Introduction to Climate Change

Global Warming or Climate Change? The terms global warming and climate change are often used interchangeably. What’s the difference? Scientists’ initial focus on the changing climate was the persistent temperature rise over several decades: hence “warming” was the feature that received major attention. The more comprehensive term “climate change” is more common now; it includes the global warming trend, but also refers to other climate change linked phenomena such as severe weather, melting polar ice caps, and high winds.

Weather Describes conditions outside on a particular day (temp., precip., etc.) Studied by meteorologists Very short term

Weather Weather terms to know: Temperature Precipitation (type and amount) Wind speed Relative humidity (amount of water vapour in air compared to max. amount of water possible for air to hold at that temp.) Atmospheric pressure Fog, mist or cloud type and cover

Weather Agency responsible is Environment Canada Gather data used by meteorologists Weather stations, weather balloons, aircraft, satellites

Satellite Weather http://www.weatheroffice.gc.ca/radar/index_e.html?id=WKR

Climate Usual pattern of weather in an area over a long period of time (> 30 years) Use average results “Climate is what you expect, weather is what you get” Robert Heinlein

Climate Determines types of flora (plants) and fauna (animals) a region has Flora and fauna adapt to survive in certain climates

Climate Zones Vladimir Koppen Early 1900’s Used temp., precip. and plants to identify zones Had very crooked beard

Ecoregions Updated Koppen’s method Focus on ecology of region Added landforms, soil and animals Over 20 in Canada alone

Factors Affecting Climate Distance from the Equator (latitude) Large bodies of water Ocean or air currents Land formations Height above sea level (altitude or elevation)

Bioclimate Profile http://www.cics.uvic.ca/scenarios/bcp/select.cgi