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24. How does tree ring growth or lack of growth support or refute climate changes in the last 100 years?

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24. How does tree ring growth or lack of growth support or refute climate changes in the last 100 years?

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Because trees are sensitive to local climate conditions, such as rain and temperature, they give scientists some information about that area's local climate in the past. For example, tree rings usually grow wider in warm, wet years and they are thinner in years when it is cold and dry.

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23. Droughts and forest fires are on the rise all around the world. lf there's no water for the plants to drink and survive, how can they effectively remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere?

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23. Droughts and forest fires are on the rise all around the world. lf there's no water for the plants to drink and survive, how can they effectively remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere?

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They can't, they'll die.

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pedphoto36pm/iStock/GettyImages

Plants use energy from light to convert water and carbon dioxide into sugar and oxygen in a process called photosynthesis. Chlorophyll, the green pigment in leaves, absorbs sunlight and uses the energy to convert six molecules of carbon dioxide and six molecules of water into one molecule of sugar and six molecules of oxygen. Plants use the sugar to grow and release the oxygen back into the atmosphere. They also help regulate the amount of carbon dioxide, which is one of the most important greenhouse gases, in the atmosphere.

Plant leaves have small openings, called stomata, all over their surfaces. The stomata open to absorb the carbon dioxide needed to perform photosynthesis. They also open to release the oxygen produced by this process. Plant roots and leaves absorb water, which reacts with carbon dioxide using energy from light as the catalyst. Plant leaves are also able to absorb and release water through the stomata.

Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas. It traps heat in the atmosphere, causing the greenhouse effect that contributes to global warming. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. greenhouse gas emissions have been steadily increasing; in 2010, U.S. emissions totaled more than 6 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent. Carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere when fossil fuels such as natural gas, coal and fuel oil are burned for energy production. Planting trees and other vegetation can help reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

Every year, the earth's forests are able to absorb one-third of the carbon dioxide emitted by burning fossil fuels. Forests act as carbon "sinks" and reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the air significantly. A study by the United States Forest Service found that tropical forests absorb more carbon than forests in temperate or boreal regions. However, tropical forests are disappearing as developing countries replace them with commercial centers and pasture for livestock grazing.

One of the harmful side effects of deforestation is an increase in atmospheric carbon. Deforestation increases atmospheric carbon dioxide in two ways. Machines that cut and process logs emit carbon dioxide, and cut trees that remain on the forest floor decompose, which releases more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. The United Nations, through its Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Changes and UN-REDD -- Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation -- program, works to discourage deforestation in developing countries. The REDD+ program provides financial incentives for developing countries to reduce deforestation by assigning financial value to forests' carbon-storage capabilities.

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How Is Carbon Dioxide Absorbed During Photosynthesis?

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pedphoto36pm/iStock/GettyImages Plants use energy from light to convert water and carbon dioxide into sugar and oxygen in a process called photosynthesis. Chlorophyll, the green pigment in leaves, absorbs sunlight and uses the energy to convert six molecules of carbon dioxide and six molecules of water into one molecule of sugar and six molecules of oxygen.

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22. Carbon dioxide has been associated with the warming of Earth. You have learned in Biologyclass that carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is taken out of the air by plants and trees throughphotosynthesis and replaced with breathable oxygen.     a. Does this statement support global warming deniers? Explain.                         b. Does this statement support climate science research? Explain.                          c. Does your answer change when you consider deforestation and increased demand for paper and housing?

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22. Carbon dioxide has been associated with the warming of Earth. You have learned in Biologyclass that carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is taken out of the air by plants and trees throughphotosynthesis and replaced with breathable oxygen.     a. Does this statement support global warming deniers? Explain.                         b. Does this statement support climate science research? Explain.                          c. Does your answer change when you consider deforestation and increased demand for paper and housing?

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a. No. Although carbon is taken out of the air by plants, human activity is not necessary. It's just an unnecessary contribution.
b. This does. It proves that people need to take global warming seriously.
c. Yes, it does.

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21. How would you characterize the weather patterns of the United States in the last decade from 2008 - 2018? 

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21. How would you characterize the weather patterns of the United States in the last decade from 2008 - 2018? 

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The weather patterns in the US is severe.

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Natural disasters are happening since the beginning of Earth. Even earth itself is a result of some natural catastrophic event. But if we look in the history the natural disasters in last ten years or twenty years, the major responsible factors are the human beings themselves. We may term them as man made disasters as well. We are responsible for global warming, that results into the damaging of ozone layer, melting of glaciers, unusual environment changes and extreme weather conditions. We are damaging our own environment. Here we have discussed different types of natural disasters of 21st Century that happened till now. We listed top 10 natural disasters of 21st century. It is ordered in the pattern with most number of Casualties on top.

10 Deadliest Natural Disasters of 21st Century

2010 Haiti Earthquake

Haiti, the Caribbean Country faced an earthquake of magnitude 7.3 M W on 12 th of January 2010 at 16:53 local time (21:53 UTC). The Epicenter was about 25 Kilometers from west of Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti.

Haiti earthquake is listed among worst natural disasters in the last 10 years. In this deadliest earthquake 220,000 casualties were approximated and more than 300,000 were injured. More than 3 million people become homeless in this natural disaster.

2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami

Possibly one of the deadliest Earthquake of magnitude 9 M W followed by a deadliest Tsunami resulted on 26 December in Indian Ocean near Indonesia at 00:53 UTC. Earthquake ejected approximately energy equal to 23,000 atom bombs as fired on Hiroshima. Epicenter was under the ocean in earth and it violently shakes the ocean that resulted into destructive waves that were up to meters high. On first day more than 150,000 people were killed and millions were missing in this environmental disaster.

