What Is the Future of Earth's Climate?

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

What Is the Future of Earth's Climate? What is the Future of Earth’s Climate? Introduction The question of whether the Earth is warming is one of the most intriguing questions that scientists are dealing with today. Climate has a significant influence on all of Earth’s ecosystems today. What will future climates be like? Scientists have begun to examine ice cores dating back over 100 years to study the changes in the concentrations of carbon dioxide gas from carbon emissions to see if a true correlation exists between human impact and increasing temperatures on Earth. CO2 from Carbon Emissions This has led many scientists to ask the question: What will future climates be like? Today, you will interact, ask questions, and analyze data from the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies to generate some predictions about global climate change in the future. Review the data of global climate change on the slide below. Complete the questions on the following slide. This link works! Graphics Courtesy: NASA Goodard Space Institute-- https://data.giss.nasa.gov/gistemp/animations/5year_2y.mp4 Looking at the data... 1. Between what years was the greatest change in overall climate observed? 2. Using what you know, what happened in this time period that may have attributed to these changes in global climate? 3. How might human activities contribute to these changes? What more information would you need to determine how humans may have impacted global climate change? Is there a connection between fossil fuel consumption and global climate change? Temperature Change 1880-2020 CO2 Levels (ppm) from 2006-2018 Examine the graphs above. Record some observations. You will need these observations to answer the prompts on the final slide. Question: Is there a connection between fossil fuel consumption and global climate change? Claim: (A statement that answers the question you investigated) Evidence: (data and observations from your investigation) Reasoning: (I think (insert your claim) answers the question (insert question) because….) .
Recommended publications
  • Solar System Exploration
    Theme: Solar System Exploration Cassini, a robotic spacecraft launched in 1997 by NASA, is close enough now to resolve many rings and moons of its destination planet: Saturn. The spacecraft has now closed to within a single Earth-Sun separation from the ringed giant. In November 2003, Cassini snapped the contrast-enhanced color composite pictured above. Many features of Saturn's rings and cloud-tops now show considerable detail. When arriving at Saturn in July 2004, the Cassini orbiter will begin to circle and study the Saturnian system. Several months later, a probe named Huygens will separate and attempt to land on the surface of Titan. Solar System Exploration MAJOR EVENTS IN FY 2005 Deep Impact will launch in December 2004. The spacecraft will release a small (820 lbs.) Impactor directly into the path of comet Tempel 1 in July 2005. The resulting collision is expected to produce a small impact crater on the surface of the comet's nucleus, enabling scientists to investigate the composition of the comet's interior. Onboard the Cassini orbiter is a 703-pound scientific probe called Huygens that will be released in December 2004, beginning a 22-day coast phase toward Titan, Saturn's largest moon; Huygens will reach Titan's surface in January 2005. ESA 2-1 Theme: Solar System Exploration OVERVIEW The exploration of the solar system is a major component of the President's vision of NASA's future. Our cosmic "neighborhood" will first be scouted by robotic trailblazers pursuing answers to key questions about the diverse environments of the planets, comets, asteroids, and other bodies in our solar system.
