DOCSLIB.ORG

2021 Global Change Outlook Charting the Earth’S Future Energy, Managed Resources, Climate, and Policy Prospects

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
2021 Global Change Outlook Charting the Earth’S Future Energy, Managed Resources, Climate, and Policy Prospects MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY MIT JOINT PROGRAM ON THE SCIENCE AND POLICY OF GLOBAL CHANGE 2021 GLOBAL CHANGE OUTLOOK CHARTING THE EARTH’S FUTURE ENERGY, MANAGED RESOURCES, CLIMATE, AND POLICY PROSPECTS LEAD AUTHORS Sergey Paltsev • C. Adam Schlosser CO-AUTHORS Henry Chen • Xiang Gao • Angelo Gurgel • Henry Jacoby • Jennifer Morris • Ronald Prinn • Andrei Sokolov • Kenneth Strzepek CONTRIBUTORS Noelle Selin, MIT Institute for Data Systems & Society/MIT Department of Earth, Atmospheric & Planetary Sciences • Richard Schmalensee, MIT Sloan School of Management • Lucy Young, MIT DESIGN & EDITING Jamie Bartholomay • Mark Dwortzan • Jennifer Morris • Anne Slinn MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY THE MIT JOINT PROGRAM ON THE SCIENCE & POLICY OF GLOBAL CHANGE is working to advance a sustainable, prosperous world through scientific analysis of the complex interactions among co-evolving global systems. MISSION Advancing a sustainable, prosperous world through scientific analysis of the complex interactions among co-evolving global systems. The pace and complexity of global environmental change is unprecedented. Nations, regions, cities and the public and private sectors are facing increasing pressures to confront critical challenges in future food, water, energy, climate and other areas. Our integrated team of natural and social scientists produces comprehensive global and regional change projections under different environmental, economic and policy scenarios. These projections enable decision-makers in the public and private sectors to better assess impacts, and the associated costs and benefits of potential courses of action. VISION We envision a world in which community, government and industry leaders have the insight they need to make environmentally and economically sound choices. Toward that end, we provide a scientific foundation for strategic investment, policymaking and other decisions that advance sustainable development. IMPACT The MIT Joint Program: • Combines scientific research with risk and policy analyses to project the impacts of—and evaluate possible responses to—the many interwoven challenges of global socioeconomic, technological and environmental change. • Communicates research findings through our website, publications, workshops and presentations around the world, as well as frequent interactions with decision-makers, media outlets, government and nongovernmental organizations, schools and communities. • Cultivates and educates the next generation of interdisciplinary researchers with the skills to tackle ongoing and emerging complex global challenges. 2021 Outlook: Charting the Earth’s Future Energy · Managed Resources · Climate · Policy Prospects The 2021 Global Change Outlook continues a process, started in 2012 by the MIT Joint Program, of providing a periodic update on the direction the planet is heading in terms of economic growth and its implications for resource use and the environment. To obtain an integrated look at food, water, energy and climate, as well as the oceans, atmosphere and land that comprise the Earth system, we use the MIT Integrated Global System Modeling (IGSM) framework. Consisting primarily of the Economic Projection and Policy Analysis (EPPA) model and the MIT Earth System Model (MESM), the IGSM is a linked set of computer models developed by the MIT Joint Program to analyze interactions among human and Earth systems. As in our previous (2018) edition, this year’s Outlook reports on projected effects of population and economic growth, technology improvements, climate policy and other factors on energy and land use, emissions and climate, and water and agriculture. An important first step toward achieving stabilization of global average temperatures at reasonable cost is the Paris Agreement, in which nearly 200 countries committed to a wide range of initial climate actions aimed at achieving that goal. For this year’s Outlook, we have invited guest contributors to offer perspectives on the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on economic growth, climate mitigation and public health, as well as the need for a systems approach to climate change and human health and well-being. Recognizing the inadequacy of the short-term commitments to keep global warming below the long-term targets of 2°C or even 1.5°C, we explore emissions pathways consistent with these goals. CONTENTS About the 2021 Outlook 2 Impacts of the Covid-19 Pandemic 2 Policy Scenarios and Risk-Based Analyses 2 Key Findings 4 Energy 4 Emissions and Climate 4 Managed Resources 6 Meeting Short-Term Paris Commitments 7 Long-Term Climate Stabilization Goals 7 Drivers of Global Change 8 Population and Economic Growth 8 Policy Scenarios 8 Energy 12 Primary Energy Use 12 Regional Energy Intensity Improvements 14 Electrification of Light-Duty Vehicles 15 Electricity Production 17 Energy Prices 19 Managed Resources 20 Water 20 Agriculture 22 Land-Use Change 24 Climate 26 GHG Emissions by Gas/Source and Region 26 Implications of Recent Emissions Trends and Future Projections 28 Climate Risk: Physical Risk 32 Climate Risk: Transition Risk 36 Policy Prospects 38 Prospects for Meeting Short-Term Paris Goals 38 Prospects for Meeting Long-Term Paris Goals 39 References 42 Appendix 43 MIT JOINT PROGRAM ON THE SCIENCE AND POLICY OF GLOBAL CHANGE 2021 OUTLOOK • 1 About the 2021 Outlook The 2021 Global Change Outlook presents mate goals. However, the negative impacts the MIT Joint Program’s latest projections of the pandemic on economic growth and Key Terms: for the future of the Earth’s