2005 Kashmir Earthquake

Kashmir, administrated by Pakistan struck a magnitude 7.6 M W on 8 th of October 2005 at 08:52 local time (03:52 UTC). The center was somewhere near Muzaffarabad, Capital of Pakistan Administrated Kashmir. It also affected Islamabad, the Capital of Pakistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Indian Administrated Kashmir. As per government of Pakistan's Figures 100,000 people died and more than 70,000 injured and more than 4 million people become homeless. This is considered to be the deadliest natural disasters ever happened in the region.

2003 European Heat Wave

European heat wave is one of the horrible natural disasters happened in the world. In 2003 hottest summer result a heat wave in Europe that was the deadliest in last 500 years' time. France was affected the most. Death toll was more than 70,000 in Europe including France, Portugal, Germany, Netherland, Spain and Italy. Usually these countries don't have a hot summer but during the heat wave average temperature was over 45⁰C.

2001 Gujarat Earthquake:

26 th January 2001, on India's 52 nd Republican day a 7.7 Magnitude earthquake strike Gujarat at 08:46 local time (03:16 UTC). The epicenter was near a village in the district of Gujarat. Earth quake also affected some areas of Bangladesh and approximately 20,000 people were killed in the natural disaster. Nearly 167,000 were injured and more than 400,000 homes and buildings were collapsed.

2011 Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami:

Tohoku, Japan hit a Magnitude 9.0 earthquake on 11 th of March 2011 at 14:46 Local time (05:46 UTC). Epicenter was at 70 kilometers east of Tohoku coast and underwater depth was approximately 30Km. Earthquake was followed by the Tsunami that causes waves of height up to 40 meters. According to Japan's National Police Agency 15,889 deaths were confirmed. Nearly 6,152 people were injured and more than 2,600 were missing. Millions of buildings were completely collapsed.

2005 Hurricane Katrina:

In August 2005, United States of America faced one of the deadliest hurricanes in a last hundred years' time. On average it was a category 4 storm. It hit the state Florida and some of the most damaged cities were Mississippi, New Orleans, Biloxi and Gulfport. Approximately 1833 people were died in the Hurricane further followed by floods. This natural disaster causes more than 100 billion USD Property damage.

2008 Afghanistan Blizzard

A record breaking Blizzard hit Afghanistan in February 2008. It reduced the temperature up to -30⁰C. Death toll was about 1000 according to government figures but it mainly disturbed the animals. More than 315,000 cattle, 100,000 sheep and goat died in this deadliest disaster. Lack of transportation and poor health conditions in the affected areas forced the people to walk barefoot in the freezing temperature.

2011 East Africa Drought

East Africa was affected by a severe drought during July 2011 to June 2012. Somalia, Kenya, Djibouti and Ethiopia were the main victims. Lives of more than 9 million people were threatened. A large number of people migrated from Somalia to Kenya and Ethiopia which become overcrowded. That caused a lot of issues like unsanitary conditions and malnutrition problems as well and further followed to thousands of deaths. Food crisis spread even up to Sudan and Uganda.

2000 Mozambique Flood

Heavy rainfall during February and March 2000 result into a flood in Mozambique that made thousands of people homeless. More than 800 people were died in the disaster and about 20,000 herds of cattle were lost. It was the deadliest natural disaster in the country in last 50 years. It started in South Africa but major damage was in Mozambique. Government spent more than 15 million USD for citizens but even now in 2015 many of them are still living in recovery shelters.

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10 Deadliest natural Disasters of 21st Century

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Natural disasters are happening since the beginning of Earth. Even earth itself is a result of some natural catastrophic event. But if we look in the history the natural disasters in last ten years or twenty years, the major responsible factors are the human beings themselves.

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20. How do El Nino weather patterns influence climate? 

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20. How do El Nino weather patterns influence climate? 

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El Niño is the periodic warming of water in the Pacific Ocean every few years. When it occurs, it means more energy is available for storms to form there. El Niño also affects wind shear, which is when air currents at a lower altitude blow in a different direction from winds higher in the atmosphere.

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This year's hurricane season is winding down. And as meteorologists predicted, there was above average activity in the eastern and central Pacific and less than usual in the Atlantic. The reason, also as predicted: a strong El Niño.

El Niño may have also contributed to October 2015 being the warmest on record, at 0.98°C (1.76°F) above the 20th century average for the month.

Now we'll begin to see the weather phenomenon's influence on winter storms and rainfall. But that doesn't mean drought-stricken California can celebrate just yet.

El Niño is the periodic warming of water in the Pacific Ocean every few years. When it occurs, it means more energy is available for storms to form there. El Niño also affects wind shear, which is when air currents at a lower altitude blow in a different direction from winds higher in the atmosphere. Strong wind shear makes it harder for hurricanes to form.

El Niño weakens shear in the Pacific and strengthens it in the Atlantic, which explains this year's hurricane season. The Pacific saw a record season, with 24 tropical storms and 15 hurricanes. This year saw the strongest hurricane ever measured (in terms of sustained windspeed), Patricia, with winds of 200 mph (325 km/h). That October storm killed 12 and caused damage as far as Mexico to Texas.

But in the Atlantic, there have been 11 tropical storms and 4 hurricanes so far, with only two major hurricanes. That's below the 30-year average of 12 named storms, six hurricanes, and three major hurricanes.

