Climate Change

Learning Objectives:

At the end of the topic, students can:

1. Identify the cause of climate change;
2. Explain how climate change happen;
3. Provide pieces of evidence to affirm the presence of climate
change;
4. Discuss the implications of climate change; and
5. Apply STS concepts to the issue of climate change

Some people interchanged the climate with weather. But note that
weather is the short term changes in atmospheric variables such as
temperature and rainfall, while climate is the average weather experienced
in a region or area over a period of time (35 years). Climate also indicates
the atmospheric condition of heat, moisture and circulation, thus is plays a
major role in molding vegetation and soil; and eventually affects living
organisms.

What is Climate Change?

Climate change is a significant variation of average weather
conditions—say, conditions becoming warmer, wetter, or drier—over
several decades or more. It’s that longer-term trend that differentiates
climate change from natural weather variability.
And while “climate change” and “global warming” are often used
interchangeably, global warming—the recent rise in the global average
temperature near the earth’s surface—is just one aspect of climate change.

Evidences of Climate Change

• Rise of global temperature - The planet's average surface
temperature has risen about 0.9 degrees Celsius since the late
 19th century, a change driven largely by increased carbon
dioxide and other human-made emissions into the
atmosphere.
Most of the warming occurred in the past 35 years, with the six
warmest years on record taking place since 2014. Not only was
2016 the warmest year on record, but eight of the 12 months
that make up the year — from January through September,
with the exception of June — were the warmest on record for
those respective months.
• Warming Oceans - The oceans have absorbed much of this
increased heat, with the top 700 meters of ocean showing
warming of more than 0.4 degrees Fahrenheit since 1969.
• Shrinking Ice Sheets - The Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets
have decreased in mass. Data from NASA's Gravity Recovery
and Climate Experiment show Greenland lost an average of 286
billion tons of ice per year between 1993 and 2016, while
Antarctica lost about 127 billion tons of ice per year during the
same time period. The rate of Antarctica ice mass loss has tripled
in the last decade.

• Glacial Retreat - Glaciers are retreating almost everywhere

around the world — including in the Alps, Himalayas, Andes,
Rockies, Alaska and Africa.
 • A glacier is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly
moving under its own weight. A glacier forms where the
accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation (melting
and sublimation) over many years, often centuries. Glaciers
slowly deform and flow under stresses induced by their
weight, creating crevasses, seracs, and other distinguishing
features. They also abrade rock and debris from their
substrate to create landforms such as cirques and moraines.
Glaciers form only on land and are distinct from the much
thinner sea ice and lake ice that form on the surface of
bodies of water.

• Decreased Snow Cover - Satellite observations reveal that the

amount of spring snow cover in the Northern Hemisphere has
 decreased over the past five decades and that the snow is melting
earlier (see above picture).
• Ocean Acidification - Since the beginning of the Industrial
Revolution, the acidity of surface ocean waters has increased by
about 30 percent. This increase is the result of humans emitting
more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and hence more being
absorbed into the oceans. The amount of carbon dioxide
absorbed by the upper layer of the oceans is increasing by about
2 billion tons per year

What Causes Climate Change?

Causes of climate change can be classified as external and internal
processes.
External processes operate outside planet Earth, and includes
changes in the global energy balance due to variations in the Earth’s
orbit around the Sun, and changes in the amount of energy received from
the Sun, and collisions with comets or meteorites.
Internal processes operates from within the Earth's climate system,
and include changes in the global energy balance due to changes in ocean
circulation or changes in the composition of the atmosphere. Other climate
changing processes include the impacts of large volcanic eruptions. Many
scientists think that such rapid warming in these ice-covered parts of the
world is a consequence of the ice-albedo feedback effect. Internal processes
can be Natural and Anthropogenic in nature.
These anthropogenic (chiefly originating in human activity) causes
includes the chemical fertilizers, deforestation, increase vehicles, emissions
of greenhouse gases, industries and emissions of carbon dioxides. And
these natural causes are – sunspots and solar cycle, ocean currents, forest
fire, volcanic eruptions, meteorites and methane emissions from animals.
The Greenhouse Effect

The term “greenhouse effect”

is the technical term used for global
warming. What happens in global
warming shows same effects as of
what happens on a greenhouse.
A greenhouse is a plant house wherein its roof and walls are made
of glasses wherein mainly its purpose is contain the energy that enters on it
and the energy released by the plants and other things inside the
greenhouse.

