climate change test 1
Terms
undefined, object
copy deck
- science
- what is.....when well digested, is nothing but good sense and reason." -Stanislaus I of Poland
- scientific method
- what scientists use to approach problems
- observe
- first step of scientific method
- offer explanations
- second step of scientific method
- test explanations
- third step fo scientific method
- best explanation
- process of repeating and modifying to get the _____
- observation
- Something you can detect with your 5 senses or measure indirectly
- hypothesis
- An explanation of observations that can be tested
- occam's razor
- All things being equal, the simplest solution tends to be the best one
- theory
- An "upgraded" hypothesis - has survived repeated testing, even if it has been modified along the way
- correlation
- - two things may be related to each other directly, indirectly, or not at all
- good scientists
- Follow the scientific method Use critical thinking: question everything, including themselves Keep an open mind Open and honest about their work
- forcing
- Any process or disturbance that drives a change
- feedback
- A process that alters changes under way either by amplifying (positive) or moderating (negative) them
- earth systems
- is a theory we use to understand the climate
- energy
- The ability to do work
- joules
- what energy is measured in
- power
- measured in watts 1w=1j
- shortwave
- visible light
- longwave
- infrared light invisible to us
- temperature
- measure of heat energy
- goldilocks hypothesis
- Earth is "just the right temperature" for life
- eaths atmosphere
- has 80% of gases are in troposphere 19.9% in stratosphere
- oxygen nitrogen argon
- Major gases in Earth's atmosphere
- greenhouse gasses
- warm a planet's surface by absorbing heat energy and re-radiating it back toward the surface
- hydrologic cycle
- how H2O moves through Earth's climate (involves all subsystems)
- glaciers
- are formed by snow accumulation over many years
- albedo
- percent of incoming light that is reflected
- snowball earth hypothesis
- Was the Earth's surface ever completely frozen
- wind
- air in motion
- atmospheric circulation
- caused by: Uneven heating of Earth's surface Coriolis Effect
- conduction
- transfer of heat through a stationary material (can be solid, liquid, or gas)
- radiation
- transfer of heat by infrared light energy
- convection
- transfer of heat through movement of material
- coriolis effect
- wind or water deflected from apparent path: to the right in the Northern Hemisphere to the left in Southern Hemisphere
- density
- the amount of matter in a given space
- salinity
- The saltier the water, the denser it is
- poles
- where water sinks at
- gaia hypothesis
- inspiration for modern Earth Systems theory