Climate ChangeLesson 6

Indicators of Climate Change

SNC2P Nicole Klement

Before We Move on..

Let us clarify a few key terms….

Climate Change &

Global Warming

are not the same thing

Global Warming

• Refers to the earth’s atmospheric temperature increasing

(linked to increase in the greenhouse gases and a stronger greenhouse effect)

Climate change

• Refers not only temperature change over a longer period of time but also changes in precipitation (rain, snow), wind, storms.

• This concept includes global warming but also MANY OTHER factors.

Greenhouse Gases Layer&

The Ozone Layer

are not the same thing

Green House Gases Layer

The main greenhouse gases in the greenhouse gas layer act as insulators for the planet. Keeping our temperatures moderate constant.

1. ozone 2. water vapour 3. Freon and chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) 4. methane 5. nitrogen oxide 6. carbon dioxide Notice OZONE is a greenhouse gas. BUT it also forms it’s own layer…

Natural Ozone

Ozone (O3)

• The ozone layer is just above the troposphere. Separate from the greenhouse gas layer. This layer of Ozone gas acts as the earth’s sunscreen.

Indicators of Climate Change

• Let us now look at the indicators that are used to study this global crisis…

Indicators of Climate Change

• The climate of the Earth is constantly altering over time, but the more recent changes are not considered natural changes in the climate. The ice age is an example of a natural change in climate over time. Today's changes are occurring faster and with greater magnitude than previous climate changes.

Did you Know?

• Did you know that since the Industrial Revolution carbon has increased by 30%, methane by 145%, and nitrous oxide by 15%? These are greenhouse gases that trap heat during the greenhouse effect.

Indicators of Canadian Climate Change

Increase in Temperature- almost every part of Canada

except the Northeast region is warmer at the end of the twentieth century compared to the beginning of the century

Increase in precipitation-most parts of Canada have

become wetter (a 5% to 35% increase in precipitation).

- more precipitation is falling as rain compared to snow

Indicators of Canadian Climate Change

sea surface temperatures have risen

- Canada's west coast has rising sea levels- Atlantic, Pacific, Beaufort Sea coastal areas are more

vulnerable to flooding and erosion

Indicators of Canadian Climate Change

shrinking glaciers- the glaciers on the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains have lost 25 to 75% of their mass since 1850

Native species at risk- polar bear survival is more

difficult on the western side of Hudson Bay

• - hunting, fishing, and winter travel for humans has become less reliable and more dangerous

Indicators of CanadianClimate Change

decrease in sea ice- the area of the Canadian

Arctic with permanent sea ice has decreased by a quarter since the end of the 1960s

change in migratory patterns

- several species of birds are arriving earlier in the spring and leaving later in the fall

- some European birds are not migrating

Did you know?

• Did you know that Canada has warmed 1o C over the last century? The 1980s and 1990s were the warmest decades in Canada's records.

Carbon Dioxide Absoption Lab

• http://www.planetseed.com/node/19776