energy, man- emergency measures to stimulate national CCS Carbon Capture and Storage aged resources (including water, agriculture economies provide a complex picture for CO2e CO2-equivalent and land), and climate, as well as pros- achieving future decarbonization goals. In pects for achieving the Paris Agreement’s slow-growth economies, fewer resources EPPA MIT Economic Projection & Policy Analysis (model) short-term targets (as defined by Nationally are available for governments to support Determined Contributions, or NDCs) and clean energy alternatives and for private GHG Greenhouse Gases long-term goals of keeping the increase in companies to invest in new technologies. IGSM Integrated Global System the average global temperature below 2°C In high-growth economies, rising energy Modeling (framework) or even 1.5°C. demand and prices provide substantial in- IPCC Interngovernmental Panel on centives for energy-efficient innovations. Climate Change Impacts of the Covid-19 Regardless of the pace of economic devel- MESM MIT Earth System Model opment, governments need to intervene NDC Nationally Determined Pandemic to promote a climate sustainability agenda, Contribution In 2020, Covid-19 captured the world’s at- but resources available for such interven- UNFCCC United Nations Framework tention. Throughout the year, the pandemic tions are highly affected by the Covid-19 Convention on Climate Change impacted billions of lives. The massive impact crisis. The pandemic has also exacerbated WRS Water Resource System (model) of the virus on lives and economies presents negative trends related to protectionism, Units of Measurement: important parallels to the risks and threats we populism and nationalism. For a climate °C Degrees Celsius TWh Terawatt hours face from human-induced changes to climate. problem that requires a global solution, For both challenges, the well-being and sur- these negative tendencies make efforts to EJ Exajoules ppm Parts per vival of our growing and interconnected establish global decarbonization pathways Gt Gigatonnes million society hinge on our willingness to confront even more challenging. threats that have global consequences. Key to In the 2021 Outlook, we include an assess- through the year 2030, and maintained in protecting lives and making our communities ment of Covid-19 impacts on economic more resilient to such threats is an emphasis perpetuity after that. While our Paris For- growth, energy and emissions. The Covid-19 ever scenario represents an unprecedented on proactive, science-based decision-making pandemic is projected to have a short-term at all levels of society. global commitment to limit greenhouse gas direct impact on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, it neither stabilizes climate nor For Covid-19, the scientific process has elu- emissions. The longer-term effect will be limits climate change. cidated the importance and benefits of most pronounced if it acts as a catalyst for non-therapeutic measures (e.g. masks, social accelerating the energy transition. Ulti- We therefore consider two additional distancing) to slow transmission and reduce mately, government policies and industrial scenarios that extend from the Paris Agree- mortality rates from the virus. Yet crucial to technological leadership will be needed for ment’s NDCs and align with its long-term reducing the threats, avoiding the risks and aggressive GHG mitigation. goals. Referred to as Paris 2°C and Paris 1.5°C, averting the dangers, is the societal respon- these scenarios aim to limit and stabilize sibility to act upon scientific evidence in a Policy Scenarios and human-induced global climate warming timely manner. We have seen encouraging to 2°C and 1.5°C, respectively, by the end and effective actions with tangible results Risk-Based Analyses of this century. The Paris 1.5°C scenario en- during the pandemic in several nations and As with previous Outlooks, our intent is visions global cooperation that leads to an states. Similarly, timely science-based
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Climate Change and Human Health: Risks and Responses
    Climate change and human health RISKS AND RESPONSES Editors A.J. McMichael The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia D.H. Campbell-Lendrum London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom C.F. Corvalán World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland K.L. Ebi World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe, European Centre for Environment and Health, Rome, Italy A.K. Githeko Kenya Medical Research Institute, Kisumu, Kenya J.D. Scheraga US Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC, USA A. Woodward University of Otago, Wellington, New Zealand WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION GENEVA 2003 WHO Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data Climate change and human health : risks and responses / editors : A. J. McMichael . [et al.] 1.Climate 2.Greenhouse effect 3.Natural disasters 4.Disease transmission 5.Ultraviolet rays—adverse effects 6.Risk assessment I.McMichael, Anthony J. ISBN 92 4 156248 X (NLM classification: WA 30) ©World Health Organization 2003 All rights reserved. Publications of the World Health Organization can be obtained from Marketing and Dis- semination, World Health Organization, 20 Avenue Appia, 1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland (tel: +41 22 791 2476; fax: +41 22 791 4857; email: [email protected]). Requests for permission to reproduce or translate WHO publications—whether for sale or for noncommercial distribution—should be addressed to Publications, at the above address (fax: +41 22 791 4806; email: [email protected]). The designations employed and the presentation of the material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the World Health Organization concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.
