Global Climate Change
Global climate change refers to the long-term alteration of temperature and typical weather patterns in a particular region or globally. It is primarily driven by human activities, such as the burning of fossil fuels and deforestation, which release greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. The consequences of global climate change include rising sea levels, extreme weather events, and shifts in ecosystems.
8 Key excerpts on "Global Climate Change"
eBook - ePub- Debleena Bhattacharya, V K Singh(Authors)
- 2022(Publication Date)
- CRC Press(Publisher)
...The region includes rainfall, temperature variation, humidity and wind. The climatic condition of an area is affected by topography, longitude, latitude, Sun–Earth’s axis, proximity to sea and oceans, wind directions, and temperature differences between land and sea. The change in climate is often termed as global warming and it refers to the gradual increase in average temperature on Earth’s surface. According to scientific consensus there is a continuous increase in the global temperature from 0.4 to 0.8°C during the past century and the cause for this escalation in temperature is attributed to the emission of carbon dioxide (CO 2) and other greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the atmosphere. The combustion of fossil fuels gives rise to the increased volume of CO 2 and other GHGs. With the increase in population there is an immediate surge for land and in order to cater the anthropogenic demands the forest was cleared. Apart from this agricultural activity has also significantly contributed to global warming. The most vital factor responsible for climate change lies in the increase in the concentration of the GHGs and CO 2 in the atmosphere. The economic upliftment of the nation depends on the industrial activities such as energy, industry, transport, land use and they rely heavily on the use of fossil fuel. 77 percent of global warming is attributed to CO 2 apart from methane generated by agriculture and rising land clearance, leading to deforestation. Stern (2006) defined the increase in CO 2 concentration level to nearly 100 parts per million (ppm). The present data elucidate that 2–3 ppm of CO 2 is the global emissions. The increased global warming is predicted to show its impact on working people and productivity by 2045. Global warming and climate change have a very strong interrelationship in environment. The capacities of the GHGs to entrap the solar heat within the atmosphere have a detrimental impact on natural habitats, health and also agriculture...
eBook - ePub- Roger G. Barry, Richard J Chorley(Authors)
- 2009(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...Similarly, while we usually view the global temperature rise over the past 100 years as climate change, reserving the term variability for embedded shorter timescale features, the century-long warming could also be viewed as an aspect of climate variability over the past 1000 years. The distinction between variability and change is hence dependent on the time frame over which one considers the climate statistics. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) offers a different definition that can help to resolve some of these problems. They define climate change as ‘a change of climate which is attributed directly or indirectly to human activity that alters the composition of the atmosphere and which is in addition to natural climate variability observed over comparable timescales’. This definition is useful in that it makes a clear distinction between natural processes and anthropogenic influences. The remainder of this chapter will view climate change in this context. Variability, in turn, will be viewed as associated with natural processes. B CLIMATE FORCING, FEEDBACK AND RESPONSE The most fundamental measure of the earth’s climate state is the global mean, annually averaged surface air temperature. Year-to-year and even decadal-scale variations in this value can occur due to processes purely internal to the climate system. The warm phase of ENSO, for example, may be viewed as an internal process in which heat in the ocean reservoir (i.e., heat already within the climate system) is transferred to the atmosphere, expressed as a rise in global mean surface temperature. When considering timescales of decades or longer, thinking must turn to climate forcings and attendant feedbacks. Forcing factors represent imposed perturbations to the global system, and are defined as positive when they induce an increase in global mean surface temperature, and negative when they induce a decrease...
eBook - ePubClimate Conflict
How Global Warming Threatens Security and What to Do about It
- Jeffrey Mazo(Author)
- 2010(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...Climate change has been and will continue to be far from uniform around the world: it shows great variation from region to region. The anticipated climate change in any particular part of the globe is driven not just by average warming but by changes in global ocean and atmospheric circulation patterns that directly impact climate by, for example, strengthening or weakening monsoons. Cyclical patterns like ENSO can also be strengthened or weakened, and more persistent geographic shifts in climate zones can occur, as they have in the past. The most basic difference is between land and water: continents will warm more than seas, and continental interiors will warm more than areas close to the ocean. The amount of warming, too, tends to vary by latitude, with higher latitudes projected to warm more, and according to factors such as the presence of large mountain ranges, which also affect precipitation. 23 Precipitation patterns in particular will vary significantly, in terms of both total amount and the chronological distribution and intensity of precipitation events. Although, overall, precipitation is expected to increase with global warming, within this global average some regions could see declines. For example, for projections to the end of the century under one scenario, the best estimate for global temperature increase is 2.8°C. 24 However, the median annual temperature increase ranges from 1.8–4.9°C depending on region. The projected increase is 2.5°C or less for Southeast Asia, southern South America, and the small island states of the Caribbean, tropical northeast Atlantic, Indian Ocean and Pacific, and more than 4°C for the Arctic and adjoining regions such as northern Asia, Alaska, eastern Canada, Greenland and Iceland...
