Questions tagged [climate-change]
Questions about changes of the climate system, including questions about global warming.
6
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1answer
44 views
How can half a degree of average temperature result in such devastating impact on coral reefs?
Yesterday I read a number of news stories about the new IPCC's (International Panel on Climate Change) report regarding the current state of global warming. It reported that we are on track for ...
5
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2answers
66 views
Will a country that cares for its environment be affected by climate change due to other countries' activities?
Let's say my country is very environment conscious, has lots of trees and animals, protects the forest, uses clean/green energy, and has all kinds of environment friendly policies you can imagine. ...
0
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1answer
41 views
Over which surface will the albedo changes due to clear and overcast skies have the greatest impact?
With respect to climate change, will the changes in albedos due to clear skies and overcast skies have the greatest impact on incoming solar radiation over ocean, sea ice, or land?
My thoughts:
On a ...
1
vote
0answers
18 views
Clarification: Effective temperature, emission temperature, and effective emission temperature
This terminology is quite confusing to me. Are effective temperature, emission temperature, and effective emission temperature the same thing? Where does this occur, at the surface, or at some ...
2
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0answers
53 views
Optical Thickness of the Atmosphere
Homework question:
Show that the absorption optical thickness of the atmosphere
at pressure $p$ (i.e., between $p$ and the top of the atmosphere) as a function of the mixing ratio
of the ...
1
vote
1answer
28 views
Do man-made machines take the Natural Nitrogen out of the atmosphere and in turn cause global warming?
I read in Wikipedia that, "Natural Nitrogen, Dinitrogen forms about 78% of Earth's atmosphere. Dinitrogen is the most abundant uncombined element in the atmosphere."
The question is "Do man-made ...
4
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0answers
30 views
How is the vertical distribution of water vapor changing?
In this publication about data assimilation and observations (paywall alert) in the chapter General Concepts in Meteorology and Dynamics (by Andrew Charlton-Perez, William Lahoz, Richard Swinbank, ...
3
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0answers
34 views
How Warm would the Earth have to get for any crops to grow in the Antarctic Peninsula/South Orkneys
I found some little silly speculation about settling Antarctica when it warms up, and I wanted to know the minimum amount the world would have to warm up in order for just the most equator-ward ...
6
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1answer
88 views
Does Earth risk losing its oceans to space due to global warming?
I read that we are facing the very real possibility of Earth's average temperature rising by more that 2 degrees Celsius by the end of the century.
As I understand our planet is constantly loosing ...
1
vote
1answer
68 views
Could glacial melt alter plate tectonic movement?
Let's say some event caused runaway glacial melt, and removed half of the ice currently locked away in specific areas of the planet. Would the significant weight changes on various plates and fault ...
6
votes
1answer
79 views
Geological evidence about climate change: has there ever been a period with a rate of climate change as great as it is today?
Most statistics about climate change are based on climate data over the last 150 year (as long as records have been kept). This seems irrelevant in terms of the geological time scale of temperature ...
5
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2answers
59 views
How would Earth map look like if all ice melts?
Is there somewhere a map which indicates which areas and cities become sea?
0
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0answers
34 views
Human activities in Prehistory, and Global Cooling
If we assume that nowadays the humans are responsible of the global warming by the emission of too much CO$_2$ in the atmosphere, why we should not assume that
the Ice Ages occurred because the ...
1
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1answer
41 views
Equations for Global Temperature Models
I'm a volunteer for 350, a grassroots organization that is fighting against climate change through education and advocacy. We're all volunteers, not climate scientists, and I'm looking for some ...
2
votes
1answer
50 views
What was the percentage of land mass in prehistoric times when temperatures were high enough that we had no ice caps?
I grew curious after watching a presentation about the large creatures of prehistoric times. One of the theories cited about why creatures were so big was the increased oxygen in the atmosphere due to ...
40
votes
3answers
7k views
How do 'greenhouse gases' let heat in, but not let it out?
That honestly doesn't make any sense to me. How could heat pass through a gas one way but not the other? Its not like our upper atmostphere has a bunch of doors that can only open one way. To me, that ...
4
votes
1answer
68 views
Was climate change inevitable anyway, or is there more to it?
Climate change is now one of the greatest challenges facing humanity, but it seems that we have been here before; if we look at the world's climate over a much longer period than 150 years.
