atmosphere

Earth's energy budget- 100 goes in and 100 goes out balance


Thermosphere - furthest sphere, cold to hot


Mesosphere- closer then thermosphere, hot to cold


Stratosphere- closer then atmosphere, ozone layer located, cold to hot


Ozone layer- layer of oxygen and ozone absorb UV light


Troposphere- closest to earth. weather occurs here (clouds, rain), hot to cold


Conduction- heat energy is transferred through collisions  


Radiation- rays of sunlight to keep earth heated


Emitting- releasing


Absorbing- going into earth


Greenhouse gasses- gasses that are trapping too much heat, causes climate change ACTUAL GASSES (carbon, methane, water vapor)


Greenhouse effect- need this in order to keep earth with good temp. Becomes bad when too much gasses. ACTUAL PROCESS


Climate vs weather- pattern of region like tropical/rain, clouds


Climate factors- location, equator, wind from ocean, closer to water, high elevation


Albedo- high albedo white reflects, low albedo black absorb 


Altitude- height |


Latitude- horizontal/equator -


Rainshadow effect- rain goes into the coast from the ocean and the clouds will run out of water making inland dry/desert. As rain goes up a mountain, it will reach a high elevation and be too cold therefore it snows and the other side is dry. 


Feedback loops- negative feedback loops lead to stability and balance (water is a negative feedback loop), positive leads to instability and change. Bodies regulate temperatures.


Paleoclimate- past climates and seeing how climates changed overtime. 

Tree ring data- cut a tree open to show how old. Bigger ring-more precip, small ring-less precip. Closer to middle- older the tree is. Dark spot from forest fire


Specific heat- amount of energy needed to increase the temperature of 1C. Water needs high specific heat


Main components in atmosphere- Nitrogen and oxygen


Ice cores- tells us what ancient atmospheres were like

  • List the components (gasses) of Earth’s atmosphere and their relative amounts (most abundant to least)

    • Nitrogen, oxygen

  • Identify the layers of earth’s atmosphere, their key features, and their relative temperatures. 

    • troposphere(weather), stratosphere (ozone), mesosphere, thermosphere

  • Locate the ozone layer and explain its significance. 

    • Stratosphere and absorbs bad sunlight; makes rays not as bad

  • Describe how the sun’s energy is transferred to and throughout Earth’s atmosphere. 

    • Radiation, conduction, convection

  • List the greenhouse gasses.

    • Carbon, methane

  • Explain how greenhouse gasses work to heat the planet.

    • Trap heat (acts as a blanket to keep heat inside)

  • Construct a model of the greenhouse effect.

  • Be able to explain how the ozone layer and the greenhouse effect are different. 

    • Ozone prevents harmful rays to reach earth

    • GHE traps heat in atmosphere

  • Explain the consequence(s) of too many greenhouse gasses in our atmosphere.

    • Hot, more rain, extreme weather and climate change

  • Identify evidence (Climate Proxy) that tells us what the climate was like hundreds of years ago. (Paleoclimate lecture and data nugget)

    • Tree ring data/paleoclimate

  • Explain how feedback loops lead to earth getting warmer. 

    • Positive feedback loop. Sunlight comes in

  • Identify how different factors can affect climate. Be able to identify all 7 discussed in class. (Climate Factor Stations) 

    • Rainshadow

    • Currents

    • Altitude

    • Latitude

    • Distance to a body of water

    • Volcanic eruptions

    • Plate tectonics 

    • Milankovitch cycles

  • Be able to explain how the albedo of different colored surfaces will dictate the amount of radiation absorbed and its impact on the object’s temperature 

    • Darker surfaces low albedo absorbs, light surface high albedo reflects