Lecture 1c: Feedback loops

Image credit: Chris Butler/SPL

 Learning Outcomes

• Be able to name the 4 major reservoirs of the Earth system

• Be able to identify whether something is an open or closed

system and explain the implications of this

• Be able to identify reservoirs, fluxes (sinks and sources), and

calculate residence times for simple systems

• Be able to explain, identify, and draw out positive and negative

feedbacks
 Feedback loops
When the output of a system contributes to the input…

Feedbacks can be:

1) positive (amplifier; increase leads to increase, decrease leads

to decrease)

2) negative (stabilizing; increase leads to decrease, decrease

leads to increase)
Feedback loops: Negative/stabilizing

Apartment Amount of air

temperature conditioning used

Positive coupling Negative coupling

(increase causes (increase causes
increase, decrease decrease, decrease
causes decrease) causes increase)
Feedback loops: Negative/stabilizing

Apartment Amount of air

temperature conditioning used

When the temperature increases results in an increase the air conditioning

which results in a decrease in temperature.
Positive coupling Negative coupling
(increase causes (increase causes
increase, decrease decrease, decrease
causes decrease) causes increase)
 Feedback loops: Positive/amplifying
For example – the interaction between sunlight, global temperature
and ice

Reflected
light

Incoming
sunlight
Feedback loops: Positive/amplifying

Amount of sunlight Temperature of

reflected planet

Amount of ice

Positive coupling Negative coupling

(increase causes (increase causes
increase, decrease decrease, decrease
causes decrease) causes increase)
Feedback loops: Positive/amplifying

Amount of sunlight Temperature of

reflected planet

Amount of ice

Positive coupling Negative coupling

(increase causes (increase causes
increase, decrease decrease, decrease
causes decrease) causes increase)
 Snowball Earth Hypothesis

At one point (~700 million

years ago) Earth may have
been almost entirely ice
covered and much colder
because of this ice –
reflectance feedback

So, why are we not a

frozen ball of ice still?
Feedback loops: Positive/amplifying

Amount of Temperature of
sunlight planet Atmospheric
reflected CO2

Amount of ice
Volcanic
activity
Which diagram below correctly shows the
temperature-cloud feedback?