Download Introduction - Department of Meteorology and Climate Science

MET 112 Global Climate Change - Lecture 1
“Introduction and Course
Outline”
Dr. Eugene Cordero
San Jose State University
1
MET 112 Global Climate Change
Lecture Outline




Introductions and welcome
Discussion of greensheet
Learning Contract
Academic dishonesty
 Global climate change:
– What’s it all about??
2
MET 112 Global Climate Change
Academic Integrity
 Integrity of university, its courses and degrees
relies on academic standards.
 Cheating:
– Copying from another’s test, cheatsheet etc.
– Sitting an exam by, or as, a surrogate.
– Submitting work for another
 Plagiarism:
– Representing the work of another as one’s own
(without giving appropriate credit)
4
MET 112 Global Climate Change
Plagiarism
 Judicial Affairs
http://sa.sjsu.edu/judicial_affairs/index.html
 Look at the Student Code of Conduct
 Read through SJSU library site on Plagiarism
http://www.sjlibrary.org/services/literacy/info_comp/plagiarism.htm
 http://turnitin.com/
5
MET 112 Global Climate Change
Ok, let’s start talking
about climate change!
Definitions
 Weather:
– the state of the atmosphere at a particular point
in time.
 Climate:
– the accumulation of daily or seasonal weather
events over a longer time period.
 Meteorology and Climatology represent the
study of weather and climate respectively, but are
each components of Atmospheric Science and
are dealt with in this course
MET 112 Global Climate Change
8
Definitions
 Hypothesis:
– is a proposed explanation for a phenomenon
or some observation.
 Theory:
– is a logically self-consistent explanation
describing the behavior of natural phenomenon
(originating from some observations)
 In a colloquial sense, the word theory is used to mean an
idea that may or may not be true; a scientist would refer to
this as a hypothesis. When a scientist uses the word theory,
s/he means a hypothesis which has been tested and has so
far passed all of its tests.
MET 112 Global Climate Change
10
Definitions
 Climate Change:
– Changes in climate of the past, present or
future associated with natural or anthropogenic
(human) factors
 Global Warming:
– Warming of the 20th and 21st century
associated with anthropogenic activities.
12
MET 112 Global Climate Change
Video Clips
 The hottest years
 Global warming 2
13
MET 112 Global Climate Change
It is has water, oxygen and a hospitable climate
14
MET 112 Global Climate Change
Reference: IPCC
World Population 6,446,131,400
The Challenge: Sustainable Management of an Ever-Changing Planet
The Challenge: Sustainable Energy
The Challenge: Food Security
Food
production
needs to
double to meet
the needs of an
additional 3
billion people
in the next 30
years
Climate change is projected to
decrease agricultural
productivity in the tropics and
sub-tropics for almost any
amount of warming
The Challenge: Sustainable Forestry
Wood fuel is the only
source of fuel for one
third of the world’s
population
Wood demand will double
in next 50 years
Climate change is
projected to increase
forest productivity, but
forest management will
become more difficult,
due to an increase in
pests and fires
The Challenge: Water Security
Water Services
One third of the world’s
population is now subject to
water scarcity
Climate
change is
projected to
decrease
water
availability
in many
arid- and
semi-arid
regions
Population facing water
scarcity is projected to
double over the next 30
years.
Activity 1
You are watching your favorite news program (i.e.
CNN, BBC or NBC) and they are reporting on a
massive heat wave that is crippling the Midwest.
The news reporter states that this event is clearly
a result of climate change. Your roommate
laughs and remarks that the news reporter is ‘full
of it’. Who is right and why?
 Form group of two – names on the top of the
paper
23
MET 112 Global Climate Change
Climate Change – An integrated framework
24
MET 112 Global Climate Change
Part I Climate Change:
Natural Forcing
26
MET 112 Global Climate Change
29
MET 112 Global Climate Change
Part II: Climate Change:
Anthropogenic Forcing
and the Future
32
MET 112 Global Climate Change
Antarctic Ozone Hole
33
MET 112 Global Climate Change
34
MET 112 Global Climate Change
Mitigation
38
MET 112 Global Climate Change
Kyoto Protocol
 Came into force on Feb 15, 2005
 Ratified by 153 nations
 Notable exceptions: USA and Australia