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Introduction: Earth’s Climate, Ecosystems and Human Society

Introduction: Earth’s Climate, Ecosystems and Human Society. CLIM 101 // Fall 2012 George Mason University. 28 Aug 2012. Example of a Climate Display. A Tutorial on Graphical Display of Quantitative Information. World Topographic Map. l ongitude lines. l atitude lines (parallels).

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Introduction: Earth’s Climate, Ecosystems and Human Society

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  1. Introduction: Earth’s Climate, Ecosystems and Human Society CLIM 101 // Fall 2012 George Mason University 28 Aug 2012

  2. Example of a Climate Display

  3. A Tutorial on Graphical Display of Quantitative Information

  4. World Topographic Map longitude lines latitude lines (parallels) Colors correspond to elevation (2010)

  5. Polar Stereographic Projection Latitude lines (“parallels”) Longitude lines

  6. World Political Map Colors correspond to political boundaries (April 2006)

  7. World Political Map (SH View)

  8. Locating Fairfax, VA ° 77° 18’ W 38° 51’ N

  9. Distances Between Points 14388 km Washington, DC Beijing

  10. Distances Between Points Beijing 11130 km Great circle (shortest) Washington, DC

  11. Graphical Display of Quantitative Information (ex. – shaded contours) Can immediately see relationships between various locations

  12. Our Place in the Universe:You Are Here • American Museum of Natural History Digital Universe Project: • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17jymDn0W6U&feature=related You are here Artist’s conception - Not to scale, orbits are invisible, planetary alignment almost never happens

  13. Our Place in the Universe:Habitable Earth U.K. Meteorological Office: Weather and Climate http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjwmrg__ZVw

  14. Our Place in the Universe:Humans on Earth National Geographic Special Issue: 7,000,000,000 People on Earth: http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/the-magazine/7-billion/ Run movie Africa India USA http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sc4HxPxNrZ0

  15. Weather, Climate and Global Society General Principles

  16. Organizing Schema Weather Climate Ecosystems Humans

  17. What is an Ecosystem? • A system of living organisms, consisting of all plants, animals and micro-organisms (biotic factors) in an area interacting with each other and their physical environment. • The boundaries of what could be called an ecosystem are somewhat arbitrary, depending on the focus of study, ranging from the very small scale to the entire planet Earth. • Examples: • Coral reef • River catchment • Rain forest • Estuary • Desert • Yellowstone National Park

  18. The Global Challenge Global Well-Being sustainability, security and the future of civilization Environmental Degradation Inequality and Extreme Poverty Human Population Growth Courtesy J. Shukla

  19. What is Weather? What is Climate? Weather is what you get, climate is what you expect. E. N. Lorenz Expected Weather Unexpected Weather Weather = + Climate

  20. Questions • What is “expected” weather? Why do we expect one type of weather in one place & different weather elsewhere? • E.g. why does it get cold at night? What determines how cold? • E.g. why is Guam warmer on average compared to Fairbanks? • What is “unexpected” weather? • Why can’t we predict the weather forever? (like the tides or the movement of planets) • How accurate is the weather forecast? • What about the Farmer’s Almanac? • Is the average departure from normal predictable? • What about global warming?

  21. www.weather.gov 26 Aug 2012 // 7:55 pm EDT

  22. Temperature for September 2009 to August 2010 90°F 90°F 77°F – daily average for 8/28 “Normal” means smoothed 30-year average (1970-2000) for a given date

  23. Fairbanks Washington, DC Oklahoma City Guam

  24. Temperature for September 2010 to August 2011

  25. Temperature for September 2010 to August 2011 GUAM 95F 86F 77F 14F

  26. Local Climate: Features and Factors • Features • Average temperature • Temperature range • Total rainfall • Sunshine/cloudiness • Variability (month to month, year to year) • … • Factors • Location, location, location • Latitude • Altitude • Proximity to ocean • Proximity to mountains • Vegetation

  27. Whence the Seasons?

  28. The Climate of a Planet Depends On … Energy from the Sun (energy from the interior) Planetary Albedo Speed of Planet’s Rotation Mass of the Planet Radius of the Planet Atmospheric Composition Ocean-Land, Topography S (depends on Sun itself and distance from Sun)   M a H2O, CO2, O3, clouds h*

  29. The Climate of a Planet Depends On … Energy from the Sun (energy from the interior) Planetary Albedo Speed of Planet’s Rotation Mass of the Planet Radius of the Planet Atmospheric Composition Ocean-Land, Topography S (depends on Sun itself and distance from Sun)   M a H2O, CO2, O3, clouds h* Albedo and Composition vary from place to place and time to time in response to changes in the weather, climate, ecosystems and human activities 1, 3, 4, 5, 7 cannot be influenced appreciably by weather, climate or life

  30. Organizing Schema Weather Climate Ecosystems Humans

  31. Summary(points we’ll take up later) • Global well-being for humans and the rest of Earth’s organisms is challenged by environmental degradation, extreme poverty and human population growth • Weather and climate are related but different • Climate depends on several factors, some of which can be influenced by human activities • Climate, humans and ecosystems interact and influence each other

  32. Reading • Rough Guide • pp3-19 • Atlas of Climate Change • pp 9-13 • pp 17

  33. REMINDER Last Day to Add a Class Or Drop a Class w/o Penalty: 4 September 2012

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