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CLIMATE CHANGE

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

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  1. CLIMATE CHANGE FACT OR MYTH? Laura Blackburn, LWV-Houston Area

  2. MANMADE? Or NATURAL CAUSES Or BOTH ????

  3. RADIATION: • COMES FROM SUN AS uV • (HIGH E) • RADIATED OUT FROM EARTH AS INFRARED (LOW E) • IN ALL DIRECTIONS FROM CO2

  4. Infrared (uV)

  5. CARBON DIOXIDE: • ABSORBS INFRARED REFLECTED FROM EARTH • RELEASES INFRARED IN ALL DIRECTIONS

  6. 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

  7. Current global emissions = 38 billion metric tons/year

  8. WATER IS ALSO A GREENHOUSE GAS:

  9. TERMITES AND COWS?

  10. Cows, sheep, etc. Figure 2-1: Global sources of methane

  11. 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

  12. Source: U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory (y-axis units are teragrams of CO2 equivalent)

  13. For the following graphs, please note the BEGINNING year:

  14. 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.

  15. 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.

  16. Note: While temperature may be going down, the trend is still UP!

  17. 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.

  18. Graph based on: • Tree rings • Coral and ice cores • Historical records • National Academy of Science

  19. However, nine of the world’s hottest years have occurred this decade.

  20. IMPACTS OF GLOBAL WARMING: • MELTING GLACIERS & INCREASED ICE MELTING AT POLES • HIGHER SEA LEVELS • DISAPPEARANCE OF ISLANDS • LESS FRESH WATER • INCREASED DESERTIFICATION

  21. INCREASED CONFICT OVER RESOURCES • HIGHER DISEASE RATES • WEATHER EXTREMES – STORMS, HURRICANES, DROUGHT

  22. 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

  23. MELTING GLACIERS & INCREASED ICE MELTING AT POLES

  24. "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.

  25. February 12, 1993 February 21, 2000 Himalayan Glacier

  26. Grinnell Glacier in Glacier National Park, Montana

  27. An iceberg reaches Macquarie Island, 930 miles southeast of Tasmania, Australia, on Nov. 16

  28. 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

  29. Black Soot and the Survival of Tibetan Glaciers Posted December 15, 2009 NASA Earth Observatory

  30. CAUSES OF RISING SEA LEVELS: • MELTING GLACIERS & ICE • GLOBAL WARMING

  31. Loading Image... Open boats on Shennong Stream, in the Three Gorges off the Yangtze River in China

  32. MAJOR RIVERS AFFECTED: Yangtze Makong Indus

  33. Melting of Glaciers and Ice Sheets + Thermal Expansion

  34. 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?

  35. New Orleans Houston Miami U.S.G.S. – One meter rise in sea levels would affect 25% of of U.S. population.

  36. What would happen to London? To Amsterdam? To Calais?

  37. 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.

  38. 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

  39. More Slide Shows The loss of permafrost and protective sea ice may force villages like Alaska's Shismaref to relocate.

  40. Aerial photo of Male Atoll, Republic of Maldives. Atoll will vanish with 2ºC temperature rise. NG Photo

  41. DESERTIFICATION

  42. LOSS OF WATER TO OCEANS WITH ICE & SNOW MELTS • SHIFTING TEMPERATURES AND RAIN AS EARTH’S SURFACE TEMPERATURE INCREASES

  43. A villager walks through a partially dried reservoir in Yingtan, Jiangxi province October 29, 2009.Photo: Reuters

  44. The Milluni reservoir has receded as glaciers that provide some of Bolivia's water and electricity have melted and disappeared.

  45. CONFLICT!

  46. 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

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