Chapter 1
The measurement of the kinetic energy of particles. measured in Kelvin, Celsius, or Fahrenheit
What is temperature?
An overall pattern of change
What is a trend?
Wavelengths higher than that of visible light and higher energy as well (ex. Gamma rays)
What is shortwave radiation?
A collection of gases held together by gravity that is divided into layers based on temperature and density, made mostly of nitrogen and oxygen
What is the atmosphere?
anthropogenic processes that reduce negative radiative forcing (ex: cloud seeding using CCNs)
What is geoengineering?
Uses longitude and latitude, measured in degrees minutes seconds, to pinpoint a precise location
What is a coordinate system?
The difference between the measured data point and the averag
What is anomaly?
Wavelengths longer than that of visible light and lower energy as well (ex. Radio waves)
What is longwave radiation?
The processes by which carbon moved throughout the earth
What is the carbon cycle?
Small particles suspended in the air that reflect light
What are aerosols?
The atmospheric conditions in a place at one specific time
What is weather?
Things like ice cores and tree rings that give us clues as to what the past climate was like
What are paleoproxies?
The ability of something to reflect light back into the atmosphere
What is albedo?
How much energy 1 ton of gas can absorb over 100 years relative to that of carbon dioxide
What is Global Warming Potential?
A natural or anthropogenic force that causes a shift in the climate
What is radiative forcing?
The average conditions of the atmosphere in a place over time
What is climate?
À change in the climate that is observed over a long period of time, can be caused by natural or anthropogenic forces
What is climate change?
Conduction, convection, and radiation
What are the three methods of energy transfer?
Photosynthesis, respiration, the ocean sink, acid rain/calcification, the soil sink
What are natural drivers of the carbon cycle?
How severely the earth responds to a radiative forcing
What is climate sensitivity?
Latitude, elevation/topography, proximity to water, atmospheric circulation, and oceanic circulation
What are climate modulators?
Greenhouse gases in the atmosphere allow radiation/heat to enter earth, but not exit
What is the greenhouse effect?
A theoretical model that absorbs all wavelengths, neither transmitting nor reflecting any, and emits it back our as long wave radiation (light)
What is a black body?
Deforestation, transition of land to farming, burning fossil fuels
What are anthropogenic drivers of the carbon cycle?
A process that adjusts the radiative forcing to reestablish equilibrium in the climate, can be positive or negative
What is a feedback mechanism?