Chapter 13 - Atmosphere and Climate Change

Atmosphere and Climate Change Section 1
Chapter 13
Atmosphere and Climate Change
Section 1: Climate and Climate Change
DAY ONE
Climate
• Climate is the average weather conditions in an area over a
long period of time.
• Climate is determined by a variety of factors that include:
– latitude
– atmospheric circulation patterns
– oceanic circulation patterns
– local geography of an area
– solar activity
– volcanic activity
• The most important of these factors is distance from the
equator.
Latitude
• Latitude is the distance north or south from the equator
and is expressed in degrees.
– 0° latitude = equator
– 90° north = North Pole, most northerly
– 90° south = South Pole, most southerly
• Latitude strongly affects climate because the amount of
solar energy an area of the Earth receives depends on
its latitude.
Low Latitudes
• More solar energy falls on areas near
the equator than on areas closer to the
poles.
• The incoming solar energy is
concentrated on a small surface at the
equator.
• In regions near the equator, night and
day are both about 12 hours long
throughout the year.
• In addition, temperatures are high year-
round, and there are no summers or
winters.
High Latitudes
• In regions closer the poles, the sun is
lower in the sky, reducing the amount
of energy arriving at the surface.
• In the northern and southern latitudes,
sunlight hits the Earth at an oblique
angle and spreads over a larger
surface area than it does at the
equator.
• Yearly average temperatures near the
poles are therefore lower than they
are at the equator.
High Latitudes
• The hours of daylight also vary.
– At 45° north and south latitude, there is as much as
16 hours of daylight each day during the summer and
as little as 8 hours of sunlight each day in the winter.
• Near the poles, the sun sets for only a few hours each
day during the summer and rises for only a few hours
each day during the winter.
• Thus, the yearly temperature range near the poles is
very large.
Low and High Latitudes

Atmospheric Circulation
• Three important properties of air illustrate how air
circulation affects climate.
• Cold air sinks because it is denser than warm air. As
the air sinks, it compresses and warms.
• Warm air rises. It expands and cools as it rises.
• Warm air can hold more water vapor than cold air
can.
• When warm air cools, the water vapor it contains
may condense into liquid water to form rain, snow,
or fog.
• Solar energy heats the ground, which warms the air
above it.
– This warm air rises, and cooler air moves in to
replace it.
• Movement of air within the atmosphere is called wind.
• Because the Earth rotates, and because different
latitudes receive different amounts of solar energy, a
pattern of global atmospheric circulation results.
• This circulation pattern determines Earth’s precipitation
patterns.
• For example, the intense solar energy striking the
Earth’s surface at the equator causes the surface as well
as the air above the equator to become very warm.
• This warm air can hold large amounts of water vapor.
– But as this warm air rises and cools, its ability to hold
water is reduced.
• As a result, areas near the equator receive large
amounts of rain.
Prevailing Winds
• Winds that blow predominantly in one direction
throughout the year are called prevailing winds.
• Because of the rotation of the Earth, these winds do not
blow directly northward or southward.
• Instead, they are deflected to the right in the Northern
Hemisphere and to the left in the Southern Hemisphere.
Prevailing Winds
• Belts of prevailing winds are
produced in both hemispheres
between 30º north and south
latitude and the equator.
• These belts of winds are called
the trade winds.
• The trade winds blow from the
northeast in the Northern
Hemisphere and from the
southeast in the Southern
Hemisphere.
Prevailing Winds
• Prevailing winds known as the westerlies are produced
between 30º and 60º north latitude and 30º and 60º
south latitude.
• In the Northern Hemisphere, these westerlies are
southwest winds, and in the Southern Hemisphere,
these winds are northwest winds.
• The polar easterlies blow from the poles to 60º north
and south latitude.
Prevailing Winds
Oceanic Circulation
• Ocean currents have a great effect
on climate because water holds
large amounts of heat.
• The movement of surface ocean
currents is caused mostly by winds
and the rotation of the Earth.
• These surface currents redistribute
warm and cool masses of water
around the world and in doing so,
they affect the climate in many parts
of the world.
El Niño–Southern Oscillation
• El Niño is the warm phase of the El Niño–Southern
Oscillation.
• It is the periodic occurrence in the eastern Pacific
Ocean in which the surface-water temperature becomes
unusually warm.
• During El Niño, winds in the western Pacific Ocean,
which are usually weak, strengthen and push warm
water eastward.
• Rainfall follows this warm water eastward and produces
increased rainfall in the southern half on the U.S., but
drought in Australia.
El Nino Patterns Video

