Ecological Restoration (BIO 409) Dr. McEwan Global Change and Restoration

C limate Change Ecology Main points: 1.Climate has never been stable. 2.Climate dynamics impact ecosystems 3.The climate is changing rapidly now. 4.Climate change has substantial implications

C limate Change Ecology Main points: 1.Climate has never been stable. Enormous variability over the long-term 2.Climate dynamics impact ecosystems 3.The climate is changing rapidly now. 4.Climate change has substantial implications

Delcourt and Delcourt 1987

THE HOLOCENE (11,000-now)

Younger Dryas: marks boundary Holocene

Holocene Thermal Maximum : (Globally 1-2 C higher than today) Holocene Hypsithermal

C limate Change Ecology Main points: 1.Climate has never been stable. Enormous variability over the long-term 2.Climate dynamics impact ecosystems Species respond to climate dynamics 3.The climate is changing rapidly now. 4.Climate change has substantial implications

Margaret Davis...

SCIENCE !

Pollen (SEM) Acer rubrum Juniperus sp. Ambrosia trifida

Margaret Davis: Roger’s Lake Ecology (50: ), 1969

Pollen Viewer

C limate Change Ecology Main points: 1.Climate has never been stable. Enormous variability over the long-term 2.Climate dynamics impact ecosystems Species respond to climate dynamics 3.The climate is changing rapidly now. Likely has multiple causes, Increasing CO 2 may be the most important driver 4.Climate change has substantial implications

Griffith Woods, KY

biggest-american-cities-that-are-running-out-of-water

But, why?

Well…a lot of things influence climate: 1) Sunspot activity 2) Volcanoes 3) Ocean current changes 4) Earth’s wobble 5) Atmosphere (greenhouse effect)

Sunspots!

Volcanoes can influence global climate, but not real good evidence of more volcanoes the last 50 years or so…

Oceanic currents are a powerful climatic force. They both influence and are influenced by atmospheric conditions. Thermohaline cycles are extremely important. The vulnerability of these systems to ongoing climate warming is not well understood. Why are England and other European nations more concerned with climate change than the US or China?

The Earth’s wobble matters…but, thus far we don’t think this has explanatory power with regard to the ongoing warming pattern

A CO2 driver of Climate Change: The Three Arguments: 1) Physics 2) Correlative 3) Modeling (a combo of physics and correlation

The Greenhouse Effect is fundamental to our understanding of how Earth works:

Keeling Curve: Measured on Mauna Loa

Occam’s Razor (law of parsimony) and Newton combine to suggest- with extreme confidence that increasing atmospheric CO2 is the driver of ongoing climate warming.

C limate Change Ecology Main points: 1.Climate has never been stable. 2.Climate dynamics impact ecosystems 3.The climate is changing rapidly now. 4.Climate change has substantial implications