ES10 Midterm 1
Terms
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- What did volcanoes emit? Then what happened to all of that?
- They emitted H2O, CO2, and N2. Earth cooled, H2O condensed to form rain, the rain formed oceans, oceans absorbed CO2.
- When and why did Earth reach steady state?
- 400 million years ago, when oxygen from photosynthesis equaled weathering and demposition/respiration.
- What is teh formula for ozone?
- atomic oxygen O + oxygen O2 + M --> ozone O3 + M
- How does ozone make life possible?
- Ozone protects from UV rays.
- Draw graph showing atmospheric temperature as altitude increases.
- Troposphere, tropopause, stratosphere, stratopause, mesosphere, inversion layer. 15 and 50 km. 200, 240, and 280 K.
- What is the greenhouse effect?
- When longwave radiation is absorbed by and excites greenhouse gases (like CO2, CH4, N2O, and CFCs), who re-radiate it upwards and downwards.
- What is albedo?
- Reflected energy / incident energy. The whiteness of a surface.
- Describe the forces of atmospheric circulation.
- Pressure gradient forces: air moving from high to low pressure. Coriolis force: Earth is rotating, so air moves to the right in the Northern hemisphere and to the left in the Southern. Friction: air moves differently around obstacles. (Use these to draw weather map things.)
- Draw the three air circulation systems.
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Polar ^
------>
^ Ferrel
Low pressure at equator and 60 degrees, high pressure at 30 degrees. - How long does it take for air to travel around the globe?
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One year to opposite hemisphere.
1-2 months North or South in same hemisphere.
2 weeks East or West in same hemisphere. - What is thermohaline circulation?
- Process of warmer water moving toward the poles and rising while the colder, saltier, polar water sinks (and goes to the equator for upwelling).
- What is a source?
- The rate of creation in a reservoir.
- What is a sink?
- The rate of destruction in a reservoir.
- How do you calculate residence time?
- Reservoir mass / flux out.
- How do you calculate replacement time?
- Reservoir mass / flux in.
- How does the saw-tooth CO2 pattern differ with latitude?
- CO2 levels are more consistent at the equator (Samoa), and more extreme the further away from the equator (Barrows, Alaska).
- What are sources of current CO2 increases?
- Fossil fuel carbon emissions and deforestation.
- Draw the terrestrial carbon cycle.
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CO2, plants, living organisms, CH4, soil/organic matter.
Photosynthesis, respiration. - Draw teh major H2O reservoirs and the fluxes between them.
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Atmosphere, glaciers/ice caps, lakes, rivers, groundwater, oceans.
Precipitation, evaporation, melting, runoff. - How does air temperature relate to water?
- Temperature determines how much H2o the air can hold: warmer air can hold more moisture.
- What are the two major freshwater reservoirs?
- Glaciers/ice caps (70% of fresh water) and ground water/aquifer (30%).
- What are positive and negative feedbacks? Give examples.
- Positive feedback increases the factor in question, while negative feedback decreases it. For global warming: positive: increase in atmospheric H2O and decreased snow cover/surface albedo; negative: inreased cloud cover.
- Draw teh soil moisture cycle.
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Soil, atmosphere, plant.
Precipitation, evaporation, infiltration, transpiration. - What are some anthropogenic contributors to climate forcing?
- CO2, CH4, CFCs, other tropospheric ozone, N2O, tropospheric aerosols, forced cloud changes, land cover alterations.
- What are some results of climate change?
- Rising sea levels, rapid glacial melting, rising intensity of storms, forest fires, droughts, flooding, & heat waves, pest infestation, and threats to coral reefs.
- What is a climate model?
- A synthesis of climate theory and data that can be used to predict the future and understand the past of the area being modeled.
- What are three possible causes for the observed increase in global temperature?
- Volcanic eruptions (puts GHGs in the atmosphere), solar variability (increased solar radiation), and human pollution (increased GHGs from deforestation and the burning of fossil fuels).