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Lecture 3 - Climate Change - 1

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11 views20 pages

Lecture 3 - Climate Change - 1

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taylor
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We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Unit 41:

Conservation
& Biodiversity

Lecture 3
An introduction to Anthropogenic Impacts
The Current Crisis
What is causing these changes?

Overharvesting

Climate change Global warming


Deforestation

Urbanisation Pollution Burning fossil fuels Industry


Global warming or Climate change?
• Climate change and global warming are often used interchangeably

• Global warming is the long term warming of the planet

• Global warming is only one aspect of climate change

• Climate change encompasses global warming but refers to the pattern of


changes experienced driven by the burning of fossil fuels and disruption to
the greenhouse gas effect
(e.g. melting of polar ice caps, changes in flowers blooming)
Greenhouse Gases
• Greenhouse gases occur naturally within the atmosphere

• Greenhouse gases primarily CO2 form a layer (greenhouse layer)

• Solar radiation reaches the Earth’s surface

• Some of the radiation emitted from Earth becomes trapped by the greenhouse
layer (longer wave/infrared)

• Retained heat atmospheric temperature


NOTE: Greenhouse effect is a natural process - the problem is the ability of the
greenhouse layer to trap heat energy has increased
• Human activities have the quantities of
greenhouse gases

Industrial revolution (1970s)

burning of fossil fuels (e.g. coal, oil)

Fossil fuel + combustion = CO2


Greenhouse Gas (1) Carbon Dioxide
• Burning fossil fuels, deforestation, land use changes
• Deforestation = photosynthesis therefore CO2
Sunlight
(6CO2 + 6H2O C6H12O6 + 6O2)
Greenhouse Gas (2) Methane

• Agricultural practices & landfill decomposition


Greenhouse Gas (3) Nitrous oxide

• Use of artificial fertilizers and fossil fuel burning


Evidence Supporting Climate Change
• In the last 150 years CO2 levels have from 220ppm to 400ppm

• Since 19th Century anthropogenic climate change has surface


temperatures by 0.9 degrees Celsius
Evidence Supporting Climate Change
(1) Global temperature rise

(2) Warming oceans

(3) Melting of ice caps

(4) Glacial retreat

(5) Sea level rise

(6) Extreme weather events

(7) Ocean acidification


Arctic ice cap decline

1970

2018
Evidence Supporting Climate Change

Figure 1: Comparative CO2 ice core data and recent recordings (Source Etheridge et al. 2012, NOAA)
The Effect of Climate Change
Impact on flora and fauna

• Species adaptations (behavioural,


morphological, anatomical)

• Range shifts/displacement from a habitat

• Hybridization events

• Local and mass extinction events

Implications for species and ecosystem


biodiversity
Knowledge Recap
1. Name two examples of anthropogenic/ human activities contributing towards climate
change

2. What is the main greenhouse gas driving climate change ?

3. Name three examples of evidence to support climate change

4. What is the difference between climate change and global warming?


Knowledge Recap
1. Name two examples of anthropogenic/ human activities contributing towards climate
change
• Burning fossil fuels
• Deforestation
2. What is the main greenhouse gas driving climate change ?

• Carbon dioxide (CO2)

3. Name three examples of evidence to support climate change


• Background carbon emissions data
• Retreat of artic ice caps
• Global temperature rise

4. What is the difference between climate change and global warming?


• Global warming is one aspect of climate change
• Climate change is the integrated pattern of change through burning fossil fuels
and disruption to background levels of greenhouse gases
Any questions? Task: Read Blixx paper & watch
climate change video S8QBG https://share.nearpod.com/ASjIIheJybb code:

References
1. IPCC Fifth Assessment Report: Summary for policy makers
2. Schurr et al. (2015). Climate change and the permafrost carbon feedback. Nature, 520, 171-179.
3. Taub, D. (2010). Effects of rising atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide in plants. Nature, 1
(8) 21.
4. Urban, M. (2015). Accelerating extinction risk from climate change. Climate Change, 348 (6234) 571-
573.
5. E-resource: NASA/climate.gov

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