Functions Of The Earth's Climate System

The atmosphere in a place and time in regards to heat, dryness, sunshine, wind, rain, etc.

What are the different layers of the atmosphere? What are some characteristics of each? I mentioned in class that you should focus on knowing about two of these atmospheric layers in particular.

It is stratified in temperature, with warmer layers higher up and cooler layers farther down. This is in contrast to the troposphere near the Earth's surface, which is cooler higher up and warmer farther down. The border of the troposphere and stratosphere, the tropopause, is marked by where this inversion begins, which in terms of atmospheric thermodynamics is the equilibrium level. The stratosphere is situated between about 6 mi and 30 mi altitude above the surface at moderate latitudes, while at the poles it starts at about 5 mi altitude.

Climate change can be defined as a significant change in the “average weather” of any given region sustained in the long-term and can be caused by Earth 's dynamic processes, external forces including variations in sunlight intensity, and also by human activities (USEPA, 2014).

When discussing atmospheric conditions over a long period of time (e.g. for several years) at a particular surface area, the climate is being analysed. It is distinct from weather in that climate focuses on a longer period of time over a specific area while

The Earth absorbs solar energy and most of this energy is later released as heat, or IR radiation.

A greenhouse gas is a gas in the atmosphere that absorbs radiation emitted by the Earth’s surface. There are several greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), water vapor (H2O) and nitrous oxide (N2O). These gases trap heat and warm the surface and atmosphere of the Earth. When the atmosphere has increase amounts of greenhouse gases, it traps more and more heat (EPA, 2015).

The United States Environmental Association (EPA) has listed natural changes in greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations, volcanic eruptions and solar energy as some of the natural causes of climate changes on earth. However, the recent climate changes cannot be explained by natural causes alone. Research indicates that natural causes are very unlikely to explain most observed warming, especially warming since the mid-20th century. Rather, human activities can very likely explain most of that warming. These human activities are the causes of anthropogenic climate changes. The article also adds “Since the Industrial Revolution began around 1750; human activities have contributed substantially to climate change by the addition of CO2 and other heat-trapping gases to the atmosphere. These greenhouse gas emissions have increased the greenhouse effect has caused Earth’s surface temperature to rise. This is the primary reason which is affecting the amount and rate of climate change is greenhouse gas emissions from the burning of fossil fuels.” Other activities that initiate climate changes are caused by the gas emissions from fossil fuels used to heat homes, petroleum based fuels like gasoline and diesel used for transportation and electricity production which comes from burning fossil fuels.

1) The ozone layer is a layer of ozone high up in the Earth's atmosphere stratosphere.

atmosphere. In the first place a stream of cold and dry air and one of hot and humid air

1. Heat passes through the atmosphere by way of radiation, conduction, and convection. Radiation is heat provided directly by the sun Radiant energy is another word for radiation. Energy from the sun travels on a direct path through space to earth in the form of electromagnetic waves. For example, that heat you feel from the sun while outside when it is blazing down on you is actually radiation. Conduction is the movement of heat inside of an object on a molecular level. When met by a heated outside influence, the atoms begin to vibrate as they warm. As they vibrate, they bounce off one another and each atom passes heat on to another every time they touch. While this is happening, the entire object becomes heated. For example, think of a teakettle. By itself, the kettle remains quite cool. As someone places the kettle onto a lit burner of a stove, the molecules that make up kettle begin to shake rapidly. As the particles run into one another, the entire kettle becomes

Atmosphere is a gaseous envelope surrounding the earth. It is made up of a combination of water

Over the years there has been a lot of controversy on if climate change is an issue that needs to be discussed and solved. There is a constant debate among scientist on if human actions are contributing the changing of earth’s climates. Climate change is defined as the change in average weather patterns for a specific region or Earth as a whole. This could include the change in an average temperature for a city or the amount a rainfall it receives (Dunbar, 2015). The main difference between weather and climate is the period of time specific patterns are recorded. Weather patterns are looked at over a much shorter period of time, meaning that these patterns are going to be more sporadic and change more frequently. Climate on the other had is recorded over a much longer period of time and usually show less drastic changes in patterns when compared to weather. Some people may argue that climate change is not an issue because Earth’s temperature is always changing do to natural effects. What people don’t realize is that human activity has effected the rate that earth’s temperature is changing, and just the smallest changes can lead to drastic consequences (Dunbar, 2015).

The earth’s climate is predicted to change because human activities are altering the chemical composition of the atmosphere through the buildup of greenhouse gases –– primarily carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide. The heat-trapping property of these gases is undisputed. Although uncertainty exists about exactly how earth’’s climate responds to these gases, global temperatures are rising. Go to the Emissions section for much more on greenhouse gases.

which is equal to ~200° F. This is the coldest layer in the atmosphere. The thermosphere is final thermally definitive layer of the atmosphere. In this layer, temperatures can reach up to up to 725° - 1, or 225° C. The thermosphere can be divided on the basis of chemistry. The lower thermosphere, the ionosphere extends from roughly 80 kilometers, or 50 miles, too somewhere around 300 to 600 kilometers out. After the ionosphere comes the exosphere. The exosphere is the second outer layer of the thermosphere. It lies beyond about 500-1,000 kilometers and is defined by an increasing hydrogen and helium level. This is because the oxygen and nitrogen that control the lower atmosphere have been broken into ions in the ionosphere. The layer that secedes from the exosphere is the homosphere. The homosphere is the portion of the lower atmosphere with almost no Ionization. Finally, the heterosphere, the area in which you get varying mixes of gas molecules and ions, is the last layer in the thermal structure of our atmosphere. It reaches heights between 80 and 10,000 kilometers. These layers show the thermal structure of our atmosphere.