    [Show full text]
  • THIS IS a CRISIS FACING up to the AGE of ENVIRONMENTAL BREAKDOWN Initial Report
    Institute for Public Policy Research THIS IS A CRISIS FACING UP TO THE AGE OF ENVIRONMENTAL BREAKDOWN Initial report Laurie Laybourn- Langton, Lesley Rankin and Darren Baxter February 2019 ABOUT IPPR IPPR, the Institute for Public Policy Research, is the UK’s leading progressive think tank. We are an independent charitable organisation with our main offices in London. IPPR North, IPPR’s dedicated think tank for the North of England, operates out of offices in Manchester and Newcastle, and IPPR Scotland, our dedicated think tank for Scotland, is based in Edinburgh. Our purpose is to conduct and promote research into, and the education of the public in, the economic, social and political sciences, science and technology, the voluntary sector and social enterprise, public services, and industry and commerce. IPPR 14 Buckingham Street London WC2N 6DF T: +44 (0)20 7470 6100 E: [email protected] www.ippr.org Registered charity no: 800065 (England and Wales), SC046557 (Scotland) This paper was first published in February 2019. © IPPR 2019 The contents and opinions expressed in this paper are those of the authors only. The progressive policy think tank CONTENTS Summary ..........................................................................................................................4 Introduction ....................................................................................................................7 1. The scale and pace of environmental breakdown ............................................9 Global natural systems are complex
    [Show full text]
  • FOOD, FARMING and the EARTH CHARTER by Dieter T. Hessel in A
    FOOD, FARMING AND THE EARTH CHARTER By Dieter T. Hessel In a rapidly warming world with drastically changing climate, chronic social turmoil, and growing populations at risk from obesity and hunger, it is crucially important to evaluate the quality and quantity of what people are eating or can’t, as well as how and where their food is produced. At stake in this evaluation is the well-being of humans, animals, and eco-systems, or the near future of earth community! Food production and consumption are basic aspects of every society’s way of life, and sustainable living is the ethical focus of the Earth Charter, a global ethic for persons, institutions and governments issued in 2000.1 The Preamble to the Earth Charter’s Preamble warns us that “The dominant patterns of production and consumption are causing environmental devastation, the depletion of resources, and a massive extinction of species. Communities are being undermined. The benefits of development are not shared equitably and the gap between rich and poor is widening,” a reality that is now quite evident in the food and farming sector. Therefore, this brief essay begins to explore what the vision and values articulated in the Charter’s preamble and 16 ethical principles offer as moral guidance for humane and sustainable food systems. The prevailing forms of agriculture are increasingly understood to be problematic. Corporations and governments of the rich, “developed” societies have generated a globalized food system dominated by industrial agriculture or factory farming that exploits land, animals, farmers, workers consumers, and poor communities while it bestows handsome profits on shippers, processors, packagers, and suppliers of “inputs” such as machinery, fuel, pesticides, seeds, feed.
    [Show full text]
  • Who Speaks for the Future of Earth? How Critical Social Science Can Extend the Conversation on the Anthropocene
    http://www.diva-portal.org This is the published version of a paper published in Global Environmental Change. Citation for the original published paper (version of record): Lövbrand, E., Beck, S., Chilvers, J., Forsyth, T., Hedrén, J. et al. (2015) Who speaks for the future of Earth?: how critical social science can extend the conversation on the Anthropocene. Global Environmental Change, 32: 211-218 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2015.03.012 Access to the published version may require subscription. N.B. When citing this work, cite the original published paper. Permanent link to this version: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:oru:diva-43841 Global Environmental Change 32 (2015) 211–218 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Global Environmental Change jo urnal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/gloenvcha Who speaks for the future of Earth? How critical social science can extend the conversation on the Anthropocene a, b c d a e Eva Lo¨vbrand *, Silke Beck , Jason Chilvers , Tim Forsyth , Johan Hedre´n , Mike Hulme , f g Rolf Lidskog , Eleftheria Vasileiadou a Department of Thematic Studies – Environmental Change, Linko¨ping University, 58183 Linko¨ping, Sweden b Department of Environmental Politics, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ, Permoserstraße 15, 04318 Leipzig, Germany c School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich Research Park, Norwich NR4 7TJ, UK d Department of International Development, London School of Economics and Political Science, Houghton Street, London WC2A 2AE, UK e Department of Geography, King’s College London, K4L.07, King’s Building, Strand Campus, London WC2R 2LS, UK f Environmental Sociology Section, O¨rebro University, 701 82 O¨rebro, Sweden g Department of Industrial Engineering & Innovation Sciences, Technische Universiteit Eindhoven, P.O.
    [Show full text]
  • The Challenges of the Anthropocene: from International Environmental Politics to Global Governance
    THE CHALLENGES OF THE ANTHROPOCENE: FROM INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLITICS TO GLOBAL GOVERNANCE MATÍAS FRANCHINI1 EDUARDO VIOLA2 ANA FLÁVIA BARROS-PLATIAU3 Introduction Until the late 1960s, environmental problems were mainly conceived as periphe- ral matters of exclusive domestic competence of states, thus governed by a strict notion of sovereignty (MCCORMICK, 1991). From the early 1970s onwards, however, that perception changed, fueled by the accumulation of scientific evidence on the impact of human activities on the environment and by the emergence and aggravation of problems such as air and water pollution, heat islands and acid rain. As a result, the international community began a progressive - albeit limited - effort to cooperate on environmental issues, gradually incorporating universalist elements that mitigated the initial sovereign rigidity, that is, the notion that there is a common good of humanity - spatial transcendence - and a demand for intergenerational solidarity - temporal transcendence. The initial milestone for this “entry” of the environment into the international relations agenda was the “United Nations Conference on the Human Environment”, held in Stockholm in June 1972 (MCCORMICK, 1991; LE PRESTRE, 2011). Since then, humanity has been able to cooperate in environmental matters through three main tracks. First, the consolidation of scientific organizations that provide detailed information on environmental issues - such as the United Nations Environment Pro- gramme (UNEP), created in 1972, and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), created in 1989. Secondly, the creation of bodies of political dialogue and coordination - such as the “Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer” in 1985; the Climate Change (UNFCCC) and Biodiversity Convention (CBD) signed in 1992 and the United Nations 1.
