UC Berkeley: EPS 7 Midterm 2 Flashcards
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Questions and Answers

The optical depth τ for some path of light through a gas depends on...

  • The length Δz of the light path
  • The density ρ of the gas
  • A constant k describing how readily the gas tends to absorb or scatter radiation
  • All of the above (correct)
  • Why is the sky blue?

    Gas molecules scatter short wavelengths more than long wavelengths.

    What does optically thin mean?

    Transparent

    Small optical depth τ ≪ 1 corresponds to being?

    <p>Optically thin</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What do we call the layer of the sun that emits light to space?

    <p>Photosphere</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Large optical depth τ ≫ 1 corresponds to being?

    <p>Optically thick</p> Signup and view all the answers

    From what optical depth into the Sun does the Sun emit light to space?

    <p>τ = 1</p> Signup and view all the answers

    How deep into a gas does the gas emit radiation like a solid surface?

    <p>τ = 1</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What color are clouds as seen from space?

    <p>White because water drops and ice scatter all wavelengths.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What does optically thick mean?

    <p>Opaque</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which of the following is not a greenhouse gas?

    <p>Nitrogen</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Who is credited with identifying the gases responsible for the greenhouse effect?

    <p>John Tyndall</p> Signup and view all the answers

    The effective height of long wave emission to space is at 9km where the temperature is 210K on a planet. If the lapse rate in the planet's dry atmosphere is 10K/km, what is the surface temperature?

    <p>300K</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is Rayleigh scattering?

    <p>Scattering of light caused by atmospheric particles smaller than the wavelength being scattered.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is Mie Scattering?

    <p>Scattering of light caused by atmospheric particles the same size as the wavelength being scattered.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which gas is transparent to long wave radiation?

    <p>Oxygen</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Who is credited with postulating the existence of a greenhouse effect and thereby kicking off the field of climate science?

    <p>Joseph Fourier</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What strongly absorbs long wave radiation?

    <p>Water vapor</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What gas is relatively opaque to long wave radiation?

    <p>Carbon dioxide</p> Signup and view all the answers

    In what year was the greenhouse effect postulated, thereby initiating the field of climate science?

    <p>1824</p> Signup and view all the answers

    On planet Cruftulon, the effective height of long wave emission to space is 3 km where the temperature is 310 K. If the lapse rate in this atmosphere is 10 K/km, what is the surface temperature?

    <p>340K</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What best describes the atmospheric greenhouse effect?

    <p>The atmosphere lets shortwave pass through but greenhouse gases readily absorb longwave.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which causes the greater amount of additional warming?

    <p>An increase of CO2 from 300 to 400 ppm.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    If Earth's mean temperature increases from 288 K to 291 K when CO2 is doubled from its preindustrial concentration, what mean temperature would you expect if CO2 were quadrupled from its preindustrial concentration?

    <p>294K</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the modern estimate for the likely range of Earth's climate sensitivity?

    <p>1.5 to 4.5K</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Climate sensitivity is the...

    <p>Change in temperature for a doubling of CO2.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Who is credited with alerting the public to global warming with his congressional testimony?

    <p>James Hansen</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the mean of 0, 4, and 8?

    <p>4</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What was the preindustrial concentration of carbon dioxide?

    <p>280ppm</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Who first predicted global warming and made a calculation of Earth's climate sensitivity?

    <p>Svante Arrhenius</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Why is the amount of oxygen in the atmosphere decreasing?

    <p>Oxygen is being reacted with carbon to make carbon dioxide.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the modern best estimate of Earth's climate sensitivity?

    <p>3K</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Who is credited with alerting scientists to global warming by documenting the rising concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere?

    <p>Dave Keeling</p> Signup and view all the answers

    The first prediction of global warming was made in what year?

    <p>1896</p> Signup and view all the answers

    In what year did congressional testimony first raise public awareness about global warming?

    <p>1988</p> Signup and view all the answers

    In what decade did measurements on Mauna Loa first document rising concentrations of CO2?

    <p>1960s</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What was the preindustrial CO2 concentration?

    <p>280ppm</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Equation for surface temperature is...

    <p>T + (lapse rate) x height</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What do we call a situation where wind is actively blowing sand onto and off of the sand dune, but the height of the sand dune is not changing in time?

    <p>Steady state</p> Signup and view all the answers

    A positive forcing is...

    <p>An externally applied increase in the net inflow.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What word do we ascribe to a sand dune that has no grains of sand being added or removed?

    <p>Static equilibrium</p> Signup and view all the answers

    A positive perturbation is...

    <p>An increase in the stock from its steady-state level.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    A negative forcing is...

    <p>An externally applied reduction in the net inflow.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    A negative perturbation is...

    <p>A decrease in the stock from its steady-state level.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    If the Earth suddenly becomes warmer than its steady-state temperature, the Planck feedback tends to make the Earth?

