Effects Of Changing Budget - Impact On Atmosphere Flashcards
Which ‘seres’ take up most co2?
Land
ocean
How much co2 remains in atmosphere?
20%
Name 3 greenhouse gases?
Carbon dioxide
Methane
Halocarbons
Greenhouse gases function
Absorb wide range of energy - infrared energy emitted by earth and then re emit it.
What would the earth be like without greenhouse gases?
Frozen
-180 degrees
What would the earth be like with greenhouse gases?
Like Venus.
Greenhouse atmosphere keeps temp around 400 degrees
What is the problem that arises from the greenhouse effect ?
The enhanced greenhouse effect.
define enhanced greenhouse effect ?
Impact on climate from additional heat retained due to increased amounts of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that humans have released into earths atmosphere since industrial revolution
What can extra co2 and other greenhouse gases in atmosphere cause?
Radiative forcing.
Define radiative forcing.
Difference between the incoming solar energy absorbed by the earths and energy radiated back.
What is the concept of radiative forcing ?
Energy is constantly flowing into atmosphere in the form of sunlight that always shines on half of the earths surface.
Some of this sunlight (30%) is reflected back to space and the rest is absorbed by planet.
Some of this absorbed energy is radiated back into much Colder surrounding space as infrared energy
What happens if the balance between incoming and outgoing energy is not zero?
There has to be some warming it cooling if numbers are negative.
Radiative forcing is a measure of what ?
Human activities.
Watts/m2
What has radiative forcing done since 1750?
Increased.
Due to increased greenhouse gas emissions but also changing albedos because of land use changes.
Why is measurement of actual amount of radiative forcing difficult?
Due to natural changes In solar radiation.
Effect of aerosols from diesel exhausts.
