Download Climate Change L6 - Nicole

Climate Change
Lesson 6
Indicators of Climate Change
SNC2P
Nicole Klement
Before We Move on..
Let us clarify a few key terms….
Climate Change
&
Global Warming
are not the same thing
Global Warming
• Refers to the earth’s atmospheric temperature
increasing
(linked to increase in the greenhouse gases and
a stronger greenhouse effect)
Climate change
• Refers not only temperature change over a
longer period of time but also changes in
precipitation (rain, snow), wind, storms.
• This concept includes global warming but also
MANY OTHER factors.
Greenhouse Gases Layer
&
The Ozone Layer
are not the same thing
Green House Gases Layer
The main greenhouse gases in the greenhouse gas layer act as insulators for the
planet. Keeping our temperatures moderate constant.
1. ozone
2. water vapour
3. Freon and chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)
4. methane
5. nitrogen oxide
6. carbon dioxide
Notice OZONE is a greenhouse gas. BUT it also forms it’s own layer…
Natural Ozone
Ozone (O3)
• The ozone layer is just
above the troposphere.
Separate from the
greenhouse gas layer. This
layer of Ozone gas acts as
the earth’s sunscreen.
Indicators of Climate Change
• Let us now look at the indicators that are used
to study this global crisis…
Indicators of Climate Change
• The climate of the Earth is constantly altering over
time, but the more recent changes are not
considered natural changes in the climate. The ice
age is an example of a natural change in climate over
time. Today's changes are occurring faster and with
greater magnitude than previous climate changes.
Did you Know?
• Did you know that since the Industrial Revolution
carbon has increased by 30%, methane by 145%,
and nitrous oxide by 15%? These are greenhouse
gases that trap heat during the greenhouse effect.
Indicators of Canadian
Climate Change
Increase in Temperature
- almost every part of Canada
except the Northeast region
is warmer at the end of the
twentieth century
compared to the beginning
of the century
Increase in precipitation
-most parts of Canada have
become wetter (a 5% to
35% increase in
precipitation).
- more precipitation is falling
as rain compared to snow
Indicators of Canadian
Climate Change
sea surface temperatures have risen
- Canada's west coast has rising sea levels
- Atlantic, Pacific, Beaufort Sea coastal areas are more
vulnerable to flooding and erosion
Indicators of Canadian
Climate Change
shrinking glaciers
- the glaciers on the eastern
slopes of the Rocky
Mountains have lost 25 to
75% of their mass since
1850
Native species at risk
- polar bear survival is more
difficult on the western side
of Hudson Bay
• - hunting, fishing, and
winter travel for humans
has become less reliable
and more dangerous
Indicators of Canadian
Climate Change
decrease in sea ice
- the area of the Canadian
Arctic with permanent
sea ice has decreased
by a quarter since the
end of the 1960s
change in migratory
patterns
- several species of birds
are arriving earlier in
the spring and leaving
later in the fall
- some European birds are
not migrating
Did you know?
• Did you know that Canada has warmed 1o C over the
last century? The 1980s and 1990s were the
warmest decades in Canada's records.
Carbon Dioxide Absoption Lab
• http://www.planetseed.com/node/19776