Climate Change

climate puzzle taking earth's temperature sun spots

Global Climate Change Global climate change: An overall rise or fall in global temperatures Happens slowly over time and has several causes When temperatures rise, there is more evaporation of water When there is more evaporation of water, there is more precipitation

Melting and growing ice sheets https://www.sciencenews.org/article/changing-climate-10-years-after-inconvenient-truth Weather interactive http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/wwatch/sim/game.htm

Questions Scientists are trying to answer… Natural vs. Human impact Is the global warming that is happening now part of Earth’s natural cycle? Are humans causing climate change? CAN humans cause climate change? What can humans do to stop climate change? Can we control it? How will we adapt to climate change?

Natural Causes of Climate Change 1. The Greenhouse effect: gases trapping heat inside Earth’s atmosphere

Greenhouse Gases Greenhouse gas: any gas that absorbs radiation from the sun Carbon Dioxide CO₂ Carbon Monoxide CO Methane CH₄ Nitrous Oxide N₂O Water Vapor H₂O Sulfur Dioxide SO₂

Natural Causes of Climate Change 2. Ice Age: The long term reduction of Earth’s overall temperature Happens every 10,000 to 50,000 years naturally

Ice Age Data

Natural Causes of Climate Change 3. Solar Activity: Increased solar activity causes higher temperatures

Solar Cycles

Natural Causes of Climate Change 4. Volcanic Activity: Volcanoes release greenhouse gases in the atmosphere Outgassing releases Water vapor, CO₂, and sulfur dioxide (SO₂)

Volcanic Activity Eruptions release 2000 to 5000 tons of CO₂ into the atmosphere Non-active volcanoes release ~100 tons of CO₂ per day

Natural Causes of Climate Change 5. The Milankovitch Theory: variations in earth’s rotation on its axis and orbit around the sun causes climate changes over time The tilt of the earth changes every 40,000 years The earth’s orbit around the sun changes every 25,000 years

Human Causes of Climate Change Industrialization: burning fossil fuels puts more CO₂ into the atmosphere CO₂ levels have increased in the last 200 years Driving cars, electricity, factories

Human Causes of Climate Change 2. Deforestation: Cutting down forests leaves less plants to take up CO₂

Human Causes of Climate Change 3. Ozone Depletion: The ozone layer is being depleted by CFC gases The hole in the ozone layer allows more UV radiation into earth’s atmosphere

ask a climatologist measuring climate change collecting seafloor sediments part 1/5

Measuring Climate Change Fossil Records: tropical plants and animal fossils are found in Antarctica Climates had to have been warmer in the past

Measuring Climate Change 2. Ice Core Data: Air molecules get trapped when water freezes Scientists analyze the air and can tell what the climate was like http://www.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/nvei.sci.earth.climate/ice-core-record-of-climate/

Measuring Climate Change 3. Sea Floor Sediments: Measuring the chemical composition of ancient sea life tells us what the temperatures were like sea floor sediment

Measuring Climate Change 4. Tree Rings: Tree ring width indicates past climate conditions Oldest tree 9550 years old tree rings

climate change the great global warming swindle climate change bill nye

Possible Impacts of Climate Change Global Warming: global temperatures have increased by about 1⁰ C in the past 100 years Human causes, natural causes or both?

Possible Impacts of Climate Change 2. Changes in Precipitation: some areas will get more, some areas will get less

Possible Impacts of Climate Change 3. Weather: severe weather may become more frequent Warmer oceans make it easier for storms to form Storms will be more intense and bring more rain nasa

Possible Impacts of Climate Change 4. Sea level rise: ice at the poles melting could lead to sea level rise and the melting could cause flooding in coastal areas