1. Monitoring Earth’s Climate System
Current Weather
Climate Change Discussion
The Climate System
Climatic Anomalies and Feedback Loops
Observing the Climate System
Remote Sensing by Satellite
International Cooperation
Modeling Earth’s Climate System
For Next Class: Read Chapter 2 (pp )

4. Homework Discussion (a) Is the climate changing? On what evidence?
(b) Do people have anything to do with climate change? How?
(c) Should we care about climate change? Why?
(d) Can we do anything about climate change? If so, what?
(e) Is it worth doing anything about it? If so, why?

5. The Climate System Atmosphere
Relatively thin envelope of gases and tiny suspended particles surrounding the planet
Divided into four layers:
Troposphere
Stratosphere
Mesosphere
Thermosphere
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6. What is the Cryosphere and what are some of its components?

7. What is the Cryosphere?
Consists of various forms of frozen water at the planet’s surface.

8. Photo credit: D.K. Hall / NASA

9. Components of the Cryosphere
Snow – a collection of loosely bonded ice crystals deposited from the atmosphere.
Sea ice – any form of ice found at sea which has originated from the freezing of sea water.
Glaciers – fallen snow that, over many years, compresses into large, thickened ice masses that move.
Ice Sheet – mass of glacial land ice extending more than 50,000 square kilometers (20,000 square miles). The Greenland and Antarctic Ice Sheets are the only two that currently exist.

10. Ice Shelves – thick slab of ice, attached to a coastline and extending out over the ocean as a seaward extension of an ice sheet or series of glaciers.
Iceberg – massive piece of ice of greatly varying shape, protruding 5 m or more above sea-level, which has broken away from a glacier and which may be afloat or aground.

12. Ch. 2 Driving Question
How do climate scientists investigate the spatial and temporal characteristics of climate, climate variability and climate change?
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13. Climatic Anomalies Departures from the long-term average
Do not occur with the same sign or magnitude everywhere
Positive anomalies: above long-term averages
Negative anomalies: below long-term averages
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14. Climatic Anomalies Positive feedback example Negative feedback example
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15. Observing the Climate System
In Situ Measurement
Radiosonde: small instrument package equipped with a radio transmitter that is carried aloft by a balloon
Create soundings, or altitude readings of temperature, air pressure and dewpoint
Launched at 12 hour intervals
at ground stations world wide
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16. © AMS

17. Radiosonde Release in Peru

18. Observing the Climate System
In Situ Measurement
Ships, buoys, floats, gliders, piloted submersibles, autonomous instrumented platforms and vehicles, and undersea observatories provide in situ ocean data
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19. Argo floats obtain profiles of temperature and salinity in the ocean
Sample plots of float-derived temperature and salinity profiles
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20. Observing the Climate System
Remote Sensing by Satellite
Electromagnetic radiation: both a form of energy and a means of energy transfer, travel as waves
Electromagnetic spectrum: composed of different forms of radiation
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21. Observing the Climate System
Remote Sensing by Satellite
Satellites fly in either geostationary or polar orbits
Geostationary orbit
Polar orbit
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22. Observing the Climate System
Visible Satellite Image
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23. Observing the Climate System
Infrared Satellite Image
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24. Questions?
Take out a sheet of paper and write down any questions about the material we covered in lecture today.