    [Show full text]
  • Anthropocene
    Anthropocene The Anthropocene is a proposed geologic epoch that redescribes humanity as a significant or even dominant geophysical force. The concept has had an uneven global history from the 1960s (apparently, it was used by Russian scientists from then onwards). The current definition of the Anthropocene refers to the one proposed by Eugene F. Stoermer in the 1980s and then popularised by Paul Crutzen. At present, stratigraphers are evaluating the proposal, which was submitted to their society in 2008. There is currently no definite proposed start date – suggestions include the beginnings of human agriculture, the conquest of the Americas, the industrial revolution and the nuclear bomb explosions and tests. Debate around the Anthropocene continues to be globally uneven, with discourse primarily taking place in developed countries. Achille Mbembe, for instance, has noted that ‘[t]his kind of rethinking, to be sure, has been under way for some time now. The problem is that we seem to have entirely avoided it in Africa in spite of the existence of a rich archive in this regard’ (2015). Especially in the anglophone sphere, the image of humanity as a geophysical force has made a drastic impact on popular culture, giving rise to a flood of Anthropocene and geology themed art and design exhibitions, music videos, radio shows and written publications. At the same time, the Anthropocene has been identified as a geophysical marker of global inequality due to its connections with imperialism, colonialism and capitalism. The biggest geophysical impact –in terms of greenhouse emissions, biodiversity loss, water use, waste production, toxin/radiation production and land clearance etc – is currently made by the so-called developed world.
    [Show full text]
  • Interactions Between Changing Climate and Biodiversity: Shaping Humanity's Future
    COMMENTARY Interactions between changing climate and biodiversity: Shaping humanity’s future COMMENTARY F. Stuart Chapin IIIa,1 and Sandra Dı´azb,c Scientists have known for more than a century about Harrison et al. (9) note that the climate−diversity potential human impacts on climate (1). In the last 30 y, relationship they document is consistent with a cli- estimates of these impacts have been confirmed and matic tolerance model in which the least drought- refined through increasingly precise climate assess- tolerant species are the first to be lost as climate ments (2). Other global-scale human impacts, including dries. According to this model, drought acts as a filter land use change, overharvesting, air and water pollu- that removes more-mesic–adapted species. Since the tion, and increased disease risk from antibiotic resis- end of the Eocene, about 37 million years ago, Cal- tance, have risen to critical levels, seriously jeopardizing ifornia’s ancient warm-temperate lineages, such as the prospects that future generations can thrive (3–5). redwoods, have retreated into more-mesic habitats, as Earth has entered a stage characterized by human more-drought–adapted lineages like oaks and madrone domination of critical Earth system processes (6–8). spread through California. Perhaps this history of Although the basic trajectories of these changes are declining mesic lineages will repeat itself, if Cal- well known, many of the likely consequences are ifornia’s climate continues to dry over the long term. shrouded in uncertainty because of poorly understood The Harrison study (9) documents several dimen- interactions among these drivers of change and there- sions of diversity that decline with drought.
