Cryosphere Flashcards
cryosphere
part of earths hydrosphere, water frozen for long time, sensitive to change
parts of cryosphere
poles, northern hemisphere is arctic ocean surrounded by land (ocean changes summer/winter), southern hemisphere is land surrounded by Antarctic ocean, less seasonal variation in southern, artic more sensitive as ocean shrinks in summer
why the artic is cold
-90 degree tilt, no sun in winter as faces away from sun, sun shines at low angle in summer so still cold
artic climate
frozen in winter, unfrozen in summer, not totally cold due to warmth from ocean, most is frozen apart from an area due to thermohaline circulation
vegetation
boreal forest until its too cold for trees to grow, climate change causes trees to grow further up so less space where they cant grow
politics
8 countries claim rights, include USA/Canada/Iceland
how is snow formed
water freezes to nuclei
properties of snow
albedo/conductivity/shc/density/moving trees
albedo
snow has high albedo so reflects radiation, cools, emits long wavelengths at night, moving trees reduce albedo
conductivity/insulator
snow is poor conductor/good insulator, surface beneath is warmer so good for animals/plants, not good if snow melts
shc
high shc (as water has shc), takes lot of energy to change temperature, also releases moisture into area prevents drying out
density
warm snow is denser as more water, when wind blows air it changes density as it rounds particles
moving trees
provide shade to prevent melting, trees intercept snow so less snow on ground
ice
high albedo, good insulator (keeps ocean warm as ice floats), high shc (cools planet as melts)
what happens if all land ice melts
sea levels rise
