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Global Warming 101 | National Geographic

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Give your thoughts on the following questions:
How might climate change affect.....
you?
your school community?
Ireland?

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Read the following link and then name the main greenhouse gases in the comments section

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Climate Change: Vital Signs of the Planet

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The Greenhouse Effect

Increasing Greenhouses Gases Are Warming the Planet

Scientists attribute the global warming trend observed since the mid-20 th century to the human expansion of the "greenhouse effect" ¹ - warming that results when the atmosphere traps heat radiating from Earth toward space.

Life on Earth depends on energy coming from the Sun. About half the light energy reaching Earth's atmosphere passes through the air and clouds to the surface, where it is absorbed and radiated in the form of infrared heat. About 90% of this heat is then absorbed by greenhouse gases and re-radiated, slowing heat loss to space.

Gases that Contribute

The Role of Humans

Human Activity Is the Cause of Increased Greenhouse Gas Concentrations

Over the last century, burning of fossil fuels like coal and oil has increased the concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO ₂). This increase happens because the coal or oil burning process combines carbon with oxygen in the air to make CO ₂. To a lesser extent, clearing of land for agriculture, industry, and other human activities has increased concentrations of greenhouse gases.

How do we know what greenhouse gas and temperature levels were in the distant past?

Ice cores are scientists' best source for historical climate data. Other tools for learning about Earth's ancient atmosphere include growth rings in trees, which keep a rough record of each growing season's temperature, moisture and cloudiness going back about 2,000 years. Corals also form growth rings that provide information about temperature and nutrients in the tropical ocean. Other proxies, such as benthic cores, extend our knowledge of past climate back about a billion years.

detailed answer

The industrial activities that our modern civilization depends upon have raised atmospheric carbon dioxide levels by nearly 50% since 1750 ². This increase is due to human activities, because scientists can see a distinctive isotopic fingerprint in the atmosphere.

In its Sixth Assessment Report, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, composed of scientific experts from countries all over the world, concluded thatit is unequivocal that the increase of CO ₂, methane, and nitrous oxide in the atmosphere over the industrial era is the result of human activities and that human influence is the principal driver of many changes observed across the atmosphere, ocean, cryosphere and biosphere.

"Since systematic scientific assessments began in the 1970s, the influence of human activity on the warming of the climate system has evolved from theory to established fact."

- Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

The panel's AR6 Working Group I (WGI) Summary for Policymakers report is online at https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/.

Is the Sun to Blame?

Evidence Shows That Current Global Warming Cannot Be Explained by Solar Irradiance

Scientists use a metric called Total Solar Irradiance (TSI) to measure the changes in energy the Earth receives from the Sun. TSI incorporates the 11-year solar cycle and solar flares/storms from the Sun's surface.

Studies show that solar variability has played a role in past climate changes. For example, a decrease in solar activity coupled with increased volcanic activity helped trigger the Little Ice Age.

The above graph compares global surface temperature changes (red line) and the Sun's energy that Earth receives (yellow line) in watts (units of energy) per square meter since 1880. The lighter/thinner lines show the yearly levels while the heavier/thicker lines show the 11-year average trends. Eleven-year averages are used to reduce the year-to-year natural noise in the data, making the underlying trends more obvious.

The amount of solar energy that Earth receives has followed the Sun's natural 11-year cycle of small ups and downs with no net increase since 1880. Over the same period, global temperature has risen markedly. It is therefore extremely unlikely that the Sun has caused the observed global temperature warming trend over the past half-century. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

But several lines of evidence show that current global warming cannot be explained by changes in energy from the Sun:

Since 1750, the average amount of energy from the Sun either remained constant or decreased slightly³.

If a more active Sun caused the warming, scientists would expect warmer temperatures in all layers of the atmosphere. Instead, they have observed a cooling in the upper atmosphere and a warming at the surface and lower parts of the atmosphere. That's because greenhouse gases are slowing heat loss from the lower atmosphere.

