Climate & The Biophysical Environment (GEOG 2110) - Reading Notes
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Course
GEOG 2110 (GEOG2110)
Institution
University Of Guelph (U Of G
)
Some of the reading notes from the assigned chapters from GEOG 2110 - Climate & Biophysical Environment, taught at the University of Guelph. All typed notes.
GEOG 2110 - Reading Notes
Chapter 1 - Overview of Climate Science
● Overview of the Climate System
○ Components of the Climate System
■ External forcing -> Internal interactions (climate system) -> Internal responses
(climate variations)
○ Climate Forcing
■ 3 fundamental kinds of climate forcing in this world are tectonic processes,
changes in Earth’s orbit around the Sun, and changes in the strength of the Sun
■ Anthropogenic forcing also influences climate but is not part of the natural
climate system
● An unintended by-product of agricultural, industrial, and other human
activities, and it occurs through alterations of Earth’s land surfaces and
the addition of GHGs to Earth’s atmosphere
○ Climate Responses
■ Heating response time example:
● Each successive step takes on additional response time and moves the
system half of the remaining way toward equilibrium
● The absolute amount of change in heating decreases through time, but
the response time remains exactly the same (exponential form)
Chapter 2 - Earth’s Climate System Today
● Heating Earth
○ Receipt and Storage of Solar Heat
■ Heat Capacity (cal/cm3) = Density (g/cm3) x Specific Heat (cal/g)
● Heat Transfer in Earth’s Atmosphere
○ Tropical-Subtropical Atmospheric Circulation
■ Heated air rises in the tropics at the ITCZ and sinks in the subtropics as part of
the large-scale Hadley cell flow
■ Rising air in the tropics causes a net excess of precipitation over evaporation
■ Dry air sinking in the subtropics produces more evaporation than precipitation
■ In summer, more rapid heating of land surfaces than of the ocean produces
rising motion over the continents and draws moist air in from the ocean,
producing precipitation over land
■ In winter, more rapid cooling of the land surfaces than of the ocean produces
sinking motion over the continents and sends cold dry air out over the warmer
ocean, shifting most winter precipitation out to sea
● Heat Transfer in Earth’s Oceans
○ Deep Ocean Circulation
■ Two thermoclines exist:
● A deeper permanent portion that is maintained throughout the year
, ● A shallower portion that changes as a result of seasonal heating by the
Sun
■
■ Upwelling - cool subsurface water rises along coastal margins, where winds
drive warm water offshore, and near the equator, where winds drive surface
waters away from the equator
● Ice on Earth
○ Sea Ice
■ As sea ice forms, it rejects almost all the salt in the seawater
■ When sea ice forms, it seals off the underlying ocean from interaction with the
atmosphere
■ Whereas heat can escape from an unfrozen ocean surface, a cover of sea ice
stops the release of heat from the ocean to the atmosphere in winter and
causes air temperatures to cool by as much as 30℃
○ Glacial Ice
■ Central portions of large continent-sized ice sheets have high central domes
connected by ridges. Ice streams on the flanks carry ice to lobes protruding
from the ice margins (top). In the cross section, snow accumulates on the high
part of an ice sheet, turns to ice, and flows to the lower margins (bottom).
● Earth’s Biosphere
○ Larger carbon reservoirs exchange carbon much more slowly than smaller reservoirs
○ Response of the Biosphere to the Physical Climate System
■ Vegetation biomes largely reflect the patterns of precipitation, with high-
biomass forests in regions of high precipitation and low evaporation
○ Effects of the Biosphere on the Climate System
■ Greatest amount of photosynthesis in the surface ocean occurs along shallow
continental margins and in coastal, equatorial, and high-latitude regions where
nutrients upwell from below
Chapter 3 - Climate Archives, Data, and Models
● Climate Archives, Dating, and Resolution
○ Types of Archives
■ Sediments
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