* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
Download Long term climate change - geography departmant of lwc
Soon and Baliunas controversy wikipedia , lookup
Climate change denial wikipedia , lookup
Climate-friendly gardening wikipedia , lookup
Climatic Research Unit documents wikipedia , lookup
Climate engineering wikipedia , lookup
Climate change adaptation wikipedia , lookup
2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference wikipedia , lookup
Climate change in Tuvalu wikipedia , lookup
Climate sensitivity wikipedia , lookup
Low-carbon economy wikipedia , lookup
Fred Singer wikipedia , lookup
Economics of global warming wikipedia , lookup
General circulation model wikipedia , lookup
Climate governance wikipedia , lookup
Global warming controversy wikipedia , lookup
Climate change in the Arctic wikipedia , lookup
Climate change and agriculture wikipedia , lookup
Effects of global warming on human health wikipedia , lookup
Mitigation of global warming in Australia wikipedia , lookup
Media coverage of global warming wikipedia , lookup
Future sea level wikipedia , lookup
Global warming hiatus wikipedia , lookup
Citizens' Climate Lobby wikipedia , lookup
Effects of global warming on humans wikipedia , lookup
Effects of global warming wikipedia , lookup
Scientific opinion on climate change wikipedia , lookup
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change wikipedia , lookup
Attribution of recent climate change wikipedia , lookup
Climate change and poverty wikipedia , lookup
Global Energy and Water Cycle Experiment wikipedia , lookup
Solar radiation management wikipedia , lookup
Global warming wikipedia , lookup
Climate change in the United States wikipedia , lookup
Surveys of scientists' views on climate change wikipedia , lookup
Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme wikipedia , lookup
Instrumental temperature record wikipedia , lookup
Climate change, industry and society wikipedia , lookup
Public opinion on global warming wikipedia , lookup
Politics of global warming wikipedia , lookup
Business action on climate change wikipedia , lookup
Long term climate change Climatic periods since the Pleistocene Ice Age in the UK Pre Boreal 10,300 BP Change from Tundra to continental. Original cold and wet but becoming warmer and drier Boreal 9,000 BP Becoming warmer and drier: a typical continental climate Atlantic 7,500 BP Climatic optimum warm and with slightly higher rainfall Sub Boreal 5,000 BP Becoming colder in winter, rainfall slowly increasing. Some ice advance Sub Atlantic, 2,500 BP Little climatic optimum 1300 – 1100AD Temp fluctuations Warmest since Atlantic, wine in UK Vikings Thames freezes. Famine Temps. Slowly increasing Little Ice Age 1550 – 1859 AD Today Global warming Evidence for climate change Pollen analysis; Dendrochronology; Ice core analysis; Radiocarbon dating; Coleoptera; Tephra chronology Historical records. Pollen analysis The pollen analysis, study of vegetation history using the microfossils (pollen grain and spores of size 15-50 um) The pollen is preserved in peat bogs( an anaerobic environment) and the type of vegetation can give a clue to the prevailing climate. But the wind can blow pollen a long distance. Dendrochronology ..is the dating of past events (climatic changes) through study of tree ring growth; wide rings of certain species of trees were produced during warm wet years and, inversely, narrow rings during cold dry seasons. Bristlecone Pine But trees tend to respond more to changes in moisture than temperature. Ice Core analysis The concentration of CO2 trapped within the ice can be measured and the atmospheric temperature can be inferred. The lower the CO2, the lower the global temperature. This has been done extensively in Greenland and Antarctica Radio carbon dating Radio carbon dating determines the age of ancient objects by means of measuring the amount of carbon-14 there is left in an object All living things take in carbon 12 and 14. The later decays at a known rate so when a plant dies it starts to lose carbon 14 and so the ratio of 12 to 14 changes. Carbon 14 has a half life of 5,730 years and so there is a limit as to how far back this is accurate. At the moment this is about 50,000 years Coleoptera Certain coleoptera beetles like specific climates and so a knowledge of this will help if the remains of the beetles are found Tephra chronology This is used to date volcanic eruptions The chemicals radioactive minerals are dated using their half life Recent global warming The diagram shows temperature rises since 1860 Tmperatures have been higher in the past but the change now is rapid and so natural systems will find it hard to change Why is global warming occurring? This is due to greenhouse gases which are vital for the planet. Without them out temperature would be 30C lower. But recently the amount of emissions have increased. Particularly CO2 , A doubling of CO2 would cause a 7 C rise in temperatures in the higher latitides Effects of global warming Rising sea levels this would cause huge problems for low lying countries such as the Netherlands, many Pacific and Indian Ocean islands, as well as coastal cities Climate change world wide. This would lead to numerous global disasters. The number of floods, droughts and storms would increase Solutions? The Kyoto Protocol was brought into effect in February 2005 But the USA has not signed up If a country went over its carbon limit then it could buy Carbon credits from less polluting countries. If this does not work then fines could introduced, the country would be encouraged to look for alternative. Climate change levy