CLIMATE SCIENCE

What earth systems processes influence climate change?What impact will climate change have on me as a global citizen?What can be done to create a sustainable global community?

Spheres of Earth

www.eoearth.org

http://thundafunda.com/uncategorized/hq-desktop-wallpaper-forces-of-nature-volcanoes-thunder-lightning/

Lithosphere Solid part of the earth.

Crust and upper mantle

~75-100km thick

http://www.physicalgeography.net/fundamentals/images/lithosphere.gif

• What phenomena occur in the lithosphere and relate to climate?

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/WorldOfChange/images/biosphere/global_biosphere_2003_lrg.jpg

http://www.coralreefinfo.com/images/coral_reef.jpg

Biosphere

Parts of the land, sea, and atmosphere in which organisms are able to live.

What phenomena occur in the biosphere and relate to climate?

http://earth.rice.edu/mtpe/cryo/cryosphere/what_images/ramseier_aerial_view.jpg

Cryosphere

Frozen parts of Earth: Snow Sea Ice Lake Ice/River Ice Frozen ground and

permafrost. Glaciers Ice Sheets

http://www.digitaluniverse.net/images/19061/350x0/scale/CryosphereThm.jpg

• What phenomena occur in the cryosphere and relate to climate?

http://www.windows2universe.org/earth/Water/images/wave_ucar.jpg

http://www.physicalgeography.net/fundamentals/images/hydrocycle.gif

Hydrosphere Combined mass of

water found on, under, and over the surface of the planet.

What phenomena occur in the hydrosphere and relate to climate?

http://www.theozonehole.com/images/atmospbhere.gif

http://www.williamsclass.com/EighthScienceWork/Atmosphere/AtmosphereEarth.jpg

Atmosphere The gaseous envelope surrounding the earth. Exosphere, Thermosphere,

Mesosphere, Stratosphere, & Troposphere.

• What phenomena occur in the atmosphere and relate to climate?

http://www.phys.port.ac.uk/units/2007/global/Anthrosphere.gif

Anthrosphere

The anthrosphere is that part of the environment that is made or modified byhumans for use in human activities.

What phenomena occur in the anthrosphere and relate to climate

Solar energy heats the atmosphere

Energy from the sun Heats air Moves air Creates seasons Influences weather and climate

Solar radiation is highest near the equator

Direct vs. Indirect Heating

Solar energy creates seasons

Because the Earth is tilted

Each hemisphere tilts toward the

sun for half the year

Results in a change of seasons

Equatorial regions are unaffected

by this tilt, so days average 12

hours through the year

Tilt of the Earth: The Reason for the Seasons

Solar energy causes air to circulate Air near Earth’s surface is

warmer and moister than air at higher latitudes

Convective circulation = less dense, warmer air rises and creates vertical currents Rising air expands and

cools Cool air descends and

becomes denser, replacing warm air

Influences both weather and climate

FROM http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/earth/images/atmosphere_mural_jpg_image.html

FROM http://user.gs.rmit.edu.au/caa/global/coriolis.html

What processes make weather on a global scale?

DIFFERENTIAL HEATING OF EARTH’S SURFACE

ROTATION OF THE EARTH

GLOBAL PATTERN OF:1) PREVAILING WINDS2) LATITUDINAL BELTS OF HIGH AND LOW PRESSURE

The atmosphere drives weather and climate

Weather = specifies atmospheric conditions over short time periods and within a small geographic areas.

Climate = describes patterns of atmospheric

conditions across large geographic regions over long periods of time

Mark Twain said “Climate is what we expect; weather is what we get”

http://www.london.ca/Emergency_Management/images/lightning.png

Graphs of

climatic factors

through time

Natural causes of climate variation

Atmosphere Sun Milankovitch Cycles Ocean atmosphere interactions

El Nino/La Nina Ocean Circulation Volcanoes

The Greenhouse Effect - Atmosphere

http://www.sciencebuzz.org/sites/all/files_static/global_warming/greenhouse_effect.gif

http://www.ecoslopes.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/greenhouse-effect-solutions-300x225.jpg

The atmosphere = without it, the Earth’s temperature would be much colder

Earth’s atmosphere, clouds, land, ice, and water absorb 70% of incoming solar radiation

Atmosphere - Greenhouse/Heat trapping Gases and major sources

Carbon Dioxide (CO2) = Burning fossil fuels (oil, coal, natural gas) and other combustion reactions such as forest fires.

Methane (CH4) = fossil fuel deposits, termites, livestock, landfills, crops such as rice, melting permafrost. HIPPO VIDEO

Nitrous oxide (N2O) = feedlots, chemical manufacturing plants, auto emissions, and synthetic nitrogen fertilizers

http://img66.imageshack.us/img66/6246/reducingsmogpollution.jpg

Greenhouse/Heat trapping Gases and major sources

Ozone (O3 ) = risen due to photochemical smog. Stratosphere= Good Troposphere= Bad

Halocarbon gases (CFCs/HCFCs/HFCs) = Man-made, primarily found in refrigerants and blown foam products. CFCs are declining due to the Montreal Protocol.

Water vapor (H2Ov) = the most abundant greenhouse gas and contributes most to the greenhouse effect

SUN- Energy BudgetW/m2

Turn to your neighbor and spend 2 minutes explaining what you see.

Paleoclimatology: An Investigation

How do we know what we know? What is a proxy? Examples of proxies

Ice cores Tree rings Pollen Speleothems Historical documents Coral Packrat Middens

Resolution vs. Span

Ice CoresJim White: Stable Isotope Lab @ CU

http://michigantoday.umich.edu/2009/11/vostok-graph.jpg

Tree Rings

http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/ctl/images/16thchron2.jpg

http://saima-tutkimus.fi/saimapictures/kiekkoisov.jpg

http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/pubs/smith2006/fig1.jpg

http://www.windows2universe.org/earth/climate/images/stalagmites_sm.jpg

Spel

eoth

ems

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/a1/Labeled_speleothems.jpg

Pollen

http://lh5.ggpht.com/_j1cdMMQnYns/TMLGrbaJP_I/AAAAAAAAJMU/2CNdQce5DKw/lavender-pollen-grain--lavandula-dentata--80200172-m%5B4%5D.jpg

Canadian modelHadley model

Coral

bleaching

http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/fbeinecke/Bleached.coral.jpg

http://www.climateshifts.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Bellwood-et-al-Fig-1.jpg

Historical