ENVS 3010 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Carbon Cycle, Cell Nucleus, Earth System Research Laboratory
26 May 2016
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Document Summary
Causes of natural climate variability: tectonic-scale climatic change. Co2 dissolved in rain water forms weak acid. Gets incorporated into shells from marine animals. Deposited as sedimentary rock when they die. Large tilt = more extreme differences between summers and winters. Small tilt = less extreme differences between summers and winters. A change in how close the sun the earth is rotating: round to oval. Earth"s wobble the direction the axis i pointed: solar brightness. Observed as black spots on the sun (magnetic storms) More sun spots, the more active the sun. It is not well understood how solar activity affects climate. It does influence it, but it does not explain current increases in temperature: albedo. Deserts, and snow and ice have high albedo. Current global average temperature (2015) -> 15 c: el nino. Has to do with water temperature along the equator.
