Air Pollution Essay

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AOSC 434/658R & CHEM 434/678A Air Pollution Admission Ticket, Lecture 08 Due: Tuesday, 22 Feb 2011 (start of class) 16 points (4 points each part) Your name: Eddie Arias a) Describe how a feedback (i.e., response of the climate system to a perturbation initiated by rising greenhouse gas (GHG) levels) involving clouds can amplify the initial climate system perturbation? The feedback involving clouds would be a positive feedback. Further increase of the temperatures would occur because as the temperatures initially increase water will evaporate from the ocean creating high clouds, primarily of ice, that absorb IR thermal radiation therefore increasing the temperature. (Jacobson) b) Describe how a feedback involving clouds can dampen the initial climate system perturbation? Clouds can have a negative feedback affect by increasing the cover of low clouds which are primarily made of liquid water, which would reflect IR thermal radiation and therefore decrease the temperatures. (Jacobson) c) What is a defining characteristic of a warmer atmosphere with regard to water vapor and what affect will this characteristic have on global average temperature, as anthropogenic GHG levels rise? The defining characteristic regarding water vapor and a warmer atmosphere is its ability to evaporate from the ocean and wet land surfaces. By increasing the water vapor content, it will have a positive feedback on the initial increase of the temperature. This could potentially result in doubling the increase of the average global temperature. Since water vapor is a GHG the increase in GHG would also affect the increase in temperature. (Houghton) d) If BC aerosols warm the air, what affect will this have on the stability of the atmosphere? What affect might this change in stability have on cloud cover? There is a process called “BC Low Cloud Positive
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