Download Introduction to Climate Change Part II: Anthropogenic Climate Change

The atmosphere is changing
Observed impacts of climate change
What can we project for the future
Argon
0.930%
Other gases
0.031%
Oxygen
20.944%
Nitrogen
78.057%
Carbon Dioxide
0.039%
IPCC 2013
CO2
H2 O
CH4
Clouds
Land Use
Change
Aerosols
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Chemical composition
Radiative forcing
Climate proxies
Keeling curve
The Atmosphere is Changing
There is a 95% certainty that human
activities are responsible for global
warming
Key findings from the
Fifth Assessment
Report (AR5)
CO2 is at an “unprecedented” level
not seen in the past 800,000 years
Sea level is set to continue to rise at a
faster rate than over the past 40 years
Over the last 20 years, the Greenland
and Antarctic ice sheets have been
melting and glaciers have receded in
most parts of the world
Sea Level
Severe Storms
Ocean Acidification
Glaciers and Snow
cover
Precipitation Cycles
Heat Waves
These graphs show
the average annual
and decadal surface
temperatures
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average minimum
extent
(1979-2010)
Scientific Visualization Studio, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
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Climate trend
Heat capacity
Arctic “minimum”
Carbon sinks
Observed Impacts of Climate
Change
The Atmosphere is Changing
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High emissions scenario
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Low emissions scenario
High emissions scenario
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Emission scenarios
Baseline
Model
Projection
Global
Regional
Local
Academic
Energy
Building
Transportation
Food
Production
Adaptation
• IPCC, 2013: Summary for Policymakers. In: Climate Change 2013:
The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the
Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change [Stocker, T.F., D. Qin, G.-K. Plattner, M. Tignor, S. K. Allen,
J. Boschung, A. Nauels, Y. Xia, V. Bex and P.M. Midgley (eds.)].
Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New
York, NY, USA. Available from http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessmentreport/ar5/wg1/WG1AR5_SPM_FINAL.pdf (accessed February 14,
2014)
• Ramaswamy, V., O. Boucher, J. Haigh, D. Hauglustaine, J.
Haywood, G. Myhre, T. Nakajima, G. Y. Shi, and S. Solomon. 2001.
Radiative forcing of climate change, Climate Change 2001: The
Scientific Basis, Contribution of Working Group I to the Third
Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change JT Houghton, et al.: 349–416.