Mrs.
Zachay AP Environmental
Atmosphere
Layer of gases surrounding Earth.
Barometric Pressure
Atmospheric pressure given in units that are
the height to which a column of mercury is
raised by that pressure.
Climate
The representative or characteristic conditions
of the atmosphere at places on Earth
Climate Forcing
An imposed perturbation of Earth energy that
balance major climatic forcing’s associated
with global warming.
General Circulation Models (GCMs)
Consists of a group of computer models that
focus on climate change using a series of
equations, often based on conservation of
mass and energy.
Greenhouse Effect
Occurs when water vapor and several other
gases warm the Earth's atmosphere by
trapping some of the heat radiating from the
Earth's atmospheric system.
Greenhouse Gases
The suite of gases that produce a greenhouse
effect, such as carbon dioxide, methane, and
water vapor.
Grace Solberg
Medieval Warm Period (MWP)
A period of approximately 300 years from A.D.
950 to 1250 when Earth's surface was
considerably warmer than the normal that we
experience today.
Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum
(PETM)
A period 50 million years ago when the
concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide
was higher than it is today, and the Earth was
free (or nearly so of polar glaciers)
Polar Amplification
Processes in which global warming causes
grater temperature increases at polar regions.
Radionuclides
Atoms with unstable nuclei that undergo
radioactive decay.
Stratosphere
Overlies the troposphere and the atmosphere
from approximately 20-70 kilometers above the
Earth.
Troposphere
The atmospheric zine from the surface of the
Earth to an altitude of approximately 20
kilometers above the Earth
Weather
What is happening in the atmosphere over a
short time or what may be happening now in
terms of temperature, pressure, cloudiness,
precipitation, and winds?