Effects on Temperature

El Niño can also affect temperature. The warming water tends to boost global air temperatures by at least 0.1°C, meteorologist Jeff Masters writes for the Weather Underground.

"This extra bump in temperature, when combined with the long-term warming of the planet due to human-caused emissions of heat-trapping gases like carbon dioxide, makes it virtually certain that 2015 will be Earth's second consecutive warmest year on record," Masters writes.

El Niño's effects are likely to persist into 2016, pushing temperatures higher and affecting wind patterns, notes Masters.

Does this mean the Western U.S. is over its drought woes? Not so fast, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration warns in its recent winter outlook.

California is expected to see unusually warm temperatures this winter, which means much of the precipitation it normally gets as snow will fall as rain. So instead of replenishing the denuded mountain snowpack, much of that water will runoff the landscape to the sea, where it will no longer be convenient for people to use.

Dry conditions are also predicted for the northern Rockies, Great Plains, and Great Lakes, while the South is expected to be cool and wet.

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This year's hurricane season is winding down. And as meteorologists predicted, there was above average activity in the eastern and central Pacific and less than usual in the Atlantic. The reason, also as predicted: a strong El Niño.

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19. How can cloud coverage both complicate the heating of Earth and also help alleviate the heating of Earth?

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19. How can cloud coverage both complicate the heating of Earth and also help alleviate the heating of Earth?

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The sun's rays are reflected off the cloud droplets back into space. Therefore, less of the sun's energy is able to reach the earth's surface, which causes the earth to heat up more slowly. This leads to cooler temperatures.

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Effects of Cloud Cover: on forecasted temperatures

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However, if skies are cloudy, some of the sun's rays are reflected off the cloud droplets back into space. Therefore, less of the sun's energy is able to reach the earth's surface, which causes the earth to heat up more slowly. This leads to cooler temperatures.

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18. How does carbon dioxide trap infrared radiation on Earth?

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18. How does carbon dioxide trap infrared radiation on Earth?

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The energy from the photon causes the CO2 molecule to vibrate. Shortly thereafter, the molecule gives up this extra energy by emitting another infrared photon. Once the extra energy has been removed by the emitted photon, the carbon dioxide stops vibrating.

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Molecules of carbon dioxide (CO₂) can absorb energy from infrared (IR) radiation. This animation shows a molecule of CO ₂ absorbing an incoming infrared photon (yellow arrows). The energy from the photon causes the CO ₂ molecule to vibrate. Some time later, the molecule gives up this extra energy by emitting another infrared photon. Once the extra energy has been removed by the emitted photon, the carbon dioxide molecule stops vibrating.

This animation is somewhat of a simplification. Molecules are constantly in motion, colliding with other gas molecules and transferring energy from one molecule to another during collisions. In the more-complex, real-world process, a CO ₂ molecule would most likely bump into several other gas molecules before re-emitting the infrared photon. The CO ₂ molecule might transfer the energy it gained from the absorbed photon to another molecule, adding speed to that molecule's motion. Since the temperature of a gas is a measure of the speed of the molecules in the gas, the faster motion of a molecule that eventually results from the IR photon that was absorbed by a CO ₂ molecule raises the temperature of the gases in the atmosphere.

Do all gas molecules absorb and re-emit infrared energy?

This ability to absorb and re-emit infrared energy is what makes CO ₂ an effective heat-trapping greenhouse gas. Not all gas molecules are able to absorb IR radiation. For example, nitrogen (N ₂) and oxygen (O ₂), which make up more than 90% of Earth's atmosphere, do not absorb infrared photons. CO ₂ molecules can vibrate in ways that simpler nitrogen and oxygen molecules cannot, which allows CO ₂ molecules to capture the IR photons.

Greenhouse gases and the greenhouse effect play an important role in Earth's climate. Without greenhouse gases, our planet would be a frozen ball of ice. In recent years, however, excess emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases from human activities (mostly burning fossil fuels) have begun to warm Earth's climate at a problematic rate. Other significant greenhouse gases include water vapor (H ₂O), methane (CH ₄), nitrous oxide (N ₂O) and ozone (O ₃).

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Carbon Dioxide Absorbs and Re-emits Infrared Radiation

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Molecules of carbon dioxide (CO2) can absorb energy from infrared (IR) radiation. This animation shows a molecule of CO 2 absorbing an incoming infrared photon (yellow arrows). The energy from the photon causes the CO 2 molecule to vibrate. Some time later, the molecule gives up this extra energy by emitting another infrared photon.

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17. Why is there less heat escaping into space?

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17. Why is there less heat escaping into space?

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In space, heat can only exist where the heat waves are traveling. This is one reason why there is a huge temperature difference between Sun and shadow in space.

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Does heat travel differently in space than on Earth?

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Radiation is the primary way that heat travels in space. That means that heat is not spread out through the medium it travels through as on Earth. On Earth on a sunny day, the heat radiating from the Sun warms the molecules of the atmosphere, and they warm other molecules and they warm others in turn.

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16.What are sea surface temperatures (SST)? Think of Goldilocks and the Three Bears...are SSTs too hot, too cold, or are they just right? Explain. 

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16.What are sea surface temperatures (SST)? Think of Goldilocks and the Three Bears...are SSTs too hot, too cold, or are they just right? Explain. 

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The average temperature of the ocean surface waters is about 17 degrees Celsius (62.6 degrees Fahrenheit

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Temperature of Ocean Water - Windows to the Universe

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15. What is ocean acidification? How has this influenced our oceans over the last 100 years?