Climate models that include solar irradiance changes can't reproduce the observed temperature trend over the past century or more without including a rise in greenhouse gases.
References
References

1. IPCC 6 th Assessment Report, WG1, Summary for Policy Makers, Sections A, " The Current State of the Climate "

IPCC 6 th Assessment Report, WG1, Technical Summary, Sections TS.1.2, TS.2.1 and TS.3.1

2. P. Friedlingstein, et al., 2022: "Global Carbon Budget 2022", Earth System Science Data ( 11 Nov 2022): 4811-4900. https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-4811-2022

3. IPCC 6 th Assessment Report, WG1, Chapter 2, Section 2.2.1, " Solar and Orbital Forcing"

IPCC 6 th Assessment Report, WG1, Chapter 7, Sections 7.3.4.4, 7.3.5.2, Figure 7.6, " Solar"

M. Lockwood and W.T. Ball, Placing limits on long-term variations in quiet-Sun irradiance and their contribution to total solar irradiance and solar radiative forcing of climate," Proceedings of the Royal Society A, 476, issue 2228 (24 June 2020): https://doi 10.1098/rspa.2020.0077

Header image credit: Pixabay/stevepb

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Vital Signs of the Planet: Global Climate Change and Global Warming. What is the "greenhouse effect"? What is causing it? Are humans to blame? What does solar irradiance have to do with it? Answers here.

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Answer the following:
Who are the EPA?
How can we reduce energy loss in the home?

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Drop in the Ocean Ireland and Climate Change?

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Read below and then make a digital poster with the heading: who is at risk of climate change in Ireland? You can research for your poster using textbook and search engines. Poster must be added to link: https://padlet.com/homanv/z6lhyrbteb4c

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The oceans are growing more acidic, and scientists think the change is happening faster than at any time in geologic history.

That's bad news for most creatures that live in the ocean, many of which are sensitive to subtle changes in acidity of their watery habitat. It's especially problematic for corals, oysters, and other creatures with delicate carbonate shells or skeletons, which are weakened by even very slight changes in the ocean's acid balance-similar to the way acid rain corrodes stone gargoyles and limestone buildings.

The culprit behind the acidification is the extra carbon dioxide humans have caused to collect in the atmosphere by burning fossil fuels, cutting down forests, and other actions.

The oceans have always both absorbed and spit out carbon dioxide, shuttling the carbon back and forth from atmosphere to water. But the exchange occurred slowly, generally over thousands or tens of thousands of years.

Humans have disturbed that slow exchange. Since the start of the Industrial Revolution, in the middle of the 18 th century, humans have added some 400 billion tons of carbon to the atmosphere. That's a byproduct of the vast amounts of fossil fuels we burned for energy, the trees that have been cut down, the cement we've produced, and more.

Most of that carbon, in the gas form of carbon dioxide (CO ₂), stays in the atmosphere, where it traps heat and contributes to planetary warming. But each year, the ocean sucks up about 25 percent of all the extra CO₂ emitted. Over the last few hundred years, about 30 percent of all the extra carbon dioxide humans have added to the atmosphere has percolated down into the oceans.

That's a good thing for the atmosphere. Without that extra carbon dioxide drawdown, the planet would have heated up even more than it already has. But it's bad news for the oceans.

Oceans acidify in the blink of a geologic eye

In the late 1700s, the oceans had equilibrated to be slightly alkaline, with a pH of about 8.1-roughly the same level of acidity as an egg white. (More acidic things fall lower on the pH scale. Perfectly distilled water is about 7 on the pH scale; lemon juice and vinegar measure a mouth-puckering 2 to 3).

The ocean's pH has shifted on geologic time scales. During cold stages in the planet's past, it crept up (became more alkaline) by something like 0.2 pH units, and it crept down (became more acidic) by about the same amount when the planet warmed up. But it took tens of thousands of years for those changes to happen-plenty of time for creatures living in the seas to adjust to the change.

