Climate Change

Climate Change

1. Evidence of Climate Change

   • Earth's Climate- Past and Present
     • As the earth's temperature goes up so does the level of CO2 in the atmosphere
     • CO2 Levels Rising
   • Is Climate Changing?
     • Indicatiors
       • Carbon Dioxide and other Greenhouse Gases are some of the biggest indicators of climate change. Scientists monitor these for changes in our atmosphere through direct measurement but also throughother things like ice core samples.
       • Global Surface and Water Temperature are both used to measure the amount of heat and energy trapped on earth. These are closely linked to CO2 levels.
       • Arctic Sea Ice covers the Arctic Ocean in the winter months and reduces in the summer months. Scientists have used sea ice as an indicator because warmer air and temperatures are reducing the amount of sea ice. The ice plays an important role in the Earth's Energy balance.
       • Land Ice/Glaciers are responsible for reflecting the sun's energy back into space instead of warming the earth. The absence of this means that it disrupts the planet's energy balance.
       • Sea Levels are linked to all the other indicators when ice melts sea levels rise and rising temperatures cause the water to expand.
   • Causes of Climate Change
     • 4 Key Findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
       • 3. Sea level is set to continue to rise at a faster rate than over the past 40 years
       • 4. Over the last two decades, the Greenland and Antartic ice sheets have been melting and glaciers have receded in most parts of the world
       • 1. There is a 95 percent chance that human activities are responsible for global warming
       • 2. Carbon Dioxide is at an unprecedented level not seen for the last 800 000 years

2. Earth's Climate (U13)

   • Earth's Interactions
     • The Biosphere: The "living" layer around the earth which includes the atmosphere, lithosphere and the hydrosphere. All living things on earth are in the biosphere because it has the conditions to support life.
       • Atmosphere: the layer of earth composed of a mixture of different gases which has both biotic and abiotic particles. This is very important for supporting life because the number of particles contributes to our air quality.
         • Mesosphere: There is very little gas and has low air pressure with fewer oxygen molecules.
         • The stratosphere has most of the ozone which protects living organisms from radiation but has no life other than clumps of cells.
         • The troposphere can support life and contains carbon dioxide and water vapour. This layer is where weather takes place.
         • The thermosphere has hardly any gas but the particles are hot in the day and cold in the night.
       • Lithosphere: the rock layer of the earth which is home to many organisms. From humans to plants, it supports all life and goes deeper than 100km below the continents.
       • Hydrosphere: this layer includes all the water on earth. 97% is salt water while 3% is fresh water (including frozen water). The Hydrosphere has an immense amount of life, every living thing depends on it.
     • Factors that effect climate
       • 1. Latitude 2.Elevation 3. The air masses which flow over the area 4. The area's nearness fo large bodies of water
   • Patterns of Circulation
   • The Greenhouse Effect and Heat Transfer
     • Definitions
       • Net Radiation Budget is the difference between the amount of incoming and outgoing radiation
       • Radiation is the emission of energy as waves
       • Insolation is the amount of solar radiation received by a region of Earth.
       • Convection is the transfer of thermal energy through movement of particles
       • Conduction is the transfer of thermal energy through direct contact between substance particles

Bilder und Dateien der Mindmap