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Download The Facts and Fiction of Climate Change
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The Facts and Fiction of Climate Change Kim Cobb Paideia School April 15, 2008 Which of the following are scientific statements? 1) Slowing global warming costs too much money. 2) Hurricane Katrina was caused by global warming. 3) The Earth was warmer than today 60 million years ago. Which of the following are scientific statements? 1) Slowing global warming costs too much money. 2) Hurricane Katrina was caused by global warming. 3) The Earth was warmer than today 60 million years ago. Some definitions What is CLIMATE? how the weather acts over many years What is WEATHER? temperature, rainfall, wind changes over days Why Study Climate? CLIMATE is our best guess at what temperature and rainfall patterns will be - next year - next ten years - next century CLIMATE is changing, and we need to prepare for the future - crops need enough water to grow - we need water to drink (but not too much) - ice is melting, sea level is rising (very slowly) What is CO2 (carbon dioxide)? - represents less than 1% of the atmospheric gases - animals breathe CO2 out, plants “breathe” CO2 in - burning fossil fuels (gasoline, oil) dumps CO2 into the atmosphere - more atmospheric CO2 warms the atmosphere Average Global Temperature 0.5 Atmospheric CO2 (ppm) 0.0 360 340 Atmospheric CO2 320 300 280 1860 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 Temperature (°C) 1.0 greenhouse gases in the atmosphere trap heat at the Earth’s surface and prevent it from escaping. without greenhouse gases average temp of Earth would be -18ºC instead of 15ºC 4 1 So the greenhouse effect is a good thing! we are increasing the greenhouse effect by adding CO2 to the atmosphere 3 2 The consequences of climate change in 100 years…. average global temperatures will rise by 2-14F sea level will rise by 7-22 inches rainfall patterns will change Why is there so much uncertainty in future climate? One uncertainty comes from unknown future CO2 Will we join international plans to reduce CO2? Will we ignore the problem? What will other countries like China and India do? Decisions made NOW will effect your grandchildren! Another uncertainty comes from imperfect climate models Over 20 models are used, because we don’t know which one is right. Tools to study Paleoclimates -- “ancient” climates “the past is the key to understanding the present” Corals Tree Rings - oceanic, tropical - 100’s yrs long - continents -1000’s yrs long Sediments Ice Cores - along coastlines - 10,000’s yrs long - Ice Ages - North, South poles - 10,000’s yrs long - Ice Ages Studying Climate with Corals What is a CORAL? a tiny animal in the shallow tropical ocean that lives colonially and grows a hard rock skeleton corals can live for hundreds of years My Research: Studying Climate with Corals Goal: to compare past tropical Pacific climate with present-day climate Palmyra Island Palmyra Island How it works: 1) coral skeletons record temperature changes 2) we can count back 1000 years to read temperature Corals provide long records of past climate that can be compared to present climate (is it different? how?) Science can be fun! Global warming is very real, but the exact consequences are uncertain. Example: Driving in a car is dangerous, but you don’t know when you might have an accident. Do you wear a seatbelt? YES! We must begin to act to reduce global warming BEFORE we know the exact consequences. The good news: humans are VERY smart! Three strategies to reduce CO2: 1)use less energy - drive less, drive smaller cars - conserve electricity CO2 cost - 50% + $$ 2) make “clean” energy - solar power, wind power, nuclear energy- 50% - $$ 3) take CO2 out of the sky (more difficult) What can YOU do? Bug your parents to buy flourescent light bulbs! When you starting driving, don’t drive an SUV. Save electricity wherever you can. Think about a job in science and engineering or politics, or education. Can you think of three things you can do to start saving the planet? A climate scientist’s plea to the next generation: seek out information, ask questions, get the facts, and then VOTE distinguish the science of global warming from the politics/economics of global warming recognize uncertainties, but don’t be paralyzed by them [buy flourescent light bulbs, don’t drive SUV’s, eat your broccoli] THANK YOU [email protected] Google ‘Kim Cobb’ for web-site Studying Climate with Corals What is a CORAL? a tiny animal in the shallow tropical ocean that lives colonially and grows a hard rock skeleton corals can live for hundreds of years My Research: Studying Climate with Corals Goal: to compare past tropical Pacific climate with present-day climate Palmyra Island Palmyra Island How it works: 1) coral skeletons record temperature changes 2) we can count back 1000 years to read temperature Summary We need to understand more about how climate is changing. Corals provide long records of past climate that can be compared to present climate (is it different? how?) Science can be fun!