The surface oceans have recorded about 0.1 pH unit drop since the start of the Industrial Revolution-a blink of the eye in geologic or evolutionary time. While 0.1 units might not sound like much change, it's significant: Because the pH scale is logarithmic (like the Richter Scale for earthquakes), that small shift actually means that the water is about 28 percent more acidic than it was before.

The future is not bright

The future holds even more challenges. By 2050, scientists predict that 86 percent of the world's ocean will be warmer and more acidic than anything in modern history. By 2100, the pH of the surface ocean could drop to under 7.8, or more than 150 percent compared to today's already-corrosive state-and potentially even more, in some particularly sensitive parts of the planet, like the Arctic Ocean.

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The oceans are growing more acidic, and scientists think the change is happening faster than at any time in geologic history. That's bad news for most creatures that live in the ocean, many of which are sensitive to subtle changes in acidity of their watery habitat.

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Answer the following:
What's the difference between weather and climate?
Are global warming and climate change the same?
Is there a hole in the ozone layer and does it cause global warming or climate change?

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Ireland experienced one of its driest and warmest summers on record this year, Met Éireann has confirmed.

In a report released this week, the national forecaster said that the 32C recorded at Shannon Airport, Co Clare in late June was the highest temperature recorded at a weather station in Ireland.

Ireland's driest summer on record was also recorded at Cork Airport, with only 109.5mm recorded there for the entire summer. The report also points to above normal temperature and below normal rainfall amounts at the majority of its stations.

Heatwave conditions were recorded at 15 stations on many occasions between the 24 June and 4 July. Absolute drought conditions were also recorded at 21 stations between 22 May and 14 July.

Large blocking high-pressure systems were the dominant feature of the summer, the report states, keeping the North Atlantic jet stream to the north of Ireland.

High pressure to the north stretched from the Azores in Portugal to the Arctic Circle in Sweden, influencing extreme drought and subsequent devastating forest fires in both countries.
Climate link missing
While Met Éireann staff said in an opinion piece in The Irish Times today that the extreme summer weather is "in line" with climate projections, the report itself - widely covered in the media yesterday - fails to mention any link to climate change.

This is despite recent findings from the World Weather Attribution network that anthropogenic (man-made) climate change more than doubled the likelihood of the summer heatwave in Ireland.

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) also found that the summer heatwave was"consistent" with what is expected as "a result of climate change". "This is not a future scenario. It is happening now," said the WMO's Elena Manaenkova in early August.

Speaking at a hearing of the new Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action yesterday, Deputy Marcella Corcoran-Kennedy called on Met Éireann to give climate change information as part of forecasts.

The Offaly native said that she met with Met Éireann and Minister of Climate Action Denis Naughten last year on this issue. Met Éireann's daily forecasts on broadcast media provide an "unrivalled opportunity" to inform people in an easy to follow manner, she said.

"We saw the invaluable service Met Éireann provided during Storm Ophelia, Storm Emma and even during the recent heatwave.

"The next ten to 15 years are critical in creating a sea change on climate action. We must ensure people are informed so they can make the small changes to their daily lives that will make a big difference in our national carbon footprint."

Major kudos to @MarcellaCK for championing idea that @MetEireann should include #climatechange context in its regular weather reporting. I among others have been saying this for years

- John Gibbons (@think_or_swim) September 6, 2018

Environmental journalist John Gibbons, vocal in recent years about the lack of climate coverage from the forecaster, said that he "strongly welcomed" Ms Corcoran-Kennedy's call for Met Éireann to "contextualise climate change" in its broadcasts.

While Met Éireann is a "trusted provider" of weather forecasting services, Mr Gibbons told The Green News that its "reluctance" to engage with climate science is "as regrettable as it is inexplicable".

Mr Gibbons, who also sits on An Taisce's Climate Change Committee, asked why Met Éireann does not speak out as vocally as the WMO about how global warming is "rapidly changing the underlying conditions that influence our weather".

