Climate Change

Question	Answer
What is Weather?	Weather refers to the Environmental Conditions in a CERTAIN PLACE at a CERTAIN TIME.
What can affect the Weather?	Temperature, Wind Speed, Precipitation, Humidity, Atmospheric Pressure
What does the climate of a place usually determine?	The species of plant and animal that live there, and the basic needs of humans that live there.
What are the main 4 factors that affect Climate?	Latitude, Elevation, Air Masses, Nearness to a body of water
How does Latitude affect Climate?	Your latitude is the distance you are from the equator. If you are farther away from the equator, the climate will generally be colder.
How does Elevation affect Climate?	The elevation is your Height above Sea Level. If your elevation is higher, the climate will generally be colder.
How do Air Masses affect Climate?	Air Masses can carry Warm and Cold air, that will make the Climate colder or warmer.
How does being close to a body of water affect the Climate?	Large Bodies of Water will absorb heat and slowly release it, causing the climate to be warmer when closer to water.
What are the names of the 5 Climate Zones?	Tropical, Moderate, Dry, Polar, and Continental.
What makes a Climate Zone a Climate Zone?	Similarities in Temperature and Precipitation are what makes a Climate Zone.
Almost all energy on Earth comes from the sun, in Solar Radiation. What forms does Solar Radiation appear in?	Solar Radiation is usually UV, Infrared, and Visible.
Why do Different Regions on Earth receive different amounts of Solar Radiation?	More solar radiation in the form of light reflects off higher and lower points on earth, causing those regions to be colder.
What reflects incoming solar radiation? What reflects the MOST Solar Radiation, and how much does it reflect?	The Atmosphere, Clouds, and Earth's Surface all reflect Incoming Solar Radiation. Clouds reflect the most Solar Radiation, and they reflect 20%.
What absorbs Incoming Solar Radiation, and how much does each absorb?	The Land and Oceans, as well as the Atmosphere and clouds absorb Incoming Solar Radiation. 51% is absorbed by Land and Oceans, while 19% is absorbed by Clouds and the Atmosphere.
How much Incoming Solar Radiation is reflected, and how much is absorbed?	70% of Incoming Solar Radiation is absorbed, and 30% is reflected.
What happens to the Absorbed Energy (which is also why we all aren't fried human)?	The absorbed energy is re-emitted through infrared radiation
How much of the Infrared Radiation that is emitted stays in the atmosphere before it leaves?	45% stays in the Atmosphere before it leaves.
Why are Polar Regions colder and Tropical Regions warmer?	Less radiation enters the atmosphere of Polar regions, while more radiation enters the atmosphere of Tropical regions. For this reason, thermal energy is transferred from the equator to the poles.
How does the cycle of convection for the Equator and the Poles work?	Warm air rises and flows towards the poles, and cold air sinks and flows towards the equator. The same happens with water.
What is the Radiation Budget, and how can it affect us?	The radiation budget is (energy absorbed = energy radiated), and if it changes, it can affect our climate.
What is one cause of the energy budget's change?	The earth orbits around the sun's cycles.
What is one example of how climate can be changed over shorter periods of time?	Volcanic Eruptions can change Climate over a short period of time.
What is the difference between the Natural and Anthropogenic Greenhouse Effect?	The Anthropogenic Greenhouse Effect is mainly caused by the interference of Humans.
What are the Greenhouse Gases?	water vapour (h2o), carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), ozone (O3), and nitrous oxide (N2O).
How do Greenhouse Gases work?	When infrared radiation hits a greenhouse gas molecule, the molecule vibrates in different directions, and traps the radiation. About half of this radiation is re-emitted back towards the Surface.
Which Greenhouse Gas, due to its increased emission, is the largest cause of Climate Change?	Carbon Dioxide is the largest cause of Climate Change, due to its increased emission.
What was the concentration of Parts per Million (PPM) before the Industrial Age, and what is the current concentration?	The concentration was 280ppm before the Industrial age, and the current concentration is 400ppm.
Water Vapour causes two-thirds of Earth's natural greenhouse effect. How does it cause this?	There is a feedback loop between temperature and water vapour (higher temperature = more water vapour = more greenhouse effect = higher temperature, and so on).
Why are some Greenhouse Gases stronger than others?	Some Greenhouse Gases have more ways to vibrate, so those greenhouse gases will have more of an effect.
List the 3 main anthropogenic greenhouse gases from least to greatest potency.	Carbon Dioxide, Methane (23x more powerful than Carbon Dioxide), Nitrous Oxide (about 300x more powerful than Carbon Dioxide).
What is the importance of Ice Cores to Climate Scientists?	Ice Cores contain samples of atmospheric gases from longer times ago, that can be used to measure concentrations from previous times.
If greenhouse gases have constantly been absorbing and re-emitting radiation, why has it not become a problem as of now?	The hydrosphere, lithosphere, and biosphere have all acted as carbon sinks, absorbing all these greenhouse gases and regulating the climate. However, these sinks are being destroyed and more carbon dioxide is being emitted faster than the earth can absorb it.
Why might Climate Change cause increased severity of Storms?	Since there is more radiation (more energy) in the atmosphere, storms will generally have more energy in them.
What is Albedo, and how might melting ice caps?	Ice and Snow generally have a high albedo, meaning they reflect more light. Because of Ice is melting, more light is absorbed by the land instead of reflected, causing more effects from Climate Change.
What are three things melting land ice causes?	Rising Ocean Levels, Habitat Loss, Disappearing Islands
What reason is the Sea Level rising, other than melting land ice?	Water begins to expand and take up more space after heating up (from climate change warming)
Why might Polar Bears struggle to survive without Ice Caps?	Without Ice, they will not be able to reach Seals (their main source of food). It would also take much too long for Polar Bears to adapt, the ice would melt too rapidly and they would go extinct before then.
Name the Effects of Climate Change.	Increased Storm Severity, Melting Sea and Land ice, Habitat Loss, Sea Level Rise, Drought, Climate Refugees, Permafrost Melting
What is the IPCC and what are they responsible for?	The International Panel on Climate Change is known for gathering data on Climate Change and assembling it into Reports that they publish as information.
What information did the IPCC release in their October 2018 Report?	We are currently at 1 Degree of global warming, and we are going to hit 1.5 degrees of global warming, no matter what. We are also going to most likely lose all our coral reefs.

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	Created by Siva Senthilkumaran over 5 years ago