Download Issues in Climate - Norwich High School

Human Impacts on Climate
Name the primary gas
which absorbs ultraviolet (UV)
from the sun.
1. Ozone hole
• Humans have added chlorofluorocarbons
to atmosphere which destroy ozone and
have created a hole over Antarctica and
southern South America
Why is the ozone
layer important?
It protects the Earth from UV
which damages crops and
causes cancer in humans.
Ozone hole over Antarctica
2. Greenhouse Gas Emissions
• Greenhouse gases are:
• CO2, methane, water vapor
• Infrared radiation or heat gets trapped by
the addition of these gases (Greenhouse
effect)
What is it?
Average global temperatures are warming
What is the issue?
1. Glaciers are melting, sea levels are rising
Tanzania
2. Increase in extreme weather
events
3. Chemistry of Ocean water
• Becoming more acidic
• When warm waters persist, corals bleach and
become less able to combat disease. As climate
change continues, bleaching is predicted to
become more common.
4. Ecosystems
• Will be affected
•  extinction of species
Monarch butterfly –
soon to be on
endangered species
list
5. Increase of infectious disease
• Malaria
• Dengue fever
• Tick borne diseases (Lyme)
Warming is a natural process but
humans are speeding up the process