GEOL 1001 Lecture : Last Lecture
Document Summary
The climate system includes the: atmosphere, hydrosphere, geosphere, biosphere, cryosphere (ice and snow) Components of the climate system: hydrosphere, global ocean (circulates by two major current systems, continental water (lakes, rivers, and ground water, cryosphere. Ice caps and glaciers: floating ice, sea ice, and frozen lakes and rivers, geosphere. Climate models and their limitations: general circulation model, complex and subject to errors. Several explanations have been formulated to explain climate change, including: plate tectonics, variations in earth"s orbit eccentricity, obliquity, and precession, volcanic activity, changes in the sun"s output associated with sunspots. Milankovitch cycles: eccentricity (100,000 years, tilt (41,000 years) The carbon cycle: carbon dioxide levels in atmosphere, 280 parts per million before the industrial revolution, 370 parts per million in 2000, should be higher something is removing some of the carbon. Geochemical cycles how they work: geochemical reservoirs, residence time, chemical reactions. Example- the calcium cycle: calcium enters reservoir through rivers of the world and dust.
