| The term “albedo” refers to the absorption of radiation |
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| Without an atmosphere, the earth’s temperature would be a frigid -100 degrees Celsius |
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| Over the past 400,000 years, CO2 abundances in Earth’s atmosphere have varied in correlation with Earth’s temperature |
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| Molecules are called ‘greenhouse gases’ if they |
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| Absorb infrared radiation, but are transparent to visible light. |
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Global warming and anthropogenic climate change are terms that refer to the same environmental issue, specifically the alteration of Earth’s surface temperature and climate due to release of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere by human activities.
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T or F? |
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| Greenhouse gases are important because they absorb visible radiation in the earth’s atmosphere |
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| CO2 is the primary greenhouse gas in the earth’s atmosphere |
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| As the temperature of a blackbody object increases, radiation from that object |
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| shifts to shorter wavelengths and becomes more intense |
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| Climate scientists believe that due to human activities earth is changing faster now than it has in the past. |
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| The most abundant gas in the earth’s atmosphere is |
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| The ozone hole is a good example of a change in Earth’s atmosphere that is due mainly to natural causes. |
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| The energy flux emitted by a blackbody object goes as |
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| The temperature raised to the fourth power |
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| Based on the inverse square law an object that is twice as far from the sun as the earth recieves______ as much solar flux that the earth. |
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| The sun’s emission consists of |
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| primarily of infrared light, with some ultraviolet |
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| Latent heat refers to energy gained or lost when a substance such as water changes phases |
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| The earths temperature has increase by about ___ over the last century |
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| The region of the infrared spectrum between 8 microns and 13 microns is referred to as the “window region” because at these wavelengths |
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| CO2 and H2O are poor absorbers, so light can escape more readily to space |
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| There is a radiation deficit in the polar regions(that is less incoming solar radiation that outgoing thermal radiation) because ____? |
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| Heat is transfered poleward by circulations of the atmosphere and oceans |
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| The effect of clouds on earth’s radiation budget is easy to calculate quantitatively because all clouds reflect light to space, increasing the albedo |
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| The increase in ice coverage at high latitudes with decreasing global temperatures is an example of positive feedback |
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| The magnitude of Earth’s greenhouse effect is about |
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Which of the following gases is not an important greenshouse gas?
– N2O – Nitrous Oxide
– CC13F – Freon 11
– CH4 – Methane
– Ar – Argon
– H20 – Water Vapor
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| What are the approximate minimum and maximum temperatures of Earth’s troposphere? |
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Minimum 215 K
Maximum 285 K |
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| High temperatures in the earth’s stratosphere at 50 km are due primarily to what? |
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| absorption of solar UV radiation by ozone |
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| “Convection” refers to what? |
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| the transport of heat by motions of a fluid (liquid or gas) |
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| The pressure of Earth’s atmosphere decreses/increases by a factor of what? |
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| decreases by a factor of 10 for every 16 km increase in altitude throughout most of the atmosphere |
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| For every 100 units of solar radiation incident on Earth, |
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| 30 units are reflected directly back to space, and 70 units are radiated to space as outgoing infrared radiation |
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| low thick clouds do what? |
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| reflect radiation back to space |
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| What is the actual value of incident radiation to the earths system? |
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| The solar constant at earth = 1370 W/m^2 mulitiplied by the projected are on the earth (R^2) |
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| High, thin clouds do what? |
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| trap infrared radiation near the surface |
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| Because water is a greenhouse gas, the increasing evaporation of water with warmer temperatures is an example of positive feedback on Earth’s surface temperature. |
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| Pressure difference in the atmosphere are typically related to the distribution of surface temps? (T/F) |
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| At norther mid-latitudes, even though the coriolis effect acts to turn a moving parcel of air to the right of the direction of motion an air parcel will always move directly from a region of high pressure to one of lower pressure in order to equalize the pressure. (T/F) |
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| Surface air at the equator is warmer than surface air in the polar regions because the equator is closer to the sun than are the polar regions. (T/F) |
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| An abundance of _________, a “greenhouse gas” have been increasing in the atmosphere for many decades. |
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As ocean warms, sea ice will ____
As sea ice ____s, more _____ is absorbed in the ocean. This causes the warmer water.
Is this positive or negative feedback?
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| melt, melts, sunlight
Positive
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| What is a blackbody object? |
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| One that can absorb and emit electromagnetic radiation at all wavelengths with equal efficiency.
– Does not prefer some wavelengths over others.
