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transcript
Introduction: Planetary Climate, Ecosystems
and Human Society
CLIM 101 // Fall 2011
George Mason University
30 Aug 2011
CLIM 101 // Global Warming, Weather, Climate and Society // Fall 2011
Our Place in the Universe:You Are Here
Artist’s conception - Not to scale, orbits are invisible, planetary alignment almost never happens
American Museum of Natural History Digital Universe Project: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17jymDn0W6U&feature=related
You are here
CLIM 101 // Global Warming, Weather, Climate and Society // Fall 2011
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/
IndiaAfrica USA
Run movie
CLIM 101 // Global Warming, Weather, Climate and Society // Fall 2011
Our Place in the Universe:Habitable Earth
U.K. Meteorological
Office: Weather and
Climatehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjwmrg__ZVw
CLIM 101 // Global Warming, Weather, Climate and Society // Fall 2011
Global Well-Being sustainability, security
and the future of civilization
The Global Challenge
Inequality and Extreme Poverty
Human PopulationGrowth
EnvironmentalDegradation
Courtesy J. Shukla
CLIM 101 // Global Warming, Weather, Climate and Society // Fall 2011
What is Weather? What is Climate?
Weather is what you get, climate is what you expect.
E. N. Lorenz
Weather =ExpectedWeather
+Unexpected
Weather
Climate
CLIM 101 // Global Warming, Weather, Climate and Society // Fall 2011
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?
CLIM 101 // Global Warming, Weather, Climate and Society // Fall 2011
Fairbanks
Guam
Washington, DC
Oklahoma City
CLIM 101 // Global Warming, Weather, Climate and Society // Fall 2011
Temperature for September 2010 toAugust 2011
CLIM 101 // Global Warming, Weather, Climate and Society // Fall 2011
Temperature for September 2010 toAugust 2011
CLIM 101 // Global Warming, Weather, Climate and Society // Fall 2011
http://capitalclimate.blogspot.com/
CLIM 101 // Global Warming, Weather, Climate and Society // Fall 2011
Temperature for September 2010 toAugust 2011
CLIM 101 // Global Warming, Weather, Climate and Society // Fall 2011
Temperature for September 2010 toAugust 2011
GUAM
14F
77F
86F
95F
CLIM 101 // Global Warming, Weather, Climate and Society // Fall 2011
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
CLIM 101 // Global Warming, Weather, Climate and Society // Fall 2011
1. Energy from the Sun(energy from the interior)
2. Planetary Albedo
3. Speed of Planet’s Rotation
4. Mass of the Planet
5. Radius of the Planet
6. Atmospheric Composition
7. Ocean-Land, Topography
S (depends on Sun itself and distance from Sun)
M
a
H2O, CO2, O3, clouds
h*
The Climate of a Planet Depends On …
CLIM 101 // Global Warming, Weather, Climate and Society // Fall 2011
1. Energy from the Sun(energy from the interior)
2. Planetary Albedo
3. Speed of Planet’s Rotation
4. Mass of the Planet
5. Radius of the Planet
6. Atmospheric Composition
7. Ocean-Land, Topography
S (depends on Sun itself and distance from Sun)
M
a
H2O, CO2, O3, clouds
h*
The Climate of a Planet Depends On …
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
CLIM 101 // Global Warming, Weather, Climate and Society // Fall 2011
Weather, Climate and Global Society
General Principles
CLIM 101 // Global Warming, Weather, Climate and Society // Fall 2011
What is aGreenhouse Gas?
Global Warming
Buildup ofGreenhouse
Gases
Greenhouse
Effect
Natural Sources
AnthropogenicSources
20th CenturyClimate Change
21st Century Climate Projections
Paleoclimate
Natural ClimateVariability
Monitoringclimate change
ClimateModels
SensitivityTippingPoints
Feedbacks
Hurricanes
Sea level
Snow Pack, Glaciers, Water SupplyDrought, Heat Waves, Fires
Climate Impacts
Ecosystems
Ocean Acidification
Extreme Events
Climate vs.Weather
Fossil fuelreserves
CarbonCycle
Oil, Coal, Tar sands, Natural Gas,
Methane hydrates
Adaptation
Costs
Increasing resilience
Vulnerability
MigrationChanging Practices
Costs
Mitigation
Societal Choices
Business as usual
Energy Efficiency Carbon Sequestering
Alternative Energy Sources
GeoengineeringConservationConsumptionBiofuels, Wind, Solar Photovoltaic,
Nuclear Fission, Geothermal, TidalNuclear Fusion
indirect aerosol effectstratospheric
aerosolsmirrors in space
Personal choices
Production
Courtesy of Prof. M. Wallace, U. Washington
CLIM 101 // Global Warming, Weather, Climate and Society // Fall 2011
Ecosystems
WeatherClimate
Humans
Organizing Schema
CLIM 101 // Global Warming, Weather, Climate and Society // Fall 2011
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
CLIM 101 // Global Warming, Weather, Climate and Society // Fall 2011
Example: Hypercycle• Each member of an ecosystem may depend on the presence or actions of
another element, so that the members thrive in each others’ presence• For example, fish eat water fleas. Birds eat fish. Birds provide guano, which
assists the blooms of algae on which water fleas flourish.
feeds
feeds
guanofeeds
feeds
CLIM 101 // Global Warming, Weather, Climate and Society // Fall 2011
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
CLIM 101 // Global Warming, Weather, Climate and Society // Fall 2011
Reading
• Rough Guide – pp 3-19
• Atlas of Climate Change – pp 9-13– pp 17