EART 2 Lecture Notes - Lecture 19: Dune, Deep Sea, Nonlinear System
Document Summary
Solar radiation coming in, of energy that comes into earth"s atmosphere reaches surface, scatters back into space. Without heat from sun all water on earth would be frozen. So, trace gas molecules play a big role in absorption of infrared radiation both incident from the sun and radiated from the warm earth. If you increase the amount of greenhouse gasses you might heat up the lower atmosphere. Co2+h20 c-h-o (plant parts) + o2. C-h-o + o2 co2 + co + h2o. Co2 level in atmosphere varies seasonally, but is increasing with time. Summer = plants grow, use co2 for photosynthesis co2 levels decrease. Winter = plants die, no longer using co2 for photosynthesis co2 levels increase. Co2 has increased since the industrial revolution. Greenhouse gas changes over the past 1,000 years: the human factor. Exponential rise in greenhouse gases begins at the start of the industrial revolution. Rise in sea level in nw europe over 17,000 years.
