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Weather
o Over a short period of ime
o Constantly changing
Climate
o Over a long period of ime
o Generalized, composite of weather
Earth-Sun relaions
Earth moions
o Rotates on its axis
o Revolves around the Sun
Seasons
o Result of ilt of earth relaive to sun
Changing sun angle
Changing length of daylight
Solsice
o Dec 21-22 Sun verical at laitude 23.5 S
o June 21-22 Sun verical at Laitude 23.5 N
Equinox
1. Atmosphere
o Most mobile (fastest changing) component of the climate system
o Weather is drive by atmosphere
o Layers
Outer atmosphere
Very low pressure, litle known efect on climate
Contains mesosphere, then thermosphere, then exosphere
Stratosphere (layered-sphere)
Less dynamic, increasing in temp w/ decrease pressure
Contains ozone layer
Weather exists in the Troposphere (turning-sphere) where 75% of air mass exists
o Structure
Atmospheric layers based on temperature
Troposphere (mixing sphere)
o Botom layer
o Temp decreases w/ alitude
About -80 degrees C at top
o Thickness varies – avg height about 11 km
o Outer boundary = tropopause
Stratosphere
o About 12-50 km
o Temp increases w/ alitude
o Outer boundary = stratopause
Outer atmosphere
o About 50 km ?
o Temp decreases w/ alitude
o Composiion
Mixture of discrete gases
Major components of clean, dry air
Nitrogen 78%
Oxygen 21%
Argon 1%
CO2 .036%
Variable components of air
Water vapor
o Up to about 4% of the air’s volume
o Forms clouds and precipitaion
Ozone (O3)
o Distribuion not uniform
o Concentrated at about 30 km in stratosphere
o Absorbs harmful UV solar radiaion
o Human acivity is depleing ozone by adding
chloroluorocarbons (CFCs)
o Global warming may also reduce natural O3 producion
o Mild greenhouse gas in troposphere
o Atmospheric dynamics
Convecive cells swirling on the rotaing Earth drives overall tropospheric wind
currents
Tradewinds b/t 30 degrees N and S
Westerlies b/t 30 and 60 degrees N and S
2. Hydrosphere
o Comprises all liquid water on, over and under surface of earth
Oceans (99%) – driven by 2 major current systems
Surface wind-driven currents
o Driven by tradewinds near equator
Density-driven thermohaline circulaion
o Hot equatorial waters are driven to the high alitudes along the
surface where cold air and less fresh-water inputs cause water
to become salty and dense driving a cold deep-sea current back
to the equators
Coninental water (~1% total)
Seas, lakes, rivers, groundwater
3. Cryosphere
o Frozen water sphere
Ice caps, glaciers, snowfall
Sea ice, frozen lakes and rivers
About 10% of global fresh water
Interacts heavily w/ hydrosphere, paricularly in glacial periods
High albedo efect (currently about 30% land covered by ice/snow)
4. Lithosphere
Climate Variaions
One of a number of geochemical cycles that describe the transport of various elements through
the components of the climate system
o Cycles transport molecules across component interfaces through biological and chemical
reacions
One example is the acidiicaion of ocean water w/ increased CO2 uptake from
atmosphere
o Residence ime – length of ime a certain molecule states in a reservoir
Atmospheric carbon levels are currently ~370 ppm
Increased by about 33% since industrial revoluion about 130 years ago
Moderated parially by new plant growth and oceans which are uptaking CO2
Natural carbon cycle
o Volcanism, weathering, sea-air gas exchange
Climate-Feedback Mechanisms
Humans have been modifying the environment over extensive areas for thousands of years
o By using ire and overgrazing of marginal lands
o Most hypotheses of climate change are controversial
Atmospheric CO2 measurements show that it’s been increasing since at least the
mid-1950s
Ice core CO2 records conirm that the trend began in the 1800s
Clearing land for agriculture
Industrial revoluion
Record of climate shows a ~1 degree C warming over last century
The atmosphere response
o Global temperatures have increased
Balance of evidence suggests a human inluence
Globally avg surface temp is projected to increase by 1.4-5.8 degrees C by 2100
However, climate models are diicult to predict long-term
Summer arcic sea-ice has decreased substanially
Possible consequences of global warming
o Altered distribuion of the world’s water resources and the efect on producivity of
agricultural regions
o Rise in global mean sea level
o Changing weather paterns
Strong evidence supports the idea that anthropogenic CO2 is warming the planet
Future climate changes in a warming environment are sill uncertain:
o Sea level rise certain (but how much by when?, prepare for ~1m)
o SE precipitaion will become more erraic (water resource management)
o Prospect for increasing hurricane acivity? Warmer water = more energy for hurricanes