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Running Head: ENVR 1000: ASSIGNMENT 3        1
ENVR 1000: ASSIGNMENT 3        2
EARTH SCIENCE
ENVR 1000: ASSIGNMENT 3
Table of Contents
Part A    3
1.    3
2.    4
3.    5
Part B    6
4.    6
5.    7
a.    7
b.    7
c.    8
Part C    8
a.    8
b.    8
c.    9
d.    9
e.    9
References    11
Part A    
1.
Climate itself is an umbrella term used to define Earth’s average weather, usually over a period of 30 years or above. Umpteen numbers of factors as well as processes contribute in the climate system and major components of Earth’s climate system include hydrosphere, atmosphere, cryosphere, biosphere and lithosphere. Other contributing factors may include wind patterns, ocean currents, ice caps, heat or energy transfer, circulation within the atmosphere and much more.
Land or earth’s crust including mountains as well as valleys helps in shaping the global wind circulation and circulation patterns. This is majorly because mountains acts as barriers to the wind and they lead to condensation of air ; thus, leading to rain and also controls the percentage of precipitation. Likewise, snow covered mountains turns the air or wind much cooler and decreasing the temperature. Further, of all the solar radiation reaching the earth, 30% is reflected back from barren lands, icecaps and clouds while only 70% of the solar radiation is absorbed causing phenomenon such as, green house effects.
The phenomenon of reflecting non-absorbed solar radiation is known as ‘albedo’ and the intensity of reflection varies from surface to surface. Therefore, a higher albedo surface such as white will reflect most of the light while darker surfaces will reflect comparatively less light, indicating low albedo. As argued by Knutti, Rugenstein and Hegerl (2017), since, albedo is the determinant of absorbed sunlight, change in albedo will lead to initial alteration in ice caps; thus, leading to global warming or increased earth’s temperature.
71% of earth’s surface is covered in water and it can hold more heat compared to the atmosphere. Further, only 2.5% of water is held as ice caps; however, ice caps are not involved in climatic changes but they indirectly affect the climate through increased albedo and raising water levels upon melting (Climate Atlas of Canada, 2019). Further, few percentage of water is held in the air as water vapours and upon condensation it ultimately returns, back to streams. Water vapours increases humidity in the air; thus, leading to the formation of clouds and rain. Rain occurs at plains and it turns into snow at higher altitudes because of decreasing pressure and temperature. Therefore, all of the above-mentioned factors are interrelated to each other and they controls earth’s climatic system.
2.
Greenhouse gases are those, which absorbs the radiant energy or trap the heat energy coming from the sun within earth’s atmosphere. Presence of greenhouse gases does not allow the heat energy coming from the sun to escape earth’s atmosphere; thus, increasing overall temperature of the earth. Carbon dioxide (CO2), Methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (NO2) are three most prominent greenhouse gases leading to global warming observed in earth’s climate. Carbon dioxide (CO2) is released from various anthropogenic activities as well as non-anthropogenic activities (Climate Atlas of Canada, 2020).
However, the amount of Carbon dioxide (CO2) released from non-anthropogenic activities is negligible; therefore, does not contribute towards increasing earth’s temperature. Burning of fossil fuels, industrial emissions, vehicular emissions, agricultural waste, respiration from human and animals, deforestation and much are common activities leading to the release of Carbon dioxide (CO2) in atmosphere. Carbon dioxide (CO2) is the most prominent greenhouse gas because it retains longer in the atmosphere that is, 80% for over 200 years and 20% for more than 30,000 years (Climate Atlas of Canada, 2020). Moreover, as supported by Ritchie and Roser (2019), increasing atmospheric emissions of Carbon dioxide (CO2) have been held responsible for 53% increase in earth’s temperature or 53% contribution to global warming.
Methane (CH4) is another one of the most common as well as prominent greenhouse gas responsible for increasing earth’s overall temperature. Methane is released from the excreta of livestock, agricultural waste, microbial activity, dumps, natural gas and oil extraction plants, water or sewage treatment plants along with coal mining and many other activities. Methane (CH4) is reported to stay in earth’s environment for around 12 years or more and contributes to more than 15% increase in the overall...