    <p>Cooler</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which of the following is not a positive feedback?

    <p>Lapse-rate feedback</p> Signup and view all the answers

    The radiative forcing by extra greenhouse gases is best described as causing...

    <p>A decrease of outgoing power.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    As the Earth warms, the atmosphere holds ____ water vapor and that tends to cause the Earth to emit ____ radiation to space.

    <p>More and less</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the Earth's biggest negative feedback?

    <p>Planck feedback</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Why does burning fossil fuels cause global warming?

    <p>The extra atmospheric CO2 lifts the τ = 1 layer to a colder level in the atmosphere.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    With respect to Earth's temperature, an increase in CO2 in the atmosphere can be described as a ____

    <p>Positive forcing</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the Earth's biggest positive feedback?

    <p>Water vapor feedback</p> Signup and view all the answers

    If the Earth suddenly becomes cooler than its steady-state temperature, the Planck feedback tends to make the Earth?

    <p>Warmer</p> Signup and view all the answers

    As the Earth cools, the atmosphere holds ____ water vapor and that tends to cause the atmosphere to emit ____ radiation to space.

    <p>Less and more</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Is the ice-albedo feedback a positive or negative feedback?

    <p>Positive</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Final perturbation = ...

    <p>Forcing / |feedback parameter|</p> Signup and view all the answers

    If a sand dune's feedback parameter is +1 kg/s/m, what is the final perturbation if a forcing of -2 kg/s is applied?

    <p>Nonsense question because the dune is unstable (positive feedback parameter)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Net rate = ...

    <p>Flow in - flow out</p> Signup and view all the answers

    If a sand dune's feedback parameter is +25 kg/s/m, by what amount does its net rate of inflow change if we apply a sudden height perturbation of −5 m?

    <p>-125 kg/s</p> Signup and view all the answers

    If a sand dune's feedback parameter is −5 kg/s/m, what happens if we suddenly add 4 m of sand?

    <p>It will go back to its original steady state</p> Signup and view all the answers

    If a sand dune's feedback parameter is −3 kg/s/m, what is the final perturbation if a forcing of −9 kg/s is applied?

    <p>-3 m</p> Signup and view all the answers

    If a sand dune's feedback parameter is +24 kg/s/m, by what amount does its net rate of inflow change if we apply a sudden height perturbation of 2 m?

    <p>48 kg/s</p> Signup and view all the answers

    If a sand dune's feedback parameter is −15 kg/s/m, by what amount does its net rate of inflow change if we apply a sudden height perturbation of 3 m?

    <p>-45 kg/s</p> Signup and view all the answers

    If a sand dune's feedback parameter is −8 kg/s/m, what is the final perturbation if a forcing of 4 kg/s is applied?

    <p>0.5 m</p> Signup and view all the answers

    If the height of a sand dune is 50 meters and the net inflow of sand is 10 kg/s, what can we say about this sand dune?

    <p>It is not in steady state</p> Signup and view all the answers

    If a sand dune's feedback parameter is +8 kg/s/m, what happens if we suddenly reduce the height of the dune by 2 m?

    <p>It will disappear</p> Signup and view all the answers

    If a sand dune's feedback parameter is −20 kg/s/m, by what amount does its net rate of inflow change if we apply a sudden height perturbation of −4 m?

    <p>80 kg/s</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Who created the cloud classification scheme that we still use today?

    <p>Luke Howard</p> Signup and view all the answers

    When was most coal formed?

    <p>Carboniferous period 300 Mya</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the empirical formula for coal?

    <p>C or CH</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Photosynthesis is best described by what chemical reaction?

    <p>CO2 + H2O + photon → O2 + CH2O</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is another way to write 300 Mya?

    <p>0.3 Gya</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Oil is...

    <p>Fossilized plankton</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is peat?

    <p>Soggy swamp soil</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is plankton?

    <p>Any collection of microscopic organisms that drift in the sea.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is 3 Gya?

    <p>3 billion years ago</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the empirical formula for gas?

    <p>CH4</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Natural gas is...

    <p>Fossilized plankton</p> Signup and view all the answers

    When was the universe formed?

    <p>14 Gya</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Atmospheric CO2 decreases most rapidly in...

    <p>Northern-Hemisphere summer</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the empirical formula for oil?

    <p>CH2</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Coal is...

    <p>Fossilized peat</p> Signup and view all the answers

    When was most oil formed?

    <p>Jurassic period 150 Mya</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Respiration is best described by what chemical reaction?

    <p>O2 + CH2O → CO2 + H2O + photon</p> Signup and view all the answers

    January is during the Southern Hemisphere's...

    <p>Summer</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which is not a contributing factor to the seasonal cycle in atmospheric CO2?

    <p>CO2 is a greenhouse gas.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    When the Northern Hemisphere is in summer, the Southern Hemisphere is in...

