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Explore the causes, effects, and evidence of climate change. Learn about the impacts of global warming, rising sea levels, and melting glaciers. Discover the role of greenhouse gases and the debate between natural and man-made causes.
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CLIMATE CHANGE FACT OR MYTH? Laura Blackburn, LWV-Houston Area
MANMADE? Or NATURAL CAUSES Or BOTH ????
RADIATION: • COMES FROM SUN AS uV • (HIGH E) • RADIATED OUT FROM EARTH AS INFRARED (LOW E) • IN ALL DIRECTIONS FROM CO2
Infrared (uV)
CARBON DIOXIDE: • ABSORBS INFRARED REFLECTED FROM EARTH • RELEASES INFRARED IN ALL DIRECTIONS
TYPES & DISTRIBUTION OF GREENHOUSE GASES (Chlorofluorohydrocarbons) C (Methane) Total CO2 = 76.7% Total CO2 = 76.7% Reference: IPCC 4th Assessment Report:Climate Change 2007: Synthesis Report
Cows, sheep, etc. Figure 2-1: Global sources of methane
TYPES & DISTRIBUTION OF GREENHOUSE GASES (Chlorofluorohydrocarbons) C (Methane) Total CO2 = 76.7% Total CO2 = 76.7% Reference: IPCC 4th Assessment Report:Climate Change 2007: Synthesis Report
Source: U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory (y-axis units are teragrams of CO2 equivalent)
800,000 Year Record of Carbon Dioxide Concentration (Lüthi et al.; Tans; International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis) Analysis of air bubbles trapped in an Antarctic ice core extending back 800,000 years.
Graph based on: • Tree rings • Coral and ice cores • Historical records • National Academy of Science Note the close correlation between CO2 and global surface temperature.
Note: While temperature may be going down, the trend is still UP!
Hadley CRU - University of East Anglia Climate Research Unit MSU – Michigan State University This is a short-term map, which does not show the long-term trend.
Graph based on: • Tree rings • Coral and ice cores • Historical records • National Academy of Science
However, nine of the world’s hottest years have occurred this decade.
IMPACTS OF GLOBAL WARMING: • MELTING GLACIERS & INCREASED ICE MELTING AT POLES • HIGHER SEA LEVELS • DISAPPEARANCE OF ISLANDS • LESS FRESH WATER • INCREASED DESERTIFICATION
INCREASED CONFICT OVER RESOURCES • HIGHER DISEASE RATES • WEATHER EXTREMES – STORMS, HURRICANES, DROUGHT
4th Assessment Report of International Panel on Climate Change (2007) • Estimates of 2100: • Average global temperature rise of 1.1oC and 6.4oC (2oF - 12oF) • Sea level rise of 7.0 – 23 inches • Predictions: • Coastal erosion and flooding • Water shortages • Increase in disease • Decrease in biodiversity
"Bergie Seltzer"Melting water streams from iceberg calved from Ilulissat Kangerlua Glacier in Disko Bay, Greenland. When an iceberg melts, it makes a fizzing sound called "Bergie Seltzer." This sound is made when compressed air bubbles trapped in the iceberg pop.
February 12, 1993 February 21, 2000 Himalayan Glacier
An iceberg reaches Macquarie Island, 930 miles southeast of Tasmania, Australia, on Nov. 16
NASA & Chinese Study of ice cores from 5 Tibetan Plateau glaciers: • Melting faster than global warming would suggest • Found rapid increases in black soot since 1990’s • Mostly from air pollution over Asia, especially India • Soot-darkened snow and glaciers absorb sunlight- increased melting
Black Soot and the Survival of Tibetan Glaciers Posted December 15, 2009 NASA Earth Observatory
CAUSES OF RISING SEA LEVELS: • MELTING GLACIERS & ICE • GLOBAL WARMING
Loading Image... Open boats on Shennong Stream, in the Three Gorges off the Yangtze River in China
MAJOR RIVERS AFFECTED: Yangtze Makong Indus
Table 1. Estimated potential maximum sea-level rise from the total melting of present-day glaciers.http://pubs.usgs.gov/factsheet/fs50-98/] What would happen to Houston if the glaciers and ice of Greenland melted?
New Orleans Houston Miami U.S.G.S. – One meter rise in sea levels would affect 25% of of U.S. population.
What would happen to London? To Amsterdam? To Calais?
RESULTS OF RISING SEAS: A woman speaks on her phone in flood waters during a period of seasonal high water in Venice November 30, 2009. The water level in the canal city rose to 130 cm (4 feet) above normal, according to the monitoring institute.
Date:14-Dec-09Country: INDONESIAAuthor: REUTERS Photo: Yusuf Ahmad A Woman Prepares A Meal Inside Her House Which Is Surrounded By Sea Water As A Result Of Rising Sea Levels In Una Una, Indonesia
More Slide Shows The loss of permafrost and protective sea ice may force villages like Alaska's Shismaref to relocate.
Aerial photo of Male Atoll, Republic of Maldives. Atoll will vanish with 2ºC temperature rise. NG Photo
LOSS OF WATER TO OCEANS WITH ICE & SNOW MELTS • SHIFTING TEMPERATURES AND RAIN AS EARTH’S SURFACE TEMPERATURE INCREASES
A villager walks through a partially dried reservoir in Yingtan, Jiangxi province October 29, 2009.Photo: Reuters
The Milluni reservoir has receded as glaciers that provide some of Bolivia's water and electricity have melted and disappeared.
Department of Defense military and intelligence analysts studying climate change have concluded: • Prospect of military intervention to deal with effects of • Violent storms • Drought • Mass migration • Pandemics • Flooding