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7.2. CLIMATE CHANGE CAUSES AND IMPACTS (The climate change debate…
7.2. CLIMATE CHANGE CAUSES AND IMPACTS
Knowledge and Understanding
Climate describes how the atmosphere behaves over relatively long periods of time, whereas weather describes conditions in atmosphere over a short period of time
Weather and climate are affected by ocean at atmospheric circulatory systems
human activities are increasing levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere leading to - increase in mean global temperature, increased frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, potential for long term change in climate and weather patterns, rise in sea level
Climate and weather
weather - daily result of changes of temperature, pressure and precipitation and our atmosphere - varies from place to place
climate - average weather pattern over many years for a location on earth
weather and climate are affected by
ocean and atmospheric circulatory systems
clouds - may trap heat underneath them or reflect sunlight away from earth above them (albedo)
forest fires - release CO2 - greenhouse gas - regrowth traps it again as a carbon store
volcanic eruptions - release huge quantities of ash which circulate in the atmosphere, cooling the earth
human activities - we burn fossil fuels and keep livestock which release GHGs
Climate change is long-term change and has always happened
fluctuations in solar insolation affecting temperature
changing proportions of gases in the atmosphere released by organisms
Global climate models
can be used to predict changes with a range of emissions of ghgs
Green house gases
carbon dioxide, water vapour, methane, CFCs, nitrous oxide and ozone
enhanced greenhouse effect
increased emissions = enhanced natural greenhouse effect
Global warming potential (GWP)
relative measure of how much heat a known mass of a GHGs trap over a number of years compared to the same mass of carbon dioxide
carbon dioxide has a GWP of 1, methane has a GWP of 21 so traps 21 times more heat as the same mass of carbon dioxide
The climate change debate
international politics, global economics and fate of national economies are all bound up with scientific debate about evidence and cause and effect
questions of whether millions or billions will suffer
will there be those who gain as well as lose if climate shifts to a new equilibrium
EVS may affect which side of the debate you are on
atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide have increased to levels unprecedented in atleast the last 800 years
What is climate change and what will happen?