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11 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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What is albedo?
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reflectivity of the Earth. high albedo = high reflectivity.
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What are the 3 main things that can happen to solar energy when it arrives at the earth? Which is most important for warming the planet?
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Reflected back into space by clouds, air, & land.
Absorbed by air and clouds. Absorbed by the land and sea. (most important) |
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What is the key transformation that allows the greenhouse effect to take effect? Why is this so critical?
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Visible light warms the surface, which emits IR radiation. IR is absorbed by greenhouse gases, which then warm up and re-emit the IR - this IR warms up both surface and air. This keeps our avg temp much higher than it would without the gases.
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What is a proxy record?
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EX: width of a tree ring depends on the warmth and rainfall during the main growing season. Only record a single season of a year, not an annual avg. Can be combined with other stats to get an annual estimate.
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Are variations in solar outputs potentially able to explain the natural variations over the past 2000 years? 50 yrs? What's special about the past 50 yrs of temperature compared to previous 2000?
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Variations had impact on impact in past 2000 yrs.
Not long term trend for past 50 yrs. Industrial Revolution. |
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Do volcanic eruptions warm or cool the planet? Why?
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They can increase the albedo of the atmosphere by injecting ash and SO2 into the atmosphere. Ash effect is minimal because of rain but SO2 can cool the planet but only last 1-3 yrs in atmosphere.
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Glacier def.
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accumulation of snow and ice that is thick enough for the ice to flow.
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What makes snow turn into solid ice?
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as new snow accumulates, the buried snow is subjected to increasing pressures. these pressures cause the snow to recompact and recrystallize
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What are the two main types of glaciers? What drives glacial motion?
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Valley glaciers & continental ice sheets.
The flow of ice is driven by gravity. |
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What is a lateral moraine?
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parallel ridges of debris deposited along the sides of a glacier.
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What is a medial moraine?
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ridge of moraine that runs down the center of a valley floor. It is formed when two glaciers meet and the debris on the edges of the adjacent valley sides join and is carried on top of the enlarged glacier.
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