, so i would end up really more towards the east than i would have htought

according to coriolis effect, if i am taking off straight towars the equator while starting at teh poles and do not take the coriolis effect into account, what direction will i end up

towards the west! rotational speed will increase

starting at teh equator with the hadley cell, warm ari rises, so high elevation air will be deflected where

to the right due to coreolis effect

as air cools from hadley cell, its density increases so it sinks ot eh earth surface and is deflected wehre

to the left due to the coreolis effect

the ferrel cell is in the middle and is influenced by what?

hadly and polar cells, reason why weather in temperate areas can be so variable

cloud

visible mass of water droplets or ice crystals

what cuases saturation, condensation, and cloud formation

vertical movement of air

saturation

describes the total amount of water vapor that air can hold at given temperature

what happens if hte amount of water vapor in the air exceeds saturation point

some water vapor molecuels condense and become liquid

what is saturation highly dependent on

temperature

a warmer world is a what world

wetter (since warm air holds alot of water)

why are polar regions generally arid

cold air holds less moisture

what is El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO)

reoccuring climate pattern wiht three phases, el nino, la nina and neutral

el nino

occurs hwen circulation of surface air near equator int eh south Pacific reverses and flows west-east instead of east to west

brings warm water to sea surface near pacific coast of south america

La Nina

occurs when the east to west movement of surcace air near equator is even stronger than usual, dragging even more cool water across the pacific

creates extremely cool SSTs near the pacific coast fo south america

what is the general difference between El Nino and La Nina years in the northern US (EXAM Q)

El nino will bring warmer and drier winters to northern US and cooler and wetter conditions to the southern US.

la nina will bring colder and snowier wethers to northern, while bringing warmer and drier conditiosn to the southern US

ESNO Neutral

typical conditiosn in tropical pacific

increase in total global SSTs during el nino years drives what

overall global mean temperatuers up

how woudl i be able to see el nino years on a grpah

SST line goes up (positive anomalies) bigger peaks

what does the IPCC stand for (EXAM Q)

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change)

the United Nations body assessing and communicating hte science of climate change

AR

assessment report

comprehensive updates produced by teh IPCC every ~7 years ont eh science of climate change

what assessemnt report are we on right now (since 2021)

AR6

CMIP

couple model intercomparison project

climate projections producd by climate scientists around the wrold that support the data presented in teh ARs

AOGCMs

atmospheric-ocean general circulation models

the actual climate models used to both hindcast and forecast changin climates

how many AOGCMs do we have for AR6 now

35 models

how do climate models operate as 4D models (EXAM Q)

3D (latitude which is NS, Longitude which is EW, altitude which is Up Down) and per time = 4D

what do climate models use 3D grids to model

movement or air, water, and energy vertically throughout the atmosphere and horizontally across the surface of earth

within each grid cell, biophysical equations are used to calculate values of climate variables including

temperature

humidity

ocean salinity,etc

what happens when you solve one grid cell for a climate model

values are passed onto the nect cell where the euqations are solved to find new values

AOGCMs generally include four components or processes:

sea ice

ocean

atmosphere

land

Earth System Model (ESM)

includes component of AOGCM plus additiona components or dynamic vegetation (land change through space and time) and biogeochemical cycling (particularly carbon and neutrients)

what are IPCCs five shared socioeconomic pathways SSPs (exam q)

SSP1 sustainability

SSP2 middle of the road (continue on our path)

SSP3regional rivery (strongnationalism and less cooporation)

SSP4 inequality (elites drive decisions)

SSP5 fossil-fueled development

what does the number htan follows SSP1, SSP2, etc mean

expected extra energy warming the earth from GHG emissions in units of W/m^2

ex: SSP1-2.6 menas in first scenario we expect increase from 340 to 342.6

climate change has impacts on (4)

climate

ecosystems

non human species

humans

according to AR6, climate change has done what to climate extremes

increased intensity and frequency of drought in most land areas

increased intensity and frequency of flooding and extremely high preceiptiation in most land areas

increased proportion of major hurricanes in North Pacific ocean and has likely made hurricanes wetter around the world

why is this not a contradiction : climate change causes "increased intensity and frequency of drought in most land areas

increased intensity and frequency of flooding and extremely high preceiptiation in most land areas"

dry overall, but will expreience extremes like flash floods WHEN THEY HAPPEN

according to AR6, climate change has done what to ecosystems

increased warm water coral bleaching and mortaility

increased area burned by wildfires around the world

what do scientists think might be our climate tipping point

loss of coral reefs

according to AR6, climate change has done what to non human species

increased drought related tree mortaility

shifted patterns of phenology (seasonal timing)

caused about 50% of speceis studied to shift thier geographic ranges polewards (or upslope on land)

what are three things that animals will do during climate change

adapt

move in response

stay in place (possible extinction)

according to AR6, climate change has done what to humans

increased heat related mortaility

reduced food and water secruity

increased occurence of food and water borne diseases

damaged human infrastructure, particularly in economically and socially marginalized areas

do NOT forget to look at visuals and describe climate change impacts reviewed in class from the very last slideshow DO NOT FORGET (this is from the last exam 87 in climate change impacts)

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who are the top three carbon polluting countries (EXAM Q)

china (1st)

USA (2nd)

EU (3rd)

what are the biggest sources of energy around the world

oil

coal

gas

BE SURE TO LOOK AT EN ROADS SIMULATOR AND UNDERSTAND/ INTERPRET IT

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What are the three Food, Ag and Land Use solutions ? why does beef consumption have such a high carbon footprint

1) reduce food waste and meat consumption (beef high due to cow ruminants, digesting plants and producing methane (28x more warming potential than CO2) as a byrpoduct)

2)protect natural habitats (especailly costal wetlands)

3) conservation agrculture

what are the four transportation solutions

electrical vehicles (EVs)

investment in public transportaiton

enhance efficiency

urban planning

what are the three energy solutions?

renewable energy/bioenergy

nuclear energy

zero carbon

how to overcome the variable energy battery problem

pumped-stroage hydroelectricity (PSH) which uses renewables to pump water ina. reservoir when available, adn then use thew ater in teh reservoir to generate electicity when renewable energy is unavailable

mitigation vs adaptation

mitigation focuses on reducing climate change (ie GHGs)

adaptation focuses on living with climate change

five sectors of GHG emissions

energy- heating cooling electricity

industry- manufacturing, fossil fuel extraction

agriculture and land use- food prodcution and deforestation

transportation- cars, planes, shipping

buildings- concrete and other materials

big three for personal carbon footprints

energy

transportation

food

what is meant by solar tipping point (from article)

The solar tipping point is when solar energy becomes so much cheaper and easy to deploy compared with fossil fuels that the lower price and accessibility will lead to widespread adoption. We are at the solar tipping point- as we collectively come up with a combination of low cost, ease of application, basically makes solar energy not just the cheapest option but legitiamtately competitive with fossil fuels in a way that implication of crossing the tipping point is that we dont need to do anything special to promote use of this- it will just become the default

2. What are some key barriers to the widespread adoption of solar energy? (from article)

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What role does energy storage (e.g., batteries) play in the solar energy transition, and why is it considered both a challenge and an opportunity? (from article)

Batteries can be used to store energy and save it over time, but this is a challenge because some areas don't experience as much sun, batteries are expensive, and the materials for them are rare. Energy storage might also be seen as an opportunity in transition to solar energy because of its ability to sell excess stored energy.