Transcript EVIDENCE OF PLANET EARTH`S FRAGILITY

EVIDENCE OF PLANET
EARTH’S FRAGILITY
May 12, 2014
Walter Hays, Global Alliance for
Disaster Reduction, Vienna,
Virginia, USA
LATEST EVIDENCE
May 12, 2014
ANTARCTICA’S THWAITES GLACIER
ICE SHELF BEGINS TO BREAK UP
Ian Joughin, a glaciologist at the
University of Washington in Seattle
WEST ANTARCTICA:THWAITES
ICE SHELF IS BREAKING UP
THWAITES GLACIER
• Thwaites Glacier is losing
several meters (tens of feet) of
ice elevation every year.
WARNING
Planet Earth may be at greater
risk than ever before if global
climate change proves to be a
long-term threat
Source: SCIENCE, May 2014
• Two teams of scientists say the
long-feared collapse of the West
Antarctic Ice Sheet has begun,
kicking off what they say will be a
centuries-long, "unstoppable"
process that could raise sea levels
by as much as 4 m (15 ft).
Source: SCIENCE, May 2014
• They estimate that Thwaites
Glacier will probably disappear
entirely in somewhere between 200
and 1,000 years.
• That loss alone would raise global
sea level by nearly 2 feet (60
centimeters).
Source: SCIENCE, May 2014
• The glacier serves as a linchpin
for the rest of the West
Antarctic Ice sheet, which has
enough frozen mass to cause
another 10 to 13 feet (3 to 4
meters) of sea level rise.
IF PLANET EARTH
CONTINUES WARMING UP,
--MANY LOCATIONS WILL HAVE
ENVIRONMENTS AT HIGHER RISK AS
TEMPERATURE INCREASES AND SEA
LEVEL RISES, AS HYPOTHESIZED
CITIES (PEOPLE, PROPERTY, AND INFRASTRUCTURE) MAY BE AT HIGHER RISK
IMPACT: NORTHEAST USA: 1
METER RISE IN SEA LEVEL
IMPACT:FLORIDA: 1 METER
RISE IN SEA LEVEL
IMPACT: LOUISIANA: 1 METER
RISE IN SEA LEVEL
MONITORING, MITIGATION,
AND ADAPTATION
MEASURES:
WAYS TO COPE WITH
GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE
CURRENT NEEDS
Planet Earth’s
changes in
exposure and risk
over time have
created a need for:
 Technology to
monitor global
climate change,
warn people, and
protect property,
and infrastructure.
EVIDENCE OF GLOBAL
WARMING CITED IN THE
PAST
KANAI FJORD, ALASKA
NORTHWEST TERRITORIES,
CANADA
GREENLAND
WENGEN, SWITZERLAND
MT KILIMANJARO, TANZANIA
GREAT BARRIER REEF,
AUSTRALIA
ANTARCTICA: WILKINS ICE
SHELF DISINTEGRATION
SOUTH GEORGIA ISLAND
DALIAN, CHINA
Natural Phenomena that Change
our Environment
Planet Earth is
warming up, as
shown by:
Advance of
deserts
1/6 OF WORLD’S POPULATIONS
AFFECTED BY DESERTIFICATION
Natural Phenomena that Change
our Environment
Planet Earth is
warming up,
causing:
Droughts
DROUGHT IN CHINA: 2007
Natural Phenomena that Change
our Environment
Planet Earth is
warming up,
which causes:
Rivers to dry
up.
COLORADO RIVER BASIN,
WESTERN USA
LOS ANGELES RIVER: SUMMER
2007
.
ELBE RIVER, GERMANY:
SUMMER, 2007