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15. What is ocean acidification? How has this influenced our oceans over the last 100 years?

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when carbon dioxide gas (or CO₂) is absorbed by the ocean and reacts with seawater to produce acid.

Over the past 300 million years, ocean pH has been slightly basic, averaging about 8.2. Today, it is around 8.1, a drop of 0.1 pH units, representing a 25-percent increase in acidity over the past two centuries

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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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14. If the glaciers melt, where does most of that liquid (freshwater) go? (ls ocean water drinkable? Can ocean water be used to irrigate crops for 7 billion Earthlings?)

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14. If the glaciers melt, where does most of that liquid (freshwater) go? (ls ocean water drinkable? Can ocean water be used to irrigate crops for 7 billion Earthlings?)

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Only about 0.3 percent of our fresh water is found in the surface water of lakes, rivers, and swamps. Ocean water is not drinkable because of the salt.

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national oceanic and atmospheric administration

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Drinking seawater can be deadly to humans

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13. How have sea levels fluctuated over the last several thousand years? ls this driven by natural circumstances or is this caused by human influence. ln your opinion, why?

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13. How have sea levels fluctuated over the last several thousand years? ls this driven by natural circumstances or is this caused by human influence. ln your opinion, why?

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Between 1900 and 1990 studies show that sea level rose between 1.2 millimeters and 1.7 millimeters per year on average. By 2000, that rate had increased to about 3.2 millimeters per year and the rate in 2016 is estimated at 3.4 millimeters per year. Sea level is expected to rise even more quickly by the end of the century. This is driven by human activity because sea levels started rising after we started burning coal, etc.,,

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12. Ice Cores and What They Tell Us About Earth's Climate

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12. Ice Cores and What They Tell Us About Earth's Climate

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Ice cores contain microscopic dust particles and minute amounts of chemicals. These were present as tiny droplets or particles in the atmosphere, became incorporated into snowflakes or deposited onto the ice through dry deposition, and were then buried in the snow. These dust particles and chemicals provide important clues into past atmospheric chemistry. One example weʼve seen is that atmospheric dust changes dramatically between glacial periods ("ice ages") and warmer interglacial periods (such as today).

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Ice cores: archives of past climate | Bess Koffman, Punctuated Equilibrium blog

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Bess Koffman: How do ice cores provide glimpses into past climate?

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11. Human Influenced Carbon Dioxide Emissions

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11. Human Influenced Carbon Dioxide Emissions

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Carbon isotopes correlates well with fossil fuel emissions.

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10. How does an increasing consumption of demand for fish in a human's diet relate to carbon emissions?

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10. How does an increasing consumption of demand for fish in a human's diet relate to carbon emissions?

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Warming waters is changing the behaviors and habitats of the fish.

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Warming streams, rivers, and lakes from climate change are taking a toll on recreational fishing.

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9. How does an increasing consumption of demand for meat in a human's diet relate to carbon emissions?

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9. How does an increasing consumption of demand for meat in a human's diet relate to carbon emissions?

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Meat based food is land and resource-intensive to produce and emit many greenhouse gases.

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Follow @bobbymagill
Shifting diets away from meat could slash in half per capita greenhouse gas emissions related to eating habits worldwide and ward off additional deforestation - a major contributor to climate change, according to scientific findings published this week.

The consequences of land use change stemming from expanding agricultural production were the focus of a paper published Wednesday by the World Resources Institute. It showed that reducing heavy red meat consumption - primarily beef and lamb - would lead to a per capita food and land use-related greenhouse gas emissions reduction of between 15 and 35 percent by 2050. Going vegetarian could reduce those per capita emissions by half.
Livestock production is a major source of greenhouse gas emissions.
Credit: RELATED Halving Meat, Dairy Intake Would Slash Farm Emissions
Healthy Diet May Reduce Gas; Greenhouse Gas, That Is
Farming Now Worse For Climate Than Deforestation The yellow and orange bars on the graph illustrate the greenhouse gas emissions differences involved in different types of food production and related land use changes.
Credit: World Resources Institute Peter Hellberg/flickr
A second paper, published Tuesday in Nature Communications, analyzed about 500 different food consumption and production scenarios worldwide and found that nearly 300 of them could feed the global population without cutting down more forests. The biggest contributing factor to food-related deforestation is eating meat, the study says.

"Both (papers) highlight that dietary changes are very, very important - one for climate change impacts through greenhouse gas emissions, and the other purely through agricultural expansion," said Oxford University Future of Food Program researcher Marco Springmann, who is unaffiliated with the studies.

At the heart of the challenge is population growth and what it means for both agriculture and climate over the next 35 years.

The world population is expected to grow from 7.1 billion people to 10 billion people by 2050, and about a third of them will be joining the middle class, which generally consumes more calories as incomes increase. Many of those additional calories come from meat-based foods, many of which are land and resource-intensive to produce and emit many greenhouse gases.

The WRI paper says that both the environment and the climate will benefit if people adopt a lower-calorie diet low in meat consumption, especially beef. Though beef demand has dropped 27 percent in the U.S. over the last 40 years, global beef demand is expected to spike 95 percent by 2050 compared to 2006 levels, especially in countries such as India and China where beef consumption is currently low.

Beef is highly inefficient to produce because only 1 percent of the feed cattle consume is converted to calories that people consume from eating beef, according to the research. Poultry convert 11 percent of their feed to human-edible calories.

