BIO 121 Chapter Notes - Chapter 14: Ocean Acidification, Global Warming Potential, Milankovitch Cycles
Document Summary
Climate -> describes an area"s long-term atmospheric conditions including temperature, precipitation, wind, humidity, etc: summarizes conditions over years, decades, or centuries. Global climate change -> describes an array of changes in aspects of earth"s climate such as temperature, precipitation, and the frequency and intensity of storms. Global warming -> refers specifically to an increase in earth"s average temperature: only one aspect of global climate change. Human activities are largely responsible for both global climate change and global warming. 3 factors influence climate: sun, atmosphere, oceans. Greenhouse gases -> atmospheric gases having three or more atoms in their molecules that absorb infrared radiation. Greenhouse effect -> after absorbing radiation, greenhouse gases re-emit infrared radiation, most of this travels back downward, warming the lower atmosphere and the surface. Global warming potential = relative ability of one molecule of a given greenhouse gas to contribute to warming. Scientists are concerned about the human generated intensification of the greenhouse effect.