    [Show full text]
  • Earth and Beyond in Tumultous Times: a Critical Atlas of the Anthropocene
    Gál, Löffler (Eds.) Earth and Beyond in Tumultous Times EARTH BEYOND GÁL LÖFFLER Earth and Beyond in Tumultuous Times Future Ecologies Series Edited by Petra Löffler, Claudia Mareis and Florian Sprenger Earth and Beyond in Tumultuous Times: A Critical Atlas of the Anthropocene edited by Réka Patrícia Gál and Petra Löffler Bibliographical Information of the German National Library The German National Library lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie (German National Bibliography); detailed bibliographic information is available online at http://dnb.d-nb.de. Published in 2021 by meson press, Lüneburg, Germany www.meson.press Design concept: Torsten Köchlin, Silke Krieg Cover image: Mashup of photos by Edgar Chaparro on Unsplash and johndal on Flickr Copy editing: Selena Class The print edition of this book is printed by Lightning Source, Milton Keynes, United Kingdom. ISBN (Print): 978-3-95796-189-1 ISBN (PDF): 978-3-95796-190-7 ISBN (EPUB): 978-3-95796-191-4 DOI: 10.14619/1891 The digital editions of this publication can be downloaded freely at: www.meson.press. This Publication is licensed under the CC-BY-SA 4.0 International. To view a copy of this license, visit: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/. Contents Series Foreword: Future Ecologies 9 Caucho 13 Mátyás Sirokai [ 1 ] Introduction 15 Réka Patrícia Gál and Petra Löffler Plant-time 45 Kornélia Deres [ 2 ] Memory Regimes and the Anthropocene: Tracing Causes and Responsibilities under Flood Risk Scenarios in Ancash, Peru 47 Tomás J. Usón Archipalego 73
    [Show full text]
  • Schwägerl, Christian
    How to cite: Schwägerl, Christian. “Neurogeology: The Anthropocene’s Inspirational Power” In: “Anthropocene: Exploring the Future of the Age of Humans,” edited by Helmuth Trischler, RCC Perspectives 2013, no. 3, 29–37. All issues of RCC Perspectives are available online. To view past issues, and to learn more about the Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society, please visit www.rachelcarsoncenter.de. Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society Leopoldstrasse 11a, 80802 Munich, GERMANY ISSN 2190-8087 © Copyright is held by the contributing authors. Anthropocene 29 Christian Schwägerl Neurogeology: The Anthropocene’s Inspirational Power The Anthropocene concept captures the realization that humanity is interfering, inter- acting, and communicating with the Earth’s long-term systems with increasing inten- sity. What happens to Earth could be called anthropoization. This is a new phase for the planet and a new experience for us as a species. In the Pleistocene, when modern humans evolved, they were hunters and gatherers exposed mainly passively to the pow- ers of the Earth. In the Holocene, when humans started farming, building cities, mining, and fishing, they exploited a natural treasure trove that had built up over 4.5 billion years without considering the effects of their actions. The Holocene was the stage for a human rebellion against natural limits. It was a successful rebellion. Now, in the dawning Anthropocene, it looks as if the future Earth will be dominated by human action (unless, as Paul Crutzen has stated in his seminal article “Geology of Mankind” in Nature magazine, “there is a global catastrophe—a meteorite impact, a world war, or a pandemic”).
