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In 2010, the Voyager I reached the edge of our solar system (18 billion km from our sun)

In 2010, the Voyager I reached the edge of our solar system (18 billion km from our sun). Voyager I was “asked” to turn its cameras around and photograph Earth. That pale blue dot? That’s Earth from the edge of the solar system!. Is it real?. What can we do?. Climate Change.

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In 2010, the Voyager I reached the edge of our solar system (18 billion km from our sun)

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  1. In 2010, the Voyager I reached the edge of our solar system (18 billion km from our sun)

  2. Voyager I was “asked” to turn its cameras around and photograph Earth That pale blue dot? That’s Earth from the edge of the solar system!

  3. Is it real? What can we do? Climate Change What is the future? Is it too late?

  4. Weather: the condition of the atmosphere in a specific place at a specific time • Precipitation, clouds, winds, humidity, temperature… all energized by the Sun • Climate: Long-term statistics/data about the weather. • Average conditions of the atmosphere over a longer period of time (often for a larger area)

  5. Natural sources of climate change • Solar cycles (11 year sunspot cycle) – possibly other solar cycles were involved in the past • The tilt of Earth’s axischanges – 40,000 years • Earth’s orbit changes fromcircular to oval (100,000 years) • Volcanic activity – clouds of ash particles (aerosols) – cooling effect (e.g. Mt. Pinatubo 1991)

  6. Sunspots – September 2011

  7. There was a “mini ice-age” in Europe in the last half of the 17th century - when Northern Europe and other parts of the world were plunged into a long period of cool summers and long winters when crop yields fell and rivers, harbors, and canals froze.

  8. Mount Pinatubo (Phillippines)- global cooling for about 1 year

  9. Did humans do this? • About 20,000 years ago, ice sheets covered most of Canada and a large portion of the U.S. and then melted. Or this? 

  10. Greenhouse effectOn any planet with an atmosphere. How does a greenhouse work?

  11. The Sun’s energy passes through the car’s windshield. This energy (heat) is trapped inside the car and cannot pass back through the windshield, causing the inside of the car to warm up.

  12. Low Energy – cannot get through our atmosphere High Energy – can get through our atmosphere

  13. Earth’s Atmosphere N2 77% O2 21% Ar 1% Trace gases (CO2 CH4 H2O + others) 1% None of these are greenhouse gases!

  14. Energy radiates from the earth surface Energy radiates from the atmosphere Greenhouse gases are being warmed by the radiation from earth and “trap heat” Radiation from the sun warms the earth’s surface Withoutgreenhouse gases: -18 degrees! (average temp) Withgreenhouse gases: +15 degrees (average. temp)

  15. - Climate change - • External causes • Solar activity • Earths orbit • Meteorites • Internal causesAnthropogenic • Emissions of greenhouse gases • Particles/clouds • Land change • Internal causesNatural • Feedback • Volcanic eruption • Chance

  16. Greenhousegases (have a warming effect) Stay in the atmosphere for 10s to 100s of years Particles (mostly a cooling effect) Stay in the atmospherefor 1 week to usually less than 1 year

  17. The Earth’s Climate System - very complex!! There are links everywhere that are not completely understood!

  18. Climate has… Long braking distance Whatever we do, it will take a long time to slow down!

  19. Climate has… Domino effects

  20. Paleoclimatology- the study of past climates • Lake sediments – different pollen grains in annual layers records vegetation type

  21. Different types of pollen

  22. Ice Cores: air bubbles trapped in glacial ice record ancient atmospheric composition (e.g. CO2 content) • Antarctica – some ice cores are ½ million years old!

  23. Ice Core Library!

  24. Dendrochronology • Tree rings – thicker rings in warm/wet years, thinner in cool/dry years • Climate records for up to 1000s of years

  25. Increment Borers – nondestructive method of obtaining tree age and ring information

  26. California Redwoods Age: 2000+ years!

  27. Niagara Escarpment (near Milton, Ontario) Small, but VERY old cedar trees! (700 years)

  28. Coral layers – annual growth rings • Some deep-sea coral skeletons are 40,000 years old • Chemical composition of the layers changes with the climate

  29. Often, climate scientists put their data together from all sources to look for similarities and correlation

  30. Correlation between data gathered from different sources

  31. Direct measurements of CO2 • CO2 sampling began in the 1950s (Hawaii)

  32. CO2 direct measurement data follows the same trend as ice core CO2 data from the previous hundred years!

  33. Compiled direct temperature readings • In the past 100 years, the global average temperature has risen about 1 deg. C.

  34. Trends in Canadian Temperature in the last 100 years Which season shows the biggest change in temperature? Source: Temperature and Precipitation Trends in Canada During the 20th Century Xuebin Zhang,*Lucie A. Vincent, W.D. Hogg and AinNiitsooClimate Research Branch, Meteorological Service of Canada

  35. Global Impacts of Climate Change • It is not just about global warming! • It is about everything that results from a warmer Earth

  36. Glaciers have been retreating

  37. Athabaska Glacier 1917 2005

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