CLIMATE CHANGE: GLOBAL WARMING Evelyn I. Milian Instructor UNIT 2 SEMINAR SC300: Big Ideas in...

CLIMATE CHANGE:GLOBAL WARMING

Evelyn I. MilianInstructor

UNIT 2 SEMINAR

SC300: Big Ideas in Science

SC300: Big Ideas in Science – Unit 2 Seminar

Agenda

1. Discussion of unit 2 seminar topic: Climate change

2. Science Center Tour – Last 15 minutes.3. Question and answer session: if we have

time before the Science Center Tour, or we can go back to the seminar room after the tour.Course syllabus, assignments, grading,

requirements.

* Students in sections with other instructors are also invited to stay for this session; however, specific questions about assignments or grading should be addressed to your instructor.

Evelyn I. Milian - Instructor 2


Seminar Readings Assigned

• National Climatic Data Center. National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration. Global Warming: Frequently Asked Questions:

http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/globalwarming.html

• WGBH Educational Foundation. Greenland Ice Sheet: A Record of Climate Change:

http://www.teachersdomain.org/asset/ess05_int_greenland/

• Teachersdomain.org. Clues from Past Climates:

http://www.teachersdomain.org/assets/thinktv/ttv10/ttv10_int_clues/index.htmlEvelyn I. Milian - Instructor 3


Climate Change

• Anthropogenic or human-caused climate change is a topic frequently discussed within all fields of science as well as by the media and general public. However, those not part of the scientific investigations are likely not aware of the various forms of evidence, both direct and indirect that have identified climate change and its likely causes.

• This is due in part to the unique forms of measurement and monitoring that are not familiar to many, as well as misunderstandings of how scientific data cannot only be collected for current conditions but also those dating back thousands, and even millions of years.



Climate change can be studied as part of Environmental Science.

• Environmental science is: The systematic, scientific study of our

environment as well as our role in it.An interdisciplinary area of study that

includes both applied and theoretical aspects of human impact on the world.

• Environment: The combination of all things and factors

external to an individual or population of organisms.



Environmental Science

• The field of environmental science involves an understanding of scientific principles, economic influences, and political action.

• Environmental decisions often involve compromise. A decision that may be supportable from a scientific or economic point of view may not be supportable from a political point of view without modification. Other political decisions relating to the environment may not be supported by economic analysis.



Some Environmental Issues Associated with Human Activities

• Climate change: global warming, sea level rise

• Conservation: species extinction, endangered species, coral bleaching

• Energy conservation, renewable energy

• Land degradation: land pollution, land use, soil degradation

• Overpopulation

• Pollution: air pollution, land pollution, water pollution

• Resource depletion: exploitation of natural resources – over-consumption, over-fishing, deforestation, mining

• Waste management



Climate Change: Global Warming

• Global warming is a change in average global temperature that could result from the temperature increase owing to the greenhouse effect.

• The greenhouse effect is an increase in atmospheric temperature caused by increasing amounts of carbon dioxide and other gases that absorb and trap heat, which normally radiates away from Earth.The greenhouse effect is a natural process essential

for life on Earth – it helps regulate the temperature of the planet.

It results from heat absorption by “greenhouse gases” in the atmosphere (called so because they ‘trap’ heat in the lower atmosphere) and re-radiation downward of some of that heat.



Climate Change: Global Warming

• Greenhouse gases include water vapor (the most abundant), carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and other halocarbons.

• These gases allow sunlight energy to pass through the atmosphere but slow the loss of heat from the Earth’s surface; similar to the action of glass in a greenhouse.

• “Without a natural greenhouse effect, the temperature of the Earth would be about zero degrees F (-18°C) instead of its present 57°F (14°C). So, the concern is not with the fact that we have a greenhouse effect, but whether human activities are leading to an enhancement of the greenhouse effect by the emission of greenhouse gases through fossil fuel combustion and deforestation.” (NCDC, 2012)




Greenhouse Effect. The greenhouse effect naturally warms the Earth’s surface. Without it, Earth would be 33C (60F) cooler than it is today—uninhabitable for life as we know it.


Principal Greenhouse Gases

• Carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), Nitrous oxide (N2O)




Since the establishment of a carbon dioxide monitoring station at Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii, a steady increase in carbon dioxide levels has been observed.


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Climate Change

• What types of measurements indicate that climate change is occurring?

• How were these measurements collected?



Climate Change

• What types of measurements indicate that climate change is occurring?Amount of precipitation (rain, snow), atmospheric

pressure, humidity, sea level, temperatures

• The National Climatic Data Center contains the instrumental and paleoclimatic records that can precisely define the nature of climatic fluctuations at time scales of a century and longer.” (NCDC, 2012) (NCDC is part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.)

• Data platforms that the NCDC uses to collect the measurements include:Ships, buoys, weather stations, weather balloons,

satellites, radar records, tree rings, ice cores, subsurface ocean data.



Clues From Past Climates

• http://www.teachersdomain.org/assets/thinktv/ttv10/ttv10_int_clues/index.html

• “In order to understand how climates are changing around the world, scientists need to know how they have varied in the past.” (teachersdomain.org, 2012).

• Sources of data include: Instrumental data: barometers, thermometers,

hygrometers, etc. – Limited: Reliable instrumental data only goes back 200-300 years.

Indirect, or proxy, data: Cannot be obtained by direct measurement but can be constructed, or inferred, from other data:

• Tree rings, historical documents, coral record, pollen data, cave formations, lake and sea shores.



Climate Change

• What are some of the challenges associated with collecting data over large periods of time (i.e., 100s of years)?

• How has technology enhanced our ability to collect the data necessary to understand climate change?

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Climate Change Data


Sea levels are rising.Temperatures are rising.


Climate Change

• What additional data would be useful?

• What are the risks associated with waiting for more data as well as reacting to incomplete data?

20


Science Center Tour

• Last 15 minutes of seminar today.

• Link for tour site: http://khe2.adobeconnect.com/kusc_tour/

• Log in as a “Guest” and include your full name when doing so.



References

• Campbell, N. A.; Reece, J. B., et al. (2011). Campbell Biology. Ninth Edition. San Francisco, CA: Pearson Education, Inc.-Pearson Benjamin Cummings.

• Cunningham, W. P. and Cunningham, M. A. (2008). Environmental Science, A Global Concern. Tenth Edition. NY: The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

• Enger, E. D. and Smith, B. F. (2010). Environmental Science, A Study of Interrelationships. Twelfth Edition. NY: The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

• Mader, S. S. (2010). Biology. Tenth Edition. NY: The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

• National Climatic Data Center. National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration. (2012). Global Warming: Frequently Asked Questions: http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/globalwarming.html

• Solomon, E.; Berg, L. and Martin, D. W. (2008). Biology. Eighth Edition. OH: Cengage Learning.

• Teachersdomain.org. (2012). Clues from Past Climates: http://www.teachersdomain.org/assets/thinktv/ttv10/ttv10_int_clues/index.html

• Trefil, J. and Hazen, R. M. (2011). The Sciences An Integrated Approach. Sixth Edition. NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

• WGBH Educational Foundation. (2006). Greenland Ice Sheet: A Record of Climate Change: http://www.teachersdomain.org/asset/ess05_int_greenland/

• Wright, R. T. (2008). Environmental Science. Tenth Edition. NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.-Pearson Prentice Hall.


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