Climate Change
Causes & Impacts (7.2)
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Notes & review:Energy and Climate Change NotesTopic 7- JeoparDy Review |
Climate overview
What is climate?Climate = long term weather patterns (Average Precipitation, maximum and minimum temperatures, sunshine, humidity, frequency of extreme weather, meteorological indicators )
Weather = atmosphere is behaving in short term (minutes to weeks). (Atmospheric conditions at a specific place at a particular time)
Climate change FAQ- series of articles and ideas NASA resource reel - links to various affects on the earth 300 Years of Fossil Fuels- a history of the fossil fuel movement |
natural Climate ChangeClimate changes naturally. Earth’s history is full of records that indicate natural changes in climate. Ice ages (large one and then smaller ones over the years) being one example. Ice ages are caused by:
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The Debate
So what is the debate actually about?
- Scientists are not arguing about whether the climate is changing or even if there is an increase in CO2 into the atmosphere (at least measured since 1950s) - both of these are scientific fact.
- Scientists are arguing about whether or not humans have caused an irreversible effect/ tipping point causing climate change. The skeptics are also argue about to what extent CO2 is the real culprit of climate change vs to what extent what we are observing is simply natural fluctuation.
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Con
An Obnoxious Fabrication of Global Warming- interesting counterargument Sunspots and Climate a literature review of An Inconvenient Truth Roy Spencer, PhD website Mann's Hockeystick graph ---- Not everyone agrees that the graph is solid |
Causes
Climate Models
Climate Models are used to demonstrate how the climate will change based on multiple factors. While our models have gotten significantly better over the years, they are never going to be perfect, as to a large extent we can never know for certain if we have all of the factors that affect the climate.
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Tipping Points And Impacts
Tipping point = an irreversible change to the system in which natural feedback loops will no longer work
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Impacts of rising global temperatures
Sea Level Rise
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Weather patterns
Claim: More heat = more energy in climate = more violent weather
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Food production
Increased temperatures, increase biochemical reactions
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Biodiversity and ecosystems
>Obviously melting ice and permafrost cause issues with ecosystems
>Plants bloom earlier >Drought increases = increase wildfires etc
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Water supplies
Warmer temperatures = increased evaporation
The other CO2 Problem CO2 Ocean Analysis data |
Human health & Human migration
>Increased temperatures = increase in insect vectors (as there is no cold to kill them)
>Wetter climates cause more fungal diseases vs. dryer climates cause dust and asthma/ chest infections >As food and water sources sift, so does global migration patterns
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National economies
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