Climate and
Change
Climate
Theweather conditions prevailing in an
area in general or over a long period (30+
years).
Weather is not climate.
Climate
Factors that affect climate:
distance from the sea
ocean currents
direction of prevailing winds
shape of the land (topography)
distance from the equator
the El Niño phenomenon.
Distance from the sea
Coastal areas are cooler and wetter than
inland areas.
Inland temperatures can be very hot and
dry
Ocean Currents
Ocean currents can be generated by
wind, density differences in water masses
caused by temperature and salinity
variations, gravity, and events such as
earthquakes.
Air Currents
Air Currents
Corioliseffect:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2m
ec3vgeaI
Prevailing winds can impact local
climates.
Topography
Mountains receive more rainfall than low lying areas because as air
is forced over the higher ground it cools, causing moist air to
condense and fall out as rainfall.
The higher the place is above sea level the colder it will be.
Distance From Equator
• At the poles, energy from the sun reaches the Earth's surface at
lower angles and passes through a thicker layer of atmosphere
than at the equator.
• This means the climate is cooler further from the Equator.
• The poles also experience the greatest difference between
summer and winter day lengths.
El Niño
El Niño refers to the irregular warming of surface water in the
Pacific. The warmer water pumps energy and moisture into the
atmosphere, altering global wind and rainfall patterns.
Human Impacts
Humans are increasing greenhouse gases
in the atmosphere that lead to warming.
Greenhouse Effect
Greenhouse Gases
Climate Change
Human expansion of the greenhouse
effect.
Adding Greenhouse gases to the
atmosphere speeding warming.
Climate Change
Climate change is a change in the
statistical distribution of weather patterns
when that change lasts for an extended
period of time (decades to millions of
years).
Weather events are not climate!!!
Feedback loops
Positive feedback loop- two events are
mutually reinforcing....
Negative feedback loops- Causes a
system to change directions- self
limiting.
Water Vapor
The most abundant greenhouse gas.
Water vapor increases as the Earth's
atmosphere warms, but so does the
possibility of clouds and precipitation.
Impermeable surfaces, irrigation, and
increases in surface water contribute to
evaporation which increase water vapor.
Carbon Dioxide
Carbon dioxide is released through natural
processes such as cellular respiration and
volcanic eruptions.
Human activities such as deforestation, land
use changes, and burning fossil fuels release
CO2.
Humans have increased atmospheric CO2
concentration by a third since the Industrial
Revolution began.
This is the most important long-lived "forcing"
of climate change.
Carbon dioxide
Land use changes that disrupt natural soil
processes (such as industrial agriculture)
disrupt soil acting as a carbon sink.
Normally, soil will hold organic carbon for
long periods of time, but when plowed or
tilled, the increase in surface area
increases active decomposition returning
carbon to the atmosphere as CO2
Read more here:
http://www.ghgonline.org/co2sinksoil.htm
Carbon Dioxide
Trees
are a natural carbon sink. 46-58 thousand
square miles of forest are lost each year—
equivalent to 48 football fields every minute.
Carbon Dioxide
The industrial
activities have raised
atmospheric carbon
dioxide levels from
280 ppm to over 400
ppm in the last 150
years.
Current
measurement:
404.16 ppm
410.03ppm
411.97 ppm
Keeling curve
Seasonalvariations
can explain the
shape of the curve
Photosynthesis
exceeds
respiration in
summer
Vice versa in
winter
Ice Core Samples
Allow us to go back in time and to sample air
temperature and air chemistry from another time.
Ice core records allow us to generate continuous
reconstructions of past climate, going back at least
800,000 years.
Isotopes and GHG concentrations allow scientists to
reconstruct past climates
Carbon Dioxide
CO2 and Temp
(from ice core data)
Methane
A hydrocarbon gas produced both
through natural sources and human
activities.
Decomposition of wastes in landfills,
agriculture, ruminant digestion and
manure management associated with
livestock, hydraulic fracturing, and
melting permafrost all increase CH4.
Nitrous Oxide
A powerful greenhouse gas produced by
soil cultivation practices, especially the use
of commercial fertilizers, fossil fuel
combustion, nitric acid production, and
biomass burning.
Chlorofluorocarbons (CFC’s)
Synthetic and industrial in origin.
Now largely regulated in production and
release to the atmosphere by
international agreement: Montreal
Protocol.
Deplete the ozone layer.
They are also greenhouse gases.
Ozone
Protective in the stratosphere
as it blocks UV radiation from
entering the atmosphere.
Keeps planet from getting
too hot.
Acts as a GHG when it is the
troposphere.
Effects of GHG’s
The heat-trapping nature of carbon
dioxide and other gases demonstrated in
the mid-19th century.
