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By: Sariah Lobo

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By: Sariah Lobo

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By: Sariah Lobo

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What is Climate? How is it different from Weather?

You may be aware of the current weather conditions. The variations we see and experience outside from day to day are referred to as weather. One day it may rain, and the next it may be bright. It becomes chilly at times. It may get rather heated at times. The weather varies from location to area as well. In one location, people may be wearing shorts and playing outside. People far away may be shovelling snow at the same moment. Climate refers to a location's typical weather. Seasonal climates can be rather diverse. In the summer, a location may be generally warm and dry. In the winter, the same location may be cold and damp. Climates differ depending on where you are. It's possible that you live somewhere where it snows all of the time. And other people live in climates where swimming is always possible outside.

What is Climate Change?

Earth's climate has constantly been changing - even long before humans came into the picture. However, scientists have observed unusual changes recently. For example, Earth's average temperature has been increasing much more quickly than they would expect over the past 150 years. Climate change is defined as a long-term shift in the average circumstances of a region, such as temperature and rainfall. The Earth's surface is warming, according to NASA scientists, and several of the warmest years on record have occurred in the last 20 years. The average long-term changes throughout the entire Earth are referred to as global climate change. Warming temperatures and variations in precipitation are examples, as are the impacts of global warming, such as:

Rising sea levels

Shrinking mountain glaciers

Ice melting at a faster rate than usual in Greenland, Antarctica and the Arctic

Changes in flower and plant blooming times.

Evidence

How do we know climate change is real?

The climate of the Earth has shifted over time. There have been seven cycles of glacial advance and retreat in the last 650,000 years, with the abrupt end of the last ice age marking the start of the current climatic era - and of human civilization. The majority of these climatic shifts are due to minute changes in Earth's orbit that alter the quantity of solar energy received by our planet.

Scientific evidence for warming of the climate system is unequivocal.

The current warming trend is noteworthy because the majority of it is highly likely (more than 95 percent likelihood) to be the consequence of human activities since the mid-twentieth century, and it is occurring at an unprecedented rate spanning millennia. Scientists have been able to view the big picture because to Earth-orbiting satellites and other technical developments, which have allowed them to collect a wide range of data on our planet and its climate on a global scale. The indications of a changing climate are shown in this corpus of data, which has been gathered over many years. Carbon dioxide and other gases' ability to trap heat was shown in the mid-nineteenth century. Many NASA sensors are based on their capacity to influence the passage of infrared light through the atmosphere. There is no doubt that rising quantities of greenhouse gases will cause the Earth to warm. Greenland, Antarctica, and tropical mountain glaciers have all provided ice cores that show how the Earth's climate responds to changes in greenhouse gas levels. Tree rings, ocean sediments, coral reefs, and layers of sedimentary rocks all contain ancient evidence. The current pace of warming is about 10 times higher than the typical rate of ice-age recovery, according to this old, or paleoclimate, evidence. After the last Ice Age, carbon dioxide from human activities increased more than 250 times faster than it did from natural sources.

Causes

The causes of Climate Change

The "greenhouse effect"- warming that occurs when the atmosphere traps heat emanating from Earth toward space - has been expanding due to human growth since the mid-twentieth century, according to scientists. The presence of some gases in the atmosphere prevents heat from escaping. Long-lived gases that remain in the atmosphere semi-permanently and do not respond physically or chemically to temperature changes are referred to as "forcing" climate change. "Feedbacks" are gases, such as water vapour, that react physically or chemically to temperature changes.

Gases that contribute to the greenhouse effect include:

Water vapor

It is the most prevalent greenhouse gas, but it also serves as a climatic feedback. As the Earth's atmosphere warms, water vapour levels rise, but so do the chances of clouds and precipitation, making these two feedback processes crucial to the greenhouse effect.

Carbon dioxide (CO2)

Carbon dioxide, a tiny but essential component of the atmosphere, is emitted by natural processes such as respiration and volcano eruptions, as well as by human activity such as deforestation, land use changes, and fossil fuel combustion. Since the start of the Industrial Revolution, humans have raised CO 2 levels in the atmosphere by 48%. The most important long-term "forcing" of climate change is this.

Methane

A hydrocarbon gas generated by both natural and human sources, such as waste decomposition in landfills, agriculture, and particularly rice cultivation, as well as ruminant digestion and manure management in domestic cattle. Methane is a considerably more active greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide molecule for molecule, but it is also far less prevalent in the atmosphere.

Nitrous oxide

Soil cultivation techniques, particularly the use of commercial and organic fertilisers, fossil fuel combustion, nitric acid generation, and biomass burning, all create a significant amount of this potent greenhouse gas.

Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)

Synthetic chemicals completely of industrial origin utilised in a variety of purposes, but now mainly controlled in manufacture and release to the atmosphere due to their ability to contribute to ozone layer depletion by international agreement. In addition, they are greenhouse gases.

Human actions on Earth are altering the natural greenhouse. The combustion of fossil fuels such as coal and oil has raised the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere during the last century (CO 2). This occurs because the combustion of coal or oil produces CO 2 by combining carbon in the air with oxygen. The clearing of land for agriculture, industry, and other human activities has raised greenhouse gas concentrations to a lesser amount.

Global Greenhouse gas emissions by each economic sector

Effects

The effects of climate change

The environment has already been affected by global climate change. Glaciers have decreased, ice on rivers and lakes has broken up earlier, plant and animal ranges have moved, and trees have begun to bloom earlier. Sea ice loss, increased sea level rise, and longer, more severe heat waves are all effects that experts anticipated would occur as a result of global climate change in the past.

Taken as a whole, the range of published evidence indicates that the net damage costs of climate change are likely to be significant and to increase over time.

