ATOC 184 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Subduction, General Circulation Model, Scientific Reports
9 Jul 2018
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Document Summary
Anthropocene: a human-dominated geological epoch dating back to the beginning of the industrial revolution. Solar radiation is the primary source of energy for the ocean-atmosphere system. Over a year, the energy balance at the top of the atmosphere is zero (steady-state) Incident energy that comes from the sun is either reflected or absorbed and then returned to space. It is returned to space through reflection, conduction, evaporation, and infrared radiation. Part of the emitted long-wave radiations are intercepted by molecules of atmospheric gases. Some of these radiations are reradiated to earth"s surface which results in heating earth"s surface. Greenhouse gases: carbon dioxide, water vapor, methane, chlorofluorocarbons, etc. Greenhouse effect results in an energy imbalance. Makes earth a habitable planet (would be -18 without) The addition of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere results in an intensification of greenhouse effect. This is the ultimate cause of global warming. The increase of co 2 concentration has been very fast since 19th century.
