Download presentation
Presentation is loading. Please wait.
Published byEustacia Walton Modified over 9 years ago
1
Observed Global Climate Change
2
Review of last lecture Air pollution. 2 categories 6 types of major pollutants: particulates, carbon oxides, sulfur dioxides, nitrogen oxides, volatile organic compounds, ozone Dispersion of air pollution. Dependence on wind speed, stability (name of 3 types) and inversion (name of 2 types) Air quality index History of air pollution: The Medieval pollution, The 16 th - 19 th centuries, The 20 th century, The 21 st century
3
How do human activities change the global climate? Human beings are changing the global climate system in three different ways: Change land cover (deforestation and urbanization) Release or cleanse pollutants (aerosols) Release or cleanse greenhouse gases
4
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is organized by the World Meteorological Organization, and endorsed by the United Nations General Assembly. This is a worldwide enterprise that includes literally thousands of scientists that are involved in producing and critiquing a definitive statement on climate change. The political controversies have centered around condensed summaries produced for policy makers. We have had 5 assessments by IPCC so far. First Assessment Report (1990) Second Assessment Report (1995) Third Assessment Report (2001) Fourth Assessment Report (2007): Nobel Peace Prize Fifth Assessment Report (2013-2014) How is scientific consensus achieved on global warming?
5
The most common atmospheric circulation structure L H H L Heating Cooling or No Heating Imbalance of heating Imbalance of temperature Imbalance of pressure Wind Radiation Convection Conduction Latent/Sensible Biosphere Land/Ocean/Ice/Stra tosphere Feedback Greenhouse Gases Pollution Clouds Precipitation (Latent heat) Spiritual Social Health Economy
6
Observed change of greenhouse gases Global atmospheric concentrations of CO 2 and CH 4 have increased markedly as a result of human activities since 1750 and now far exceed pre-industrial values determined from ice core measurements spanning the last 650,000 years!
7
Radiative heating of greenhouse gases
8
Source of greenhouse gases CO 2 fossil fuel use is the dominant cause of CO 2 increase
9
GHG Emissions by Sector
10
Greenhouse gas emissions per capita The developed countries and developing countries contribute almost equally to the emissions of GHGs.
11
Video: Climate Change 2013 Working Group I: The Physical Science Basis https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yiTZm0y1YA
12
Observed Change in Global Temperature: Significant warming
13
Global map of temperature change: Largest warming in Arctic (“Arctic amplification”) Larger warming over land than ocean
14
Global map of snow/ice cover
15
Observed Melting of Arctic Sea Ice http://arctic.atmos.uiuc.edu/cryosphere/m ultiyear.ice.quikscat.mov
16
Melting of Greenland Ice Sheet – A huge contributor to sea level rise today Greenland is responsible for about 10% of the observed global sea level rise and accelerating. Greenland holds 7 m of sea level equivalent.
17
Observed Changes in Snow Cover: Significant melting
18
Melting of Mountain Glaciers: a major contributor to sea level rise IPCC (2001) Glacier retreat is a world-wide phenomena. Will affect water supply for millions: Kenya/Tanzania Northern India Andes Mountains
19
19172008 19782004 Qori Kalis Glacier, Peru Pedersen Glacier, Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska Pasterze Glacier, Austria 18752004
20
Observed Changes in Global Sea Level
21
Observed Changes in Sea Level Largest in the western part of ocean basin
22
Summary: Observed significant changes
23
Change in Mean vs Change in Extremes
24
Observed changes in precipitation extremes: Increased contribution from very wet days
26
Summary: Observed significant changes in extreme weather
27
Summary Rapid increase of greenhouse gases (CO 2, CH 4, N 2 O) since 1750: far exceed pre-industrial values determined from ice core measurements spanning the last 650,000 years. Lead to strong radiative heating. Mainly caused by CO 2 fossil fuel use. The developed countries and developing countries contribute almost equally to the emissions of GHGs. Observed change of mean: air temperature, ocean temperature, melting of arctic sea ice, Greenland ice sheet, snow and glaciers, rising of sea level. Observed change of extreme events: extreme precipitation events, heat waves, strongest hurricanes
28
Works cited http://www.earthtimes.org/environment/greenhouse-gases/ National Snow & Ice Data Center http://sciencewithme.com/learn-about-global-warming/ http://www.chemistryland.com/CHM107Lab/Exp04_biodiesel/BiodieselLab/Exp4 Biodiesel.htmlhttp://www.chemistryland.com/CHM107Lab/Exp04_biodiesel/BiodieselLab/Exp4 Biodiesel.html http://www.eea.europa.eu/data-and-maps/indicators/greenland-ice- sheet/greenland-ice-sheet-assessment-publishedhttp://www.eea.europa.eu/data-and-maps/indicators/greenland-ice- sheet/greenland-ice-sheet-assessment-published http://arctic.atmos.uiuc.edu/cryosphere/ http://www.treehugger.com/clean-technology/yahoos-5-stunning-before-and- after-pictures-of-melting-glaciers.htmlhttp://www.treehugger.com/clean-technology/yahoos-5-stunning-before-and- after-pictures-of-melting-glaciers.html http://www.detectingdesign.com/ancientice.html http://nca2009.globalchange.gov/human-health http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2012/10/30/hurricane-sandy-floods-new- york-city-photos-show-devastation/http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2012/10/30/hurricane-sandy-floods-new- york-city-photos-show-devastation/ http://ocean.nationalgeographic.com/ocean/critical-issues-sea-level-rise/ http://www.star.nesdis.noaa.gov/smcd/emb/snow/HTML/multisensor_global_sn ow_ice.htmlhttp://www.star.nesdis.noaa.gov/smcd/emb/snow/HTML/multisensor_global_sn ow_ice.html
Similar presentations
© 2025 SlidePlayer.com. Inc.
All rights reserved.