Such poor efficiency means "beef uses more land and freshwater and generates more greenhouse gas emissions per unit of protein than any other commonly consumed food," the paper says.

"The single most important thing is to eat less beef," Timothy Searchinger, a Princeton University research scholar and co-author of the WRI report, said. "That is the overwhelming factor."

In the average American's diet, greenhouse gas emissions resulting from the food they eat is about the same as the emissions resulting from the energy they use, he said.
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Animal-based foods in the American diet accounted for about 85 percent of food-related greenhouse gas emissions in 2009 and about 90 percent of all agricultural land use, according to the study.

Reducing global beef consumption is critical to keeping global warming to within 2°C (3.6°F) as outlined in the Paris climate agreement, the study says.

Springmann said the WRI paper assumes that any additional food consumption anywhere results in a land use change, which is an "extreme" assumption to make. He said that even new beef production in some areas, such as Europe, would not necessarily result in a change in land use.

But such an extreme assumption could be valuable because few other scientists studying the environmental impact of food production factor land use changes into their emissions calculations, he said.

The second paper, in Nature, written by researchers at the Institute for Social Ecology in Vienna, suggested that the world can be fed without causing more deforestation mainly by reducing meat consumption.

"There is an implicit assumption among many forces that we have to encroach into the tropical forests, and we have to use more land to feed the people," said study co-author Karlheinz Erb, associate professor of land use and global change at the Institute of Social Ecology at Alpen-Adria University in Vienna. "Here, we show that this argument is not valid. There are many options where we don't have to encroach on forests."

Going vegetarian is the best dietary change benefitting the forest and climate, the study says.

"A vegan or vegetarian diet is associated with only half the cropland demand, grazing intensity and overall biomass harvest of comparable meat-based human diets," the study says, cautioning that its conclusions do not consider whether significantly reducing meat consumption is politically practical or desirable.

Springmann said the Alpen-Adria study is "a good piece of work," but it does not quantify greenhouse gas emissions reductions resulting from less deforestation due to dietary shifts away from meat.

He said that even if the amount of farmland needed to feed a growing global population remains the same, changes in the way cropland is used could result in additional greenhouse gas emissions. If grazing land is converted to cropland, for example, emissions changes could result from the change in soil nutrients.

Both studies are valuable because they tie what people eat to their impact on the environment and climate, Springmann said.

"Both studies provide additional bricks of the puzzle," he said.

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Studies Show Link Between Red Meat and Climate Change

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Shifting diets away from meat could slash greenhouse gas emissions and curb deforestation worldwide.

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8. Does the gasoline that most cars need to operate and function contribute to the Earth's greenhouse effect?

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8. Does the gasoline that most cars need to operate and function contribute to the Earth's greenhouse effect?

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Oil-related emissions may rise in the coming years as the oil industry extracts and refines “unconventional” oils, such as tar sands and tight oil. Using less oil—and avoiding unnecessary emission from the oil we do use—is the real solution

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We Need Your Support
to Make Change Happen

We can protect consumers, the climate, and our environment from the growing costs and risks of our oil use -but not without you. Your generous support helps develop science-based solutions for a healthy, safe, and sustainable future.

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We can protect consumers, the climate, and our environment from the growing costs and risks of our oil use -but not without you. Your generous support helps develop science-based solutions for a healthy, safe, and sustainable future.

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7. In 50 years would we be fleeing our area or accepting environmental refugees into our areas? Explain.

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7. In 50 years would we be fleeing our area or accepting environmental refugees into our areas? Explain.

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We will be fleeing our area because almost everywhere in the world will be warmer by 2100

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Introduction: Looking Ahead

Predicting the climate of the future, its impacts on us, and what we can do about it.

Credit: Sarah Craig, Flickr

Isle de Jean Charles, Louisiana, is one of the first places in the United States where sea level rise is (at least partly) causing people to relocate. This island had already been shrinking because of erosion and a lack of new sediment due to diversions upriver.

The Future of Climate Change

Climate change is already happening. It's changing the oceans, weather, ice, and living systems in countless ways. What will the planet be like in 50 or 100 years? To answer these questions, scientists have developed climate models-computer programs that simulate Earth's climate and the systems that affect it. Climate models tell us which of many possible future outcomes is most likely.

The biggest question mark in climate models is the human factor. How will we change our behavior? How much will we change our use of fossil fuels, and the resulting emissions of heat-trapping carbon dioxide?

A Computer Model of the Whole Planet

If we can't precisely predict the weather three weeks from now, how can we predict the climate decades in the future? The answer is that climate models don't need to be as precise about timing and location. A weather forecast asks, for example: Will it rain in downtown Oakland on November 10? A climate model asks: How much it will rain in Northern California over the next ten winters? Climate models can make longer-term predictions because they're much less specific about timing.

A climate model subdivides the Earth's atmosphere around it into thousands of boxes in a 3-D grid. For each box, such as this one of air over the ocean, the model starts with the current conditions-the temperature, humidity, wind, and so on. Then it calculates all of the ongoing processes-increasing sunlight, rising air pressure, etc. Each of these is represented with a very complex equation. The model calculates the conditions in each box over time, and how it's influenced by all the neighboring boxes. Source: California Institute of Technology

Big Climate Math

With so many changing ocean and atmospheric factors, climate models are extremely complex. A supercomputer running a climate model needs to make trillions of calculations just to simulate a single day of the climate. Yet climate models are surprisingly good at predicting how the climate will change over the course of 10, 20, or 50 years. They can also answer questions, such as what will happen if we emit more or less CO ₂ into the atmosphere.

