How Does Climate Affect Climate Change

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Roughly 70% of the solar energy reaching the top of Earth's atmosphere is absorbed by the Earth surface and the atmosphere; the remaining part is reflected back to space. On the other hand, merely 1-10% of energy is transferred from the solar wind into the magnetosphere and this transfer is affected by the IMF orientation. The Earth atmosphere can be affected by not only wave and particles emissions from the Sun but also the solar wind plasma. The IMF connected with solar wind plasma can adjust the number of interstellar energetic particles penetrating into the atmosphere. Climate change resulting from a change in the radiation balance of the Earth can be caused by three following basic ways: • Changes in incoming solar radiation (e.g., by…show more content…
The cycles alter the quantity of seasonal solar radiation reaching each latitude and astronomical accuracy can be used to estimate these cycles. Therefore, the location of incoming radiation referring to where the continents are situated is crucial. There has been a gradual growth in the energy output of the Sun in the industrial era, resulting in a small positive radiative forcing (Figure 2.2). Solar output has a direct impact on the heat in the Earth and on the abundance of some GHGs (e.g. stratospheric ozone). On the very long time scale tectonic activities which can cause changes in albedo are the key driver of climate change. The tectonics have had an impact on the levels of CO2 exchange between ocean, atmosphere and solid regions. Besides, volcanism often associated with tectonic processes has a big effect on climate change. Apart from emitting CO2, volcano erupts magma containing a large amount of SO2, which can create atmospheric H2SO4 aerosols. Because of having ability of high reflection to short wave radiation, sulfur aerosols cause a cooling impact when they are present in the stratosphere. However, there is no presence of volcanic aerosol in the stratosphere at present because the last key eruption event was in 1991 (Mt. Pinutubo in…show more content…
Figure 3.1 reveals that the emissions of GHGs have increased substantially since the industrialization period. Because of the accumulation of these gases in the atmosphere, their concentrations will go up with time. Moreover, concerning present and future climate change, the radiative forcing from human activities plays a much more important role than that from natural drivers. Additionally, the specific development of main GHGs pointed out is as follows: • There has been a global increase in the tropospheric mixing ratio of CO2 from 278 ± 2 ppm in 1750 to 390.5 ± 0.2 ppm in 2011. • CH4 levels on the surface have globally increased from 722 ± 25 ppb in 1750 to 1803 ± 2 ppb by 2011. Besides, there are variations in CH4 concentrations with latitude and decreases above the tropopause. • N2O concentrations have witnessed an increase from 270 ± 7 ppb in 1750 to 324.2 ± 0.1 ppb in 2011. Definitions of prediction and projection by IPCC (AR4 WGII Glossary) The differences between climate prediction and climate projection are also pointed out by the following authors: Prediction
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