Deck 1

Question 1

What is climate change?

Answer 1

A long-term change in the average weather patterns (temp and percip)

Question 2

CO2 levels in the atmosphere have been ______

Answer 2

Rising

Question 3

What is the range for “normal C02 in the past and what are we at now?

Answer 3

Normal: 250-300 ppm
Latest reading 425 ppm

Question 4

IPCC:

Answer 4

Intergovernmental panel of climate change

Question 5

What is occuring due to climate change?

Answer 5

Forest fires, ice sheets melting, grocery and chocolate prices increasing etc.

Question 6

Since 1985 monthly global tempature has been _____ average

Answer 6

above average

Question 7

Weather versus Climate:

Answer 7

Weather: day to day “what you get”
Climate: long term “what you expect”

Question 8

What does the IPCC do?

Answer 8

provides regular assessments of the scientific basis of climate change, its impacts and future risks, and options for adaptation and mitigation.

Question 9

Is every part of the earth warming?

Answer 9

No, some areas are cooling (warming is unequivocal)

Question 10

What are natural drivers of climate change?

Answer 10

Volcano erruptions, solar output, ocean cirrculation etc.

Question 11

anthropogenic:

Answer 11

Change in environment caused by humans

Question 12

Global climate models cannot reproduce observations without incorporating ________

Answer 12

anthropogenic CO2 emissions

Question 13

What is the primary way to mitigate future negative changes?

Answer 13

Regulating GHG’s (e.g., during covid the GHG emission decreased)

Question 14

What are the five spheres the earth system?

Answer 14

Biosphere (living stuff: plants etc.)
Atmosphere (our sphere)
Hydrosphere (water parts)
Geosphere (geological)
Cryosphere (frozen parts)

Question 15

True or False: All of the spheres interact

Answer 15

TRUE- if global warming effects one sphere it effects all of them

Question 16

Roughly how thick is the atmosphere:

Answer 16

100 km

Question 17

The atmosphere surronds the _______ and extends outwards several _______ of Kms

Answer 17

earth
hundreds

Question 18

_____ % of the mass of the atmosphere is contained in the lowermost (troposphere) _____ km (_____% within roughly the lowermost ______ km)

Answer 18

75%
11 km
99%
30 km

Question 19

Without the atmosphere average temperature on earth would be ______ C instead of 15C ( Natural greenhouse effect)

Answer 19

-18C

Question 20

What is KEY to human survival (i.e., we would die without it within minutes)

Answer 20

The atmosphere
it keeps us alive
“life giving blanket of air”

Question 21

The sun is a ______ sized, mod bright ________ aged star. it was born ________ years ago from a __________

Answer 21

medium
middle
5 billion
gaseous nebula

Question 22

The sun generates ____ by converting_______ into _______ near its inner core

Answer 22

energy
hydrogen
helium

Question 23

What type of energy does the sun produce?

Answer 23

Radiant energy

Question 24

Why is the small amount of the sun’s energy intercepted from the earth important? (its about a fraction of the energy that is intercepted)

Answer 24

• Photosynthesis (our food develops energy from the sun)
• plants are the start of the foodchain through photosynthesis

Question 25

What did the early atmosphere consist of (gasses):

Answer 25

hydrogen and helium (light gasses)

Question 26

Outgassing:

Answer 26

release of gas from the earth's interior through volcanic activity and stem vents

Question 27

Earth's early atmosphere had a much lower _______ than at present

Answer 27

luminosity

Question 28

Faint young sun paradox

Answer 28

the equitable climate of Earth at a time when the solar luminosity was much lower: the climate was not that bad even though less solar radiation

Question 29

Why was the climate not that bad even though the luminosity was so much lower?

Answer 29

due to the abundance of CO2 and water vapour ( the greenhouse gasses caused warming and stopped it from being too cold)

Question 30

The quantities of what gasses remain relativley stable over time in the atmosphere and have NO real effect on weather or climate?