Climate models require immense computing power, such as that of the Summit supercomputer at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory. It can perform up to 200,000 trillion calculations per second. Source: Oak Ridge National Laboratory

More Links About Looking Ahead

Educational Global Climate Modeling: Run a global climate model on your computer. This site walks you through how to download and try a research-grade global climate model that with a user-friendly interface.

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC): Comprehensive assessments of scientific, technical, and socioeconomic dimensions of climate change; established by the World Meteorological Organization and the UN Environment Programme

Climate Time Machine: This series of visualizations shows how Earth's key climate indicators are changing over time.

Dataset How Much Warmer?

Dataset 1
How Much Warmer?

One of the clearest predictions from climate change modeling is warmer temperatures. Almost everywhere in the world will be warmer by 2100, and we'll see more extreme heat. The amount of warming we'll get depends mainly on the amount of fossil fuels we burn.

The black line on this graph shows the average of a set of temperature simulations for the 20th century. The colored lines show projected temperatures for the 21st century based on three emissions scenarios. Shaded areas around each colored line indicate the range of likely outcomes based on running the climate model many times. See the full interactive graph at climate.gov. Source: NOAA's Climate.gov

Choosing Our Future

In predicting the climate of the future, the biggest unknown is what humans will do. How will we change our use of fossil fuels-and thus our CO ₂ emissions? The answer involves individual and collective decisions at local, national, and international levels.

To understand the consequences of the paths we might take, scientists use climate models. They input different amounts of future CO ₂ emissions to see how they affect the climate.

RCP stands for representative concentration pathway, meaning a pathway that assumes a certain concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The number in each scenario name indicates how much heat would be added to the atmosphere. Source: Based on data from the 2013 IPCC report

How Would That Feel in Sacramento?

Here's what high emissions, the RCP 8.5 scenario, would mean for Sacramento, California's state capitol. The average high temperature for the whole year, including winter, would be ten degrees warmer, rising from about 74ºF (in the 1960s through 1980s) to about 83ºF by 2100.

Not only that, there would be about 10 times as many extreme heat days (heat in the 89th percentile)-about 40 days per year in 2100, compared with only four days in the 1980s. There would also be about six heat waves per year, instead of one, and these heat waves would last longer. (A heat wave here means four days in a row of 104ºF or higher.)

Observed temperatures are shown until 2005, followed by data from four climate models for 2006 through 2099. The gray band shows the possible variability in the modeled future. Source: Based on graph from Cal Adapt, the California Energy Commission

Dataset Rain and Snow

Climate change models predict that some parts of the world will get more rain and snow than the historical average, while others will get less. Different climate models give slightly different projections, yet there's one thing nearly all the models predict: intense rainstorms will get even more intense, wreaking havoc through flooding and erosion.

How much will rain and snow increase or decrease in the future? This animation shows climate model predictions of rain and snow for different parts of the world, from 2006 through 2100. Blue colors mean more rain or snow than average (based on 1971-2000), tan to orange mean less. Source: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio

Wetter in India, Drier in the Mediterranean

A few regions are predicted to get more rain or snow. In the United States, the Northeast will likely get wetter, as will Alaska. The Pacific Ocean near the equator will be much wetter, as will India and areas near the North and South Poles, such as Canada, Russia, and northern China.

The Mediterranean Sea region will get much drier-including Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece, Turkey, and North Africa's coast. Southern Africa-South Africa, Namibia, and Botswana-will be much drier, as will southwestern Australia.

The outlook is not so clear for the rest of the globe-different climate models give different results.

When It Pours, It Will Really Pour!

One thing all the climate models agree on: big rainstorms will be get even bigger, dumping lots more rain. In the United States, this is most likely in the Northeast and the upper Midwest. This could increase the chances of river flooding, especially along the coast where sea level is also rising. Weather records show that extreme rains are already beginning to increase.

Predictions of how much more often extreme rainfall or snowfall events will happen at the end of this century (2081 to 2100) under the high carbon dioxide emissions scenario (RCP 8.5). The darkest color in the continental United States means these events would happen five times as often as they did at the end of the 20th century. Source: Based on NOAA National Climate Data Center image

Flooding of the Souris River in Minot, North Dakota, inundated more than 4,000 homes in June 2011. Source: U.S. Air Force

California's Future: Snow Turns to Rain

Climate models don't always give a clear picture of the future, and precipitation in California is a good example. Some models say the state will get more, some say less, and others say it will stay the same.

What's more certain: snowpacks in the Sierra Nevada mountains will all but disappear, as warming temperatures cause precipitation to more often fall as rain instead of snow.

That's bad news for California's water supply. The state relies on mountain snowbanks that melt throughout the summer, yielding steady flows of water to fill the reservoirs. Without snow, managing water will be much trickier.

California's snowpack will shrink by two-thirds by 2050, according to the climate models, as more precipitation falls as rain instead of snow. This animation shows 10-year averages of the April snowpack from the 1950s through the 2090s, according to a high CO ₂ emissions scenario. Source: Cal Adapt, California Energy Commission

Dataset Sea Level Rise

Dataset 3
Sea Level Rise

Climate change is already causing sea levels to rise. And climate models predict this will continue, and may even accelerate in the future if carbon emissions increase. Sea level rise will threaten low-lying islands, towns, and cities around the world with catastrophic flooding. Those in the most vulnerable spots are already planning to relocate. In large metropolitan areas, like the Bay Area, governments are planning ways to cope with the threats to infrastructure, such as highways, railways, and sewage treatment plants.

