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WAEarth and Environmental ScienceQuick questions

Unit 4: Earth hazards and climate change

Quick questions on Natural climate change and proxy evidence: WACE Year 12 Earth and Environmental Science

3short Q&A pairs drawn directly from our worked dot-point answer. For full context and worked exam questions, read the parent dot-point page.

What is earth's energy balance?
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Climate reflects the balance between energy arriving from the Sun and energy radiated back to space. Anything that changes incoming solar energy, how much is reflected, or how much heat is trapped by the atmosphere acts as a climate forcing. Natural forcings have driven ice ages and warm periods long before humans.
What is feedbacks amplify change?
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Feedbacks can magnify a small forcing.
What are proxy evidence for past climates?
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Because instruments only record the last century or two, scientists reconstruct earlier climates from proxies.

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