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Essential Principle #1
• The atmosphere is a variable, dynamic, and complex system.
– The atmosphere is mixture of gases with measurable properties.
– Layers– Chemical composition
Essential Principle #2
• The atmosphere is one of many earth systems and interacts with these other systems.
– Ocean– Geological– climate
Essential Principle #3
• The atmosphere is one of many earth systems and interacts with these other systems.
– Ocean– Geological– climate
Essential Principle #5
• The cycling of water through the atmosphere has profound effects on it
– precipitation
Essential Principle #7
• Changes in the atmosphere take place on a wide range of spatial and temporal scales.
– The atmosphere is made of many components that change over temporal and spatial scales.
Essential Principle #7
• Changes in the atmosphere take place on a wide range of spatial and temporal scales.
– The atmosphere is made of many components that change over temporal and spatial scales.
Essential Principle #1
• Earth is surrounded by a thin fragile atmosphere that sustains life– Layers
Essential Principle #4
• Weather and climate vary in time and space– Scales of variability– Evolution of the atmosphere is linked to other
subsystems– Climate is the product of the interaction of a
number of different
Initial Comments
• Scope? Decided to focus on “Atmospheric Science Literacy”
• Concerns that Earth system science concept is getting diluted by separating Oceans/Atmosphere/Climate
• Paralleling Ocean Literacy; could almost use first six of those Essential Principles, substituting “atmosphere” for “ocean”
Concluding Remarks
• We spent quite a bit of time trying to decide what was an “Essential Principle” and what was a “Fundamental Concept”
• Evolution of life and the hydrologic cycle need to be up front and center, but not sure if they are subsets of some of our Essential Principles
Essential Principle #1
• Complexity– Complexity of Earth’s system is a challenge– Inadequate measurements and chaos
contribute to uncertainty– Earth system is nonlinear
Essential Principle #2
• Linkages (Earth-System)– All life is linked to
atmosphere/ocean/land/space/cryo….
Essential Principle #3
• Energy/Matter/Cycles– Uneven heating of the Earth drives weather
and climate– Water cycle– Energy transfers between systems
Essential Principle #4
• Human Impact– Atmosphere is being altered by human activity– Human activities are being affected by the
atmosphere– Humans’ use of natural resources– Humans are able to live because of
atmosphere– Economic impact
Essential Principle #5
• Change Happens– Rate of Change– Human activity accelerates chage– Constantly changing– Atmospheric changes affect living and non-
living components– Atmosphere is dynamic
Essential Principle #6
• Nature of Atmosphere– Earth has only one atmosphere– Air is real and has mass– Atmosphere has structure and characteristics
Essential Principle #7
• Nature of Science– How do we know what we know– Scientific process– Critical thinking– Earth systems science is interdisciplinary– Laws of Math and Science explain Earth systems– Our understanding and knowledge of Earth systems
evolves– Weather and climate are quantified and predicted based
on data and models
Essential Principle #9
• Climate– Regional vs global – Differentiating climate from weather
• Time scale
Concluding Remarks
• We are still confused about whether we are developing a high framework or a document like Ocean Literacy.
• Are we expressing Climate Change clearly enough?
• How much emphasis should weather have?
Initial Comments – People & Process• Facilitator is Carol Knight of NOAA. OPL: Cherilynn Morrow• Dilling (U. Colo. Center for Sci & Tech Policy) Tuddenham (College of Exploration), • Pandya (UCAR - SOARS - minority ugrad research), Ledley (TERC, research-education
interface), McCaffrey (U. Colo. CIRES), Geary (Director of GLOBE), • Meeson (NASA - Ocean science education) Pitman (K-12 educator, evaluator, Miami) , Henson
(UCAR Office of Communication), LaDue (NSF).
• The Essential Principles of the Climate Literacy Draft and those published for Ocean Literacy were written on the walls. We built on and referred to these in our introductory discussion.
• Opening discussions have centered on the ideas of a. the Sun as an essential source of energy, b. the interconnectivity of all the spheres, and c. the interplay with humans and their impacts.
• We're focusing on science content but it is felt that the content we choose should be considered in light of how it can be related to society and what people might do as result of being literate about the atmosphere and climate.
• We brainstormed ideas for Essential Principles (EP's) that will be revisited, filtered, and prioritized later on. They numbered 26. We then binned those 26 into 9 themes that seemed to capture our ideas.
Essential Principle #1
• The atmosphere is a single, integrated system… everyone interacts with it… We all live in an ocean of air: 2, 3, 7, 8, 9, 20
Essential Principle #2
• The atmosphere is a fluid that transports heat and matter: water, particles… 10 , 11, 18, 21
Essential Principle #4
• Humans change the atmosphere, The atmosphere changes over time: 5, 9, 13, 14
Essential Principle #5
• The atmosphere is dynamic – it changes at different rates, the composition changes, it varies from location to location, small changes can have transformational effects: 4, 11, 14, 15, 16, 18
Essential Principle #7
• There is exchange between the atmosphere, hydrosphere, oceans, and biosphere, The atmosphere is constantly exchanging energy and matter with other spheres: 5, 10, 11, 17, 18, 21, 25
Essential Principle #8
• There is one atmosphere that varies depending on location and at different timescales. Weather and Climate are different but inextricably connected. 14, 15, 19, 22, 23, 24, 25
Concluding Remarks• Our sub-points can help refine the Essential Principles and also inform
the discussions about Fundamental Concepts. These sub-points are documented completely on the BLOG.
• In developing these Essential Principles we used technical terms as a shorthand. This will need additional care and revision.
• The final articulation of these Essential Principles should use terminology carefully and be sensitive to clarifying common misunderstandings (e.g. the differences between “atmosphere”, “weather”, “climate”)
1. Earth is completely enshrouded in an atmosphere
• Our atmosphere is relatively thin
• The processes by which our atmosphere formed
• The reasons our atmosphere remains intact
2. The atmosphere is made up of gases & particles
• Indicate the concentrations of primary gases
• Concentrations of particles• The atmosphere brokers exchanges of
energy b/t Earth & space– Gases help trap heat– Gases block certain solar rays– Particles both reflect and absorb, depending
upon their color & composition
3. The atmosphere changes over time and place
• Atmospheric movements are driven by solar energy
• Atmospheric movements are driven by Earth’s rotation
• Atmospheric movements are driven by convection
• Atmospheric movements are driven by temperature gradients
• Atmospheric movements are driven by interactions w/ the surface
4. The atmosphere has five different layers
• The troposphere (e.g., where is it, what’s it made of, why does it matter?)
• Stratosphere
• Mesosphere
• Thermosphere
• Exosphere
5. The atmosphere is essential for life
• Protects life forms from the Sun’s harmful rays
• Keeps our planet warm
• Distributes water
• Protects us from space debris, CMEs, etc.
6. Atmosphere interacts w/ all other Earth system “spheres”
• Interactions with the surface (land & ocean) influence the physical and chemical composition of the atmosphere
• Life respires and evapotranspires, thus influencing the physical & chemical composition of the atmosphere
7. Humans influence and are influenced by the atmosphere
• Humans add gases that help trap heat• Humans add particulates that can both cool and
warm the surface by reflecting or absorbing sunlight• Humans are changing the chemistry of the
atmosphere, with global consequences (e.g., ozone hole; global warming)
• Human-released particles modify clouds to sometimes delay, sometimes intensify rainfall
• Humans change the surface, which affects the warmth and particulates the surface gives to the atmosphere