    [Show full text]
  • The Parallels Between the End-Permian Mass Extinction And
    Drawing Connections: The Parallels Between the End-Permian Mass Extinction and Current Climate Change An undergraduate of East Tennessee State University explains that humans’ current effects on the biosphere are disturbingly similar to the circumstances that caused the worst mass extinction in biologic history. By: Amber Rookstool 6 December 2016 About the Author: Amber Rookstool is an undergraduate student at East Tennessee State University. She is currently an English major and dreams of becoming an author and high school English Teacher. She hopes to publish her first book by the time she is 26 years old. Table of Contents Introduction .................................................................................................................................1 Brief Geologic Timeline ...........................................................................................................2 The Anthropocene ......................................................................................................................3 Biodiversity Crisis ....................................................................................................................3 Habitat Loss .........................................................................................................................3 Invasive Species ..................................................................................................................4 Overexploitation ...................................................................................................................4
    [Show full text]
  • Causes of Sea Level Rise
    FACT SHEET Causes of Sea OUR COASTAL COMMUNITIES AT RISK Level Rise What the Science Tells Us HIGHLIGHTS From the rocky shoreline of Maine to the busy trading port of New Orleans, from Roughly a third of the nation’s population historic Golden Gate Park in San Francisco to the golden sands of Miami Beach, lives in coastal counties. Several million our coasts are an integral part of American life. Where the sea meets land sit some of our most densely populated cities, most popular tourist destinations, bountiful of those live at elevations that could be fisheries, unique natural landscapes, strategic military bases, financial centers, and flooded by rising seas this century, scientific beaches and boardwalks where memories are created. Yet many of these iconic projections show. These cities and towns— places face a growing risk from sea level rise. home to tourist destinations, fisheries, Global sea level is rising—and at an accelerating rate—largely in response to natural landscapes, military bases, financial global warming. The global average rise has been about eight inches since the centers, and beaches and boardwalks— Industrial Revolution. However, many U.S. cities have seen much higher increases in sea level (NOAA 2012a; NOAA 2012b). Portions of the East and Gulf coasts face a growing risk from sea level rise. have faced some of the world’s fastest rates of sea level rise (NOAA 2012b). These trends have contributed to loss of life, billions of dollars in damage to coastal The choices we make today are critical property and infrastructure, massive taxpayer funding for recovery and rebuild- to protecting coastal communities.
    [Show full text]
  • Perspectives on Climate Change and Sustainability
    20 Perspectives on climate change and sustainability Coordinating Lead Authors: Gary W. Yohe (USA), Rodel D. Lasco (Philippines) Lead Authors: Qazi K. Ahmad (Bangladesh), Nigel Arnell (UK), Stewart J. Cohen (Canada), Chris Hope (UK), Anthony C. Janetos (USA), Rosa T. Perez (Philippines) Contributing Authors: Antoinette Brenkert (USA), Virginia Burkett (USA), Kristie L. Ebi (USA), Elizabeth L. Malone (USA), Bettina Menne (WHO Regional Office for Europe/Germany), Anthony Nyong (Nigeria), Ferenc L. Toth (Hungary), Gianna M. Palmer (USA) Review Editors: Robert Kates (USA), Mohamed Salih (Sudan), John Stone (Canada) This chapter should be cited as: Yohe, G.W., R.D. Lasco, Q.K. Ahmad, N.W. Arnell, S.J. Cohen, C. Hope, A.C. Janetos and R.T. Perez, 2007: Perspectives on climate change and sustainability. Climate Change 2007: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group II to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, M.L. Parry, O.F. Canziani, J.P. Palutikof, P.J. van der Linden and C.E. Hanson, Eds., Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 811-841. Perspectives on climate change and sustainable development Chapter 20 Table of Contents .....................................................813 Executive summary 20.7 Implications for regional, sub-regional, local and sectoral development; access ...................814 .............826 20.1 Introduction: setting the context to resources and technology; equity 20.7.1 Millennium Development Goals – 20.2 A synthesis of new knowledge relating
    [Show full text]
  • 2992 JU 1 the Anthropocene, Climate Change, and the End
    Word count: 2,992 J.U. 1 The Anthropocene, Climate Change, and the End of Modernity As the concentration of greenhouse gases has increased in the atmosphere, the world has warmed, biodiversity has decreased, and delicate natural processes have been disrupted. Scientists are now deliberating whether a variety of profound growth related problems have pushed the world into a new geological epoch – the Anthropocene. The shift from the Holocene, a unique climatically stable era during which complex civilizations developed, signals increasingly harsh climatic conditions that may threaten societal stability. Humanity has long impacted the environment. Since the rise of industrial capitalism, the rates of carbon emissions and natural resource usage have increased. The late twentieth century ushered in an era of neoliberalism and economic globalization, during which growth at any cost policies were established and emission rates began to increase exponentially. Today, as the Anthropocene era progresses, humanity continues to reach new levels of control over the environment, though nature increasingly threatens the existence of its manipulator. Over the past two centuries, humanity has possibly thrown the world into the “sixth great extinction,” doubled the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, disrupted the phosphorus cycle upon which food supplies depend, and stressed or exhausted the supplies of countless other natural resources.1 These problems disproportionately affect the world’s poorest, hurting minorities, women, and native populations the most. As the consumption rates of the affluent Global North negatively impact those in disparate parts of the world who have contributed the least to global warming, more reflexive and empathetic connections must form to address past wrongs and create a shared future.
