Transcript Glad you`re here!

HAPPY EARTH DAY!
If you have your
permission slip and
money, please bring
them to Ms. Klein now
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 Please read the board!
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WHY WOULD A WARMER
WORLD CREATE MORE
FREQUENT AND MORE
INTENSE HURRICANES?
HURRICANES REQUIRE:
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1. Warm waters
2. Evaporated water from ocean
3. Wind patterns that start to spiral inwards
A hurricane is a huge storm! It can be up to 600 miles across
and have strong winds spiraling inward and upward at speeds
of 75 to 200 mph. Each hurricane usually lasts for over a
week, moving 10-20 miles per hour over the open ocean.
Hurricanes gather heat and energy through contact with
warm ocean waters. Evaporation from the seawater increases
their power. Hurricanes rotate in a counter-clockwise direction
around an "eye" in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise
direction in the Southern Hemisphere. The center of the storm
or "eye" is the calmest part. It has only light winds and fair
weather. When they come onto land, the heavy rain, strong
winds and large waves can damage trees, cars and buildings.
HURRICANES IN THE NORTHERN HALF OF THE ATLANTIC OCEAN HAVE BECOME
STRONGER OVER THE LAST FEW DECADES. THIS GRAPH SHOWS THE POWER
DISSIPATION INDEX, WHICH MEASURES TOTAL HURRICANE POWER EACH YEAR
BASED ON THE NUMBER OF HURRICANES AND THEIR WIND SPEED. THE GRAPH
ALSO SHOWS HOW HURRICANE STRENGTH IS RELATED TO WATER TEMPERATURE.
SOURCE: EPA'S CLIMATE CHANGE INDICATORS (2012).
WHY IS 1OF WARMER A BIG DEAL?
Daily grades vs. your GPA
 Global Average temperature today 58oF
 365 days/yr x two readings/day x 3,000 weather stations
= a very ROBUST average.
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BUT MY LITTLE BIT OF CARBON DOESN’T
MAKE A DIFFERENCE, DOES IT?
THE TRAGEDY OF THE COMMONS
The
ruin of free-access
resources by individuals’
collective actions.
 How
does this apply to Climate change?
HOW MUCH WARMER WILL IT GET?
IPCC – Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
 1,200 scientists from around the world.
 Compile evidence in one place and publish findings
 Jan 2007 – issued report on climate change.
 Absolute agreement on anthropogenic cause of current
climate change.
 “Warming of the climate system is unequivocal”
 “There is very high confidence that the net effect of
human activities since 1750 has been one of warming.”
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ANALYZE THE GRAPHS
 1.
What is the difference between figures A
and C?
 2. What do the diagonal lines on Figure A
mean?
 3. How many years does the map on Figure A
cover?
 4. What does the zero represent on the Y axis
of figure B?
 5. What is the difference between the black
line and the purple/orange lines on Figure B?
 6. How much warmer might the planet get by
2100?
 7. How is figure C related to Figure B? Why
are there TWO maps?
YEAH, BUT HOW DO THE IPCC
KNOW HOW MUCH THE CLIMATE
WILL CHANGE?
PREDICTING FUTURE CLIMATE: GLOBAL
CIRCULATION MODEL COMPUTER PROGRAM
GLOBAL CLIMATE MODELS: GCM’S
Computer can generate current global
temperatures to be checked against what we
know today.
 Future global temperature averages are based
on possible concentrations of greenhouse gases.
 Expected change: 1-4oC MORE than now.
(2
to 7oF!!!)
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IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE (P28)
WHY WOULD SPECIES BECOME EXTINCT?
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PREDICT HOW THESE SPECIES WOULD BE
AFFECTED BY THE CHANGE:
Brown Shrimp – more drought
 Kemps Ridley Sea Turtle – higher sea level
 Cord grass – higher sea level
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