Naturally, sun releases its energy in the form of sunlight, enters the
earth’s atmosphere and reaches the earth. Some of this energy is reflected
back and some are absorbed.
Greenhouse gases play an important role in the regulation of the
Earth's energy balance. Greenhouse gases in the atmosphere trap infrared
heat energy trying to escape back to space. In doing so they raise the
temperature of the lower atmosphere and the Earth's surface in contact with
it. This warming process is called the natural greenhouse effect, but during
the last 200 years, mankind's pollution of the atmosphere with extra
greenhouse gases has enhanced this natural greenhouse effect that may be
contributing to global warming
They are called greenhouse gases because they behave like glass in
a greenhouse gas, allowing sunlight to pass through but trapping the heat
formed and preventing it from escaping, thereby causing a rise in
temperature. Natural greenhouse gases include water vapour or moisture,
carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and even ozone, which is more
commonly associated with the ozone layer and ultraviolet radiation..
Because of excessive human activity, greenhouse gases are increasing that
made our climate changing. Excessive combustion such as burning of coal
and fossil fuels and deforestation made the carbon dioxide to increase.
Increase of methane gas emission to the atmosphere is due to livestock and
other agricultural practices and by the decay of organic waste in solid waste
landfills. Hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, sulfur hexafluoride, and
nitrogen trifluoride are synthetic, powerful greenhouse gases that are
emitted from a variety of industrial processes. These gases are the main
culprit to the depletion of ozone layer.

Effects of Global Warming:

• Ozone depletion - “is a major environmental problem because

it increases the amount of ultraviolet (UV) radiation that reaches
Earth's surface, which increases the rate of skin cancer, eye
cataracts, and genetic and immune system damage. ”
• Changes in precipitation patterns - As temperatures rise and the air
becomes warmer, more moisture evaporates from land and water into
the atmosphere. More moisture in the air generally means we can
expect more rain and snow (called precipitation) and more heavy
downpours.
• More droughts and heat waves - Droughts in the Southwest and heat
waves everywhere are projected to become more intense, and cold
waves less intense everywhere.
• Hurricanes will become stronger and more intense - The intensity,
frequency and duration of North Atlantic hurricanes, as well as the
frequency of the strongest hurricanes, have all increased since the
early 1980s. The relative contributions of human and natural causes to
these increases are still uncertain. Hurricane-associated storm
intensity and rainfall rates are projected to increase as the climate
continues to warm.
 • Sea level will rise 1 – 8 feet by 2100 - In the next several decades,
storm surges and high tides could combine with sea level rise and land
subsidence to further increase flooding in many regions. Sea level rise
will continue past 2100 because the oceans take a very long time to
respond to warmer conditions at the Earth’s surface. Ocean waters will
therefore continue to warm and sea level will continue to rise for many
centuries at rates equal to or higher than those of the current century.
• Health Risks - According to the World Health Organization, “climate
change is expected to cause approximately 250,000 additional deaths
per year” between 2030 and 2050. As global temperatures rise, so do
the number of fatalities and illnesses from heat stress, heatstroke, and
cardiovascular and kidney disease. As air pollution worsens, so does
respiratory health
• Imperiled Ecosystem - Climate change is increasing pressure on
wildlife to adapt to changing habitats—and fast. Many species are
seeking out cooler climates and higher altitudes, altering seasonal
behaviors, and adjusting traditional migration patterns. These shifts
can fundamentally transform entire ecosystems and the intricate webs
of life that depend on them.
• Food Source Complications - As cold areas warm up and warm areas
heat up even more, things are changing in the way our food is sourced.
The temperature changes affect the kind of sea life that thrives in
certain areas and the types of crops that grow.
• Forest Fires - Fires in the Amazon rainforest could almost double
by 2050 with only a 1.50C to 2 0C rise in temperature. Higher
temperatures would bring even more severe impacts.

Solutions of Global Warming

• Reduction of carbon emissions
• Use renewable energy
• Proper reforestation
• Family planning
• Environmental awareness
Treaties to Reduce Global Warming

Seeks to reduce atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases

with the aim of preventing dangerous anthropogenic interference with
earth's climate system. It is a framework which requires individual
participating countries to commit to stabilizing greenhouse gas emissions.
• United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change (UNFCCC)
• Montreal Protocol
• Kyoto Protocol
• Paris Agreement

Sources/References:
• https://visme.co/blog/climate-change-facts/
• https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-45775309
• https://www.wri.org/blog/2017/04/climate-science-explained-
10-graphics
• https://climate.nasa.gov/resources/global-warming-vs-climate-
change/
• http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/co2/story/What+is+Ocean+Acidific
ation%3F
• http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/co2/story/Ocean+Acidification
• C. L. Sabine et.al., “The Oceanic Sink for Anthropogenic CO2,”
Science vol. 305 (16 July 2004), 367-371
• https://www.un.org/en/sections/issues-depth/climate-
change/#:~:text=Climate%20Change%20is%20the%20definin
g,scope%20and%20unprecedented%20in%20scale.
• https://www.nrdc.org/stories/global-climate-change-what-you-
need-know