Global Climate Change Caused by Humans

Emissions from the Developed and Developing World

Global Temperatures since 1880

Since 1880 temperatures have increased 0.8C.

Temperatures and Greenhouse Gas Concentrations in Past 400,000 Years

No one was around thousands of years ago to measure temperatures so we

use other indirect measurements. Some of these are

Changes in species compositions

Chemical analyses of ice

Putting It Together

We know that an increase in CO2 in the atmosphere causes a greater capacity

for warming through the greenhouse effect.

When the Earth experiences higher temperatures, the oceans warm and
cannot contain as much CO2 gas and, as a result, they release CO 2 into the
atmosphere.

Consequences to the Environment Because of Global Warming

Melting of polar ice caps, Greenland and Antarctica

Melting of many glaciers around the world

Melting of permafrost

Rising of sea levels due to the melting of glaciers and ice sheets and as water
warms it expands

Heat waves

Cold spells

Change in precipitation patterns

Increase in storm intensity

Shift in ocean currents

Consequences to Living Organisms

Wild plants and animals can be affected. The growing season for plants has
changed and animals have the potential to be harmed if they cant move to
better climates.

Humans may have to relocate, some diseases like those carried by

mosquitoes could increase and there could be economic consequences.

The Kyoto Protocol

In 1997, representatives of the nations of the world went to Kyoto, Japan to

discuss how best to control the emissions contributing to global warming.

The agreement was that emissions of greenhouse gases from all

industrialized countries will be reduced to 5.2% below their 1990 levels by
2012.

Developing nations did not have emission limits imposed by the protocol.

Carbon Sequestration

An approach involving taking CO2 out of the atmosphere.

Some methods include storing carbon in agricultural soils or retiring

agricultural land and allowing it to become pasture or forest.

Researchers are looking at cost-effective ways of capturing CO 2 from the air,

from coal-burning power stations, and from other emission sources.

This captured CO2 would be compressed and pumped into abandoned oil wells
or the deep ocean.

Natural Phenomenon that Impacts the Worlds Climate

Climate Vs. Weather

Weather can change from minute-to-minute, hour-to-hour, day-to-day, and

season-to-season. Climate, however, is the average of weather over time and
space.

An easy way to remember the difference is that climate is what you expect,
like a very hot summer, and weather is what you get, like a hot day with popup thunderstorms.

Volcanoes can have HUGE affects on the weather but typically, only the really
big eruptions will have noticeable effects on the climate.

Climate is what we Expect and Weather is what we Get.

El Nino and La Nina

El Nio conditions:
surface current reversed, pushing warm water toward the Eastern Pacific
Upwelling repressed Unusually warm water across Equatorial Pacific
La Nia: Stronger trade Winds than normal,
causing a strong upwelling of cold water in the Eastern Pacific
What are sunspots?
Sunspots are temporary phenomena on the surface of the Sun that appear visibly as
dark spots compared to surrounding regions. They are caused by intense magnetic
activity, which inhibits convection and forms areas of reduced surface temperature.
Sunspots and climate
An influence of solar irradiance variations on Earths surface climate has been
repeatedly suggested, based on correlations between solar variability and
meteorological variables.
Low solar activity can enhance cold winters in northern Europe and the United
States, with little direct change in globally averaged temperature.

An eruption can cause warming and cooling.

An addition of carbon dioxide contributes to greenhouse warming.

An addition to sulfurous gases induces cooling, because they turn into

droplets of sulfuric acid that absorb and reflect sunlight, and cut down
the amount of heat that reaches the ground.

But most documented cases show a net cooling effect.

Benjamin Franklin

The first scientist to recognize the cooling pattern.

He linked the abnormal weather over Europe in 1783-84 to the great Laki
eruption in Iceland, which sent volcanic gases into the stratosphere and
released over 100 million tons of sulfur dioxide over just a couple of months
As much as the worlds industries release today in a year.

Most major eruptions only cause a temperature change of a fraction of a

Kelvin, which doesnt sound like much, but over an entire year it represents a
large amount of heat subtracted from the Earths budget.

Smaller eruptions dont have a very big effect on the climate.

Earths Movement/ Tilt

Milankovitch Cycles

Named after a Serbain mathematician,

Milutin Milankovitch

EXTREMEMLY long term

effects that scientists think

may be the cause of the
ice ages.

These are movements of

the Earth that affect the

amount of solar radiation
that it gets.
Precession
Direction of the Earths axis changes over time
The Earth wobbles like a top on its axis
26,000 year cycle
Obliquity
The tilt angle of the Earths axis changes over time
The greater the tilt the greater the differences in the seasons.
40,000 year cycle
Eccentricity
Varying shape of Earths orbit, e.g. how elliptical it is
100,000 year long cycle