Download presentation
Presentation is loading. Please wait.
Published byVirginia Hines Modified over 9 years ago
1
Greenhouse Gases, Cosmic Rays and Mathematical Models What Science Really Tells Us About Climate Change Dr. Terry Flower, ICCC9, July 2014
2
What I will tell you What Science is capable of telling us
3
What I will tell you What Science is capable of telling us Greenhouse Gases
4
What I will tell you What Science is capable of telling us Greenhouse Gases Cosmic Rays and the Sun
5
What I will tell you What Science is capable of telling us Greenhouse Gases Cosmic Rays and the Sun Mathematical Modeling
6
What I will tell you What Science is capable of telling us Greenhouse Gases Cosmic Rays and the Sun Mathematical Modeling What I predict will be the future trend
7
Science has been successful We got to the moon
8
Science has been successful We got to the moon We’ve made medical advances
9
Science has been successful We got to the moon We’ve made medical advances Look at computers
10
Science has been successful We got to the moon We’ve made medical advances Look at computers The digital age
11
Science has been successful We got to the moon We’ve made medical advances Look at computers The digital age Hubble Space Telescope
12
Science has been successful We got to the moon We’ve made medical advances Look at computers The digital age Hubble Space Telescope Missions to the Solar System
13
Science vs. Pseudo-Science TV Commercials make connections between science and their product
14
Department Names at Universities Mathematical Science Family, Consumer and Nutrition Science Exercise Science Social Science Political Science
15
The Structure of Scientific Revolutions Thomas Kuhn, 1962 How Science is done Scientists perform experiments to reenforce the existing “Paradigm” Existing “Paradigm” leads to crisis New “Paradigm” Vast differences between political and scientific revolutions but both have a common metaphor
16
Parallelism in Science and Politics Both cease to meet needs of (at least) a segment of both communities that they themselves created The sense of malfunction leads to crisis Choice of a paradigm cannot be settled by logic and experiment alone – it depends on what works rather than truth itself
17
Water Vapor - the Main Greenhouse Gas Eric Fetzer, an atmospheric scientist who works with AIRS data at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. "Water vapor is the big player in the atmosphere as far as climate is concerned.“ If we don’t understand water vapor contributions we don’t understand the climate.
18
Clouds are not well understood
19
Clouds Cover 65% of the Earth, on the average Can have a net cooling effect of 30 W/m 2 Anthropogenic sources are 1.6 W/m 2 total Need to include cooling effect of clouds
20
Solar Activity and Climate Connection Inactive sun Inactive sun (low sunspot peak, long cycle length) > cold climate Active sun Active sun (high sunspot peak, short cycle length) > warm climate Solar magnetic field Solar magnetic field deflects galactic cosmic rays.
21
Lower B field → increased GCR → increased monsoon intensity The Chilling Stars Henrik Svensmark – The Chilling Stars an explanation of the physical mechanism, not yet confirmed
22
Cloud – GCR Effects Original GCR-cloud correlation made by Svensmark & Friis-Christensen, 1997 Many studies since then supporting or disputing solar/GCR - cloud correlation Not independent - most use the same ISCCP satellite cloud dataset No firm conclusion yet - requires more data - but, if there is an effect, it is likely to be restricted to certain regions of globe and at certain altitudes & conditions Eg. correlation (>90% sig.) of low cloud amount and solar UV/GCR,1984-2004:
24
Aerosol chamber + state-of-the-art analyzing instruments in CERN PS beamline Laboratory expts. under precisely controlled conditions (T, trace gases, aerosols, ions) Study aerosol nucleation & growth; and cloud droplet & ice particle microphysics
25
Orbiting Carbon Observatory Launched July 2
26
Satellites in “A-Train” Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2), which launched July 2, will be the A-Train's sixth member. Its mission is to measure atmospheric carbon dioxide Information on aerosols and clouds from CALIPSO and CloudSat, we can use that information to estimate the amount of absorption of sunlight by these airborne particles, which is something we cannot currently do, MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer), an instrument on the Aqua satellite, tracks cloud cover. AIRS (Atmospheric Infrared Sounder), another Aqua instrument, measures air temperature and the amount of water content in the atmosphere. To accurately measure carbon dioxide
27
Poincare’ (1854-1912) New Methods of Celestial Mechanics New Methods of Celestial Mechanics, 1892
28
Poincare’ (1854-1912) New Methods of Celestial Mechanics New Methods of Celestial Mechanics, 1892 Nonlinear dynamical equations are subject to
29
Poincare’ (1854-1912) New Methods of Celestial Mechanics New Methods of Celestial Mechanics, 1892 Nonlinear dynamical equations are subject to Sensitivity to initial conditions
30
Poincare’ (1854-1912) New Methods of Celestial Mechanics New Methods of Celestial Mechanics, 1892 Nonlinear dynamical equations are subject to Sensitivity to initial conditions Unpredictably chaotic outcomes
33
Ocean Levels
34
Summary and Forecast Climate has continually varied in the past, and the causes are not well understood - especially on the 100 year timescale relevant for today’s climate change
35
Summary and Forecast Climate has continually varied in the past, and the causes are not well understood - especially on the 100 year timescale relevant for today’s climate change Space satellites will show water vapor’s dominant role as a greenhouse gas
36
Summary and Forecast Climate has continually varied in the past, and the causes are not well understood - especially on the 100 year timescale relevant for today’s climate change Space satellites will show water vapor’s dominant role as a greenhouse gas Strong evidence for solar-climate variability, but no established mechanism. A cosmic ray influence on clouds is a leading candidate. Research will confirm this mechanism in a controlled laboratory experiment; satellites can help our understanding
37
Summary and Forecast Climate has continually varied in the past, and the causes are not well understood - especially on the 100 year timescale relevant for today’s climate change Space satellites will show water vapor’s dominant role as a greenhouse gas Strong evidence for solar-climate variability, but no established mechanism. A cosmic ray influence on clouds is a leading candidate. Research will confirm this mechanism in a controlled laboratory experiment; satellites can help our understanding The question of whether - and to what extent - the climate is influenced by solar/cosmic ray variability remains central to our understanding of anthropogenic climate change
38
Summary and Forecast Climate has continually varied in the past, and the causes are not well understood - especially on the 100 year timescale relevant for today’s climate change Space satellites will show water vapor’s dominant role as a greenhouse gas Strong evidence for solar-climate variability, but no established mechanism. A cosmic ray influence on clouds is a leading candidate. Research will confirm this mechanism in a controlled laboratory experiment; satellites can help our understanding The question of whether - and to what extent - the climate is influenced by solar/cosmic ray variability remains central to our understanding of anthropogenic climate change Crisis of conformity; Political Correctness will continue to be problematic
Similar presentations
© 2025 SlidePlayer.com. Inc.
All rights reserved.