EARTHSC 3CC3 Final: 3CC3 Definitions
20 Dec 2017
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Document Summary
Climate - fluctuations in earth"s air, water, ice, vegetation and other properties on time scales longer than 1 year. Weather- fluctuations in temperature, precipitation, and winds on a timescale of less than a year. Climate science - the study of climate change and their causes. Theory - hypothesis= an explanation of observations based on physical principles. A theory = a hypothesis that has survived repeated testing. Response - forcing = any process or disturbance that drives changes in climate vs. Response = any change in the climate system caused by a change in climate forcing. Response time - the time required for a climatic response to move a defined fraction of the way of its existing value to the value it would hold at its full equilibrium response. Climate archives - contains information about past climate changes, examples include: sediments, corals, ice cores, and tree rings.
