Climate Change Notes
How do we investigate climate change?
•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 •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 CO2 into the atmosphere. What are the consequences if it continues? ¨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 What can we do to stop it? •Wild plants and animals can be affected. The growing season for plants has changed and animals have the potential to be harmed if they can’t 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. ¨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 CO2 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. What are the natural phenomenon that impact the worlds climate? •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 pop-up 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 Niño conditions: surface current reversed, pushing warm water toward the Eastern Pacific Upwelling repressed à Unusually warm water across Equatorial Pacific La Niña: Stronger trade Winds than normal, causing a strong upwelling of cold water in the Eastern Pacific climate change game1. That nobody liked what i was deciding.
2. To use resources that would help the carbon levels 3. yes |