During ...
1
vote
1answer
52 views
Intuition on overall effects from climate change under different levels of warming
I am not a climate scientist, but I have been reading climate literature lately for my own education. Much of it discusses various effects that could be expected with different levels of warming, ...
1
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0answers
22 views
Relationship between Earth's heat dispersion rate (average surface air temperature from summer to winter time) and greenhouse gases
What is the most effective way to study global warming and the role of greenhouse gases using a methodology based on analyzing the Earth's seasonal variations (summer-winter) of the temperature of ...
0
votes
1answer
40 views
In terms of the greenhouse effect, what is the Earth's heat capacity?
(Question moved from physics to earth science)
Has the earth’s atmosphere reached an equilibrium at which the input radiation energy roughly equals its output, or is the output significantly lower ...
2
votes
1answer
118 views
To what year do we need to return to prevent climate change?
I regularly see articles like this where a country has or has committed to reduce their carbon emissions by a certain percentage in relation to a certain year. That article mentions that Scotland has ...
1
vote
1answer
62 views
Does “Arctic Greening” mean an increase in the spatial extent of vegetation, an increase in particular types of vegetation, or both?
I am trying to study the impact of biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs) on the atmospheric chemistry of the Arctic Region which has been said to be "greening", by taking HCHO as a proxy.
1
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2answers
64 views
If plants convert a greenhouse gas into a non-greenhouse gas, do they cool?
Plants turn Carbon Dioxide into Oxygen, that is not a greenhouse gas. But Carbon Dioxide is.
Therefore, wouldn't plants cool the area?
4
votes
1answer
561 views
Every 202,500 years, Earth wanders in a new direction; does it affect climate?
I refer to this article on nytimes.com: Every 202,500 Years, Earth Wanders in a New Direction
TLDR: Scientists believe the earth's orbit oscillates between circular
and more elliptical due to the ...
3
votes
1answer
56 views
Does global warming affect tsunamis?
I have been doing some research into global warming, and I was curious as to whether or not increasing the temperature of the oceans would affect tsunamis to any significant degree.
My gut tells me ...
2
votes
0answers
39 views
Quantifying long term melt record on glacier surface
I intend to create a long term melt record on a glacier surface. What are parameters required to efficiently calculate the same using satellite, weather station observations & reanalysis datasets (...
1
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0answers
40 views
Global climate change
We all know that global climate change is becoming a big real change that is affecting the world's ecosystems and life cycles.
Will global climate change affect the hot areas of the world or deserts ...
1
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0answers
24 views
Where I find the info about what plants, trees can be planted in a locality
I would like to know what plants, trees can be planted in a locality. I wanted this info around the globe based on latitude and longitude or by some other means. Is there a source organisation/source ...
1
vote
0answers
16 views
Trying to calculate the percentage of carbon emissions that is offset by 45,000 acres?
In my problem there is an average net ecosystem production rate of:
0.25kgC/m2/yr
Am asked:
a. What percentage of 140,000.000tons/yr would be offset from reforesting 45,000 acres?
...
0
votes
2answers
78 views
What does 5,000,000 tonnes of CO2 look like?
Reading a news article Probe after Gorgon releases millions of tonnes of greenhouse gas, I am confused. CO2 is a gas, right? Gases are not very dense, right? So what does 5MT of the stuff look like?...
0
votes
2answers
28 views
Calculating exoatmosphereic flux and figuring out amount of SW Earth will absorb at an albedo of 0.3?
Am working through two problems which I am not sure if I am handling correctly. Here they are:
a. If the Earth decreases its distance from the sun by 0.03
Astronomical Units (AU), what will be ...
-1
votes
1answer
67 views
Global warming versus nuclear half-lives [closed]
What is (roughly) the half-life of the materials used/generated in a nuclear plant, if that plant goes into meltdown? Could the world bounce back from global warming in a shorter time period than that ...
5
votes
2answers
109 views
Winter in the Northern Hemisphere in July? Can anyone explain it?
The July 2007 issue of the National Geographic Magazine dedicates several pages to "Climate Change" and "Global Warming". The author explains in detail the Earth's movements and how they provoke ...
1
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1answer
32 views
How sustainable is timber housing? [closed]
Recently I watch a video on which they made a pretty impressively large building complex for housing out of timber. And they were saying that timber is sustainable compared to concrete and such. From ...
