Transcript Climate Change - IISME Community Site

Climate Change
The Current Warming Trend
What is Climate Change?
Climate Change: Long-term, held changes
in average overall near-surface
temperature on a planet.
 Global Warming: increase in average
overall near-surface temperature on a
planet.
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From Vostok
Ice Core, 1998
Evidence for Climate Change?
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Ice Core: sample of
accumulated ice that has
trapped air bubbles from
previous time periods
What is captured in air
bubbles?
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What do inclusions tell
us?
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– Greenhouse Gases
 CO2 (Carbon Dioxide)
 CH4 (Methane)
 N2O (Nitrous Oxide)
– Hydrogen and Oxygen
Isotopes
– Ash, dust, debris
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Temperature
Ocean volume
Precipitation
Chemistry and gas
composition of the lower
atmosphere
Volcanic eruptions
Solar variability
Desert extent
Forest fires
Ice Core
Why Does Climate Change?
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Energy that Sun radiates
changes
Orbit of Earth changes
Reflection of sunlight at
the Earth's surface
(albedo) changes
Amount of cloud cover
changes
Composition of
atmosphere changes
Greenhouse Effect
1. Solar radiation approaches atmosphere
2. Either gets reflected away or absorbed by
atmosphere or surface of planet
3. Reflected solar radiation gets bounced back to
space
4. Absorbed radiation is reemitted as infrared
radiation (HEAT!)
5. This heat either escapes, or gets trapped in
atmosphere by greenhouse gases that serve as
barrier to the Infrered radiation
The Greenhouse Effect
Good thing! Without it Earth  60ºF colder
 Rise in temperature on Earth due to atmospheric
gases trapping infrared radiation from sun
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Water vapor (H20)
Carbon dioxide (CO2)
Nitrous oxide (N2O)
Methane (CH4)
Potentially a bad thing for
biodiversty
Carbon Cycle
Carbon/ Oxygen Cycle
Photosynthesis
and
Respiration
Evidence Linking CO2 to Temp
Rise and Fall of
CO2 present in
atmosphere
virtually parallel
rise and fall in
temperature
Recent Temperature Trends
More Evidence
Human Impact
Consequences
Other Consequences
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Disruption of millions of delicately balanced
ecological relationships among species
Increase in invasive species
Diseases and pests are better able to take hold
in ecosystems
Species loss
Coral Reef bleaching
Rampant algae blooms
Migration of species (and vectors) into new
regions
What Can We Do?
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Practice fuel-efficient driving
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Buy a fuel-efficient car
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Recycle air conditioner coolant
If your car has an air conditioner, make sure you recycle its coolant whenever you
Every gallon of gasoline burned puts 26 pounds of carbon dioxide into the
atmosphere. You can boost the overall fuel-efficiency of your car as much as 30% by
simple vehicle maintenance and attention to your style of driving.
Even more important is the choice of car or truck you buy. If you buy a new car that
gets 10 more miles per gallon than your old car, the amount of carbon dioxide
reduction realized in one year will be about 2,500 pounds. The new hybrid cars, using
efficient gas-electric engines, can cut global warming pollution by 30% or more.
have it serviced. You can save thousands of pounds of carbon dioxide each year by
doing this.
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Drive less
You’ll save energy by taking the bus, riding a bike, or walking. Try consolidating trips
to the mall or longer routine drives. Encourage car-pooling.
Conserve energy in the home and yard
Yard maintenance contributes significantly to greenhouse emissions. Per hour of
operation, a power lawn mower emits 10-12 times as much hydrocarbon as a typical
auto. A weedeater emits 21 times more and a leaf blower 34 times more.
Reduce lawn size
Lawn size can be reduced by adding shrubs, beds, ground covers and mulched areas.
Try creating a lawn area small enough to be mowed using an efficient reel (push)
mower. Lawn edging can be set low enough to mow over, reducing or eliminating the
need for a weed-eater.
What Can We Do?
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Recycle whenever possible
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Eat locally produced food
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Eat vegetarian meals
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Paint your home a light color if you live in a warm climate, or a dark color
in a cold climate.
Aluminum cans, newspapers, magazines, cardboard, glass - anything recycled
reduces the energy needed to create new products. To find the recycling center
nearest you, call: 1 800-CLEANUP. For ideas on home recycling,
Today, the food choices available in supermarkets come from all over the world. All
of this ‘traffic’ in food requires staggering amounts of fuel - generally by refrigerated
airplanes or transport trucks. Food transportation is one of the fastest growing
sources of greenhouse gas emissions.
Vegetarian food requires much less energy to produce. Enjoying vegetarian meals
once or twice a week results in significant CO2 savings.
This can contribute saving up to 5000 pounds of carbon dioxide per year.
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Choose clean energy options
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Buy clean energy certificates and carbon offsets
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If you can choose your electricity supplier, pick a company that generates at least
half its power from wind, solar energy and other renewable sources.
Help spur the renewable energy market and cut global warming pollution with “wind
certificates” or “green tags,” which represent clean power you can add to the nation’s
energy grid in place of electricity from fossil fuels.
A “carbon offset” is an emission reduction credit which can be purchased by
individuals, businesses and governments to reduce their net greenhouse gas
emissions.