Climate Change and Adaptation

Module 1: Climate System

Dr. HAK Danet

Lesson overview

The earth climate system consists of four majors

components including
1) the atmosphere, 2) the hydrosphere,
3) the cryosphere, 4). the lithosphere,
5) the biosphere , and the interaction among
these components.
Earth climate system evolves in time under
influence of its own internal dynamic and
external forcing.
Variation of input solar radiation and change in
the component of the earth climate system lead
to variation in earth energy balance.

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Lesson Objectives

By the end of this module, students should be

able to:
► Define what earth climate system is.
► Describe in detail about each of primary
component of the earth climate system
► Explain how each components interact

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1. Introduction to earth Climate system
What is climate system?

“The climate system is the highly complex system consisting

of five major components: the atmosphere, the
hydrosphere, the cryosphere, the lithosphere and the
biosphere, and the interactions between them. The climate
system evolves in time under the influence of its own
internal dynamics and because of external forcings such as
volcanic eruptions, solar variations and anthropogenic
forcings such as the changing composition of the
atmosphere and land use change.”
(Source: IPCC’s AR5 report, 2013)

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1. Introduction to earth Climate system
What is climate system?

5 (Source: IPCC’s AR5 report, 2013)

2. The Atmosphere

The blanket of the earth (mixture of gases surrounding the earth surface)

(Source:https://sciencestruck.com/
(Source: NASA)
atmosphere-layers-in-order)

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2. The Atmosphere

● Trace gases : inactive gases (i.e., argon,

neon, helium, hydrogen, and xenon) and
several other gases that vary in
concentration (i.e., water vapor, carbon
dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, ozone,
and chlorofluorocarbons)
● Water vapor, carbon dioxide & Ozone are
very important GHGs because of their
ability to absorb heat
● Concentration of gases is not evenly
distributed

7 (Source: NASA)
2. The Atmosphere

2.1. Troposphere
 Extend from ground surface to about 10km
above sea level
 Contains about 75%-80% to atmospheric
mass
 Most type of clouds and almost all weather
occurs in the troposphere
 Hs highest moisture content compared to
other layers
 Air temperature is warmest near ground
level and get colder as moving upward

8 (Image credit: Randy Russell, UCAR)

2. The Atmosphere

2.2. Stratosphere
 Extend from 10km to 50km above ground
level
 Ozone is concentrated in this layer
 Air temperature increase with high in this
layer due heat absorption ability of the Ozone
molecules
 Air layers are quite stable, and no vertical
convection due to temperature stratification
 Air is very dry with very few cloud formations
 Lack of vertical mixing
9 (Image credit: Randy Russell, UCAR)
2. The Atmosphere

2.3. Mesosphere
 Extend between 50 to 80km above the
ground
 Very little is know about this layer because it
is very difficult to study
 The mesosphere is dark, with very low air
pressure that a human could not survive
 Ozone concentration is low, so little solar
radiation is absorbed, which lead to decrease
air temperature as moving upward
 Concentration of iron and other metal is
relatively high
10 (Image credit: Randy Russell, UCAR)
2. The Atmosphere

2.4. Thermosphere
 Extend between 90 to 500km above the earth
 Strongly affected by the sun activities
 Between 200 to 300km altitude the
temperature increase sharply,
 The temperature in the upper part can vary
between 500 and 2000 ºC
 Air density is as low as it is in the outer space
 Most of X-rays and UV is absorbed in this
layer

11 (Source: NASA)
2. The Atmosphere

2.4. Exospherere



hydrogen
helium


12 (Source: NASA)
3. The hydrosphere

The liquid water component of the

Earth (including oceans, seas, lakes,
rivers, lakes, and groundwater)

Covers about 70% of the surface of

the Earth and is the home for many
plants and animals

(Source: ASPEN global change institute

https://www.agci.org/earth-systems/hydrosphere )

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3. The hydrosphere
3.1. Components of hydrosphere

Oceans: Most of the water on the planet Earth is salt water, and
the vast majority of this salt water is held in the oceans.
Fresh water: Fresh water is much less abundant than salt water,
and is held in a variety of different places.
• Surface water: Surface sources of freshwater include lakes, rivers,
and streams.
• Ground water: Fresh water held beneath ground makes up about
30.1% of the fresh water on Earth
• Glacial water: Water that melts off of glaciers, Ice other solid form
of water account for 68.7% of total fresh water.
• Atmospheric water vapor
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3. The hydrosphere

Hydrosphere is
always in motion
Water always move
through the
hydrosphere
Humans activities
change the natural
flow of water in the
hydrosphere

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4. The Cryosphere

The earth’s solid water (including sea ice, lake ice and river-ice, snow
cover, glaciers, ice caps and ice sheets, and frozen ground)

10 % of Earth surface is covered by glacial

ice, including the ice sheets of Greenland
and Antarctica.
Glacierized areas cover over 15 million Km2
Glaciers store about 69 % of the world's fresh
water
If all land ice melted, sea level would rise
approximately 70 meters globally
(Source: National Snow and Ice Data Center
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4. The Cryosphere
Properties of Cryosphere

● Snow and ice have a very large albedo, they reflect the
majority of the incoming solar radiation.
● Good insulators that reduce the heat loss from the underlying
surface (land or ocean) towards the cold atmosphere in winter
● Sea ice formation is brine rejection
● Ice sheets store large amounts of water on land
● Ice sheets contribute to regional cooling of surrounding air

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5. The Lithosphere

The outer part of the earth or earth surface

(Source: National Snow and Ice Data Center)

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5. The Lithosphere

The mountain range of the lithosphere

is interacting with the lower air
pressure of the atmosphere and the
snowy precipitation of the
hydrosphere to create a cool or even
icy climate zone
Rock materials and other compositions
of the lithosphere undergone Rocky Mountains, Glacier National Park
(Source: https://www.shannontech.com/ParkVision/General/
atmospheric weathering process lead MtnRanges.html)

to change in ocean water components

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6. The Biosphere

The ecosphere, where life exist

The biosphere extends from the
deepest root systems of trees to
the dark environment of ocean
trenches, to lush rain forests and
high mountaintops.

(Source: National Snow and Ice Data Center)

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6. The Biosphere

The type of vegetation present on land has a critical

influence on climate at all spatial and temporal scales
Vegetation usually has a lower albedo than bare soil and snow
Water storage is generally greater in soil covered by
vegetation than on bare land
Present of vegetation improve evapotranspiration
Vegetation cover is related to the surface roughness
Terrestrial biosphere play critical role in global carbon cycle
Other organism also affect climate system

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6. The Biosphere

22 Source: Wendy Banner, Effect of Albedo on Greenhouse Effect)

Next lesson
Module 1: Physics of
climate process

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