"This is no mystery, nor is it controversial in scientific circles, yet Met Éireann continues to use the line that no single weather event 'proves' climate change as a reason to decline to inform the public of the ever-growing influence climate change is having on our weather," he added.

In the forecaster's opinion piece in The Irish Times this morning, it said that it is working with Irish scientists in a "wide range of projects" on climate modelling and attribution research, including the Met Éireann ReAnalysis (MÉRA) project to study Ireland's past climate.

"I believe that the fast-evolving science of 'climate attribution' of specific weather events would offer Met Éireann the perfect opportunity to 'join the dots' between extreme weather events and the underlying climatic conditions that may be driving these," Mr Gibbons said.

About the Author

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One of driest and warmest summers on record, Met Éireann confirms

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September 6th, 2018 Ireland experienced one of its driest and warmest summers on record this year, Met Éireann has confirmed. In a report released this week, the national forecaster said that the 32C recorded at Shannon Airport, Co Clare in late June was the highest temperature recorded at a w

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Carbon dioxide emissions are killing off coral reefs and kelp forests as heat waves and ocean acidification damage marine ecosystems, scientists have warned.

Writing in Scientific Reports, researchers say that three centuries of industrial development have already had a marked effect on our seas.

But if CO ₂ levels continue to rise as predicted, the coming decades and lowering seawater pH levels will have an even greater and potentially catastrophic impact.

Their predictions follow a comprehensive study of the effects of recently discovered volcanic CO ₂ seeps off Shikine Island, Japan, which is on the border of temperate and tropical climates.

Ocean currents in the area mean there are naturally low levels of surface water CO ₂, similar to those that would have been present before the global Industrial Revolution. However, the volcanic seeps indicate how rising CO ₂ levels will affect future ecology, both in the northwest Pacific Ocean and across the world.

Lead author Dr Sylvain Agostini, Associate Professor at the University of Tsukuba Shimoda Marine Research Centre, said: "These CO ₂ seeps provide a vital window into the future. There was mass mortality of corals in the south of Japan last year, but many people cling to the hope that corals will be able to spread north. Therefore it is extremely worrying to find that tropical corals are so vulnerable to ocean acidification, as this will stop them from being able to spread further north and escape the damage caused by water that is too hot for them."

The research was led by scientists at the University of Tsukuba in Japan, the University of Plymouth in the UK and the University of Palermo in Italy.

It involved teams of SCUBA divers who carried out investigations along underwater CO ₂ gradients created by volcanic seeps, recording how the fauna and flora respond to seawater acidification.

They found that while a few plant species benefitted from the changing conditions, they tended to be smaller weeds and algae that blanket the seabed, choking corals and lowering overall marine diversity.

These species, and some smaller marine animals, are thriving because they are more tolerant to the stress posed by rising levels of CO ₂.

Jason Hall-Spencer, Professor of Marine Biology at the University of Plymouth, said: "Our research site is like a time machine. In areas with pre-Industrial levels of CO ₂ the coast has an impressive amount of calcified organisms such as corals and oysters. But in areas with present-day average levels of surface seawater CO ₂ we found far fewer corals and other calcified life, and so there was less biodiversity. It shows the extensive damage caused by humans due to CO ₂ emissions over the past 300 years and unless we can get a grip on reducing CO ₂ emissions we will undoubtedly see major degradation of coastal systems worldwide."

Professor Kazuo Inaba, former director of the Shimoda Marine Research Centre, added: "Local fishermen are keen to know how ocean acidification will affect their livelihoods. Currents flowing past Japan bring waters that have naturally low levels of CO ₂ and fish benefit from the array of calcified habitats around our islands. If we are able to meet the Paris Agreement targets to limit emissions we should be able to limit further damage to kelp forests, coral reefs and all marine ecosystems."

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marine biology; fish; sea life; nature; oceanography; ecology; coral reefs; global warming

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Ocean acidification is having major impact on marine life: In new research, scientists say cuts in global CO2 emissions are essential to limit further damage to coral reefs and kelp forests

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Carbon dioxide emissions are killing off coral reefs and kelp forests as heat waves and ocean acidification damage marine ecosystems, scientists have warned. Writing in Scientific Reports, researchers say that three centuries of industrial development have already had a marked effect on our seas.