• La Niña is the cool phase of the El Niño–Southern
oscillation.
• It is the periodic occurrence in the eastern Pacific
Ocean in which the surface water temperature
becomes unusually cool.
• El Niño and La Niña are opposite phases of the El
Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) cycle.
Global Circulation Patterns
• Air descending at the 30º north and 30º south latitude
either moves toward the equator or flows toward the
poles.
• Air moving toward the equator warms while it is near the
Earth’s surface.
• At about 60º north and 60º south latitudes, this air
collides with cold air traveling from the poles.
• The warm air rises, and most of this uplifted air is forced
toward the poles.
• Cold, dry air descends at the poles, which are essentially
very cold deserts.
Global Circulation Patterns

• Cool air normally sinks, but cool air over the equator
cannot descend because hot air is rising up below it.
– This cool air is forced away from the equators toward
the North and South Poles where it accumulates at
about 30º north latitude and 30º south latitude.
• Some of the air sinks back to the Earth’s surface and
becomes warmer as it descends.
• This warm, dry air then moves across the surface and
causes water to evaporate from the land below, creating
dry conditions.
Pacific Decadal Oscillation

• The Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) is a long-term,
20 to 30 year change in the location of warm and cold
water masses in the Pacific Ocean.
• PDO influences the climate in the northern Pacific
Ocean and North America.
• It affects ocean surface temperatures, air
temperatures, and precipitation patterns.
Topography
• Height above sea level (elevation) has an important
effect on climate. Temperatures fall by about 6°C (about
11°F) for every 1,000 m increase in elevation.
• Mountain ranges also influence the distribution of
precipitation.
– For example, warm air from the ocean blows east,
hits the mountains, and rises.
• As the air rises, it cools, causing it to rain on the western
side of the mountain. When the air reaches the eastern
side of the mountain it is dry.
– This effect is known as a rain shadow.
Rain Shadow
Topography
Other Influences on Earth’s Climate

• Both the sun and volcanic eruptions influence Earth’s
climate.
• At a solar maximum, the sun emits an increased amount
of ultraviolet (UV) radiation.
• UV radiation produces more ozone, which warms the
stratosphere.
• The increased solar radiation can also warm the lower
atmosphere and surface of the Earth a little.
Other Influences on Earth’s Climate

• In large-scale volcanic eruptions, sulfur dioxide gas can
reach the upper atmosphere.
• The sulfur dioxide, which can remain in the atmosphere
for up to 3 years, reacts with smaller amounts of water
vapor and dust in the stratosphere.
• This reaction forms a bright layer of haze that reflects
enough sunlight to cause the global temperature to
decrease.
Seasonal Changes in Climate

• The seasons result from the tilt of the
Earth’s axis, which is about 23.5°
relative to the plane of its orbit.
• Because of this tilt the angle at which
the sun’s rays strike the Earth
changes as the Earth moves around
the sun.

• During summer in the Northern Hemisphere, the Northern
Hemisphere tilts toward the sun and receives direct sunlight.
• The number of hours of daylight is greatest in the summer.
– Therefore, the amount of time available for the sun to heat
the Earth becomes greater.
• During summer in the Northern Hemisphere, the Southern
Hemisphere tilts away from the sun and receives less direct
sunlight.
– But, during the summer in the Southern Hemisphere, the
situation is reversed.
Earth’s Seasons
Chapter 13
Section 2: The Ozone Shield
DAY ONE
The Ozone Shield

• The ozone layer is the layer of the atmosphere at an
altitude of 15 to 40 km in which ozone absorbs ultraviolet
solar radiation.
– Ozone is a molecule made of three oxygen atoms.
• UV light is harmful to organisms because it can damage
the genetic material in living cells.
• By shielding the Earth’s surface from most of the sun’s
UV light, the ozone in the stratosphere acts like a
sunscreen for the Earth’s inhabitants.
Chemicals That Cause Ozone Depletion
• Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) are hydrocarbons in
which some or all of the hydrogen atoms are replaced by
chlorine and fluorine.
• Used in:
– coolants for refrigerators and air conditioners
– cleaning solvents.
– propellant in spray cans of everyday products
• deodorants, insecticides, and paint.
• Their use is now restricted because they destroy ozone
molecules in the stratosphere.
When CFC’s meet the ozone layer?


• At the Earth’s surface, CFCs are chemically stable.
• They do not combine with other chemicals or break
down into other substances.
• But, CFC molecules break apart high in the
stratosphere, where UV radiation is absorbed.
• Once CFC molecules break apart, parts of the CFC
molecules destroy the protective ozone.

