1. Introduction to Climate Change SNC2D1 Mr. Findlay

2. Did You Know? Hail isn’t always round or small enough to hold in the palm of your hand. ▫Some of these hard chunks of ice are elongated or jagged. They are mostly the size of gumballs, golf balls, or even baseballs. But the largest hailstone ever recorded in the United States landed in Coffeyville, Kansas, in 1970. Measuring 44 cm around, this monster ice crystal weighed 1.67 lbs. ▫Imagine getting hit in the head with this rock!

3. What is Climate Change? Climate ▫Overall pattern of environmental conditions over a long period of time. ▫Climatologists or Atmospheric Scientists keep detailed records of climate of a specific region on Earth. ▫Determines what types of plants and animals can survive in that area. ▫Throughout history, climate in regions has changed over time.

4. What is Climate Change?

5. Weather ▫Day to day conditions of any region over a short period of time. ▫Based on temperature and moisture levels. ▫Unpredictable and can change in as little time as an hour. ▫Meteorologists study weather and attempt to predict weather patterns by tracking expected events. ▫Ideas for Forecasting the WeatherForecasting the Weather Hurricane Floyd – Florida 1999

6. Ecoregions around the World Climate depends on: ▫Solar radiation ▫Insulation ▫Atmospheric gases ▫Greenhouse effect ▫Air and ocean circulation Ecoregions ▫Ecologically distinct regions of the Earth. ▫Depend on:  Air, water, land, biodiversity and human components.

7. Ecoregions around the World

8. Why study Ecoregions? Human activities have been significantly influencing the ecological processes and character of a region. Examples ▫Agriculture in the Prairie Provinces ▫Urbanization of the forests of Southern Ontario Humans have shown the ability to alter their environment. Climate change may cause a shift of ecoregions and issues for plants, animals and humans that live there.

9. Temperature vs Heat Consider the particle theory of matter. Heat ▫Refers to the total amount of particle movement in a substance. Temperature ▫Refers to the average speed of movement of the particles in a substance. Example ▫Swimming pool full of ice vs teaspoon of boiling water.

10. Heat Transfer Heat moves through a solid. Example: metal spoon. Conduction Particles of a fluid (gas or liquid) are warmed up by a heat source. Example: boiling water Convection Waves of energy move from a source to a target. Example: Sun’s energy Radiation

11. Issues in Climate Change Polar Bear Conservation Efforts How does Climate Change affect their habitat? Planet Earth Video Polar Bear Habits

12. Issues in Climate Change Harp Seals nurse their pups for 12 days before they are on their own. The pups survive by staying near their ice dens. These ice dens are quickly melting below the seals causing their chance to survive to quickly drop. The issue – a warm and dry winter. In 2007, 75% of newborn seals off the east coast of Canada died. In 2010, it is possible that none survived.

13. Issues in Climate Change

14. Carbon Dioxide Emissions The Breathing Earth Issues we may encounter: ▫rising sea levels, more frequent and more severe natural disasters, large-scale food and water shortages, plagues, massive species extinctions, unprecendented numbers of refugees, intensified ethnic and political tensions, and a global economic depression