Introduction: Planetary Climate, Ecosystems and Human Society CLIM 101 // Fall 2011 George Mason University 30 Aug 2011

CLIM 101 // Global Warming, Weather, Climate and Society // Fall 2011 Our Place in the Universe: You Are Here Artist’s conception - Not to scale, orbits are invisible, planetary alignment almost never happens American Museum of Natural History Digital Universe Project: You are here

CLIM 101 // Global Warming, Weather, Climate and Society // Fall 2011 Our Place in the Universe: Humans on Earth National Geographic Special Issue: 7,000,000,000 People on Earth: r/the-magazine/7-billion/ IndiaAfricaUSA Run movie

CLIM 101 // Global Warming, Weather, Climate and Society // Fall 2011 Our Place in the Universe: Habitable Earth U.K. Meteorological Office: Weather and Climate =bjwmrg__ZVw

CLIM 101 // Global Warming, Weather, Climate and Society // Fall 2011 Global Well-Being sustainability, security and the future of civilization The Global Challenge Inequality and Extreme Poverty Human Population Growth Environmental Degradation Courtesy J. Shukla

CLIM 101 // Global Warming, Weather, Climate and Society // Fall 2011 What is Weather? What is Climate? What is Weather? What is Climate? Weather is what you get, climate is what you expect. Weather is what you get, climate is what you expect. E. N. Lorenz Weather = Expected Weather + Unexpected Weather Climate

CLIM 101 // Global Warming, Weather, Climate and Society // Fall 2011 Questions What is “expected” weather? Why do we expect one type of weather in one place & different weather elsewhere? –E.g. why does it get cold at night? What determines how cold? –E.g. why is Guam warmer on average compared to Fairbanks? What is “unexpected” weather? –Why can’t we predict the weather forever? (like the tides or the movement of planets) –How accurate is the weather forecast? –What about the Farmer’s Almanac? –Is the average departure from normal predictable? –What about global warming?

CLIM 101 // Global Warming, Weather, Climate and Society // Fall 2011 Fairbanks Guam Washington, DC Oklahoma City

CLIM 101 // Global Warming, Weather, Climate and Society // Fall 2011 Temperature for September 2010 to August 2011

CLIM 101 // Global Warming, Weather, Climate and Society // Fall 2011 Temperature for September 2010 to August 2011

CLIM 101 // Global Warming, Weather, Climate and Society // Fall

CLIM 101 // Global Warming, Weather, Climate and Society // Fall 2011 Temperature for September 2010 to August 2011

CLIM 101 // Global Warming, Weather, Climate and Society // Fall 2011 Temperature for September 2010 to August 2011 GUAM 14F 77F 86F 95F

CLIM 101 // Global Warming, Weather, Climate and Society // Fall 2011 Local Climate: Features and Factors Features –Average temperature –Temperature range –Total rainfall –Sunshine/cloudiness –Variability (month to month, year to year) –… Factors –Location, location, location Latitude Altitude Proximity to ocean Proximity to mountains –Vegetation

CLIM 101 // Global Warming, Weather, Climate and Society // Fall 2011 Whence the Seasons?

CLIM 101 // Global Warming, Weather, Climate and Society // Fall Energy from the Sun (energy from the interior) 2.Planetary Albedo 3.Speed of Planet’s Rotation 4.Mass of the Planet 5.Radius of the Planet 6.Atmospheric Composition 7.Ocean-Land, Topography S (depends on Sun itself and distance from Sun)   M a H 2 O, CO 2, O 3, clouds h* The Climate of a Planet Depends On …

CLIM 101 // Global Warming, Weather, Climate and Society // Fall 2011

1.Energy from the Sun (energy from the interior) 2.Planetary Albedo 3.Speed of Planet’s Rotation 4.Mass of the Planet 5.Radius of the Planet 6.Atmospheric Composition 7.Ocean-Land, Topography S (depends on Sun itself and distance from Sun)   M a H 2 O, CO 2, O 3, clouds h* The Climate of a Planet Depends On … Albedo and Composition vary from place to place and time to time in response to changes in the weather, climate, ecosystems and human activities 1, 3, 4, 5, 7 cannot be influenced appreciably by weather, climate or life

CLIM 101 // Global Warming, Weather, Climate and Society // Fall 2011 Weather, Climate and Global Society General Principles

CLIM 101 // Global Warming, Weather, Climate and Society // Fall 2011 What is a Greenhouse Gas? Global Warming Buildup of Greenhouse Gases Greenhouse Effect Natural Sources Anthropogenic Sources 20th Century Climate Change 21st Century Climate Projections Paleoclimate Natural Climate Variability Monitoring climate change Climate Models Sensitivity Tipping Points Feedbacks Hurricanes Sea level Snow Pack, Glaciers, Water Supply Drought, Heat Waves, Fires Climate Impacts Ecosystems Ocean Acidification Extreme Events Climate vs. Weather Fossil fuel reserves Carbon Cycle Oil, Coal, Tar sands, Natural Gas, Methane hydrates Adaptation Costs Increasing resilience Vulnerability Migration Changing Practices Costs Mitigation Societal Choices Business as usual Energy Efficiency Carbon Sequestering Alternative Energy Sources Geoengineering Conservation Consumption Biofuels, Wind, Solar Photovoltaic, Nuclear Fission, Geothermal, Tidal Nuclear Fusion indirect aerosol effect stratospheric aerosols mirrors in space Personal choices Production Courtesy of Prof. M. Wallace, U. Washington

CLIM 101 // Global Warming, Weather, Climate and Society // Fall 2011 Ecosystems Weather Climate Humans Organizing Schema

CLIM 101 // Global Warming, Weather, Climate and Society // Fall 2011 What is an Ecosystem? A system of living organisms, consisting of all plants, animals and micro-organisms (biotic factors) in an area interacting with each other and their physical environment. The boundaries of what could be called an ecosystem are somewhat arbitrary, depending on the focus of study, ranging from the very small scale to the entire planet Earth. Examples: –Coral reef –River catchment –Rain forest –Estuary –Desert –Yellowstone National Park

CLIM 101 // Global Warming, Weather, Climate and Society // Fall 2011 Example: Hypercycle Each member of an ecosystem may depend on the presence or actions of another element, so that the members thrive in each others’ presence For example, fish eat water fleas. Birds eat fish. Birds provide guano, which assists the blooms of algae on which water fleas flourish. feeds guano feeds

CLIM 101 // Global Warming, Weather, Climate and Society // Fall 2011 Summary (points we’ll take up later) Global well-being for humans and the rest of Earth’s organisms is challenged by environmental degradation, extreme poverty and human population growth Weather and climate are related but different Climate depends on several factors, some of which can be influenced by human activities Climate, humans and ecosystems interact and influence each other

CLIM 101 // Global Warming, Weather, Climate and Society // Fall 2011 Reading Rough Guide –pp 3-19 Atlas of Climate Change –pp 9-13 –pp 17

CLIM 101 // Global Warming, Weather, Climate and Society // Fall 2011 REMINDER Last Day to Add a Class Or Drop a Class w/o Penalty: 6 September 2011