CHAPTER 6 Key Terms
Match each of the terms on the left with its definition on the right. Click on the term first and then click on the matching definition. As you match them correctly, they will move to the bottom of the activity.
carbon cycle carbon footprint Cenozoic era climate climate forcing factor cryosphere Earth system model glacial period green economy Holocene epoch ice- interglacial period Keeling curve Laurentide ice sheet Little Ice Age Medieval Warm Period Milankovitch cycles ocean conveyor belt paleoclimate Quaternary Period solar irradiance weather Younger Dryas | The amount of solar energy that reaches Earth. Small changes in Earth- A cold interval within the Quaternary ice age. The frozen portion of the hydrosphere. A graph showing the change in atmospheric CO2 concentrations since 1958. The amount of greenhouse gases (particularly carbon dioxide) any activity generates. A force that can change climate and is unaffected by the climate system. A warm interval that occurs between glacial periods. The last 2.6 million years of Earth history; an ice age. The last 66 million years of Earth history, marked by a persistent global cooling trend that began about 55 million years ago. The current interglacial period of warm and stable climate; the last 10,000 years of Earth history. A destabilizing positive feedback in the climate system in which the melting of ice and snow expose bare ground and ice- A natural cooling period from about 1350 to 1850 CE; felt mostly in the Northern Hemisphere. The large ice sheet that covered much of North America 20,000 years ago. A naturally warm period from about 950 to 1250 CE; felt mostly in the Northern Hemisphere. The movement of carbon through Earth’s physical systems. The global system of surface and deep ocean currents that transfers heat toward the poles. The state of the atmosphere at any given moment, comprising ever- A sustainable economic system that has a small environmental impact and is based on renewable energy sources. Ancient climate. A cold period that occurred 12,900 to 11,600 years ago. The long- A mathematical simulation of the behavior of the atmosphere, oceans, and biosphere; used to create long- |