    <p>Winter</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What causes the seasons?

    <p>The Earth's axis of rotation is tilted with respect to Earth's orbital plane.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    When was the Earth formed?

    <p>4.5 Gya</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Roughly how much of the recoverable coal have humans used?

    <p>A few percent</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is roughly the per-capita consumption of coal in the United States?

    <p>3 tons/year</p> Signup and view all the answers

    How much fossil fuel have humans burned?

    <p>400 GtC</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Roughly at what rate are the ocean and plants absorbing CO2 at present?

    <p>5 GtC/year</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Roughly how much of the recoverable oil have humans used?

    <p>Half</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is a GtC?

    <p>A billion tons of carbon</p> Signup and view all the answers

    How many GtC were there in the preindustrial atmosphere?

    <p>600 GtC</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the current concentration of atmospheric CO2?

    <p>400 ppm</p> Signup and view all the answers

    If the concentration of atmospheric CO2 increases by 100 ppm, roughly how much more carbon is there in the atmosphere?

    <p>200 GtC</p> Signup and view all the answers

    In a business-as-usual scenario, what is a likely concentration of atmospheric CO2 in the year 2100?

    <p>1000 ppm</p> Signup and view all the answers

    If the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere increases by 100 GtC, roughly how much does the concentration of CO2 increase?

    <p>50 ppm</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Study Notes

    Optical Depth and Light Interaction

    • Optical depth (τ) is determined by the light path length (Δz), gas density (ρ), and a constant (k) specific to the gas's absorption/scattering characteristics.
    • Optically thin means the medium is transparent; this corresponds to a small optical depth (τ ≪ 1).
    • Optically thick means the medium is opaque, corresponding to a large optical depth (τ ≫ 1).

    Atmospheric Phenomena

    • The sky's blue color results from gas molecules scattering short wavelengths of light more effectively than long wavelengths.
    • Clouds appear white from space as water drops and ice scatter all wavelengths of light.

    Greenhouse Effect and Climate Science

    • The layer of the sun emitting light into space is called the photosphere; emission occurs at an optical depth of τ = 1.
    • John Tyndall identified gases responsible for the greenhouse effect; Joseph Fourier postulated the greenhouse effect's existence, founding climate science.
    • Major greenhouse gases include water vapor and carbon dioxide, with nitrogen not classified as a greenhouse gas.

    Climate Sensitivity and Global Warming

    • Climate sensitivity measures temperature changes in response to doubling CO2 levels; modern estimates range from 1.5 to 4.5K, with a best estimate of 3K.
    • James Hansen raised public awareness of global warming through congressional testimony in 1988; Svante Arrhenius first predicted global warming in 1896.
    • CO2 concentration preindustrial levels were around 280 ppm; currently approximately 400 ppm.

    Feedback Mechanisms

    • Positive feedback examples include water vapor feedback and ice-albedo feedback, causing amplifying warming effects.
    • Negative feedback is exemplified by Planck feedback, which acts to cool the planet in response to warming.
    • Changes in atmospheric conditions due to fossil fuel combustion elevate the CO2 layer to colder atmospheric levels, increasing greenhouse effect impact.

    Perturbations and Steady States

    • Perturbations can be either positive (adding stock to the system) or negative (removing stock); final perturbation is calculated using forcing and feedback parameters.
    • Steady state exists when inflow and outflow are balanced, while static equilibrium occurs with no change in stock.

    Carbon and Fossil Fuels

    • Fossil fuels like coal and oil originate from ancient organic materials; coal is fossilized peat formed mainly during the Carboniferous period, while oil is from fossilized plankton predominantly from the Jurassic period.
    • A significant portion of CO2 reduction occurs in the Northern Hemisphere summer, as plant photosynthesis peaks.

    Temporal Context and Historical Data

    • The Earth formed about 4.5 billion years ago (Gya), while most coal was created around 300 million years ago (Mya).
    • Humans have utilized only a few percent of recoverable coal, with per-capita consumption in the U.S. roughly 3 tons/year.
    • Approximately 400 gigatons of carbon (GtC) have been burned by humans, with current absorption rates by oceans and plants around 5 GtC/year.

    Environmental Implications

    • Future projections suggest atmospheric CO2 could reach 1000 ppm by 2100 without changes in environmental policies.
    • An increase of 100 ppm CO2 concentration correlates with an addition of about 200 GtC to the atmosphere, affecting climate conditions.

    Chemical Reactions and Biological Processes

    • Photosynthesis is represented as CO2 + H2O + photon → O2 + CH2O, while respiration reverses this process: O2 + CH2O → CO2 + H2O + photon.

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    Test your knowledge with these flashcards from UC Berkeley's EPS 7 course. This quiz covers key concepts related to optical depth, light scattering, and atmospheric phenomena. Perfect for reviewing essential terms and definitions before your midterm exam.

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