    [Show full text]
  • Climate Change: Evidence & Causes 2020
    Climate Change Evidence & Causes Update 2020 An overview from the Royal Society and the US National Academy of Sciences n summary Foreword CLIMATE CHANGE IS ONE OF THE DEFINING ISSUES OF OUR TIME. It is now more certain than ever, based on many lines of evidence, that humans are changing Earth’s climate. The atmosphere and oceans have warmed, which has been accompanied by sea level rise, a strong decline in Arctic sea ice, and other climate-related changes. The impacts of climate change on people and nature are increasingly apparent. Unprecedented flooding, heat waves, and wildfires have cost billions in damages. Habitats are undergoing rapid shifts in response to changing temperatures and precipitation patterns. The Royal Society and the US National Academy of Sciences, with their similar missions to promote the use of science to benefit society and to inform critical policy debates, produced the original Climate Change: Evidence and Causes in 2014. It was written and reviewed by a UK-US team of leading climate scientists. This new edition, prepared by the same author team, has been updated with the most recent climate data and scientific analyses, all of which reinforce our understanding of human-caused climate change. The evidence is clear. However, due to the nature of science, not every detail is ever totally settled or certain. Nor has every pertinent question yet been answered. Scientific evidence continues to be gathered around the world. Some things have become clearer and new insights have emerged. For example, the period of slower warming during the 2000s and early 2010s has ended with a dramatic jump to warmer temperatures between 2014 and 2015.
    [Show full text]
  • US Global Change Research Program
    U.S. Global Change Research Program The U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) coordinates and integrates federal research on changes in the global environment and their implications for society. Since its inception in 1990, the USGCRP has supported research and observation activities in collaboration with other national and international science programs. These activities have led to major advances in key areas of climate science, which are documented in numerous assessments commissioned by the program. The most recent national assessment, Global Climate Change Impacts in the U.S. (2009), provides a sectoral and regional perspective of anticipated climate change impacts. The USGCRP annual report to Congress, Our Changing Planet, further describes program accomplishments and plans. Historical Focus During the past two decades, the USGCRP has made significant investment and progress towards improving understanding of the Congressional Mandate Earth’s past and present climate; quantifying Global Change Research Act of 1990 the changes in the Earth’s climate systems; (P.L. 101-606) called for “a comprehensive improving projections of future changes; and and integrated United States research understanding climate change impacts and program that will assist the Nation and the vulnerabilities of natural and human systems. world to understand, assess, predict, and respond to human-induced and natural A New Era for Global Change Research processes of global change.” The USGCRP continues to support a variety of research activities to gain more Vision detailed, predictive understanding of A nation, globally engaged and guided by climate change. However, to build on science, meeting the challenges of climate these traditional strengths and to better and global change respond to already-identified impacts and the changing needs of society, the Mission program is currently undergoing a strategic and organizational realignment.