Answer 30

Nitrogen Oxygen Argon

Question 31

The abundance of what gasses is relativley sparse in the atmosphere and has a signifcant real effect on weather or climate?

Answer 31

Water Vapour CO2

Question 32

What country is the largest CO2 contributor due to industrializatuion?

Answer 32

China the USA then india

Question 33

Radiation:

Answer 33

energy transmitted in the form of electromagnetic waves

Question 34

Energy is of _____ forms: _______ and _______

Answer 34

two forms shortwave: wavelength less than 2 micrometers longwave: wavelengths greater than 2 micrometers

Question 35

Microwave energy is ______

Answer 35

longwave

Question 36

The ____ the object the more _____ emmited

Answer 36

warmer energy

Question 37

Radiation emmited from sun: (what type of wavelength)

Answer 37

shorter wavelength (visible light)

Question 38

Radiation emmited by earth:

Answer 38

longer wavelength thermal-infrared

Question 39

The atmospheres balancing act:

Answer 39

Objects not only radiate energy, they absorb it as well

Question 40

When absorbption= emission, what remains constant?

Answer 40

temperature

Question 41

the rate at which an object radiates energy depends on:

Answer 41

Surface charecteristics (texture, colour etc.) moisture temperature

Question 42

Blackbody:

Answer 42

any object that is a perfect absorber and a perfect emitter

Question 43

What are near perfect blackbody's

Answer 43

The sun and the earth

Question 44

Radiative equilibrium occurs when:

Answer 44

Rate of absorbtion of solar energy = rate of emission of infrared radiation

Question 45

What is earth's radiative equilllibrium temp:

Answer 45

255K (-18C)

Question 46

Selective absorbers:

Answer 46

Materials that only absorb certain wavelengths (e.g., glass)

Question 47

What are important selective absorbers in our atmosphere?

Answer 47

H2O vapour and CO2

Question 48

Because of these selective absorbers - part of the earth's _______ radiation is trapped allowing it to be _______ and ________

Answer 48

infrared warmer habitable

Question 49

How many different layers does the earths atmosphere have

Answer 49

7

Question 50

What are the layers of the earths atmosphere

Answer 50

troposphere tropopause stratosphere stratopause mesophere mesopause thermosphere

Question 51

Lapse rate:

Answer 51

rate at which air temp. decreases with height

Question 52

the further away from earth surface you get ________ decreases

Answer 52

air pressure

Question 53

Air pressure:

Answer 53

The mass of air above a given level

Question 54

As you move higher in the atmosphere there are fewer what?

Answer 54

air molecules

Question 55

Air pressure decreases with ______

Answer 55

height

Question 56

Gas Law

Answer 56

The relationship among air pressure, air density, and air temperature. when one of these variables change, the other 2 usually change as well

Question 57

Troposphere:

Answer 57

from surface to about 11 km 75% of the total mass of the atmosphere is contained in this layer the layer where weather occurs

Question 58

Tropopause:

Answer 58

11 km to 20 km isothermal layer- temp remains constant (lapse rate = 0)

Question 59

what layer does the jet stream occur in:

Answer 59

tropopause

Question 60

why does the height of the tropopause vary from the equator and the poles

Answer 60

b/c heat expands things and cold compresses things

Question 61

Stratosphere:

Answer 61

20 km to 50 km temperature inversion occurs ( temperature increases with altitude) low air density

Question 62

Why does temp inversion occur in the stratosphere?

Answer 62

b/c of the ozone layer: O3 gas effective absorber in the UV part of the electromagnetic spectrum

Question 63

Mesosphere:

Answer 63

Air at this level is extremely thin air pressure is quite low atmosphere reaches its coldest tempautres at a height of 80 km in the mesosphere

Question 64

Thermosphere

Answer 64

The "hot layer" very few molecules to heat up therefore absorption of a small amount of soolar energy causes large increase in temp VERY LOW density of air molecules