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| A blackbody radiates a total energy of? |
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| outgoing radiation = incoming radiation absorbed by earth = outgoing infrared radiation |
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| Effective radiating temperature |
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| the temperature that an object would need to be radiating at in order to be in balance with the incoming absorbed solar radiation
See Fig 3.1
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Earth’s atmosphere today
Nitrogen
Oxygen
Argon
Water Vapor
Carbon dioxide
* Give % by volume
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Nitrogen 78%
Oxygen 21%
Argon .9%
Water Vapor .00001%
Carbon Dioxide .037% |
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Water vapor
Carbon dioxide
Methane
Nitrous oxide
ozone
freon -11
freon -12 |
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| What are the most important absorbers in the atmosphere |
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| Water vapor and carbon dioxide |
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| What do low, thick clouds do with radiation? |
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| get warm radiation from the thin clouds and get trapped |
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| What do high, thin clouds do with radiation? |
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| allow radiation to go through them and warms the earth |
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| For an atmosphere that is in radiative balance (incoming = outgoing), how does temperature chance with height? |
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| Add more layers, and the surface gets even warmer because the layer above it is warmed by the layer above it etc… |
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| Water vapor, a greenhouse gas, represents what kind of feedback in the Earth system? |
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| Other than radiation, what forms of heat transfer are important in the atmosphere? |
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| convection, latent heat, and conduction |
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| Differential heating is due to what? |
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The curvature of the earth.
-See Fig 4.1 |
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| Where does solar energy go? (Earth’s budget) |
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| 45 units absorbed by surface25 units absorbed by clouds and gases
25 units reflected by clouds and gases
5 units reflected by the surface
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| Of 133 energy units absorbed by the earth’s surface, how many units evaporate water and how many units produce convection? |
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| 24 units evaporate water and 5 units produce convection |
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| The earth system receives 99% of its heat in the form of _____ from the sun primarily in the visible and ______ |
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| Earth’s surface maintains thermal balance by convection of _____ ____ _____, air carrying heat upward, by _________ __________ and by radiating the remainder upward. |
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warm, less dense
evaporating water (latent heat) |
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| Of the 104 units of energy radiated by the suface, __ units escape to space through windows in the ________ spectrum of the atmosphere |
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| In the tropics there is more ______ solar radiation than _______ solar radiation. |
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| incoming, outgoing = a surplus of solar radiation |
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| In the polar regions, ___ solar radiation is received than ______ radiation is emitted. |
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| less, thermal = deficit of solar radiation |
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| The earths temperature has increased about____ over the last century |
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| Based on the inverse square law, an object that is twice as far from the sun as the earth receives |
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| one-fourth as much solar flux than the earth |
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| Global warming and ______________ climate change refer to the same environmental issue. That the alteration of the earths temperature and climate is due to the release of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere by human activities. |
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| An albedo of 1 means what |
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| An albedo of 0 means what |
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| pure absorption (blackbody) |
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| Over the past 400,000 years _____ abundances in earths atmosphere have varied in correlation with the earths temperature |
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| molecules are called “greenhouse gases” if they |
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| absorb infrared radiation, but are transparent to visible light |
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| What is the primary greenhouse gas in the earths atmoshere |
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| as the temperature of a blackbody object increases, radiation from that object |
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| shifts to shorter wavelengths and become more intense |
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| what is the most abundant gas in the earths atmosphere |
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| The energy flux emitted by a blackbody object goes as |
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| The temperature raised to the fourth power |
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| Of the 100 units of solar radiation that are incoming at the top of earths atmosphere, ____ units are absorbed by earths surface, ______ units are absorbed by the atmosphere, ____ are reflected by the atmosphere back to space, and ____ are reflected by the surface. |
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| Of the ____ units of thermal (infrared) energy radiated by earths surface, ___ units escape directly to space and ___ units are absorbed by the atmosphere |
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| The ice coverage at high latitudes with decreasing global temperatures is an example of ______ feedback |
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| The increase of temperature of the earth will cause an increase in water vapor into the earths atmosphere, increasing the albedo, and then decreasing the temperature. This is an example of what kind of feedback |
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| The atmosphere is composed of what |
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| units that come from the heating of the atmosphere by gases and clouds (solar energy absorbed by atmosphere), units that come from the heating of the atmosphere by the greenhouse effect, and units that are from the heating of the atmosphere due to thermals and evaporation. |
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| What are the approximate min and max temperatures of earths troposphere |
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| What would the temperature of the earth be if there wasnt an atmosphere |
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| The magnitude of earths greenhouse effect is about |
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| for every 100 units of solar radiation incident on the earth |
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| 30 units are reflected directly back to space, and 70 units are radiated to space as outgoing infrared radiation. |
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| Pressure differences in the earths atmosphere are typically related to the distribution of surface temperatures |