• Each CFC molecule contains from one to four chlorine
atoms, and scientists have estimated that a single
chlorine atom in the CFC structure can destroy 100,000
ozone molecule.
The Ozone Hole

• In 1985, studies by scientists working in Antarctica
revealed that the ozone layer above the South Pole had
thinned by 50 to 98 percent.
• The ozone hole is a thinning of stratospheric ozone that
occurs over the poles during the spring.
• This was the first news of the hole, and was published in
an article in the scientific journal Nature.
The Ozone Hole

• After the results were published, NASA scientists
reviewed data that had been sent to Earth by the Nimbus
7 weather satellite.
– Able to see the first signs of ozone thinning in the
data from 1979.
• Although the concentration of ozone fluctuated during
the year, the data showed a growing hole.
• Ozone levels over the Arctic have decreased as well. In
March 1997, ozone levels over part of Canada were 45
percent below normal.
The Ozone Hole
2005 Ozone Layer Hole

Ozone Hole Video

How Does the Ozone Hole Form?

• During the dark polar winter, strong circulating winds
over Antarctica, called the polar vortex, isolate cold air
from surrounding warmer air.
– Air within the vortex is extremely cold.
• Polar stratospheric clouds are clouds that form at
altitudes of about 21,000 m during the Arctic and
Antarctic winter or early spring, when air temperatures
drop below –80°C.

• On the surfaces of polar stratospheric clouds, the
products of CFCs are converted to molecular chlorine.
• When sunlight returns to the South Pole in the spring,
molecular chlorine is split into two chlorine atoms by UV
radiation.
– The chlorine atoms rapidly destroy ozone.
• The destruction of ozone causes a thin spot, or ozone
hole, which lasts for several months.

• You may be thinking, “If ozone is also being produced as
air pollution, why does this ozone not repair the ozone
hole in the stratosphere?”
• The answer is that ozone is very chemically reactive.
• Ozone produced by pollution breaks down or
combines with other substances in the troposphere long
before it can reach the stratosphere to replace ozone
that is being destroyed.
Effects of Ozone Thinning on Humans

• As the amount of ozone in the stratosphere decreases,
more UV light is able to pass through the atmosphere
and reach Earth’s surface.
• UV light is dangerous to living things because it
damages DNA, the genetic material that contains the
information that determines inherited characteristics.
• Exposure to UV light makes the body more susceptible
to skin cancer, and may cause other damaging effects to
the human body.
Effects of Ozone Thinning on Humans

Effects of Ozone Thinning on Animals and

Plants
• High levels of UV light can kill single-celled organisms
called phytoplankton that live near the surface of he
ocean.
• The loss of phytoplankton could disrupt ocean food

chains and reduce fish harvests.
• In addition, a reduction in the number of phytoplankton
would cause an increase in the amount of carbon
dioxide in the atmosphere.

Plants
• Scientists believe that increased UV light could be
especially damaging for amphibians, such as toads,
because they lay eggs that lack shells in the shallow
water of ponds and streams.
• UV light at natural levels kills many eggs of some

species by damaging unprotected DNA.
• Higher UV levels might kill more eggs and put amphibian
populations at risk.

Plants
• In fact, ecologists often use the health of amphibian
populations as an indicator of environmental change
due to the environmental sensitivity of these creatures.
• UV light can damage plants by interfering with

photosynthesis. This damage can lower crop yields.
Effects of Ozone Thinning of Animals and

Plants
Protecting the Ozone Layer

• In 1987, a group of nations made an agreement, called
the Montreal Protocol, to sharply limit their production
of CFCs.
• At a second conference in Copenhagen, Denmark in
1992, developed countries agreed to eliminate most
CFCs by 1995.
• The United States pledged to ban all substances that
pose a significant danger to the ozone layer by the year
2000.
Protecting the Ozone

• After developed countries banned most uses of CFCs,
chemical companies developed CFC replacements.
• Aerosol cans no longer uses CFCs as propellants, and
air conditioners are becoming CFC free.
• Because many countries were involved and decided to
control CFCs, many people consider ozone protection an
international environmental success story.


• However, the battle to protect the ozone layer is not
over.
• CFC molecules remain active in the stratosphere for 60
to 120 years.
• CFCs released 30 years ago are still destroying ozone
today, so it will be many years before the ozone layer
completely recovers.
Ticket out the Door
1. What is the ozone layer?

2. What is ozone made up of?
3. What are CFC’s?
4. What is the ozone hole?
5. What is a polar vortex?
Chapter 13
Section 3: Global Warming
DAY ONE
The Greenhouse Effect

• The Earth is similar to a greenhouse. The Earth’s
atmosphere acts like the glass in a greenhouse.
• Sunlight streams through the atmosphere and heats the
Earth. As this heat radiates up from Earth’s surface,
some of it escapes into space.
• The rest of the heat is absorbed by gases in the
troposphere and warms the air.
• This process of heat absorption is called the
greenhouse effect.