eBook - ePubClimate Change
Turning Up the Heat
- A. Barrie Pittock(Author)
- 2017(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...5 What climate changes are likely? In terms of key environmental parameters, the Earth system has recently moved well outside the range of natural variability exhibited over at least the last half million years. The nature of changes now occurring simultaneously in the Earth System, their magnitude and rates of change are unprecedented and unsustainable. Paul Crutzen (Nobel Laureate) and Will Steffen (International Geosphere- Biosphere Programme, Executive Director), 2003. The complexity of the climate system makes it difficult to predict some aspects of human-induced climate change: exactly how fast it will occur, exactly how much it will change, and exactly where those changes will take place. In contrast, scientists are confident of other predictions. Mid-continent warming will be greater than over the oceans, and there will be greater warming at higher latitudes. Some polar and glacial ice will melt, and the oceans will warm; both effects will contribute to higher sea levels. The hydrologic cycle will change and intensify, leading to changes in water supply as well as flood and drought patterns. American Geophysical Union, Position Statement, December 2003. Human-induced climate change is only an issue if it is large enough and rapid enough to create real problems for natural ecosystems and for human societies. In this and the following chapter we will look at the magnitude and rate of climate change, including sea-level rise and changes in extreme events, that are likely to result from human-induced emissions of greenhouse gases, and at what the effects might be on nature and society. Given the acknowledged uncertainties, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) tried in successive reports to state what it was confident about, and what was more or less likely or possible, but still rather uncertain. The quote from the American Geophysical Union – the non-government association of American geophysical scientists – does the same in a very summary form...
eBook - ePub- Will Steffen (Lead Author)(Author)
- 2009(Publication Date)
- CSIRO PUBLISHING(Publisher)
...4 The rate and magnitude of climate change This chapter summarises climatic trends observed over the past few decades, both globally and in Australia, and describes the rate and magnitude of potential change over the next century. 4.1 THE NATURE OF CONTEMPORARY CLIMATE CHANGE Climate change is altering the fundamental abiotic environment in which biological species and communities exist. Understanding the nature of climate change, from the human-driven changes that are observable now to the long-term patterns of variability within which contemporary ecosystems have developed, is essential for assessing the vulnerability of Australia’s biodiversity to the rapidly changing environment of the 21st century. The science of climate change has progressed significantly over the past two decades. The most recent report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in 2007 concluded that the warming of the climate system over the past century is unequivocal. Figure 4.1 shows the changes in the mean surface temperature over the past 150 years. Global average temperatures have increased 0.74°C (1906–2007). Twelve of the 13 years in the 1995–2005 period rank among the 13 warmest years in the instrumental record since 1850. Warming has occurred across the globe but has been greatest in the northern high latitudes (IPCC 2007a). The IPCC (2007a) concluded that it is very likely that anthropogenic (human-induced) greenhouse gas increases have caused most of the observed increase in globally averaged temperatures since the mid-20th century. The most important of the anthropogenic greenhouse gases in terms of its effect on climate is carbon dioxide (CO 2). The longest continuously monitored CO 2 site in a non-industrial area, on top of Mauna Loa, Hawaii, has documented increases from below 315 ppm to above 380 ppm in just over the past 50 years (Fig. 4.2)...