    [Show full text]
  • Global Sea Level Rise Scenarios for the United States National Climate Assessment
    Global Sea Level Rise Scenarios for the United States National Climate Assessment December 6, 2012 PhotoPhPhototo prpprovidedrovovidideedd bbyy thtthehe GrGGreaterreaeateter LaLLafourcheafofoururchche PoPortrt CoComommissionmimissssioion NOAA Technical Report OAR CPO-1 GLOBAL SEA LEVEL RISE SCENARIOS FOR THE UNITED STATES NATIONAL CLIMATE ASSESSMENT Climate Program Office (CPO) Silver Spring, MD Climate Program Office Silver Spring, MD December 2012 UNITED STATES NATIONAL OCEANIC AND Office of Oceanic and DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION Atmospheric Research Dr. Rebecca Blank Dr. Jane Lubchenco Dr. Robert Dietrick Acting Secretary Undersecretary for Oceans and Assistant Administrator Atmospheres NOTICE from NOAA Mention of a commercial company or product does not constitute an endorsement by NOAA/OAR. Use of information from this publication concerning proprietary products or the tests of such products for publicity or advertising purposes is not authorized. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Report Team Authors Adam Parris, Lead, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Peter Bromirski, Scripps Institution of Oceanography Virginia Burkett, United States Geological Survey Dan Cayan, Scripps Institution of Oceanography and United States Geological Survey Mary Culver, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration John Hall, Department of Defense
    [Show full text]
  • Global Change and Sustainability
    FOLE_C18FF.QXD 9/10/08 6:39 PM Page 268 EXERCISE 18 Global Change and Sustainability INTRODUCTION doubters are funded by special interest groups and fossil fuel coalitions that do not want research on, or “The public in the industrialized nations, particularly in evidence of, global change that could impact their the United States, must be made more aware of the economic condition (Gelbspan, 1997). Island nations, pervasive trends in environmental degradation and environmentalists, active geoscientists, environmen- resource depletion, and of the need to modify pat- tal economists, and insurance organizations were terns of life to cope with these trends.” among the first to recognize that global change is —KAULA AND ANDERSON, PLANET EARTH COMMITTEE, occurring. Now many groups are working on adapta- AMERICAN GEOPHYSICAL UNION, 1991 tions to change and on ways to reduce human “The time to consider the policy dimensions of cli- impact globally. mate change is not when the link between green- We should be able to adapt to the limits of our house gases and climate change is conclusively habitat on Earth without overshooting them. Many proven Á but when the possibility cannot be dis- organisms undergo increases and collapses in their counted and is taken seriously by the society of populations but they do not have our technology, which we are part. We in BP have reached that information, and understanding. We have models, point.” examples, and explanations of why societies collapse (Diamond, 2005). We probably will never understand —JOHN BROWNE, GROUP CHIEF EXECUTIVE, how the total Earth system works; however, we need BP AMERICA, 1997 to write the “Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth.” The quotations above capture the concern of many The final activity in this exercise is constructing a geologists who understand Earth history and scenario—your description of the future viewed from change in the Earth system.
    [Show full text]
  • Global Change in the Earth System
    Chapter 19 Global Change in the Earth System Global Change in the Earth System Updated by: Based on slides prepared by: Rick Oches, Professor of Geology & Environmental Sciences Ronald L. Parker, Senior Geologist Bentley University Fronterra Geosciences Waltham, Massachusetts Denver, Colorado Global Change Geology verifies that Earth changes constantly. Why does it change constantly? A plastic asthenosphere permits tectonic plate motion. A star is close enough to warm Earth and its atmosphere. Liquid water is possible; thus, weathering and erosion. Biotic evolution continually modifies the biosphere. Fig. 19.1 Essentials of Geology, 4th edition, by Stephen Marshak © 2013, W. W. Norton Chapter 19: Global Change in the Earth System The Earth System Life on Earth is due to interactions among the: Lithosphere Atmosphere Hydrosphere Biosphere The “Earth System” is composed of these physical components interacting with the biosphere. Essentials of Geology, 4th edition, by Stephen Marshak © 2013, W. W. Norton Chapter 19: Global Change in the Earth System The Earth System The interlinkage of the physical and the biological: Global changes transform or modify both realms. There are many ways to describe changes: Gradual change Catastrophic change Unidirectional change Cyclic change Essentials of Geology, 4th edition, by Stephen Marshak © 2013, W. W. Norton Chapter 19: Global Change in the Earth System Unidirectional Changes Evolution of the solid Earth: Planetesimal accretion Melting and differentiation Formation of the Moon: Mars-sized protoplanet collides Mantle blasted into space Debris coalesced to form the Moon Fig. 19.2 Essentials of Geology, 4th edition, by Stephen Marshak © 2013, W. W. Norton Chapter 19: Global Change in the Earth System Unidirectional Changes Evolution of the atmosphere and oceans: Volcanic gases created an early atmosphere.
    [Show full text]