GGR101H1 Lecture Notes - Plate Tectonics, Atmospheric Circulation, Atmospheric Chemistry
Document Summary
It produces a modest greenhouse effect because of small, but significant concentrations of co2, ch4 and other gasses: our hydrosphere is unique in our solar system. Water can exist in gaseous, liquid and solid forms and readily exchanges between the three states. Its geography has changed constantly: the biomes that we are familiar with the boreal forest, prairie grasslands, tundra, etc. are recent phenomena, the normal" warm world is mostly tropical/subtropical. It is not only determined by the two systems ( e. g volcanoes and the climate relationship between the two and the effects it had on the climate. It"s driven by energy (open), but the amount of water in the earth system is finite (closed). Small subsystems a lake, a forest, a field,etc. are open. Feedback and equilibrium: the behaviour of systems is determined by feedback. In many natural systems, the interaction of physical and biological variables tends to keep the system in some general balance or equilibrium.
