GGR314H1 Chapter Notes - Chapter 2: Overfishing, Ocean Acidification, Photosynthesis
13 Sep 2016
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Document Summary
Earth"s climate results from a complex interconnected system of stocks, flows, feedbacks and delays. Humans do not have a particularly good intuition about how systems function; systems thinking takes deliberate practice. Processes in the atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere, geosphere and anthroposphere all influence energy flows in earth"s climate system. Thinking about climate in a systems context can give us insights into the effects of particular actions and the time it takes for earth"s climate to respond. How systems work is crucial for understanding earth"s climate. Stock: amount, number or quantity of something residing in some particular place in the system at a particular time. Things flow in, out and through systems: rates at which things enter and exit = inflows and outflows, always have an element of time (per min, sec, hr, etc. ) o. If inflow is greater than outflow, the stock will grow over time (and vice versa) If stock and one of flows follow same pattern they are correlated.
