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Global Environmental Changes: Technology and the Future of Planet Earth

Global Environmental Changes: Technology and the Future of Planet Earth. Eugene S. Takle, PhD, CCM Professor of Atmospheric Science Professor of Agricultural Meteorology Iowa State University Ames, Iowa 50011 gstakle@iastate.edu.

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Global Environmental Changes: Technology and the Future of Planet Earth

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  1. Global Environmental Changes: Technology and the Future of Planet Earth Eugene S. Takle, PhD, CCM Professor of Atmospheric Science Professor of Agricultural Meteorology Iowa State University Ames, Iowa 50011 gstakle@iastate.edu Globalization Seminar, Mechanical Engineering 484X, 18 January 2006

  2. Outline • Changes in atmospheric carbon dioxide • Radiative forcing • Simulations of global climate and future climate change • “Dangerous anthropogenic inter- ference with the climate system”? • “Climate surprises” • Summary

  3. Carbon Dioxide and Temperature

  4. Carbon Dioxide and Temperature 2006

  5. 2040 Carbon Dioxide and Temperature 2006

  6. Carbon Dioxide and Temperature Stabilization at 550 ppm

  7. Carbon Dioxide and Temperature “Business as Usual” (fossil intensive) 2100

  8. “Nobody believes that the US economy can still be petroleum based in 2050, yet there is no national plan” Mark Kushner, Dean Iowa State University College of Engineering President’s Council Meeting 13 January 2006

  9. El Chichon (1982) Agung, 1963 Mt. Pinatubo (1991) Hansen, Scientific American, March 2004

  10. Source: IPCC, 2001: Climate Change 2001: The Scientific Basis

  11. Source: IPCC, 2001: Climate Change 2001: The Scientific Basis

  12. Change in Downwelling Longwave Radiation vs. Change in Surface Temperature Normalized Change Longwave Down Surface (2m) Temperature From GEWEX News, 14, 1 (November 2004); http://gewx.org/gewex_nwsltr.html

  13. Associated Climate Changes • Global sea-level has increased 1-2 mm/yr • Duration of ice cover of rivers and lakes decreased by 2 weeks in N. Hemisphere • Arctic ice has thinned substantially, decreased in extent by 10-15% • Reduced permafrost in polar, sub-polar, mountainous regions • Growing season lengthened by 1-4 days in N. Hemisphere • Retreat of continental glaciers on all continents • Poleward shift of animal and plant ranges • Snow cover decreased by 10% • Earlier flowering dates • Coral reef bleaching Source: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2001 Report

  14. NASA photographs show the minimm Arctic sea ice concentration in 1979 at left and in 2003.Satellite passive microwave data since 1970s indicate a 3% decrease per decade in arctic sea ice extent.

  15. Since 1979, the size of the summer polar ice cap has shrunk more than 20 percent. (Illustration from NASA) (http://www.nrdc.org/globalWarming/qthinice.asp)

  16. Tropical Atlantic Ocean Hurricane Power Dissipation Index (PDI) Sea-surface temperature V V V Emanual, Kerry, 2005: Increasing destructiveness of tropical cyclones over the past 30 years. Nature, 436, 686-688.

  17. Tropical Weather Weather Underground: http://www.wunderground.com/tropical/

  18. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Katrina_vs_sea_surface_height.JPGhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Katrina_vs_sea_surface_height.JPG

  19. Source: Jerry Meehl, National Center for Atmospheric Research

  20. Source: National Center for Atmospheric Research

  21. The planet is committed to a warming over the next 50 years regardless of political decisions Source: National Center for Atmospheric Research

  22. The planet is committed to a warming over the next 50 years regardless of political decisions Mitigation Possible Adaptation Necessary Source: National Center for Atmospheric Research

  23. Source: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2001 Report

  24. 40% Probability 5% Probability Source: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2001 Report

  25. Climate Change Projected for 2100 Rapid Economic Growth Slower Economic Growth

  26. Source: Corell, R. W., 2004: Impacts of a warming Arctic. Arctic Climate Impact Assessment (www.acia.uaf.edu) Cambridge University Press (www.cambridge.org).

  27. Kennedy Space Center Impact of a 1-m rise in sea level on low-lying areas Projected sea-level rise In 21st century: 0.5 to 1.0 m Areas subjected to Inundation with a 1 m (~3 ft) rise in sea level Miami Source: Corell, R. W., 2004: Impacts of a warming Arctic. Arctic Climate Impact Assessment (www.acia.uaf.edu) Cambridge University Press (www.cambridge.org).

  28. IPCC Summary for Policy Makers • An increasing body of observations gives a collective picture of a warming world and other changes in the climate system • Emissions of greenhouse gases and aerosols due to human activities continue to alter the atmosphere in ways that are expected to affect the climate

  29. IPCC Summary for Policy Makers, cont’d • There is new and stronger evidence that most of the warming observed over the last 50 years is attributable to human activities • Anthropogenic climate change will persist for many centuries

  30. For the Midwest • Warming will be greater for winter than summer • Warming will be greater at night than during the day • A 3oF rise in summer daytime temperature triples the probability of a heat wave • Growing season will be longer (8-9 days longer now than in 1950) • More precipitation • Likely more soil moisture in summer • More rain will come in intense rainfall events • Higher stream flow, more flooding

  31. Climate Surprises • Breakdown of the ocean thermohaline circulation (Greenland melt water) • Break-off of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet

  32. Kennedy Space Center Areas subjected to Inundation with a 1 m (~3 ft) rise in sea level Miami

  33. What Constitutes “Dangerous Anthropogenic Interference with the Climate System”? James Hansen, Director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies: * Radiative forcing limit: 1 Watt/ m2 * 1 oC additional rise in global mean temperature

  34. El Chichon (1982) Agung, 1963 Mt. Pinatubo (1991) Hansen, Scientific American, March 2004

  35. Hansen, Scientific American, March 2004

  36. North America Regional Climate Change Assessment Program Linda O. Mearns,National Center for Atmospheric Research Principal Investigator Raymond Arritt, William Gutowski, Gene Takle, Iowa State University Erasmo Buono, Richard Jones, Hadley Centre, UK Daniel Caya, OURANOS, Canada Phil Duffy, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories, USA Filippo Giorgi, Jeremy Pal, Abdus Salam ICTP, Italy Isaac Held, Ron Stouffer, NOAA Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, USA René Laprise, Univ. de Québec à Montréal, Canada Ruby Leung, Pacific Northwest National Laboratories, USA Linda O. Mearns, Doug Nychka, Phil Rasch, Tom Wigley, National Center for Atmospheric Research, USA Ana Nunes, John Roads, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, USA Steve Sain, Univ. of Colorado at Denver, USA Lisa Sloan, Mark Snyder, Univ. of California at Santa Cruz, USA http://www.narccap.ucar.edu/

  37. NARCCAP Plan A2 Emissions Scenario HADAM3 link to EU programs GFDL CCSM CGCM3 Provide boundary conditions 2040-2070 future 1960-1990 current RegCM3 UC Santa Cruz ICTP CRCM Quebec, Ouranos HADRM3 Hadley Centre WRF NCAR/ PNNL MM5 Iowa State/ PNNL RSM Scripps Reanalyzed climate , 1979-2000

  38. Climate Model Resolution global regional (land) regional (water) Only every second RCM grid point is shown in each direction

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