    [Show full text]
  • Anthropocene Envisioning the Future of the Age of Humans
    Perspectives Anthropocene Envisioning the Future of the Age of Humans Edited by HELMUTH TRISCHLER 2013 / 3 RCC Perspectives Anthropocene Envisioning the Future of the Age of Humans Edited by Helmuth Trischler 2013 / 3 Anthropocene 3 Contents 5 Introduction Helmuth Trischler 9 Assuming Responsibility for the Anthropocene: Challenges and Opportunities in Education Reinhold Leinfelder 29 Neurogeology: The Anthropocene’s Inspirational Power Christian Schwägerl 39 The Enjoyment of Complexity: A New Political Anthropology for the Anthropocene? Jens Kersten 57 Cur(at)ing the Planet—How to Exhibit the Anthropocene and Why Nina Möllers 67 Anthropocenic Poetics: Ethics and Aesthetics in a New Geological Age Sabine Wilke Anthropocene 5 Helmuth Trischler Introduction Who could have predicted that the concept of the Anthropocene would gain academic currency in such a short period of time? And who would have foreseen that only a dozen years after the term “Anthropocene” was popularized by biologist Eugene F. Sto- ermer and Nobel Prize-winning atmospheric chemist Paul J. Crutzen, a public campaign launched by the Berlin-based House of World Cultures (Haus der Kulturen der Welt) would literally paper Germany’s capital with giant posters featuring the Anthropocene? These posters—as well as an Anthropocene trailer shown in numerous Berlin movie theaters—feature such puzzling questions as “Is the Anthropocene beautiful?” “Is the Anthropocene just?” and “Is the Anthropocene human?” The campaign’s initiators hardly expected to find easy answers to these questions. On the contrary: The ques- tions were deliberately framed as broadly as possible. They aimed at stimulating cu- riosity about a term that today is still largely unknown to the public.
    [Show full text]
  • 20 Reasons Why Geoengineering May Be a Bad Idea Carbon Dioxide Emissions Are Rising So
    Vol. 64, No. 2, p. 14-18, 59 DOI: 10.2968/064002006 20 reasons why geoengineering may be a bad idea Carbon dioxide emissions are rising so fast that some scientists are seriously considering putting Earth on life support as a last resort. But is this cure worse than the disease? BY AlAN roBoCk he stated objective of the aerosols into the stratosphere as a means trigger algal blooms; genetic modifica- 1992T U.N. Framework Convention on Cli- to block sunlight and cool Earth. Another tion of crops to increase biotic carbon mate Change is to stabilize greenhouse respected climate scientist, Tom Wigley, uptake; carbon capture and storage tech- gas concentrations in the atmosphere “at followed up with a feasibility study in Sci- niques such as those proposed to outfit a level that would prevent dangerous an- ence that advocated the same approach in coal plants; and planting forests are such thropogenic interference with the climate combination with emissions reduction.1 examples. Other schemes involve block- system.” Though the framework conven- The idea of geoengineering traces its ing or reflecting incoming solar radia- tion did not define “dangerous,” that level genesis to military strategy during the tion, for example by spraying seawater is now generally considered to be about early years of the Cold War, when sci- hundreds of meters into the air to seed 450 parts per million (ppm) of carbon di- entists in the United States and the So- the formation of stratocumulus clouds oxide in the atmosphere; the current con- viet Union devoted considerable funds over the subtropical ocean.3 centration is about 385 ppm, up from 280 and research efforts to controlling the Two strategies to reduce incom- ppm before the Industrial Revolution.
    [Show full text]
  • The Earth Observer
    National Aeronautics and Space Administration The Earth Observer. March - April 2008. Volume 20, Issue 2. Editor’s Corner Michael King EOS Senior Project Scientist I’m happy to report that The Earth Observer is beginning its 20th year as a NASA publication. The first issue was released in March 1989, and from the beginning, it has been dedicated to keeping our readers abreast of the latest developments in the Earth Observing System (EOS) program. I have been pleased to serve as EOS Senior Project Scientist since September 1992, and thus have been around for most of The Earth Observer’s 20-year history. It has been my privilege to work with a wide variety of talented individuals over the years who have made contributions to the publication as authors, designers, editors, etc. The names are too many to list, but I would particularly like to recognize the members of the current EOS Project Science Office who are involved. Alan Ward (Executive Editor) and Charlotte Griner (former Executive Editor) thoroughly review the content of every issue and are constantly on the lookout for interesting articles for future issues. Tim Suttles, and Chris Chris- sotimos also serve as Technical Editors and review each issue. Debbi McLean does the layout of the newsletter and handles the production of each issue. Cindy Trapp and Leon Middleton help with the distribution of each issue. Steve Graham maintains a database that keeps track of over 6000 subscribers. PDFs of every issue from 1995 to the present are posted on the EOS Project Science Office website that Maura Tokay maintains—eospso.
