What is the greenhouse effect?
The process by which gases hold heat in the atmosphere
Greenhouse effect is the absorption and reflection of the long wavelength emissions of greenhouse gases that warm the earth
What are the consequences of the greenhouse effect?
Because heat gets trapped inside the blanket of greenhouse gases the earth becomes too warm. This unnatural warming leads to climate change
Do rising CO2 levels lead to rising temperatures due to the greenhouse effect
It can, but its not necessarily cause and effect
What factors lead to uneven heat gain and loss on the surface of the earth?
The angle of the earth and its spherical nature affects how the sun, light, and heat hit the earth in different parts
What is heat transport and how much heat is transported?
Light hits the tropics more directly than the earth's poles
Heat moves toward the poles
About 1/5 of the heat that hits the tropics is transported from where it was absorbed
How is heat transport accomplished
1. Ocean circulation
2. Atmospheric circulation (wind and weather)
3. Unique properties of water allow for majority of transport
4. Thermal properties (heat capacity, latent heat of fusion, and latent heat of evaporation)
What is the idealized atmospheric transport model and how does density play a role?
At the equator: warm temperatures cause air to rise (less dense)
This rising air spreads toward the poles
Col temperaturs at the poles causes air to sink (more dense)
Sinking air spreads toward the equator
relates to "sensible heat" which influences weath
How is the real atmosphere transport model different?
More complex due to the rotation of the earth, which alters the pattern of wind and ocean currents
Climate
The long term average of weather conditions at a particular location
Weather
The short term variations in atmospheric conditions at a particular location
- over the last 100 years there has been an increase in the mean temperature
Scientific Method
Make observations, collect data and form a hypothesis
Hypothesis
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