APES - Climate Change #1 Flashcards
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| 5638675033 | H2O | Most abundant greenhouse gas (mostly natural sources of this) | 0 | |
| 5638688369 | CFC | Greenhouse gas (strongest in terms of ability to absorb infrared radiation) that also happens to cause ozone depletion. | 1 | |
| 5638693203 | CO2 | Most abundant greenhouse gas that comes from burning fossil fuels and aerobic decomposition. | 2 | |
| 5638700758 | CH4 | Greenhouse gas that is stronger than CO2 and comes from burning fossil fuels, leaking pipelines, fracking, cows, wetlands (due to anaerobic decomposition), and landfills (due to anaerobic decomposition) | 3 | |
| 5638735102 | N2O | A greenhouse gas that is a natural part of the nitrogen cycle and is release from soil and water through denitrification. Also, increase in air with modern farming. | 4 | |
| 5647063925 | O3 | A greenhouse gas that isn't often discussed but it is also the biggest part of photochemical smog in the troposphere. If present in the stratosphere it is "good up high" to protect us from dangerous UV radiation. | 5 | |
| 5647077566 | Kyoto Treaty (1997) | A legally binding international treaty where countries agreed to decrease their carbon emission to 5% below 1980 levels by 2012. The U.S. did not ratify mainly b/c China wasn't forced to make cuts. | 6 | |
| 5647084584 | Paris Climate Agreement (2015) | A pledge by over 150 countries to significantly decrease their carbon emissions by 2030. (U.S. is the only one that refuses to | 7 | |
| 5647109370 | Montreal Protocol | A very successful international treaty that phased out then banned CFC's and other ozone-depleting chemicals in order to restore the ozone layer. | 8 | |
| 5647178726 | Oxygen isotopes in ice cores from near the poles. | What scientists examine in order to estimate the temperature in the last 400,000 years. | 9 | |
| 5647196233 | 2 degrees C (3.6 degrees F) increase | The amount of warming (over pre-Industrial average) that scientists think we need to stay below. | 10 | |
| 5647207068 | Up to 6 degrees C (11 degrees F) increase | The amount of warming scientists say we may produce by 2100 if we don't make significant cuts in greenhouse gas emissions. | 11 | |
| 5647243933 | Positive feedback | The type of feedback involved when warming causes more rapid decomposition which releases more CO2 and CH4 causing more warming. Or warming causes more water evaporation then H2O causes more warming. | 12 | |
| 5647252651 | Negative feedback | The type of feedback involved when warming causes H2O evaporation creating more white clouds. These act to reflect sunlight back into space (increase in albedo) creating a cooling effect. | 13 | |
| 8327566343 | Milankovitch Cycles | The likely cause of the dramatic change between glacial and interglacial periods over the last 800,000 years or so. | 14 | |
| 8327597722 | Ocean acidification | Increasing carbon in the ocean has resulted in a decrease in the ability to make calcium carbonate shells for many marine organisms. This growing problem could have dramatic impacts on the ocean food web. (not related to acid rain) | 15 | |
| 8327623233 | Likely impacts of climate change | Increase in droughts in some areas leading to increased chance of wildfires, increased rainfall in others (more H2O in air). Increase in deadly heat waves in some places. Increase in insects that carry disease (winters no longer kill off most), increase in storm intensity, coral bleaching with warmer ocean water, sea level rise will displace wildlife and humans and have a large economic impact. Slow down of ocean currents could cause parts of Europe to cool. | 16 |