Week 4 Flashcards
(33 cards)
The spheres of the earth are also known as what?
Reservoirs
What are the spheres?
Cryosphere (ice)
geosphere (rocks/sediment)
Hydrosphere (liquid)
Biosphere (living organisms)
Atmosphere (gasses)
What is flux and an example?
Process that moves matter from one reservoir to another
example: evapuration moves water from oceans to atmosphere
What is one example of a human-caused flux?
Agriculture causing soil erosion (can erupt in hydrosphere)
How long does it take for the new equillibrium to establish?
50-100 years as we change GHG’s it intercepts
True or False: Climate records in Canada are limited spatially not temorally
False
What is solar consant
1360 W/m2
Biosphere’s/soils equillibrium responds ______ compared to hydrospheres/oceans equilibirum that responds _______
rapidly
slower
What is radiative forcing?
The change in equillibriumas a result of change imposed on the planet before the temperature of the planet has adjusted in response.
What are some examples of radiative forcing?
Sun
Geologic time scales
glacial cycles
(all of these things affect the climate but are themselves unaffected by the climate)
Radiative forcing can be due to _____ or ______
natural or human activities
Sun spots:
Darker spots on the sun (proxy measurements)
Since the industrial revolution what has increased?
The concentration of GHG such as CO2, CH4 (methane) and N2O (nitrious oxide)
Aerosols, dust, smoke, and soot are:
Small airborne particles
both human and natural sources
Sulfate aerosols tend to _____ the earth
Warm the earth
How is the global distribution of aeresols tracked?
From the ground and sattelites
Cloud condensation nuclei (CCN)
aerosol raises into the stratosphere and gets taken across the globe
What are major sources of aerosols globally?
Saharan dust
smoke from biomass burning in africa
asia aerosols
Feedback that increases an initial warming is called _____
positive feedback
Feedback that reduces an initial warming is called ______
negative feedback
Feedback loop
Change in one aspect of a system will eventually modify what was originally changed
Example of a feedback loop:
Initial change: earth temp increases
secondary change: polar ice cap melts
tertiary change: earth becomes less reflective and absorbs more heat
Negative feedback loops work like ______
what is an example of a negative feedback loop
thermostat
1. earth temp increases
2. evaporation increases
3. more cloud coverage
4. earth temp decreases
More vegetation from changes in precipitation patters could decrease _______
levels of CO2 in the atmosphere
