ENVS 224 Study Guide - Midterm Guide: Water Vapor, Cool Air, Global Warming
Document Summary
Distinguish between weather and climate; understand the definition of climate change; distinguish between global climate change and global warming. Weather : condition of the atmosphere at a certain point in time. Climate : patterns over a period of 30+ years. Global climate change : consists of any changes in earth"s overall climate over. Global warming : the gradual increase of the average temperature of the earth the course of 30 or more years over the course of 30 or more years. Not involved in weather, climate or climate change. Variable components of the atmosphere- understand relative importance to weather and climate. Water vapor : important for weather and climate bc it is involved in cloud formation. Water vapor condenses to form clouds and eventually leads to precipitation. Despite being a ghg, water vapor does not drive climate change because it cannot accumulate past its saturation point climate change abundant ghg.
