Unit 3: Climate Change

Front 1

When describing weather what should you include?

Back 1

-temperature
-type and amount of precipitation
-wind speed
-relative humidity
-atmospheric pressure
-presence of fog, mist, or cloud cover

Front 2

What is the difference between climate and weather?

Back 2

Climate is what you expect, weather is what you get.

Front 3

What could one use to measure weather?

Back 3

thermometers, weather balloons, satellites, psychrometer, anemometer, wind vane, rain gauge and barometers

Front 4

What is a climate zone?

Back 4

Temperature, precipitation and plant communities are used to identify climate zones.

Front 5

What are Ecoregions? What are Bioclimate Profiles?

Back 5

-Ecoregions are a new method of classifying climate based on the concern of the survival of ecosystems
-bioclimate profiles are a series of graphs that show temperature and moisture conditions at a given location. ONLY describe climate, can predict 40-80 yrs into the future

Front 6

What are factors affecting climate?

Back 6

-the distance from the equator (latitude)
-the presence of large bodies of water
-the presence of ocean or air currents
-land formations
-the height above sea level(attitude)

Front 7

What is a climate system and what do they include?

Back 7

-the complex set up of components that interact with each other to produce Earth's climate: powered by the Sun
-includes air, land, liquid water, ice and living things

Front 8

True or False: Earth absorbs more energy than radiated. Explain

Back 8

No, the amount of energy absorbed by Earth's atmosphere=the amount of energy emitted back by Earth and Atmosphere

Front 9

Define: UV Radiation and Infrared Radiation.

Back 9

UV - a form of invisible higher-energy radiation
IR - a form of invisible lower-energy radiation

Front 10

What is thermal energy?

Back 10

The energy present in the motion of particles at a particular temperature.

Front 11

Atmosphere

Back 11

layers of gases
-reflects some of the Sun's energy, absorbs and radiates some of the energy. Like a blanket wrapped around Earth, conserving thermal energy to keep Earth warm.

Front 12

Layers of the atmosphere

Back 12

Troposphere
Stratosphere
Mesosphere
Thermosphere
Exosphere

Front 13

Ozone in the Stratosphere

Back 13

good ozone, protects us from UV. CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons), methyl bromide, nitrous oxide

Front 14

Ozone in Troposphere

Back 14

bad ozone, urban pollution, from interactions of hydrocarbons, oxides of nitrogen and sunlight(smog)-cars

Front 15

Hydrosphere

Back 15

liquid water, water vapour and ice glaciers
-absorbs energy from warm air&the Sun&then releases energy back. Also reflects some of the energy from the Sun. Water vapour and clouds in the atmosphere also reflect, absorb, and transmit energy from the Sun

Front 16

Lithosphere

Back 16

Earth's rock crust - land surfaces
-emits energy back as lower-energy infrared radiation. Converts into thermal energy. *remember rain shadow effect*

Front 17

Living Things

Back 17

plants and animals
-affects the amount of carbon dioxide, oxygen, methane in the atmosphere

Front 18

Heat Sink

Back 18

a reservoir, such as the oceans, that absorbs and stores thermal energy

Front 19

convection current

Back 19

a circular current in air and other fluids caused by the rising of warm fluid aas cold fluid sinks

Front 20

Thermohaline Circulation

Back 20

the continuous flow of water around the world's oceans driven by differences in water temperatures and salinity

Front 21

Ocean Currents

Back 21

water warms at the equator and becomes less dense, warm water at the surface travels towards the poles and gets colder and more salty, cold dense, salty water

Front 22

Conveyor Belt of Energy

Back 22

Current transport energy from warmer regions to colder, nutrients transported from pole to pole

Front 23

Other important notes

Back 23

Currents caused by prevailing wind patterns, Coriolis effect, rotation of Earth (CCW), shapes of continents
-affect climate nearby regions

Front 24

Albedo

Back 24

how much of the Sun's radiation that is reflected by a surface
-different parts of the Earth have different albedos
-Earth reflects 30-40% of the Sun's radiation

Front 25

Albedo Effect

Back 25

-increase in Earth's temperature causes ice to melt
-more radiation is absorbed by the Earth
-temperature increases more
-positive feedback loop in which an increase in Earth's temperature causes ice to melt, so more radiation is absorbed by Earth's surface, leading to further increases in temperature

Front 26

Positive Feedback Loop

Back 26

The effect increases the original cause

Front 27

Negative Feedback Loop

Back 27

The effect decreases the original cause

Front 28

Other note on Feedback Loops

Back 28

Feedback loops enhance small changes in the climate system

Front 29

What are proxy records?

Back 29

Stores information in tree rings, ice cores, and fossils that can be measured to give clues to what the climate was like the past

Front 30

Ice Age

Back 30

A time in Earth's history when Earth is cooler and much of the planet is covered in ice

Front 31

Plate Tectonics

Back 31

The theory explaining the slow movement of the large plates of Earth's crust

Front 32

Continental Drift

Back 32

The theory explaining the slow movement of the large plates of Earth's crust

Front 33

Interglacial period

Back 33

A time between ice ages when Earth warms up

Front 34

Milankovitch cycles

Back 34

Long term cycles of climate change caused by Earth's orbit around the Sun due to eccentricity of orbit, tilt and precession of tilt(wobble)

Front 35

El Nino

Back 35

A recurring change in the Pacific winds and ocean currents that brings warm, moist air to the west coast of South America

Front 36

Short Term Changes in Climate include

Back 36

Volcanic eruptions, Air and ocean currents and the sun's radiation