GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE INTRODUCTION

"The Earth's well-being is also an issue important to America. And it's an issue that should be important to every nation in every part of our world. The issue of climate change respects no border. Its effects cannot be reined in by an army nor advanced by any ideology. Climate change, with its potential to impact every corner of the world, is an issue that must be addressed by the world." "The Earth's well-being is also an issue important to America. And it's an issue that should be important to every nation in every part of our world. The issue of climate change respects no border. Its effects cannot be reined in by an army nor advanced by any ideology. Climate change, with its potential to impact every corner of the world, is an issue that must be addressed by the world." -- President Bush, June 11, 2001

WHAT IS CLIMATE CHANGE? climate change is the departure from the expected average weather or climate normals (temperature and precipitation) for a given place and time of year. Is our climate changing? How do you know? Is there proof? Is it valid?

COMPOSITION OF THE EARTH’S ATMOSPHERE CONSTANT COMPONENTS – Proportions remain the same over time and location Nitrogen (N 2 )78.08% Oxygen (O 2 )20.95% Argon (Ar)0.93% Neon, Helium, Krypton0.0001% VARIABLE COMPONENTS – Change over time Carbon dioxide (CO 2 )0.0003% Water vapor (H 2 0)0-4% Methane (CH 4 )trace Sulfur dioxide (SO 2 )trace Ozone (O 3 )trace Nitrogen oxides (NO, NO 2 )trace

Nitrogen and oxygen are essential to human life on the planet - they have little effect on weather and other atmospheric processes. The variable components, which make up far less than 1% of the atmosphere, have a much greater influence on both short term weather and long term climate. For example, variations in water vapor in the atmosphere are familiar to us as relative humidity. EFFECTS OF THESE GASSES ON OUR EARTH.

GREENHOUSE GASSES Water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, ozone, CFC’s all have an important property: they absorb heat emitted by the earth and thus warm the atmosphere, creating what we call the “greenhouse effect.” Without these so-called greenhouse gases, the surface of the earth would be about 30 degrees Celsius cooler - too cold for life to exist as we know it.

GREENHOUSE EFFECT Though the greenhouse effect is sometimes portrayed as a bad thing, trace amounts of gases like CO2 warm our planet’s atmosphere enough to sustain life.greenhouse effect Diagram on Board

GLOBAL WARMING Global warming, on the other hand, is a separate process which can be caused by increased amounts of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

OTHER INFLUENCES ON THE ENVIRONMENT Besides gases, the atmosphere also contains particulate matter like dust, volcanic ash, rain, and snow. highly variable and are generally less persistent than gas concentrations they can sometimes remain in the atmosphere for relatively long periods of time. Volcanic ash from the 1991 eruption of Mt. Pinatubo in the Philippines, for example, darkened skies around the globe for over a year.

EARTH’S PAST ATMOSPHERE Though the major components of the atmosphere vary little today, they have changed dramatically over the entire age of the earth, about 4.6 billion years. The early atmosphere was hardly the life- sustaining blanket of air that it is today; – –most geologists believe that the main constituents then were nitrogen gas and carbon dioxide, but no free oxygen.

THE KYOTO PROTOCOL… What is this all about… What is this all about…

What else do you need to know???