In this map of future sea level rise in the Bay Area, blue areas are projected to be flooded-that is, below sea level-by the year 2100, assuming a high carbon dioxide emissions scenario, and assuming we don't build or raise any barriers. Green areas would also be below sea level, but are currently protected by ridges, levees, or other barriers. Click the image to zoom in or explore how other places will be affected. Source: Climate Central

How Does Climate Change Cause Sea Level Rise?

It's a combination of two factors:

1. Rising temperatures melt glaciers and ice caps, sending more and more water into the ocean.

2. Warmer ocean water takes up more space. Just like the liquid in a thermometer, water expands as it gets warmer. Each drop of ocean water expands just a bit, but when you combine all the drops in the ocean, it's enough to raise sea levels.

Austria's Pasterze Glacier is retreating about 33 feet (10 meters) a year, and has lost half its volume since 1851. Source: H. Raab

How High Will It Get?

If we continue on our current path-getting most of our energy from burning fossil fuels-sea levels are projected to rise an additional 0.7 meters (2.5 feet) on average by 2100, though it could rise by as much as 1 meter (3 feet). That's according to climate model predictions from the IPCC in 2014-some later studies suggest that we should double those numbers.

The longer we delay the transition toward renewable energy sources, the more likely this outcome will be. If we switch to renewables sooner, sea levels could rise less.

Sea level has been rising since the mid-1800s, when people started burning fossil fuels, such as coal. It began rising faster around the 1990s. The pink line shows future rise projected for the high emissions scenario-our current path; the pink area is the range of uncertainty. The blue line and light blue area represent a very low emissions scenario. Sea level rise at 2100 is different from what's listed in the text above because this graph is compared to the early 19th century instead of the late 20th century. Source: Based on 2013 IPCC graph

Frequent Flooding to Come

A few feet of sea level rise might sound manageable, especially if you don't live right along the shoreline. But the levees, sea walls, and other barriers that protect coastal cities are only designed for ordinary high tides and storm waves. With sea level rise, catastrophic flooding that used to happen once in a decade or once in a century could be a regular occurrence.

Who's at Risk?

More than 100 million people worldwide may be exposed to inundation by 2100, according to climate research. The most vulnerable communities often don't have the financial resources to cope with this flooding.

Some South Pacific island nations, such as Kiribati, are already giving up the battle against sea level rise. Kiribati President Anote Tong said in 2008 that the country had reached "the point of no return." He added, "the emissions in the atmosphere will carry on contributing to climate change, to produce a sea level change so in time our small, low-lying islands will be submerged."

On Tarawa Island in Kiribati, a wall temporarily protects a small house from the sea. In 2014, the Kiribati government purchased land in Fiji, and is actively urging citizens to abandon their low-lying island nation.

Urban Infrastructure

It's not only coastal homes that are threatened. Highways, railways, airports, and sewage treatment plants are often built directly along shorelines, especially in the Bay Area. And they're protected by relatively low, poorly maintained levees.

On this map of Hayward, at the east end of the San Mateo Bridge, blue shows land that would be flooded by four feet of water level rise. Threatened areas include Highway 92 leading to the Bridge, as well as a sewage treatment plant at the shore just north of the area shown. Source: Bay Conservation and Development Comission (BCDC)

More Sites About Sea Level Rise

Dataset Extreme Weather

Dataset 4
Extreme Weather

If carbon emissions continue to grow quickly, the weather is predicted to change dramatically, with most weather events becoming more extreme. Stronger hurricanes, longer droughts, more and wetter thunderstorms, and more catastrophic flooding are all among the results from climate models.

Soil moisture levels from 1950 through 2095, based on climate model results for a high carbon dioxide emissions scenario (RCP 8.5). Brown means less moisture than average, blue means more. The Southwest is projected to get much longer and more severe droughts than at any time in recent memory. Source: NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio

Heat Makes Drought Worse

We think of drought as a lack of rainfall. But the warmer temperatures projected by climate models could cause drought simply by drying out the soil through evaporation.

The map above shows how much dryer the soil is expected to be. Mexico and the "four corners" states-Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico-are projected to get both less water and higher temperatures-the perfect recipe for epic drought.

Different Catastrophes for Different Areas

Just as the weather's a bit different wherever you go, the projections of extreme weather vary all around the world. For example, the Southwest can expect more intense and frequent droughts, Florida can expect more catastrophic flooding, and over the Atlantic Ocean, hurricanes are expected to be more intense, bringing much more rain.

Climate models predict that by the year 2080, the risk of flooding will increase in the pink areas, and decrease in the green areas. In the darkest pink areas, such as Southeast Asia, a catastrophic flood that used to happen once in 100 years will happen every 15 years. Source: Based on IPCC image

Warmer Waters Feed the Hurricane Machine

The hurricanes that batter the eastern United States and Caribbean begin far away, in the tropics of the Atlantic Ocean. As climate change warms the oceans, more water will evaporate into the atmosphere, adding power to newborn tropical storms.

More than 20,000 homes were flooded in Port Arthur, Texas, by Hurricane Harvey. In total, the storm caused more than $125 billion in damage, mostly in the Houston area, tying it with Katrina for the costliest tropical storm in history. Source: U.S. Army National Guard

Heat-Related Deaths

As extreme heat events increase, it's very likely that we'll see more heat related illness and deaths from conditions like heat exhaustion, and aggravated heart or lung illnesses, especially among the elderly and the very young

More Links About Extreme Weather:

Dataset Solutions and Adaptations

Dataset 5
Solutions and Adaptations

Climate change is a complex, global problem, so figuring out what to do about it can seem confusing.