• Not every gas in our atmosphere absorbs heat in this
way.
• A greenhouse gas is a gas composed of molecules that
absorb and radiate infrared radiation from the sun.
• The major greenhouse gases are water vapor, carbon
dioxide, CFCs, methane, and nitrous oxide.
– Water vapor and carbon dioxide account for most of
the absorption of that occurs in the atmosphere.
Greenhouse Effect
Measuring Carbon Dioxide in the Atmosphere

• In 1985, a geochemist named Charles Keeling
installed an instrument at the top of a tall tower on the
volcano Mauna Loa in Hawaii.
– He wanted to precisely measure the amount of
carbon dioxide in the air, far away from forests and
cities.
• In a forest, carbon dioxide levels rise and fall with the

daily rhythms of photosynthesis.
• Near cities, carbon dioxide from traffic and industrial

pollution raises the local concentration of gas.
• The winds that blow steadily over Mauna Loa have come
thousands of miles across the Pacific Ocean, far from
most forests and human activities, swirling and mixing as
they traveled.
• Keeling reasoned that at Mauna Loa, the average

carbon dioxide levels for the entire Earth could be
measured.

• Keeling’s first measurement, in March of 1958, was
0.0314 percent, and the levels rose slightly the next
month.
• By summer the levels were falling, but in the winter, they
rose again.
• During the summer, growing plants use more carbon
dioxide for photosynthesis than they release in
respiration, causing the levels to drop.
• In the winter, dying grasses and fallen leaves decay and
release the carbon that was stored in them, causing
levels to rise.
Rising Carbon Dioxide Levels

• After a few years of measurement, it was obvious that
the levels were undergoing changes other than
seasonal fluctuations.
• Each year, the high carbon dioxide levels of winter were
higher, and each year, the summer levels did not fall as
low.
• In 42 years, carbon dioxide has gone from 314 to 386
parts per million, an increase of 54 parts per million.
– This increase may be due to the burning of fossil
fuels.
Rising Carbon Dioxide Levels

Greenhouse Gases and the Earth’s

Temperature
• Many scientists think that because greenhouse gases
trap heat near the Earth’s surface, more greenhouse
gases in the atmosphere will result in an increase in
global temperature.
• A comparison of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and

average global temperatures for the past 400,000 years
support that view.
Greenhouse Gases and the Earth’s
Temperature
• Today, we are releasing more carbon dioxide than any
other greenhouse gas into the atmosphere.
• Millions of tons of carbon dioxide are released into the

atmosphere each year from power plants that burn
coal or oil, and cars that burn gasoline.
• Millions of trees are burned in tropical rainforest to clear

the land for farming.
• We also release other greenhouse gases, such as
CFCs, methane, and nitrous oxide, in significant
amounts.
Greenhouse Gases
How Certain is Global Warming?

• Global warming is a gradual increase in the average
global temperature that is due to a higher concentration
of gases such as carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
• Earth’s average global temperature increased during the
20th century and many scientists predict that this
warming trend will continue throughout the 21st century.
How Certain is Global Warming

How Certain is Global Warming?

• However, not all scientists agree that the observed
global warming is due to greenhouse gases.
• Some scientists believe that the warming is part of
natural climatic variability.
• They point out that widespread fluctuations in
temperature have occurred throughout geological time.
The Consequences of a Warmer Earth
• The impacts of global warming could include a number

of potentially serious environmental problems.
• These problems range from the disruption of global

weather patterns and a global rise in sea level to
adverse impacts on human health, agriculture, and
animal and plant populations.
• Other impacts on the environment that could not be
predicted by computer models might also arise.
Melting Ice and Rising Sea Levels

• If the global temperature increased, the amount of ice
and snow at the poles would decrease, causing sea
levels around the world to rise.
• Coastal wetlands, and other low-lying areas could be
flooded. People who live near coastlines could lose their
homes and sources of income.
• The salinity of bays and estuaries might increase,
adversely affecting marine fisheries. Also, freshwater
aquifers could become too salty to be used as sources of
fresh water.
Global Weather Patterns

• If the Earth warms up significantly, the surface of the
oceans will absorb more heat, which may make
hurricanes and typhoons more common.
• Some scientists are concerned that global warming will
also cause a change in ocean current patterns, shutting
off the Gulf Stream.
• Such a change could significantly affect the world’s
weather. Severe flooding could occur in some regions at
the same time droughts devastate other regions.
Human Health Problems

