Global Climate Change

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Global Climate Change

• Environmental ImpactsA Review and Reflection

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• What should we worry about the most?

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What should we tell our students?

• Most important?
• Most personally relevant?
• Most dramatic?

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Weve seen the data

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Modern CO2 Measurements
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Weve seen the data

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is the increased greenhouse effect I'd bet the
mortgage it       Mark Serreze, NSIDC   

• ARCTIC SEA ICE EXTENT - SEPTEMBER TREND,
  1978-2005

The area covered by sea ice
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We have relevant stories for our students

• MSNBC.com
• Its official January was warmest on record
  U.S. forecasters say it was 8.5 degrees warmer
  than normal
• The Associated Press
• Updated 438 p.m. ET Feb. 7, 2006
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• WASHINGTON - January was a fair-weather friend.
• Recording the warmest January on record allowed
  Americans to save on their heating bills. But
  like all good things, last months mildness seems
  to have been too good to last.
• The countrys average temperature for the month
  was 39.5 degrees Fahrenheit, 8.5 degrees above
  average for January, the National Climatic Data
  Center said Tuesday. The old record for January
  warmth was 37.3 degrees set in 1953.

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We have relevant stories for our students

                      

• Global Warming Lending Strength to
  HurricanesWarmer waters fueling more
  powerful storms   WASHINGTON, September 2, 2005
  Because rising global temperatures have warmed
  the oceans, and warm oceans fuel hurricanes, many
  people have asked whether hurricane Katrina is
  connected to global warming. UCS

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We have Early Warning Signs

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Changes in Flowering Date
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Mismatch of Bird Nesting Food Availability
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Lets think outside our immediate realm of human
experience

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What about the oceans?

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Evolutionary Perspective

• The living history of our planet spans 3.5
  billion years.
• Life arose in our oceans about 3.5 bya
• For the first 3 billion years, life was solely
  aquatic

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Evolutionary Perspective

• Photosynthesis was invented in the oceans (by
  cyanobacteria)
• Photosynthesis produces oxygen gas (by splitting
  water molecules)
• ? O2 makes complex life possible
• ? O3 makes terrestrial life possible

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Even Today

• Ocean life accounts for over 90 of planets
  photosynthetic activity.

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Oceans

• Represent the cradle of life
• What are the consequences of messing with your
  mother?

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Oceans are warming

• Effect on coast-line?
• (Aside DDN articles)

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How many gallons of water in the ocean?
1966 2006
Area of Pacific ocean (sq mi) 63,800,000 64,186,000
Ave. depth of Pacific ocean (ft) 14,050 14,049
of Earth surface covered by water 71 71
Gallons of H20 in oceans 361 quintillion(3.61 x 10 20)
SourceFacts Figures SourceUS Navy
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Reference for volume of ocean

• http//pao.cnmoc.navy.mil/educate/neptune/trivia/e
  arth.htm

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Lethal Effects ofClimate Change-Coral Bleaching
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Global Warning / Coral Reefs

• Color Blindness
• By Susan McGrath
• The brilliant beauty of coral reefs has begun
  to disappear before our eyes, along with the
  incredible variety of marine life that surrounds
  them. It has taken only a slight increase in
  sea-surface temperatures to unravel one of the
  earths most ancient ecosystems.
• SSTs rise just two degrees Fahrenheit above
  normal summer high temperatures for a period of
  just two weeks
• http//magazine.audubon.org/features0312/color_bli
  ndness.html

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Temperature increase in Ocean

• Not discrete isolated event
• Coastline
• Weather/climate patterns effects
• Marine, ultimately terrestrial ecosystems effects

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Peak Oil

• Economic crisis?
• Ecologic Opportunity?