1
vote
0answers
32 views
Gulf stream weakening affects on both ends of the system - Europe and Carribean
There have been reports about the Gulf Stream weakening. Everything I have read about this concentrates on the (possibly substantial) cooling this would cause in Europe.
If this weakening occurs, ...
0
votes
0answers
33 views
How does one analyze this graph on atmospheric C02 data obtained from the Mauna Loa observatory?
Graph I am analyzing:
What I am trying to figure out from the graph is:
What is the range for CO2 over the record (approximation)
What are the major forcings for the overall trend in this record
...
1
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0answers
23 views
How to analyze this data showing atomospheric CO2, CH4 and tempertures obtain from an ice sample?
Here is the chart:
My questions are:
Is the atmosphere in equilibrium over this record?
how would I determine what the maximum and minimum values for each
record is (approximation).
Is there a ...
5
votes
0answers
56 views
Will the recent findings regarding nitrogen rock weathering alter climate change projections?
I've seen a few articles lately about research published in the Journal Science that concludes that 26% of the nitrogen in the ecosystem is from rock weathering. These results seem to fill in a ...
23
votes
2answers
6k views
“Five of the Solomon Islands disappeared” due to sea level rise, how is this possible so quickly?
The text of the introduction to the BBC Podcast Sea Levels Rise; The Compass, Living on the Edge Episode 1 of 4 says:
Five of the Solomon Islands have disappeared, many more are becoming ...
6
votes
1answer
90 views
Carbon's role in ocean acidification
This might seem like a basic question, but I'm a little confused about the effects on ocean acidification of different carbon compounds.
I have heard that increased levels of carbon dioxide in the ...
8
votes
1answer
119 views
Is altitude of everything decreasing due to sea level rise?
We know that sea level is rising, though some people say climate change is fake.
Altitude is defined as the height of something measured from sea level.
Since sea level is increasing, and the ...
5
votes
1answer
36 views
Why the $\delta \, ^{18}\text{O}$ in foraminifera shells decrease with temperature even if the oceanic $\delta \, ^{18}\text{O}$ stay constant?
I understand why foram shells contain more $^{18}\text{O}$ when there are ice sheets present, since $^{16}\text{O}$ evaporates more readily and gets trapped in the ice, increasing the relative ...
1
vote
1answer
93 views
Understanding a diagram of Earth's radiation balance
Trying to understand this image. Can someone tell me if I have the right reasoning here:
Sun has 100% SW shooting to earth
30% of that 100% is reflected by clouds
70% remains
Of that 70%, 45% of that ...
3
votes
0answers
57 views
What is the general procedure to run WRF-chem with chen_opt=16
Is there anybody who has run WRF-chem with chem_opt=16 successfully to simulate the green house gases? According to the User guide, it can be done in this way. But ...
7
votes
1answer
181 views
Are we now and/or have we been in the RCP8.5 scenario?
Is it generally understood that we (globally) have been living in an RCP8.5 scenario over the past 7-8 years?
Such that a predictive climate model using RCP8.5 assumptions that was run circa 2011 can ...
2
votes
1answer
79 views
Are these the net radiation at surface, and the complete energy balance at surface?
Could not find these in my book but I found something I think might them online (is this correct):
Net radiation balance:
R_NET = SW↓ - SW↑ + LW↓ - LW↑
Complete energy balance:
R_NET - G = H + LE
...
4
votes
0answers
60 views
How to relate RCM/GCM RCP climate projections to observational data for use in a hydrologic model
As a (smaller) part of my research, I want to look at climate projection data and how that might influence the hydrology within a study catchment in Rajasthan, India. For "the present day" climate, I ...
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0answers
39 views
What is radiative forcing and climate feedback?
I understand what a positive and negative feedback loops are but not radiative forcing and climate feedback. With that in mind does increases in C02 lead to a positive water vapor feedback that ...
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0answers
53 views
Correlation between temperature and precipitable water in the tropical climate
Air temperature is known to correlate well with precipitable water at higher latitudes. What are the likely factors that degrade the correlation in the tropical monsoon climate?
1
vote
1answer
54 views
How much warming there was over time for a specific month?
I'm calculating warming trends in specific places and periods of time, that are related to the time a migratory bird spends in a stopover. But using different methods I got different results and I'm ...
