Social Science Section 1 Flashcards
How are volcanos forcings?
The eruption of volcanos emits a layer of dust particles that shade vast region and cool these areas.
What is the process that describes the change in the natural world?
climate change
What does ESS stand for?
Earth System Science
How do greenhouses work?
The closed area allows for sun rays to enter the greenhouse but acts as a barriers for preventing heat from getting out. These places create great conditions for agriculture.
what are the four main subsystems of the ESS?
Geosphere , Hydrosphere , Biosphere , Atmosphere
What are some examples of greenhouse gases?
Water vapor, carbon dioxide, and methane.
What is Anthropocence?
The idea that current climate conditions have been heavily influenced by human actions
What are the external forces that Impact the stability of the climate, and subsystems called?
Forcings
What are the reactions to climate change caused by forcings called?
Feedbacks
What are the two ways scientists classify feedbacks?
As positive and negative
What is the climate?
The weather over a long period of time
What are positive feedbacks?
A forcing that pushes the climate in the same direction (warm forcing results in warm feedback)
What is Earth System Science?
The scientific approach of studying the natural world that looks at the interactions between the air, water, land, and living organisms.
Define tipping point.
When positive feedback changes the climate to a point of no return.
True or False. There is a lot of continuity between the past. and the present in the way Earth’s subsystems interact to create climate conditions?
True
What is the Geosphere?
All the land, earth, and rock that make up the planet.
What new field focuses on the relationship between past climate conditions, and human societies?
history of climate and society (HCS)
True or False. All the interactions of the four sub systems happen at the same geographical scale
False
True or False humans have always thought that there actions impact the climate
False
Where do the geosphere and the other subsystems interact most?
The Earth’s Crust
What is the hydrosphere?
All the water on the Earth, in the ground, and in the atmosphere
What is the atmosphere?
Various gases
What are the different layers of the atmosphere?
Troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere, exosphere
What is the biosphere?
All living things inside, on, or around the Earth
What is the greenhouse gas effect?
Gases from Earth’s other subsystems trap heat in the lower layers of the atmosphere
Provide an example of positive feedback.
Warmer temperatures affect the hydrosphere melting if off. As there is no ice to reflect back solar energy, the hydrosphere absorbs it warming the climate even more.
How can greenhouse gas molecules contribute to global warming?
Infrared radiation can pass through the atmosphere and be absorb by the gasses. They are then reemitted in all directions by the green house molecules which contributes to Earth’s surface warming.
What has accelerated the Earth’s natural carbon cycle?
Human use of fossil fuels
What is the other name for the geosphere?
Lithosphere
What is negative feedback?
A feedback that results in the opposite outcome its forcing produces (cold forcing would produce warm feedback and vice versa)
True or False. There are five layers of the earth atmosphere
True
True or False. Can negative feedback push the climate to tipping point?
False. Only positive feedback can do this.
What reverses the greenhouse effect?
Human emission of greenhouse gases that concentrate in the atmosphere.
What is solar energy?
Energy from the Sun that heats up the Earth
True or False. Volcano dust can produce acid rain.
True
Positive Feedback.
Push Climate change to Tipping point; relations pushing in same direction
Tipping Point
the time the climate changes reaches a point of no return
Archive Of Nature
using evidence from nature (ie: Ice cores) to see what types of climate & when it took place
Archive of Society
using evidence from humanity (ie: written documents) to see what types of climate occurred & when
Proxy
Something from nature that gives indication of Past Climate Conditions
Precipitation
amount of rainfall through a specific amount of time.
Instrument
A tool used to measure data and feedback (Temperature, Precipitation, etc.) Often used to identify trends in the climate.
Negative feedback
Little to no change in climate; relations pushing and pulling against each other
example of Positive Feedback
Melting ice around the North Pole
example of Negative Feedback
Warmer conditions rase water temp of great lakes. This then leads to more water vapor & clouds in the atmosphere that cast shade, cooling back down the Earth
Polar Vortex
The Polar Vortex is a large area of low pressure & cold air surrounding the earth’s Poles.
T or F: Climate affects all 4 (5) subsystems
True
Sediment
Small pieces of rock broken apart by erosion. Tend to clump us into “Sedimentary rocks”
How do you find trends in the climate?
Reading a lot of sources & making your own opinion.
what is ice core sampling?
drilling out a large cylinder of Ice to see how much it grew during specific times