ENH 617 Final: Ecology Final Exam notes

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Is expressed by a combination of several elements such as an areas short term temp, precipitation and humidity, winds and air pressure cloud cover etc. over a period of hours or days. Climate: average day yo day weather and seasonal conditions in a speci c place. Climate change: long period shift in climate in a location or planet measured by average weather conditioned (3 decades to thousands of years) Global warming: adresses only surface temperature readings doesnt address weather conditions and isn"t about uniform global warming thru out world. Uneven heating of the earths surface by the sun. Rotation of the earth on its axis. Properties of air, water and land: greenhouse gases (co2, ch4, no) are naturally present at low concentrations in the lower atmosphere and keep the earths mean surface temperature at around 15c at higher concentrations. Greenhouse effect: role of atmosphere in insulating the planet from heat loss.