Climate Change Response

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Climate Change Response

The average weather in a place is often referred to as climate. According to NASA, Climate change is a change in the usual weather found in a place. This change can be the difference in how much rain a place usually gets in a year. In this paper, I will discuss how scientists learn about past global temperatures and climates, explain the Greenhouse effect, Major greenhouse gases and their roles in current climate change, Expected impacts of climate change in your area and speak on data scientist offer to show that supports the theory that the climate is changing globally.

 Past global temperatures and climates

The study of past climates can be identified by three stages according to the types of data that’s used to reconstruct climate conditions. Those stages are identified as The Instrumental, Historical and The Prehistoric of Paleoclimatology stages. Scientists learn about climate through studying the climates of the past. The changes that occur in earths temperatures over time gives scientists a better understanding of global warming and plays a part in the determinations about potential causes. Paleoclimatologists study the history of the earth’s climatic change. The Earth’s climate has changed throughout history. Just in the last 650,000 years there have been seven cycles of glacial advance and retreat, with the abrupt end of the last ice age about 7,000 years ago marking the beginning of the modern climate era — and of human civilization. Most of these climate changes are attributed to very small variations in Earth’s orbit that change the amount of solar energy our planet receives. (Vostok ice core data/J.R. Petit et al.; NOAA Mauna Loa CO2 record.)

Greenhouse Effect

The greenhouse effect is often defined as the warming of the surface and lower atmosphere of a planet (as Earth or Venus) that is caused by conversion of solar radiation into heat in a process involving selective transmission of short wave solar radiation by the atmosphere, its absorption by the planet’s surface, and reradiating as infrared which is absorbed and partly reradiated back to the surface by atmospheric gases. The greenhouse effect is a natural phenomenon that occurs on Earth and on other planets in our solar system. Most natural greenhouse warming is due to water in the atmosphere. The atmosphere produce about 85% and 12%. The greenhouse effect keeps Earth’s lower atmosphere approximately 33°C warmer than it would otherwise be and performs other important service functions as well.

Greenhouse Gases

The major greenhouse gases includes water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, some oxides of nitrogen, and chlorofluorocarbons. Each gas in the atmosphere has its own absorption spectrum–which wavelengths it absorbs and which ones it transmits. Certain gases in Earth’s atmosphere are especially strong absorbers in the infrared and therefore absorb radiation emitted by the warmed surfaces of the Earth. The vast majority of the greenhouse effect is produced by water vapor, a natural constituent of the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases also occur naturally in the atmosphere. However, especially since the Industrial Revolution, human activity has added substantial amounts of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, along with such greenhouse gases as methane and CFCs. When Fossil fuels such as coal, oil and natural gases are burnt they release CO2 into the atmosphere. This causes the climate change.

Data

Satellite data study from 1993 til 2013 proves that the climate is changing globally. The rising of sea level in the last century rose about, if not more, 6.7 inches (17 centimeters). At that rate it is nearly double of that of last decade. Climate impact according to the coastal impact page shows high impact. Sea level rise in South Florida is creating new challenges for coastal water management. This area has an elevation close to sea level, and residents are already experiencing seawater flooding in streets. Sea level rise will erode shorelines, inundate wetlands, and impair the operations of coastal infrastructure. Low-lying coastal areas are at higher risk from frequent floods and storm surge. Low-lying inland areas could see increased flooding from rain because storm water drainage systems are at risk of seawater inundation and slow draining. The Southeast has numerous cities, roads, rail systems, ports, airports, water supplies, and oil and gas facilities located near sea level. Damage to this infrastructure will have large economic impacts (USGCRP, 2014)

References

[1] Carter, L. M., J. W. Jones, L. Berry, V. Burkett, J. F. Murley, J. Obeysekera, P. J. Schramm, and D. Wear, 2014: Ch. 17: Southeast and the Caribbean. Climate Change Impacts in the United States: The Third National Climate Assessment, J. M. Melillo, Terese (T.C.) Richmond, and G. W. Yohe, Eds., U.S. Global Change Research Program, 396-417. doi:10.7930/J0N-P22CB.

[2] NOAA (2011). Ocean and Coastal Resource Management in Your State: States and Territories Working With NOAA on Ocean and Coastal Management. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Accessed 6/15/2011.

[3] U.S. Census Bureau (2011). 2010 Census. Accessed 6/4/2015.

[4] USGCRP (2009). Global Climate Change Impacts in the United States. Karl, T.R., J. M. Melillo, and T. C. Peterson (eds.). United States Global Change Research Program. Cambridge University Press, New York, NY, USA.

[5] USGCRP (2014). Southeast Regional Report.