eBook - ePubThe Human Impact of Climate Uncertainty
Weather Information, Economic Planning, and Business Management
- W. J. Maunder(Author)
- 2019(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...For this reason, it is perhaps desirable to ‘define’ climate or climate state as ‘the totality of weather conditions existing in a given area over a specific period of time’. Climate change could then be said to become important only when a relatively long time period is considered. But such a viewpoint is too restrictive. Indeed the importance of monitoring, analysing, understanding, and (where possible) forecasting climate variations over all time periods from days to decades is of far greater importance, whatever the ‘true’ meaning of climate change may be. It is also necessary to understand the increasing impact that a climate change (however defined) is likely to have on economic, social, political, and strategic activites. 4. Monitoring Climate Variability The need for more comprehensive monitoring and analysis of the world’s climate to detect and predict changes, and to understand the consequences of such changes, is central to many aspects of national planning. Sewell and MacDonald-McGee in discussing the climate scene in Canada 2 stated: At present—understanding of the manner in which climate affects human activities...and the ways in which the latter may cause changes in climate are not well understood. Despite a recognition of this deficiency by various (people) progress in mounting research has been very slow. Problems associated with the management of a hitherto unrecognised resource, climate, seem certain to become a major focus of policy formulation before the end of the century. Regardless of the political, economic, strategic, and social impacts of any long-term trend, it is evident that year-to-year variations of considerable significance will continue to occur, and it is important to re-emphasize that trends in the climate over time - to which it is possible to adjust - are usually relatively small by comparison with short-term variations...
eBook - ePubEngaging with Climate Change
Psychoanalytic and Interdisciplinary Perspectives
- Sally Weintrobe, Sally Weintrobe(Authors)
- 2012(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...For instance, if the ball hits a rock on the way down, its trajectory could momentarily be uphill. Within a few seconds, the ball would then resume its downhill travel. The climate system can also show anomalous behaviour within a general warming trend, in response to short-term perturbations such as volcanic eruptions, which tend to cool the climate for a few years. For instance, the volcanic eruption of Pinatubo in 1991 caused about 0.3°C cooling, which lasted for two years until the general warming trend was resumed. Overall, then, our understanding of the climate system, while incomplete, is enough for policymakers and the public to take the decisions to reduce greenhouse gas forcing. The sceptics have mounted a well-funded and vigorous campaign to halt or delay policy change, but their arguments are transparently ideological. Eventually climate change will be so obvious that such arguments will fail. Notes AGW is the term used to describe the consensus view that most of the observed warming seen towards the end of the twentieth century and into the twenty-first is caused by the emission of CO 2 by human activities. The current interglacial following the Pleistocene. The Pleistocene is the period of time covering the last 2.5 million years, when the Earth experienced repeated glaciations. The Holocene is the interglacial of the last 11,000 years, by which time the mid-latitude continental ice sheets had largely melted. Phenological change is the study of the life cycles of plant and animals that are influenced by cyclic variations in climate. References Allan, R. P., and Soden, B. J. (2007) Large discrepancy between observed and simulated precipitation trends in the ascending and descending branches of the tropical circulation. Geophysical Research Letters, 34, L18705. doi: 10.1029/2007GL031460 Alley, R. B., Clark, P. U., Huybrechts, P., and Joughlin, I. (2005) Ice-sheet and sea-level changes. Science, 310: 456 – 460. Annan, J. D., and Hargreaves, J. C...
eBook - ePubHope in an Age of Despair
The Gospel and the Future of Life on Earth
- Robert S White, Jonathan A Moo(Authors)
- 2013(Publication Date)
- IVP(Publisher)
...Storms are likely to be stronger; rainfall heavier in some places; droughts more prolonged in others; heat waves hotter and more common in some places. Some places indeed will suffer the ‘double whammy’ of drought one year followed by devastating floods the next, both of which will make growing crops sustainably extremely challenging if not impossible. Because of this local variability in climatic response, some people find it more helpful to talk about ‘Global Climate Change’ than about ‘global warming’, though of course behind all these changes is in fact a globe that is overall getting warmer and warmer. The best estimates of future temperatures up to the end of the present century are shown in Figure 3.7. There is a large range in predictions, from 1.5 to 6°C (depending in part on our own collective choices), although the best estimates are in the range 2–5°C. Those are quite high enough increases to be scary. Some of the potential consequences of increased temperatures are explored by Mark Lynas in his book Six Degrees, which won the Royal Society award for the best popular science book in 2008. 84 Many of those who have investigated the impacts of climate change believe that any increase above 2°C would be potentially catastrophic, but unfortunately we already look set to exceed that threshold. Figure 3.7 Projections for three representative scenarios of greenhouse gas increases as projected from multi-model estimates with climate models. Shading shows the range of uncertainty. 83 We are in uncharted territory as the temperature rises get higher and higher. But we can make educated guesses about the impact in a variety of areas such as food production, the health of ecosystems and human beings, water availability and coastal vulnerability. Many of the consequences will lead to increased numbers of refugees...