Their ability to affect the transfer of
infrared (radiant) energy through the
atmosphere is documented.
There is no question that increased levels
of greenhouse gases cause the Earth to
warm in response.
Temperature Change
The 10 warmest years in the 134-year record all
have occurred since 2000, with the exception of
1998.
The year 2015 ranks as the warmest on record.
The year 2016 ranks as the warmest on record.
Sea Level Rise
Sea Level Rise
Global sea level rose about 17 centimeters
(6.7 inches) in the last century.
The rate in the last decade, however, is nearly
double that of the last century.
Causes:
Thermal expansion
Land Ice (glaciers, ice caps, ice sheets) melting
increase sea levels.
Diverting surface water to oceans through
runoff.
Thermal Expansion
Land Ice Melt
Increased Runoff
Sea Level Rise
Sea Level Rise
Arctic Sea Ice
Sea ice is seawater that freezes every
winter. It is floating ice.
Arctic sea ice reaches its minimum each
September.
September Arctic sea ice is now declining
at a rate of 13.4 percent per decade,
relative to the 1981 to 2010 average.
Arctic Sea Ice Change
Arctic Sea Ice Trends
Land Ice
Thisis frozen (fresh) water that is atop the
geosphere.
Glacier- ice in valleys
Ice cap- Ice atop mountains
Ice sheet- Ice shelves
Land Ice- Mountain glaciers
Land Ice- Mountain Glaciers
Land Ice- Mountain Glaciers
Tana Glacier
Land Ice- Greenland
TheGreenland ice sheet has been losing
an estimated 287 billion metric tons per
year. (Source: Grace satellite data)
Land Ice- Greenland
Land Ice- Antarctica
Most studies show declining ice mass in
Antarctica, especially on the Western
Shelf.
Land Ice- Antarctica another
study.
Albedo
What impact does melting ice have on
climate?
White has a high reflection coefficient.
So, more white snow and ice reflect more
sun.
Less energy is absorbed to be radiated
back out as heat.
Local cooling with more albedo.
Albedo
Ocean Acidification
Ocean Acidification
Ocean Acidification
Ocean Acidification
Less marine calcification means….?
1.
2.
What type of feedback system is this?
Ocean Acidification
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wo-
bHt1bOsw#t=24
Overview
Link 2
Link 3
Summary
Scientific Consensus
97%or more of active climate scientists
agree:
Earth’s climate is warming.
Greenhouse gasses are the primary driver.
Outcomes
Outcomes
Extinction events
Timing mismatches (phenology)
Coral Bleaching
Increases in temps
Changes in precipitation patterns
Heat waves and droughts
Wildfires
Desertification
Hurricanes increase in strength and frequency
Sea level rise between 1-4 ft by 2100
Arctic ice disappears
Phenology
Phenologists study cyclic and seasonal
natural phenomena, especially in relation
to climate and plant and animal life.
Climate change is causing timing
problems and mismatches between
species.
Migratory species are arriving early or late
and not finding the resources they need.
Coral Bleaching
Video
Whatecosystem services will be
impacted by coral bleaching?
Climate Refugees
People displaced by climate change.
Climate Refugees
Wildfires
Desertification
theprocess by which fertile land
becomes desert, typically as a result of
drought, deforestation, or inappropriate
agriculture.
Ecosystem Services
What ecosystem services will be impacted if we don’t reduce CO2?-
ALL OF THEM, but here is a reminder of a few!
Cultural
Scuba diving
Ecotourism
Fishing
Provisioning
Food
Oxygen
Medicine
Fiber
Regulating
Buffer ones
Erosion control
Flood mitigation
Supporting
Soil productivity
Biologically mediated habitats
Nutrient cycling
Detoxification of soil
What to do…. Reduce
human carbon footprint.
Energy efficiency
Energy conservation
Alternatives to fossil fuel
Reforestation
Reduce deforestation
Agricultural shifts towards plant based diets,
pasture-raised meats, organic and
sustainable practices that also conserve soil.
Waste management improvements
Reduce, reuse, recycle, rethink!
What next?
Kyoto Protocol 1997
The Kyoto Protocol is an international treaty
which extends the 1992 United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change
(UNFCCC) that commits State Parties to
reduce greenhouse gas emissions, based on
the premise that (a) global warming exists
and (b) human-made CO2 emissions have
caused it.
The US did not ratify
https://www.britannica.com/event/Kyoto-
Protocol
Paris Agreement
April 22, 2016
The agreement sets out a global action
plan to put the world on track to avoid
dangerous climate change by limiting
global warming to well below 2°C.
US is participating
US is not participating
https://ec.europa.eu/clima/policies/intern
ational/negotiations/paris_en
