ATMS 111 MIDTERM EXAM WITH
COMPLETE SOLUTION
What is climate/weather? - ANSWER Weather varies from one day to the
next.
Climate: averages of the weather over a longer period of time (30 -+ years).
Example: You put on clothes for the weather: should I pack an umbrella? Buy
clothes for the climate. Weather is like your mood, climate is like your
personality
Both weather and climate can be predicted
Weather is he individual storms.
Climate is the fact that almost all of them hit western WA.
What factors influence the climate? - ANSWER Proximity to bodies of water
Distance from equator (amount of sunshine)
Land cover
Pollution
Population (human activities, greenhouse gases)
Biology in area
Topography
Sunshine (and relatedly, latitude)
,Atmosphere from space - ANSWER 90% of the mass of the atmosphere is
within 16 km (10 miles) of the surface)
Proportionally, the atmosphere is thinner than a sheet of paper wrapped
around a soccer ball
A thin atmosphere means we can change atmospheric composition.
Keeling curve - ANSWER first measured by David Keeling in March 58.
Measurement of atmospheric CO2. It has been increasing since 1960.
Measured in parts per million. Was taken in Mauna Loa, and this gives us a
good representation of what is going on globally, because it doesn't have
huge factories, so those don't influence the results.
Human induced due to:
Fossil fuel burning (90%)
Deforestation (10%)
We look back to see how climate changed in the past - ANSWER -- Natural
variation over ice age cycles: 180-280 ppm. We're over 400 ppm now.
-- Current rate of increase is 100-1000 times faster than nature can change
CO2. Not like the rest of the ice age cycles.
-- CO2 is a greenhouse gas. Greenhouse gases slow heat loss to space. Has
been known for a long time (J Fourier in 1824).
-- Sun heats the Earth. Greenhouse gases cause the Earth to be a lot warmer
than if there was no atmosphere. Natural greenhouse effect makes the Earth
an average temperature of 32 C.
Has it been getting warmer?
,-- Has warmed 1 degree celsius in the last 130 years. Especially rapid
warming since the mid 70s. Last few years shattered records. Has been
accelerating a lot. Last 3 years were the warmest on record.
the earth is warming - ANSWER Warming has happened almost everywhere.
Northern high latitudes have warmed the most.
Land has warmed more than ocean.
What else is happening apart from temperatures changing? - ANSWER Arctic
sea ice is melting
The ocean is gaining heat
Sea level is rising (20cm= 8 inches)
Also glaciers are melting, humidity is increasing, species are shifting.
Are humans the cause? - ANSWER Natural causes: volcanic and solar
Human: greenhouse gases, ozone depletion, NO2
What's predicted for the future? - ANSWER A fundamental uncertainty is
future human behavior
WIll we reduce emissions or will we burn fossil fuels more rapidly?
Will developing countries use the same greenhouse-gas emitting fuels as we
have as they use more energy?
--No doubt about these things:
The greenhouse effect
That CO2 and other greenhouse gases are increasing due to people
, That temperatures are rising
--Skeptics tend to argue for:
"Negative feedbacks" that keep the temperature changes small
Or that warming wouldn't be such a bad thing
Or about flaws in a particular study
-- Be wary:
Much of "the debate" (on both sides) is not very scientific
Let's sort out fact from fiction.
Paleoclimate: - ANSWER Ice ages and hot climates of the past like the
cretaceous.
Man-made volcanoes and climate - ANSWER Geoengineering: using
technology to cool the Earth
People are considering things like
Putting volcanic type particles into the stratosphere
Space mirrors
Cloud machines
Fake trees
Climate and forests: - ANSWER Effect of burning tropical rainforests on
climate
And the effect of climate change on rainforests
Average global temperature: - ANSWER The global temperature record
COMPLETE SOLUTION
What is climate/weather? - ANSWER Weather varies from one day to the
next.
Climate: averages of the weather over a longer period of time (30 -+ years).
Example: You put on clothes for the weather: should I pack an umbrella? Buy
clothes for the climate. Weather is like your mood, climate is like your
personality
Both weather and climate can be predicted
Weather is he individual storms.
Climate is the fact that almost all of them hit western WA.
What factors influence the climate? - ANSWER Proximity to bodies of water
Distance from equator (amount of sunshine)
Land cover
Pollution
Population (human activities, greenhouse gases)
Biology in area
Topography
Sunshine (and relatedly, latitude)
,Atmosphere from space - ANSWER 90% of the mass of the atmosphere is
within 16 km (10 miles) of the surface)
Proportionally, the atmosphere is thinner than a sheet of paper wrapped
around a soccer ball
A thin atmosphere means we can change atmospheric composition.
Keeling curve - ANSWER first measured by David Keeling in March 58.
Measurement of atmospheric CO2. It has been increasing since 1960.
Measured in parts per million. Was taken in Mauna Loa, and this gives us a
good representation of what is going on globally, because it doesn't have
huge factories, so those don't influence the results.
Human induced due to:
Fossil fuel burning (90%)
Deforestation (10%)
We look back to see how climate changed in the past - ANSWER -- Natural
variation over ice age cycles: 180-280 ppm. We're over 400 ppm now.
-- Current rate of increase is 100-1000 times faster than nature can change
CO2. Not like the rest of the ice age cycles.
-- CO2 is a greenhouse gas. Greenhouse gases slow heat loss to space. Has
been known for a long time (J Fourier in 1824).
-- Sun heats the Earth. Greenhouse gases cause the Earth to be a lot warmer
than if there was no atmosphere. Natural greenhouse effect makes the Earth
an average temperature of 32 C.
Has it been getting warmer?
,-- Has warmed 1 degree celsius in the last 130 years. Especially rapid
warming since the mid 70s. Last few years shattered records. Has been
accelerating a lot. Last 3 years were the warmest on record.
the earth is warming - ANSWER Warming has happened almost everywhere.
Northern high latitudes have warmed the most.
Land has warmed more than ocean.
What else is happening apart from temperatures changing? - ANSWER Arctic
sea ice is melting
The ocean is gaining heat
Sea level is rising (20cm= 8 inches)
Also glaciers are melting, humidity is increasing, species are shifting.
Are humans the cause? - ANSWER Natural causes: volcanic and solar
Human: greenhouse gases, ozone depletion, NO2
What's predicted for the future? - ANSWER A fundamental uncertainty is
future human behavior
WIll we reduce emissions or will we burn fossil fuels more rapidly?
Will developing countries use the same greenhouse-gas emitting fuels as we
have as they use more energy?
--No doubt about these things:
The greenhouse effect
That CO2 and other greenhouse gases are increasing due to people
, That temperatures are rising
--Skeptics tend to argue for:
"Negative feedbacks" that keep the temperature changes small
Or that warming wouldn't be such a bad thing
Or about flaws in a particular study
-- Be wary:
Much of "the debate" (on both sides) is not very scientific
Let's sort out fact from fiction.
Paleoclimate: - ANSWER Ice ages and hot climates of the past like the
cretaceous.
Man-made volcanoes and climate - ANSWER Geoengineering: using
technology to cool the Earth
People are considering things like
Putting volcanic type particles into the stratosphere
Space mirrors
Cloud machines
Fake trees
Climate and forests: - ANSWER Effect of burning tropical rainforests on
climate
And the effect of climate change on rainforests
Average global temperature: - ANSWER The global temperature record