The most important factor in any effort to fight climate change: reducing the burning of fossil fuels, which emits carbon dioxide. Read on for examples of initiatives that are already starting to do just that.

And since climate change is already in progress, we can't stop it altogether. So communities around the world are planning ways to adapt to changes like sea level rise, warmer temperatures, and more extreme weather.

Members of the 2017 Walk and Bike Youth Leaders Program visited California's state capital to learn how to advocate for state policies that promote safer streets and better public transportation in their communities. This initiative of the California Bicycle Coalition aims to improve infrastructure so that more Californians can bike or walk instead of driving. Source: California Bicycle Coalition

Where Do We Burn the Most Fossil Fuels?

To reduce fossil fuel use, it's helpful to know where we burn them. Fossil fuels-coal, natural gas, and petroleum-based fuels like gasoline-are incredibly rich sources of energy, so we've come to rely on them to power almost everything we do. Here's which sectors burn the most fossil fuels.

Homes and offices use the most fossil fuels, mainly via electricity-the fuel itself is burned at a power plant. Tied for second are transportation-cars, planes, trains, trucks, ships, and buses-and industries, such as factories and processing plants. Source: U.S. EPA

Buying Cleaner Electricity

Many people wish they could get their electricity from renewable energy sources, such as wind, solar, or hydroelectric power. But for now, most local utility companies don't sell it.

In a growing number of cities and counties, citizens are working together to create Community Choice Aggregation, where the city or county buys power directly from renewable sources, and has it transmitted to homes and businesses by the utility company. In 2018, Community Choice was legal in seven states: California, Ohio, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island, but others were exploring it.

At a 2018 community meeting in Rye, New York, two advocates from Sustainable Westchester describe how the town could join the county's community choice aggregation program, which was already bringing renewable energy to 110,000 residents at prices only slightly higher than fossil fuel power. Source: Rye Sustainability Committee

Electrifying Transit Systems

The grassroots organization Southern Oregon Climate Action Now works towards regional solutions for climate change. Its transportation group promoted a test of zero-emission electric buses. The goal is for local transit authorities to shift from diesel buses to all-electric. Because such transitions are expensive, they require active public support.

A zero-emissions electric bus prepares to leave for its test-run from Medford, Oregon, to the town of Grants Pass. Southern Oregon Climate Action Now members rode the bus to build support for the future transition to electric buses. Source: Southern Oregon Climate Action Now

Envisioning a Resilient Future

As sea levels rise, shoreline communities will be forced to adapt to new realities. The Resilient by Design Bay Area Challenge brings together community members with governments, funders, designers, and others, to design innovative solutions to sea level rise. With extensive community input, designers developed solutions that would work for the residents of the affected neighborhoods.

A vision of San Francisco Bay shoreline in the future, by ouR-HOME design team, which would turn investments in sea level rise adaptations into economic opportunities, building health, wealth, and home ownership for residents of North Richmond. It blends green infrastructure with affordable housing planning. Source: Resilient by Design | Bay Area Challenge

The Exploratorium's Fisher Bay Observatory Gallery 6 hosted several public presentations and discussions from the Resilient by Design | Bay Area Challenge. Source: Exploratorium

Making a Plan

Some states and cities already have climate action plans-concrete guidelines and tasks to reduce their use of fossil fuels and adapt to future climate change. The Center for Climate and Energy Solutions has a list of states that already have such a plan in place.

More About Solutions and Adaptation

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Predicting the climate of the future, its impacts on us, and what we can do about it. Climate change is already happening. It's changing the oceans, weather, ice, and living systems in countless ways. What will the planet be like in 50 or 100 years?

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6. What's an environmental refugee? What places will people flee from? Where will they go?

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6. What's an environmental refugee? What places will people flee from? Where will they go?

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An environmental refugee is someone who flees from where they live due to change in climate. People will flee from places with a lot of natural disasters. They'll most likely go somewhere where the weather isn't terrible.

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5. Are increasing levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere safe for human existence?

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5. Are increasing levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere safe for human existence?

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It's not safe because the carbon dioxide levels will continue to rise and it can get to the point where the atmosphere will not return to pre-industrial levels.

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4. Compare global population numbers to rising carbon dioxide levels. Are they related? Explain

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4. Compare global population numbers to rising carbon dioxide levels. Are they related? Explain

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There are about 7 b people and carbon dioxide levels are at 400 m. Dioxide levels have gotten higher lately. These numbers are related because the more people the higher the levels.

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Climate Change: Vital Signs of the Planet

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Graphic: The relentless rise of carbon dioxide – Climate Change: Vital Signs of the Planet

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The relentless rise of carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere.

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3. Where is the fastest warming of Earth's atmosphere occuring?

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3. Where is the fastest warming of Earth's atmosphere occuring?

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The equator

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Why is the equator very hot and the poles very cold?

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The major factor is that while the sun is overhead at the equator, it is at a rather slant angle at the poles. This effect can be demonstrated using a torch, which can be taken as the sun. See Figure 1. What really counts is the amount of sunshine that falls on a given area.

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2. Why are some people skeptical of global warming?

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2. Why are some people skeptical of global warming?

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Because some people don't believe in science due to their religion or simply because they just don't believe.

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1. Why do people believe global warming is occuring on Earth?

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1. Why do people believe global warming is occuring on Earth?

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People believe global warming is occurring because of the drastic change in weather.