Lab 4 GEOL 1330 finished
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School
University of Texas *
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Course
1330
Subject
Geology
Date
Dec 6, 2023
Type
Pages
5
Uploaded by SargentSeal5034
GEOL 1330
N
ame: Brandon Perez
Global Warming
Lab #4
1. (20 points)
Go to the online energy balance model available at:
https://
climateresearchgroup.uta.edu/edu_outreach/studentProject/index.html
.
It calculates Earth’s
average temperature in dependence of solar irradiance, Earth’s reflectivity (albedo, a), and
Earth’s emissivity.
With incoming energy being balanced by outgoing energy, a solar irradiance
of 1365 Wm
-2
, and the global albedo set to 30% (=0.3), the model calculates an average global
temperature of 14.69°C (=”Year 0”, please disregard the other years).
In the lower right, you can
change the values for albedo, irradiance, and emissivity.
Sunspot activity might change the irradiance by about 0.1 %.
Assuming that the given irradiance
of 1365 Wm
-2
is a mean value, by how much does global temperature change if you increase the
irradiance by 0.05 % or decrease it by 0.05 %? Please show which values you are using in the
model.
When it comes to the value of 1365 being decreased by 0.05 percent it leaves a value
of 1364.3175. The original global temperature was 14.69 which is 0.03 points more then
when using the decreased value as you end up with a global average of 14.66.
N
ow with the
original value of 1365 being increased by 0.05 percent it leaves us with a new value of
1365.6825 which gives us a global temperature of
14.73 which is a a 0.04 point difference.
By how much does global temperature change if the albedo decreases from 30% to 20% (using
1365 Wm
-2
for solar irradiance)?
The albedo change brings the original value of 14.69 up to 24.46 as the average
temperature.
2. (10 points)
Electromagnetic radiation (“light”) travels at a speed of ~3 x 10
8
m s
-1
.
The
distance from Sun to Earth is ~150 x 10
6
km.
How long does radiation from the Sun take to
1
reach Earth?
Show your calculation.
Speed of light (c) = 3 x 10^8 m/s
Distance from Sun to Earth = 150 x 10^6 km
Convert to meters to km and simplify
Distance = 150 x 10^6 km = 150 x 10^6 km x 1000 m/km = 150 x 10^9 m
Time = (150 x 10^9 m) / (3 x 10^8 m/s)
Cancel out the units and divide to get
500 seconds or about 8minutes and 30ish seconds
2
3. (20 points)
Draw schematically two curves into the figure below, one for the zonally averaged
incoming visible short wave (Q
SW
) radiation from the sun (solid curve) and one for the zonally
averaged outgoing long-wave infrared (Q
LW
) radiation (dashed curve) from the Earth’s surface
depending on latitude. Label the two curves.
Point out areas of radiative surplus (+) and deficit
(-) on the Earth’s surface.
4. (20 points)
Draw the major wind directions for the northern and southern hemisphere in the
figure below and label the wind belts.
3
0°
30°N
60°N
30°S
60°S
Qlw
Qsw
Deficit (-)
Deficit (-)
Surplus (+)
Sub polar low
Subtropical high
Intertropial convergence zone
Subtropical high
Sub polar low
~
nee
x
**
XXX
↑
+
↓
↓
kX
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5. (10 points)
Explain where and how deep-water forms in the ocean.
6. (20 points)
The figure below shows average annual ocean salinity values. Explain why
salinity in the polar regions is lower than that of the subtropical regions around 30 degrees
latitude. How do you expect salinity values for polar regions to change during winter and during
summer?
4
Deep water is formed when air temperatures is cold and the salinity is quite high. This
combination makes the water denser and causes it to sink to the bottom.
The polar regions have less salinity that those regions around 30 degrees latitude for several
reasons. For one the melting ice; the melting ice releases freshwater which when “released”
into surrounds bodies of water it lowers the salinity. A second reasons is the formation of ice,
during winter the formation of ice expels salt away when melting back into freshwater. This
relates to the changes of salinity during winter; the formation of ice expels the salinity present
in the freshwater plus with the more ice on the surface it restricts some salinity reaching the
atmosphere. During the summer salinity can be expected rise mainly due to rise in
temperature causing increased evaporation.
Teamwork in the lab is encouraged.
However, each student must provide his/her own
answer.
Copying of answers results in a grade of zero for all students involved.
5