• Greater numbers of heat related deaths could occur.
Very young and very old people would have the greatest
risk of heat exhaustion.
• Concentrations of ground level ozone could increase as
air temperatures rise, causing respiratory illnesses,
especially in urban areas, to increase.
• Warmer temperatures might enable mosquitoes, which
carry diseases such as malaria and encephalitis, to
greatly increase in number.
Agriculture
• Agriculture would be most severely impacted by global
warming if extreme weather events, such as drought,
became more frequent.
• Higher temperatures could result in decreased crop
yields.
• As a result, the demand for irrigation could increase,
which would further deplete aquifers that have already
been overused.
Effects on Plants
• Climate change could alter the range of plant species
and could change the composition of plant communities.
• A warmer climate could cause trees to colonize
northward into cooler areas.
• Forests could shrink in areas in the southern part of their
range and lose diversity.
Effects on Animals
• Global warming could cause a shift in the geographical
range of some animals. For example, Northern birds
may not migrate as far south during the winter.
• Warming of surface waters of the ocean might cause a
reduction of zooplankton, tiny shrimp-like animals, that
many marine animals depend on for food.
• Warming tropical waters may kill algae that nourish
corals, thus destroying coral reefs.
Recent Findings
• The International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
issued its Third Assessment Report (TAR) in 2001 that
described what was currently known about the global
climate system and provided future estimates about the
state of the global climate system.
• The IPCC reported that the average global surface
temperature increased by 0.6ºC during the 20th century,
snow and ice cover has dropped, and the global sea
level has risen.
Recent Findings
• The IPCC also reported that concentrations of
atmospheric gases have continued to increase as a
result of human activities.
• It has also predicted that human influences will continue
to change the composition of the Earth’s atmosphere
and continue to warm the Earth throughout the 21st
century.
Reducing the Risk

• The Kyoto Protocol is an international treaty according
to which developed countries that signed the treaty
agree to reduce their emissions of carbon dioxide and
other gases that may contribute to global warming by the
year 2012.
• In March of 2001, the United States decided not to ratify
the Kyoto Protocol. However, most other developed
nations are going ahead with the treaty.
Reducing the Risk

• The need to slow global warming has been recognized
by the global community. Some nations and
organizations have engaged in reforestation projects to
reduce carbon dioxide.
• However, the attempt to slow global warming is made
difficult by the economic, political, and social factors
faced by different countries.
Reducing the Risk

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Atmosphere and Climate Change Section 1

Low and High Latitudes

El Nino Patterns Video

Global Circulation Patterns

Pacific Decadal Oscillation

Other Influences on Earth’s Climate

Other Influences on Earth’s Climate

Seasonal Changes in Climate

Seasonal Changes in Climate

The Ozone Shield

When CFC’s meet the ozone layer?

Chemicals That Cause Ozone Depletion

Chemicals That Cause Ozone Depletion

The Ozone Hole

The Ozone Hole

The Ozone Hole

2005 Ozone Layer Hole

Ozone Hole Video

How Does the Ozone Hole Form?

How Does the Ozone Hole Form?

How Does the Ozone Hole Form?

Effects of Ozone Thinning on Humans

Effects of Ozone Thinning on Humans

Effects of Ozone Thinning on Animals and

• The loss of phytoplankton could disrupt ocean food

Effects of Ozone Thinning on Animals and

• UV light at natural levels kills many eggs of some

Effects of Ozone Thinning on Animals and

• UV light can damage plants by interfering with

Effects of Ozone Thinning of Animals and

Protecting the Ozone Layer

Protecting the Ozone

Protecting the Ozone Layer

Protecting the Ozone Layer

Ticket out the Door

1. What is the ozone layer?

The Greenhouse Effect

The Greenhouse Effect

The Greenhouse Effect

Measuring Carbon Dioxide in the Atmosphere

• In a forest, carbon dioxide levels rise and fall with the

• Near cities, carbon dioxide from traffic and industrial

Measuring Carbon Dioxide in the Atmosphere

• Keeling reasoned that at Mauna Loa, the average

Measuring Carbon Dioxide in the Atmosphere

Rising Carbon Dioxide Levels

Rising Carbon Dioxide Levels

Greenhouse Gases and the Earth’s

• A comparison of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and

• Millions of tons of carbon dioxide are released into the

• Millions of trees are burned in tropical rainforest to clear

How Certain is Global Warming?

How Certain is Global Warming

How Certain is Global Warming?

The Consequences of a Warmer Earth

• The impacts of global warming could include a number

• These problems range from the disruption of global

Melting Ice and Rising Sea Levels