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As the planet warms, species are moving further north to climate zones which are closer in temperature to what they originally evolved in. The oceans have absorbed most of this temperature increase, and so many marine species, including commercially fished scallops, are under particular stress to migrate northwards to cooler waters.

In the face of this disruption, legal boundaries for fishing fleets could become increasingly irrelevant. As the fish stocks they once contained move out, conflict is likely to arise between countries exploiting neighbouring fishing grounds.

As a result, the ongoing " scallop war ", which has seen tense physical confrontations between French and British scallop fishers over access to these prized molluscs, may be a taste of worse to come.

Shellfish behaviour

The habitat ranges and migration patterns of commercial species in the ocean have been carefully studied throughout history, so that fishing fleets can exploit them more efficiently. This understanding has informed the division of fishing grounds according to who has the right to harvest them.

French scallop fishers were incensed over their British counterparts' alleged pillaging of scallop stocks, as smaller British boats aren't bound by a French law that prohibits dredging in the Baie de Seine from October 1 through May 15, to allow scallop populations to recover.

While on the surface it might seem that these skirmishes are anchored to specific circumstances - potentially inflamed by existing tensions around Brexit - they highlight the enormous difficulties in clearly mapping and enforcing legal boundaries around natural habitats that are changing rapidly.

These disputes over resources such as food will become more frequent and intense as climate change alters the habitats and material conditions of life on Earth.

Read more: 'Scallop wars' between Britain and France are just a pre-Brexit skirmish

Fisheries in flux

Managing marine resources like fish has always been tricky. Each species responds differently to changes and pressures in its environment, making it difficult for anyone to predict exactly where they will be, when or how far they will migrate, and how many remain. Climate change has introduced new uncertainty.

The effects of rising temperatures, though variable across species, have already begun to alter the sizes, distribution, and food web interactions of marine organisms. Warming seas have led to an overall northward movement for many species, some at a pace of 2.2 kilometres per year. This includes commercial species such as the Atlantic cod, a trend that is observable among land-based animals as well.

NOAA Fisheries

More carbon dioxide in the atmosphere means more of it dissolves in the ocean, making seawater more acidic. This process, known as ocean acidification, is making it difficult for species such as scallops to grow their tough calcium-carbonate shells, threatening their growth and survival.

On top of all of this, we're taking from the ocean more than it can replenish. Currently over 90% of large commercial fish species such as tuna and cod have already been caught, and over 70% of the world's fisheries range from "significantly depleted" to "fully exploited". Species unable to adapt to this pressure are likely to decline or even disappear.

Building bridges over troubled water

If the scallop wars end soon, climate change will continue to disrupt marine ecosystems and render political boundaries increasingly outdated. We will need to have a radical rethink of who should have rights to what, who is to have the authority in managing important areas and resources, and what constitutes a truly sustainable harvest.

Greater communication and collaboration between fishers, policymakers, researchers and the wider public will become essential for navigating the troubled waters ahead.

Perhaps it is also time to take the interests of other species into consideration in this process, by viewing the natural world and non-human life as more than mere resources or a backdrop to the unfolding human drama.

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Climate change conflicts are here - and 'scallop wars' are just the beginning

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As the planet warms, species are moving further north to climate zones which are closer in temperature to what they originally evolved in. The oceans have absorbed most of this temperature increase, and so many marine species, including commercially fished scallops, are under particular stress to migrate northwards to cooler waters.

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Warming oceans are changing the world's rainfall

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Warming oceans are changing the world's rainfall

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Warming oceans are changing the world's rainfall | John Abraham

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John Abraham: A new study finds that warming in the Atlantic Ocean is changing rain patterns in the Amazon

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How a warming world may have caused Hurricane Florence to stall