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| The region of the infrared spectrum between 8 microns and 13 microns is referred to as the window region because at these wavelengths |
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| C02 and H20 are poor absorber, so light can escape more readily to space |
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| The suns emission consists of |
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| primarily of visible and infrared light, with some ultra violet |
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| There is less incoming solar radiation than outgoing thermal radion in the polar region, causing a radiation deficit because |
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| heat is transferred poleward by circulations of the atmosphere and oceans |
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| What is the actual value of “100 units” of incident radiation |
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| The solar constant at earth multiplied by the projected area of earth |
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| high temperatures in the earths stratosphere at 50 km are due primarily to absorption of solar UV radiation by ozone |
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| How many units of thermal energy come from the greenhouse effect |
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| 88 units (note – larger than the units of solar radiation that the earth absorbs from the sun) |
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| Are there more units of latent heat or convection in earths budget? |
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| latent heat (evaporation) |
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| the pressure of earths atmosphere |
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| decreases by a factor of 10 for every 16 km increase in altitude |
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| Objects that are _____ absorb better than other objects |
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| Why is it colder at the poles? |
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| Because at the equator, it is receiving direct sunlight whereas at the poles, it is receiving indirect sunlight |
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| What does Wein’s law tell us about BB wavelengths |
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Max Wavelenth = 2898/T
– The maximum flux that a BB can reach at a certain wavelength
Area beneath the curve = sigmaT^4 = total flux
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| Magnetic spectrum and wavelengths |
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____________________________
UV Visible IR
UV has small, high energy wavelengths
IR was large, low energy wavelengths
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| Human induced changes in the atmosphere |
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| thin envelope of gases that surround the earth |
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| composed of various reservoirs of water including ice |
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| CFC’s, Synthetic compounds containing chlorine, fluorine and carbon. Caused the ozone hole |
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| Absorbs UV rays and is warmer that the atmosphere below it because of it. (Ozone) |
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| diminish the effects of disturbances |
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| amplify the effects of disturbances |
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| the distance between two adjacent crests |
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| the number of crests that pass a fixed point in a second. |
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wavelength:(SM—LG)
UV<—–>Visible<—–>IR
Energy:(H–L)
UV<—>Vis.<—>IR
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| the amount of energy in an electromagnetic wave that passes perpendicularly through a unit surface area per unit time |
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| the rate at which the solar flux decreases with increasing distance (1/r^2) |
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| something that emits (or absorbs) electromagnetic radiation with 100% efficiency at all wave lengths |
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| the flux of radiation emitted by a blackbody reaches its peak wavelength at delta max. or (2898/T) (Sun @visible wavelength, earth @ IR) |
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| the energy flux emitted by a blackbody (T^4) |
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| 3 most abundant gases in the atmosphere |
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| 4 most abundant greenhouse gases |
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| water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, are nitrous oxide |
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| a process in which heat energy is transported by the motions of a fluid (boiling water) |
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| the transfer of heat energy by direct contact between molecules |
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| the heat energy released or absorbed during the transition from one phase to another |
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| High level clouds that trap in heat |
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| low level thick clouds that reflect incoming radiation back out into space |
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| Of 100 units of incoming solar radiation approx. how many are absorbed by earths surface? |
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| Air moves over earths surfaces because there are ___________ differences in pressure. Air also moves __________ because it is either forced to move mechanically or because there are changes in _________. |
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| horizontally, vertically, buoyancy |
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| Warmer air has a lower/higher density than cooler air |
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| Air tends to move from an area of ____ pressure, to an area of _____ pressure, until the two pressures are equalized. |
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| If an air mass is heated until its density is lower than that of its surrounds, the lower-density air will rise. This phenomenon is a form of _________ |
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| If an air mass is cooled until its density is higher than that of the underlying air, it will sink. This is referred to as ________ |
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| The incoming solar energy varies with _____ and with ______ whereas the outgoing terrestrial radiation depends on the temperature of the surface an atmosphere at each location. |
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| The maximum solar absorption is found in the ____ and the available solar energy decreases rapidly as we move toward the _____ |
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| The tropic air near the surface rises, creating a ___-pressure region |
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| The merging of air masses that are moving inward toward a low-pressure region is called _____. The air masses that meet at the tropics and rise make up the _________________ |
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| convergence, Intertropical convergence zone |
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| The air that rises in the ITCZ is forced to diverge _________ |
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| refers to the movement of air outward from a region in the atmosphere |
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| The poleward moving air subsides at about ___ N and ____ S, replacing air that is moving equatorward at the surface |
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| At 30* N and 30* S, the air warms as it sinks, which prevents ______ and _____ from forming. |
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