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Earth's CLIMATE System: CLIMATE SYSTEM ELEMENTS (Part of Atmosphere, Hydrosphere, Geosphere, and Biosphere)

The document discusses key aspects of Earth's climate system including weather, climate, and the factors that make Earth habitable like being within the Goldilocks zone. It describes the main elements that make up the climate system: the atmosphere, oceans, land surface, hydrology and air movements, and external factors like the sun. It also discusses climate change indicators like increasing greenhouse gases and temperatures, changing weather and ice patterns, and effects on oceans, ecosystems and human health. Human activities are enhancing the greenhouse effect and causing more rapid climate change than natural variations in Earth's past.

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Kyla Baysa
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51 views4 pages

Earth's CLIMATE System: CLIMATE SYSTEM ELEMENTS (Part of Atmosphere, Hydrosphere, Geosphere, and Biosphere)

The document discusses key aspects of Earth's climate system including weather, climate, and the factors that make Earth habitable like being within the Goldilocks zone. It describes the main elements that make up the climate system: the atmosphere, oceans, land surface, hydrology and air movements, and external factors like the sun. It also discusses climate change indicators like increasing greenhouse gases and temperatures, changing weather and ice patterns, and effects on oceans, ecosystems and human health. Human activities are enhancing the greenhouse effect and causing more rapid climate change than natural variations in Earth's past.

Uploaded by

Kyla Baysa
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Earth’s CLIMATE System

WEATHER- short-term variability of the atmosphere (time scales of minutes to months). Popularly thought in
terms of temperature, air pressure, humidity, precipitation, cloudiness, brightness and visibility, wind speed
and direction.

CLIMATE- long-term statistical description of the atmospheric conditions, averaged over a specified period of
time- usually decades.

Earth is in the “Goldilocks zone”, the circumstellar habitable zone. The Goldilocks Zone refers to the habitable
zone around a star where the temperature is just right - not too hot and not too cold - for liquid water to exist
on an planet. ... Looking for planets in the Goldilocks Zone is a way that allows scientists to hone in their
search for Earth-like planets that could contain life.

Earth is a greenhouse planet with an atmosphere (not too thin and not too thick… just right) that allows Earth
conditions to be supportive of life.

CLIMATE SYSTEM ELEMENTS (part of Atmosphere, Hydrosphere, Geosphere, and Biosphere)


1. Atmosphere
 Composition: 78% N, 21% O, CO2 and H2O minor but potent GHG
 Cooling effect during the day, warming effect at night

2. Oceans
 Reservoir of water and dissolved gases; contributes most of the water vapor in the atmosphere;
absorb CO2

3. Land surface
 This includes, vegetation, exposed soil and rocks, human structures, snow and ice.
 The reflective properties of the land surface affect how the Earth warms. (Reflectance = albedo)
 Dark surfaces- absorb solar energy and re-radiate it as heat that may be absorbed by GHG
(warming effect)  low albedo eg. Soil, forest
 Light surfaces- reflect sunlight back into space in wavelengths not trapped by GHG (cooling
effect)  high albedo eg. Snow and ice
 Positive feedback on warming when snow and ice melt.

4. Dynamic Elements: Hydrology and air movements


 Movement of water within and between elements of the climate system (evaporation, transport,
precipitation over land)
 Water vapor: warming effects (it’s a GHG) and cooling effects (during the day, white clouds have
high albedo)
5. External: Sun, earth’s orbit. Shape and position of continents and oceans.
 Solar cycles
 Orbital variations (Milankovitch cycles): Eccentricity, Obliquity (tilt) and Precession (direction of
tilt)
 Atmospheric circulation is driven by the energy from the sun (unequal heating of the Earth’s
surface. Warm air is less dense than cool air. Thus, warm air rises, cool air sinks.
 Ocean circulation, on the other hand, is driven by both temperature and salinity (thermohaline
circulation). The cold and saltier water sinks.

 Other external forcings may be due to volcanic eruptions and anthropogenic factors.
 Living organism also play an important element of the climate system. Biological systems have
thermal properties and release gases that in turn change climate.

CLIMATE CHANGE and its INDICATORS

 Any substantial change in measures of climate (e.g. temperature, precipitation) lasting for an
extended period (decades or longer)
◦ Global warming refers to an average increase in the temperature of the atmosphere near the
Earth’s surface
◦ Global warming is just one aspect of climate change, but a very important one.

Periodic changes in the Earth’s climate have happened many times before in the Earth’s history. These were
caused by natural forcings and happened gradually (over thousands and millions of years).

This time around, human activities are causing the change (anthropogenic forcing) and changes are occurring
rapidly (over just a few decades). There are several factors but the most dominant is the increase in
atmospheric CO2 due to burning of fossil fuels leading to enhanced greenhouse effect.
Climate Change Indicators
 For tracking and communicating the causes and effects of climate change
 An indicator represents the state or trend of certain environmental or societal conditions over a given
area and a specified period of time
1. Greenhouse Gases
 Increasing average concentrations in the atmosphere (200-300 ppm since 800,000 years ago,
ut has risen to 400 ppm just in the last 50 years)

2. Temperature – higher temperatures, more drought


3. Weather – wilder weather, changing snow and rain patterns
4. Snow and Ice – less snowpack, shrinking sea ice, melting glaciers, thawing permafrost
5. Oceans – increased ocean acidity, warmer oceans, rising sea level
6. Health and Society - prolonged allergy season; diseases; heat-related sickness and death
7. Ecosystems – changes in patterns normally observed in ecosystems (wildfires, streamflow
variations, lake water levels and temperature, species range shifts, changes in phenology (leaf
and bloom dates), animal migration and life cycles

Mind Maps
What can you do?

For starters, you can visit https://www.carbonfootprint.com/calculator.aspx and calculate your own carbon
footprint. Learn about what a carbon foot print is, what it means, and what you can do to reduce the size of
your foot print. Whatever you can do… do it… then share your experiences with others.

You may also visit https://www.co2.earth/ for updates.

Other online resources:


https://climate.nasa.gov/climate_resources/
https://www.esrl.noaa.gov/

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