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Earths Climate > Test 2 > Flashcards

Test 2 Flashcards

1
Q

anthropogenic

A

increasing levels of CO2 and other “greenhouse gases”

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2
Q

CO2 is less than

A

0.5% in atmosphere by volume

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3
Q

CO2 has a reside time in atmosphere of

A

30-95 yrs

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4
Q

deforstation

A

reduced amount of CO2 removed from the atmosphere.. plants either decay or theyre burned-both return CO2 to atmosphere

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5
Q

Earths oceans

A

contain more than 50x more CO2 than does in atmosphere, absorption is relatively slow

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6
Q

methane

A

effective at absorbing LWR than CO2 has believed to increase over past 200 yrs

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7
Q

CFC’s

A

effective at absorbing LWR, believed to account for 25% of enhanced greenhouse phenomenon

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8
Q

last glacial max

A

17,000 yrs ago

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9
Q

“global warming hiatus

A

98-12, possible reasons: unusually strong el nino-warming of pac oceans, data set improvements, natural climate variability isnt well depicted by climate models, radiative forcing was weaker

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10
Q

Debate issues

A
  1. how much is natural or human induced? 2. pattern of rate of warming thru future 3. likely impacts now and in future?
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11
Q

hydroclimatology

A

study of occurrence, distribution, movement of water and why

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12
Q

earths oceans (saline) %

A

96.5 <2% fresh water

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13
Q

in oceans, groundwater with saline in it %

A

96.5%, 0.93%

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14
Q

freshwater is groundwater, glaciers %

A

30.1%, 68.7%

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15
Q

% water can be used by humans for consumption

A

<0.77%

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16
Q

humidity

A

generic term for water vapor in atmosphere

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17
Q

specific humidity

A

mass of water vapor in air/mass of total air

18
Q

vapor pressure

A

measure of amount of total atmospheric pressure thats exerted by water vapor molecules in atmosphere

19
Q

saturation vapor pressure

A

defines the water vapor capacity of the air

20
Q

relative humidity

A

describes how “full” atmosphere is

21
Q

RH=

A

Vapor pressure X100/saturation vapor pressure

22
Q

dew point is an indicator of

A

atmospheric moisture (SH) high dp=large amounts of water vapor while low dp=small amounts of water vapor in air

23
Q

applied to curve: RH=

A

dew pt/air temp

24
Q

2 ways to saturate the air

A

add moisture, cool the air

25
Q

atmospheric cooling

A

major method of condensation and the formation of liquid droplets is the reduction of the ability of air to hold water vapor

26
Q

4 major methods of upward motion that may produce atmospheric cooling and initiate cloud formation and precip:

A

convection, topographic ascent

27
Q

convection

A

air in contact with warmer surface heats, becomes less dense, breaks free, and rises as a thermal, vertical movement IS convection

28
Q

topographic ascent

A

horizontally moving air must go up and over mtns

29
Q

4 types of precip

A

rain, freezing rain, sleet, snow

30
Q

whats needed for evaporation to occur?

A

heat energy available for input into liquid water ANDDDD overlying atmosphere needs to be unsat. so it can absorb water vapor

31
Q

transpiration

A

evaporation of liquid water from within a plant, also cools plant bc evap is a cooling process

32
Q

evapotranspiration

A

water loss from plants and associated soil through combined process of transpiration and evap.

33
Q

potential evapotrans. (PE)

A

soil is always at capacity, this is why atmosphere wants to take from surface, there may not be enough soil moisture to supply this climatic demand

34
Q

actual evapotrans (AE)

A

what the atmosphere gets from the surface-if soil isnt filled to capacity with moisture then water held more tightly in soil

35
Q

climatic water budget

A

accounting of water in root zone of soil, compares P and PE

36
Q

Forms of drought

A

meteorological, agricultural, hydrological, socioeconomic

37
Q

% normal precip

A

total precip X100/30 yr avg precip

38
Q

percentiles of precip

A

represent the position of the precip total within the ordered distribution of historical data

39
Q

standardized precip index SPI

A

index based on probability of precip for any time scale-where its positioned within normal distribution of the data

40
Q

palmer drought severity index (pdsi)

A

first comprehensive drought index (1965), use this to trigger drought relief programs, calculates PE, AE, D, and S

41
Q

US drought monitor

A

produces the drought monitor-blend of science, reports and expertise and art

Earths Climate (4 decks)

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