Reading...
Play button
Play button
Use LEFT and RIGHT arrow keys to navigate between flashcards;
Use UP and DOWN arrow keys to flip the card;
H to show hint;
A reads text to speech;
15 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
|
Which counties or regions are responsible for the majority of CO2 emissions?
|
US and Australia have more per capita than Africa, China, and India. Regions: US, Australia, Alaska, Japan.
|
|
|
Net Energy balance
|
Incoming Solar Radiation – Reflected SR – Outgoing LWR
|
|
|
Greenhouse gases, such as Methane (CH4), Nitrous Oxide (N2O), water vapor (H2O) and carbon dioxide (CO2), increase. . .
|
reflection of the OLR back to the Earth's surface, thereby increasing the average temperature of the earth and contributing to global warming.
|
|
|
Carbon dioxide does not significantly absorb ...
|
solar (short wave) radiation, [WHILE LONGWAVE STILL LEAVEs. Earth would be frozen without greenhouse effect – if all the short wave radiation were absorbed/trapped and the longwave radiation. . .Gases increase reflection of longwave back to earth which contributes to global warming. Without these gases, all longwave would leave the earth and the earth would FREEZE.
|
|
|
MORE OUTGOING RADIATION AT NIGHT...
|
THEREFORE COLDER, MORE CO2 B/C OF RESPIRATION.
|
|
|
This build-up of heat around the equator...
|
(FASTER IN, SLOWER OUT) and depletion in polar regions is responsible for
the poleward flow (transport) of heat energy to equalize the total energy distribution. That is one of the driving forces in the circulation patterns that mark Earth's atmosphere. This diagram shows that the low latitudes in the course of an annual seasonal cycle gain more heat whereas the higher latitudes loose heat. |
|
|
(As water cools, salty water sinks as in Greenland area. Freshwater into the surface is...
|
less dense and sinks less which can slow down Northern movement – decrease important transfer of heat from equator to poles.)
|
|
|
The north Atlantic conveyor carries warm water to...
|
northern latitudes releasing heat to the atmosphere. By the time it reaches the northern latitudes around Greenland and Iceland, the water has cooled so much
that it sinks towards the ocean floor, a process known as "overturning". This cooler water heads south, forming the return stream of a conveyor belt. The complete cycle sees warm water coming northwards on the ocean's surface, and the cold water returning hundreds or thousands of meters underwater. |
|
|
Scientists monitoring the northwards-flowing Gulf Stream have found it has remained roughly constant over the last 50 years. Researchers monitoring the colder water flowing south have found that...
|
over the last half century, these
currents have changed markedly, with a 30% decline in the southwards flow of deep cold water. What happens is that as Arctic ice melts and Arctic rivers flow faster — trends which have both been documented — the northern oceans become less saline. Less salinity means a lower density; the waters then cannot sink, so the conveyor weakens. Computer models have predicted that if it turned off completely, Europe would cool by perhaps four to six degrees Celsius. |
|
|
How have global temperature and sea surface temperature changed over the past 50+ years?
|
(Increased, more pronounced in S. Pacific)
|
|
|
Other factors affect hurricanes
|
such as increased energy due to sea surface temperatures, increased Intensity (not frequency) of hurricanes. Role of global warming
|
|
|
Pollen analysis – vegetation reconstruction – climate
|
Buried in water sediments which build up. Paleoclim: carbon date those sediments. Reconstructing distribution of vegetation. Types of trees/crops in areas of the US,
|
|
|
Major factor(s) controlling the uptake of CO2 by the oceans?
|
Diffusion into surface waters. Bicarbonates, primary productivity via photosynthesis. The transfer of carbon from the surface waters to the deep waters of the oceans is dependent on the global pattern of ocean circulation that occurs on a time scale of hundreds of years. Therefore, there is a long lag period between rising atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide and the ability of the ocean to act as a sink (come to an equilibrium with atmospheric concentrations).
|
|
|
This increase in rates of photosynthesis under elevated CO2 is often referred to as the:
|
CO2 fertilization effect.
(Distribution of biomass enhancement ratio (BER) for several functional types of species. BER is the ratio of biomass growth at elevated and ambient levels of CO2. |
|
|
NPP and atmospheric concentrations of CO2
|
((*Highest NPP for normal versus wet or dry conditions. Greater fertilization effect under DRY versus WET conditions. Biggest relative effect: water loss.))
As atmospheric concentrations of CO2 rise, how will the oceans and terrestrial ecosystems respond? Due to nutrient limitations, it is doubtful that elevated atmospheric CO2 will increase the productivity of the oceans. |
