climate 101: how the climate works oshr 1609 scott denning, csu
TRANSCRIPT
Climate 101:
How the Climate Works
OSHR 1609
Scott Denning, CSU
Climate 101:
How the Climate Works
OSHR 1609
Scott Denning, CSU
Climate 101:
How the Climate Works
OSHR 1609
Scott Denning, CSU
Introductions
Course Outline
• 9/20 Introduction: The Earth System
• 9/27 Energy, Radiation, and
Temperature
• 10/4 Winds, Currents, and Water
• 10/11 Climates of the Past
• 10/18 Modern Climate Change
Climate 101
Course Outline
• 1) Climate Change in a Nutshell
• 2) Forcing, Feedback, & Sensitivity
• 3) Future Climate Changes
• 4) Vulnerabilities & Impacts
• 5) Adaptation & Mitigation
Climate 201
Optional Books• Excellent but
Expensive!• Archer’s book
especially useful for Climate 201 (Modern Climate Change)
• Available on Amazon for $58,
Reader’s Cove in Fort Collins and Anthology Book Co. in Loveland offer 20% discounts to Osher members.
Class Web Sitehttp://
climate101.atmos.colostate.edu
• All slides as printable handouts• Supplemental readings• Videos• Links to more resources
Weather vs Climate
What’s the Difference?
Weather vs Climate
what’s the difference?• If you don’t like the weather:– Wait five minutes!
• If you don’t like the climate:– Move!
Ever Wonder Why?
• Day is warmer than night• Summer is warmer than winter• Phoenix is warmer than Fargo
Location! Location! Location!
• Depends on where you live:– Latitude!– Altitude (mountains vs valley)– What’s upwind (ocean vs land)
• Changes very slowly
• Very predictable
• We can predict that Phoenix is warmer than Fargo for precisely the same reasons that we can predict a warmer future!
Climate is Place
PHOENIX
Heat Budgets
Climate vs. Weather
“Climate is what you expect … weather is what you get!”
• Climate is an “envelope of possibilities” within which the weather bounces around
• Climate is determined by the properties of the Earth system itself (the boundary conditions), whereas weather depends very sensitively on the evolution of the system from one moment to the next
How’s the Weather?
Alert, Nunavut,Canada -19° C
83 N
dawn in the south at noonthe diffuse blue light of Arctic winterunseasonably warm ~ 0° F
Kiruna, Sweden-24° C
68 N
Long shadows at mid-daySqueaky dry snow crunches under boots
Fairbanks, AK-40° F
65 N
bad air quality under a strong inversion in the valley
made worse because people leave their trucks running
Moscow, Russia
56 N
Budapest, Hungary0 C
47 N
Corvallis, OR 48° F rain
45 N
New York, NY60° F sun
41 N
Arapaho Basin, CO 11° F
40 N
Ski lift 13,000 feet above sea level
Algiers, Algeria15° C
37 N
San Diego, CA75° F
33 N
Everest Base CampTibet, China
28 N5 km above sea level
U of HIHonolulu, HI78° F
21 N
Hazy sun and “vog”(volcanically-induced fog)
Bamako, Mali37° C very dry
13 N
Kwajalein Atoll, Marshall Islands82° F
“heart of the dry season, trade winds are king … hold onto your hat!”
9 N
Fortaleza, Brazil4 S
Tamborine,Queensland, AustraliaHeavy thunderstorms 28 S
Hamilton, NZWarm summer morning
38 S
Rosetta, Tasmania, Australia19 C
43 S
Casey Station Antarctica2° C light snow
66 S
McMurdo Sound AntarcticaOpen water first time in decades! 78 S
90 SSouth Pole
South Pole-44sunny with light breeze
90 S