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23 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
What are three ways that humans can alter Earth's climate?
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technology/industry pollution
large human population high demand for resources |
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What is the main factor that influences Earth's climate?
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movement of Earth on its axis and in its orbit around the sun
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What are the 3 parts to the Milankovitch Cycles?
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Axial tilt (obliquity) - the amount of tilt in Earth's rotation affects the amount of sunlight striking the different parts of the globe
Orbital shape (eccentricity) - the shape of the Earth's orbit varies in time between nearly circular and mildly elliptical Axial precession - the trend in the direction of the Earth's axis of rotation relevant to the fixed stars, with a period of roughly 26,000 years |
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How do we know what the Earth's temperature was thousands (or millions) of years ago?
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polar ice cores
lake and ocean sediment cores tree rings, corals, pollen |
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What is the term that describes individual pulses of cold climate?
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glacial periods
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What is the term that describes intermittent warm periods?
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interglacials
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What is the term that describes the presence of extensive ice sheets in the northern and southern hemispheres?
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ice age
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What absorb thermal radiation emitted by the Earth's surface and atmosphere?
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greenhouse gases
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What energy acts to warm the surface and the lower atmosphere, rather than allow the heat to escape into space?
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greenhouse gases
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What describes the scenario in which average surface air temperature of the Earth is 30 degrees higher than it would be without the absorption and re-radiation of thermal energy?
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greenhouse effect
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Describe the greenhouse effect.
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Heat is trapped near the Earth's surface by greenhouse gases.
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What are the main greenhouse gases?
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water vapor (H2O)
carbon dioxide (CO2) methane (CH4) ozone (O3) nitrous oxide (N2O) CFC's |
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Greenhouse gases radiate some of the heat they absorb back to _______ ________.
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earth's surface
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The atmospheric concentration of CO2 has increased by more than ___% over the past 100 years.
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25
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What caused the atmospheric concentration of CO2 to begin exponentially rising?
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the onset of the Industrial Revolution (combustion of fossil fuels)
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What describes the longest continuous direct measurement of atmospheric CO2?
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Keeling Curve
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What is the number one anthropogenic (human) source of atmospheric CO2?
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burning of fossil fuels for heating, power generation, transportation, etc.
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What is the number two anthropogenic (human) source of atmospheric CO2?
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deforestation
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By how much has Earth's average temperature increased over the past 100 years?
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0.74 degrees Celsius
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What is very likely the cause of the earth's rising average temperature?
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observed changes in greenhouse gases (especially CO2 concentrations)
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The __________ and __________ of animals are directly related to features of the climate.
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distribution; abundance
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Global warming would raise sea level and thus affect which environments?
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coastal environments
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What is the increase in rate of photosynthesis because of higher rates of diffusion of CO2 from the atmosphere into the leaf?
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fertilization effect
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