    [Show full text]
  • Earth's Energy Imbalance and Implications
    Earth's Energy Imbalance and Implications James Hansen, Makiko Sato, Pushker Kharecha NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, New York, NY 10025, USA Columbia University Earth Institute, New York, NY 10027, USA Karina von Schuckmann Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, LOCEAN Paris, hosted by Ifremer, Brest, France Abstract. Improving observations of ocean heat content show that Earth is absorbing more energy from the sun than it is radiating to space as heat, even during the recent solar minimum. The inferred planetary energy imbalance, 0.59 ± 0.15 W/m2 during the 6-year period 2005-2010, confirms the dominant role of the human-made greenhouse effect in driving global climate change. Observed surface temperature change and ocean heat gain together constrain the net climate forcing and ocean mixing rates. We conclude that most climate models mix heat too efficiently into the deep ocean and as a result underestimate the negative forcing by human-made aerosols. Aerosol climate forcing today is inferred to be 1.6 ± 0.3 W/m2, implying substantial aerosol indirect climate forcing via cloud changes. Continued failure to quantify the specific origins of this large forcing is untenable, as knowledge of changing aerosol effects is needed to understand future climate change. We conclude that recent slowdown of ocean heat uptake was caused by a delayed rebound effect from Mount Pinatubo aerosols and a deep prolonged solar minimum. Observed sea level rise during the Argo float era is readily accounted for by ice melt and ocean thermal expansion, but the ascendency of ice melt leads us to anticipate acceleration of the rate of sea level rise this decade.
    [Show full text]
  • Title: the Anthropocene Is Functionally and Stratigraphically Distinct from the Holocene Authors: Colin N
    Submitted Manuscript: Title: The Anthropocene is functionally and stratigraphically distinct from the Holocene Authors: Colin N. Waters,1* Jan Zalasiewicz,2 Colin Summerhayes,3 Anthony D. Barnosky,4 Clément Poirier,5 Agnieszka Gałuszka,6 Alejandro Cearreta, 7 Matt Edgeworth, 8 Erle C. Ellis, 9 Michael Ellis, 1 Catherine Jeandel, 10 Reinhold Leinfelder, 11 J.R. McNeill, 12 Daniel deB. Richter, 13 Will Steffen, 14 James Syvitski, 15 Davor Vidas, 16 Michael Wagreich, 17 Mark Williams, 2 An Zhisheng, 18 Jacques Grinevald, 19 Eric Odada, 20, Naomi Oreskes, 21 and Alexander P. Wolfe, 22. Affiliations: 1British Geological Survey, Keyworth, Nottingham NG12 5GG, UK. 2Department of Geology, University of Leicester, University Road, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK. 3Scott Polar Research Institute, Cambridge University, Lensfield Road, Cambridge CB2 1ER, UK. 4Dept. of Integrative Biology, Museum of Paleontology, Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA. 5Morphodynamique Continentale et Côtière, Université de Caen Basse Normandie, CNRS; 24 rue des Tilleuls, F-14000 Caen, France. 6Geochemistry and the Environment Division, Institute of Chemistry, Jan Kochanowski University, 15G Świętokrzyska St, 25-406 Kielce, Poland. 7Departamento de Estratigrafía y Paleontología, Facultad de Ciencia y Tecnología, Universidad del País Vasco UPV/EHU, Apartado 644, 48080 Bilbao, Spain. 8School of Archaeology and Ancient History, University of Leicester, University Road, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK. 9Department of Geography and Environmental Systems, University of Maryland Baltimore County, Baltimore MD 21250, USA. 10LEGOS (CNRS/CNES/IRD/Université Paul Sabatier), 14 avenue Edouard Belin, 31400 Toulouse, France. 11Department of Geological Sciences, Freie Universität Berlin, Malteserstr. 74‐100/D, 12249 Berlin, Germany. 12Georgetown University, Washington DC, USA.
    [Show full text]