Environmental Systems and Societies · Topic 6: Atmosphere and climate change
ES6.1 — Introduction to the atmosphere
Environmental Systems and Societies · SL / HL · syllabus-mapped notes
The atmosphere and its circulation
The atmosphere as the boundary of the biosphere, a mixture of gases redistributed by wind, and the tricellular model that moves heat from equator to poles.
Greenhouse gases and aerosols
The five named GHGs and aerosols that absorb and re-emit infrared radiation, the most abundant ones, and why water vapour is left out of climate models.
The greenhouse effect and key terms
How the greenhouse effect keeps Earth warm enough for life, and how greenhouse effect, enhanced greenhouse effect, global warming and climate change differ.
A dynamic atmosphere and thinning with altitude
The atmosphere as the product of continuous physical and chemical processes, gravity holding gases near the surface, and the standard lapse rate.
Milankovitch cycles and the Quaternary
Three orbital cycles driving glacial-interglacial climate through feedback, and how current warming is pushing Earth out of the Quaternary into the Anthropocene.
Life and atmospheric composition
The two-way relationship in which photosynthesis reshaped the early atmosphere, enabling ozone formation and metal oxidation, which in turn shaped evolving life.