Scientists are confident that global temperatures will continue to increase for decades to come, owing in major part to greenhouse gas emissions caused by human activity. Over 1,300 experts from the United States and other nations make up the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which predicts a temperature rise of 2.5 to 10 degrees Fahrenheit over the next century.

The amount of climate change effects on specific regions will vary over time and with the ability of various societal and environmental systems to prevent or adapt to change, according to the IPCC.

Increases in global mean temperature of less than 1.8 to 5.4 degrees Fahrenheit (1 to 3 degrees Celsius) over 1990 levels, according to the IPCC, will have good effects in certain places and negative effects in others. As global temperatures rise, net yearly expenses will rise as well.

"The breadth of available data indicates that the net damage costs of climate change are expected to be considerable and to grow over time," the IPCC adds.

Future Effects

Some of the long-term effects of global climate change in the United States are as follows, according to the Third and Fourth National Climate Assessment Reports:

Change Will Continue Through This Century and Beyond

Global climate is projected to continue to change over this century and beyond. The magnitude of climate change beyond the next few decades depends primarily on the amount of heat-trapping gases emitted globally, and how sensitive the Earth's climate is to those emissions.

Temperatures Will Continue to Rise

The temperature rise has not been, and will not be, uniform or smooth across the country or over time, because human-induced warming is overlaid atop a naturally variable environment.

Frost-free Season (and Growing Season) will Lengthen

The length of the frost-free season (and the corresponding growing season) has been increasing nationally since the 1980s, with the largest increases occurring in the western United States, affecting ecosystems and agriculture. Across the United States, the growing season is projected to continue to lengthen.

Changes in Precipitation Patterns

Since 1900, average precipitation in the United States has grown, although certain places have had higher increases than the national average, while others have seen declines. Over the next century, the northern United States will receive more winter and spring precipitation, while the Southwest will receive less.

More Droughts and Heat Waves

Droughts in the Southwest and heat waves (periods of extremely hot weather lasting days to weeks) are expected to worsen, while cold waves are expected to become less severe. Summer temperatures are expected to continue to rise, and much of the western and central United States will experience a loss in soil moisture, which will intensify heat waves. What were once-in-a-decade severe heat days (one-day occurrences) are expected to occur every two or three years over much of the country by the end of this century.

Hurricanes Will Become Stronger and More Intense

Since the early 1980s, the strength, frequency, and length of storms in the North Atlantic, as well as the frequency of the strongest (Category 4 and 5) hurricanes, have all increased. Human and natural sources' respective contributions to these increases are yet unknown. As the climate continues to warm, hurricane-related storm strength and rainfall rates are expected to rise.

Sea Level Will Rise 1-8 feet by 2100

Since accurate record keeping began in 1880, the global sea level has increased by roughly 8 inches. By 2100, it is expected to rise another 1 to 8 feet. This is due to the addition of water from melting land ice and the expansion of warm saltwater. Storm surges and high tides might combine with sea level rise and ground subsidence in the next decades to exacerbate floods in many areas. Because the seas take a long time to adapt to warmer temperatures at the Earth's surface, sea level rise will continue into 2100. As a result, ocean waters will continue to warm and sea levels will rise at rates comparable to or greater than those of the present century for many centuries.

Sea Level Will Rise 1-8 feet by 2100

Before mid-century, the Arctic Ocean is anticipated to be ice-free in the summer.

Solutions

Ways to solve Climate Change

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You may be aware of the current weather conditions. The variations we see and experience outside from day to day are referred to as weather. One day it may rain, and the next it may be bright. It becomes chilly at times. It may get rather heated at times.

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By: Sariah Lobo

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By: Sariah Lobo

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By: Sariah Lobo

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How can learning and ideas build through interactions with others

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By: Sariah Lobo

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By: Sariah Lobo

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By: Sariah Lobo

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By: Mehak Soni, Sariah Lobo, Husein Hakim

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How can data be used to predict the future impact of climate change?

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How can data be used to predict the future impact of climate change?

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By: Sariah Lobo

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By: Sariah Lobo

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How can I build on prior learning to connect to new ideas?

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How can I build on prior learning to connect to new ideas?

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By: Sariah Lobo

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How can accessing multiple perspectives provide new direction for action

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How can accessing multiple perspectives provide new direction for action

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How can data be used to predict future impact of climate change

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How can data be used to predict future impact of climate change

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How is Climate Change impacting my local community?

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How is Climate Change impacting my local community?

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Building on prior learning to connect to new ideas.

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Building on prior learning to connect to new ideas.

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Effects of climate change on our planet.

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Effects of climate change on our planet.

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Reusing plastic bottles and old glasses for our water plants at home 

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Reusing plastic bottles and old glasses for our water plants at home 

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By: Sariah Lobo

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By: Sariah Lobo

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How can accessing multiple perspectives provide new direction for action?

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How can accessing multiple perspectives provide new direction for action?

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By: Sariah Lobo

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How is Climate Change impacting my local community?

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How is Climate Change impacting my local community?

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By: Sariah Lobo

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How can I build on prior learning to connect to new ideas ?

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How can I build on prior learning to connect to new ideas ?

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By: Sariah Lobo

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Week 3:                                       Climate Action: Local to Global

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Week 3:                                       Climate Action: Local to Global

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Planting trees is the simplest yet an effective way to combat climate change caused by greenhouse gases.

By Mehak Soni

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By: Sariah Lobo

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My personal connection to Climate Change

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My personal connection to Climate Change

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By: Sariah Lobo

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By: Sariah Lobo

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My personal connection to climate change

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My personal connection to climate change

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Week 1 :                                                                                           Causes of climate change

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Week 1 :                                                                                           Causes of climate change

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My personal connection to climate change.

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My personal connection to climate change.