Module 8 Study Guide

What is the evidence of long-term climate change?

There is a lot of carbon in the atmosphere, this is due to the fact that

climate change mitigation

no single action, change, or technology exists to accomplish this

How much ocean water is trapped in the glaciers?

1.7 percent

How do we know the concentration of atmospheric gases and temperature of earth's early environment? In other words, how do scientists gather data about these variables from 10,000 years ago?

By looking at shells layers and rock layers through the years.

What is meant by calving ice

Calving is when chunks of ice break off at the terminus, or end, of a glacier.

What four major environments/factors do scientists include in their climate models?

Climate models use the fundamental laws of physics, expressed as mathematical equations, to simulate the behavior of the climate system which includes the oceans, atmosphere, land, and ice.

How do scientists infer temperature for earth's past climate?

Clues about the past climate are buried in sediments at the bottom of the oceans, locked away in coral reefs, frozen in glaciers and ice caps, and preserved in the rings of trees.

What factors affect our global weather? What influences global air circulation patterns?

Four factors are: uneven heating of the earth's surface by the sun, seasonal changes in temperature and precipitation due to earth axis, rotation of the earth on its axis, and properties of air , water, and land.

What are greenhouse gases? How common are they in the atmosphere? How were they discovered? How do they effect earth's temperature?

Greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and certain synthetic chemicals, trap some of the Earth's outgoing energy, thus retaining heat in the atmosphere.

What long term patterns did the ice-core samples show?

Ice cores can tell scientists about temperature, precipitation, atmospheric composition, volcanic activity, and even wind patterns.

What is the IPCC?

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

What is the most uncertain variable with respect to climate change?

No one really knows if humans will actually take action and help fight against climate change

What is meant by old water?

Old water is water that has been deep in the deepest parts of the ocean that has been up to the surface in a very long time

How are the climate models built and tested/vetted?

Since the world can't afford to wait decades to measure the accuracy of climate model predictions, scientists test a model's accuracy using past events

What is the Keeling Curve? What does it measure? When did we begin making these measurements? What variations and long-term trends have we observed with these data?

The Keeling Curve is a graph that represents the concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) in Earth's atmosphere since 1958. At Mauna Loa, he discovered global atmospheric CO2 levels were rising nearly every year. By analyzing the CO2 in his samples, Keeling was able to attribute this rise to the use of fossil fuels.

What three options are presented in the movie as ways to deal with climate change?

We can suffer the consequences, we can adapt with the changes, or we can change our ways

When did climate change become a bipartisan issue?

When politics got involved

How are temperature and CO2 related?

When the carbon dioxide concentration goes up, temperature goes up. When the carbon dioxide concentration goes down, temperature goes down.

What are natural sources of CO2? How are humans adding CO2 to the atmosphere? How can scientists differentiate between natural and human-made CO2 sources?

Yes, there are natural sources of atmospheric carbon dioxide, such as outgassing from the ocean, decomposing vegetation and other biomass, venting volcanoes, naturally occurring wildfires, and even belches from ruminant animals.

contrast biostorage and carbon capture storage (CCS)

biostorage is a two-step process of growing plants, which quickly but temporarily store carbon in their biomass, and storing some of that carbon permanently as biochar or in other forms. CCS refers to the capture and storage of carbon dioxide from emissions to prevent it from entering the atmosphere.

How do we know that historically there was a different climate pattern?

data for climate include lake and ocean sediments, layers of ice (cored from ice sheets), corals, fossils, and historical records from ship logs and early weather observers.

What are some ways we can mitigate climate change?

involves reducing the flow of heat-trapping greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, either by reducing sources of these gases (for example, the burning of fossil fuels for electricity, heat or transport) or enhancing the "sinks" that accumulate and store these gases

How did scientists validate the data from the ice cores?

scientists can calculate how modern amounts of carbon dioxide and methane compare to those of the past, and, essentially, compare past concentrations of greenhouse gasses to temperature.