GD305: Challenges of climate change
Week 1 – Intro
The Climate Emergency can not be tackled alone – international cooperation
Seminar:
- The image: high co2 and GH gases emissions increases the GH effect, more co2 trapped in
the atmosphere
- Occurs due to modes of consumption and production
- Question who should take the lead in combatting the GH effect. Should the rich do it
because they have the funds, or developed countries as they may be more committed to
mitigation and adaptation to reduce the emissions
The natural challenges of climate change summary:
Humans are worsening climate change by massively increasing the GH effect. The GH effect is
necessary to maintain earth’s living conditions, however an increase in GHGs is causing more long
wavelength infra-red to get trapped in the atmosphere, hence the issue of global warming. Although
humans do require Earth’s natural resources to survive, the extent to which resources have been
exploited has led to the Climate Emergency.
What are your views on Climate Change? Big impact around planet, more flooding,
fires, impact on wildlife. Impacting antarctica. Greta Thunberg said it is easy to talk
about policies and issues, but more action needed to reduce the damage that humans
have on the severity of CC.
* Where do you find the most useful information about climate change? News and
internet, Greta Thunberg, and through me 😊
* Does climate change concern you? Why? Yes because he questions what will happen
to future generations and animals
* What is the biggest risk of climate change? Fire and flooding. Humans, animals and
the planet itself. Extinction is a big risk.
We don’t want to ‘fight’ CC; the planet will get damaged but it will be fine. But we need to maintain
the planet so that it supports humans. So, we are not looking to save the planet, we are looking to
save the human race. CC is inevitable, so there is no solution/way to solve; CC is needed, but only to
a certain extent. You can come up with approaches and ways to improve.
The Paris agreement is not legally binded, so any country can do what they want and there are no
repercussions.
Extra lecture has been put up on moodle.
In a few weeks, choose essay question and have a meeting with Jess. It is due in end of Jan.
Covid had an instant global response, science got properly funded, and CC. some countries effected
more. Social change is needed.
Everyone will be impacted by CC, but those with more resources are able to deal with it better. Covid
bought out the best in some, and the worst in others.
The effects of covid have been quicker. Virus can actually be seen through samples, and can be
compared to viruses in the history in which we have an idea how to response. Where as CC is
dragged out
,GD305: Challenges of climate change
Paris agreement went one stop further than the Kyoto agreement. They demanded that rich people
should pay for the extra that polluted (CHECK IF YOU GOT THIS RIGHT).
Warwick climate forum on insta
Lecture notes:
Where do we get our energy from?
From the sun (infra-red, UV and visible light) and from the centre of the earth e.g., Geothermal
energy.
The greenhouse effect
Energy from the sun is either absorbed by clouds and radiates onto the earth, or it may get reflected
out. Some energy that reaches earths surface would be reflected out, but some gets absorbed. It
comes in as infra-red short wavelength but reflects out as infra-red long wave.
Albedo: is the level of reflectivity of a surface. So, if something has a high albedo, it has a high
reflective capacity. Albedo is higher on lighter surfaces like snow.
The planet has a natural occurring greenhouse effect. Infra-red gets trapped in GH gases and causes
the earth to be heated; without the gases the earth would be cold. The GHGs help maintain the
earths temperature and living conditions.
Humans must use resources: but how should they be used
Humans undertake intensive attraction to achieve a better quality of life
Humans are intensifying the greenhouse effect
GHGs: Water vapour, co2, nitrous oxide, methane, CFCs, ozone
How long have we known that CO2 can ‘trap heat’?
This idea was first published in 1856, when there was no internet and so people at the time did not
know about this concept. People knew that if the Industrial Revolution continued, that the effect
would increase.
Eunice Foote demonstrated the heat trapping properties of co2 at a conference in 1856.
The intensification of the human economy increases the concentration of co2, methane and nitrous
oxide in the atmosphere because of the amount of them released during things like industrialisation
How well are we recognising the issue?
Rio Earth Summit in 1992 – At this event, CC was recognised, and a global apparatus was set in place
to make change
Despite the global efforts to recognise and control the drivers of climate change, the concentration
of GHGs have continued to rise throughout the year.
The ozone protects the earth from certain types of
dangerous radiation from the sun. CFCs deplete that
protection, so the Montreal Protocol was aimed to
reduce this, and this was successful as graphs show a
decrease/flattening out of CFCs after the protocol was
set. CO2, nitrous oxide and methane however still
continued to rise.
,GD305: Challenges of climate change
Human emissions have not yet plateaued, let alone reduced.
What country is to be blamed?
Biggest emitter of CO2 is China, then the USA. Both of their emissions are growing. Since Brexit, EUs
emissions have been beginning to decline. The top 6 emitters in 2018 covered 67% of global
emissions.
China 28%, US 15%, EU 9%, India 7%, Russia 5%, Japan 3% (Peters et al., 2019 and Friedlingstein et
al., 2019 and Global carbon project, 2019)
US has the largest number of emissions per capita (Friedlingstein et al., 2019 and Global carbon
project, 2019)
Non-human factors for climate change
The incoming radiation from the sun is changing in intensity hence the changes in temperature. But
graphs do not support this past 1960 because past this there is no correlation.
There has been rises in temperature previously before shown in data (NASA,2011) so why are we
worrying now if the same has happened in the past?
The intensity of change has massively changed, so although it has been hotter in the past, it was
more suitable back then.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) – IPCC is a good source for quality work
IPCC is designed to gather scientific, technical and socio-economic information that is relevant to
understand the scientific side of human induced climate change, its impacts and possibilities for
adaptation and mitigation (IPCC, 1998).
In 2018, IPCC wrote a report on keeping global warming below a 1.5 OC increase. Allowing a 1.5
increase would cause a lot of problems for us, so it should even be less than this.
RCP refer to concentrations not the
emissions of GHGs. Higher RCP is worse.
You can compare a high and a low RCP to
see the change in OC over time.
Source: (IPCC,2014)
To know how accurate future predictions
are, it is good to see how accurate
historical prediction are
The report says that if we can hold
temperature rise below 1.5 OC, that life on earth will be far more comfortable
Positive and negative feedback
Positive speeds up GW, and negative slows down GW
Arctic temperature – How does this affect us?
, GD305: Challenges of climate change
There are fluctuations in temperature overtime but overall, it is increasing. Many do not care about
what happens in the Arctic because they do not live there, hence why they continue to pollute and
eat meat.
When the Arctic warms, the ice melts, and sea levels rise. Where ice melts, there is a change in
albedo. When there is ice, the suns energy reflects right back out. But if the energy lands in the
darker water, the water absorbs it and then radiates it back out in a different wavelength, and it gets
trapped in the earths system (warmer planet means less ice and lower albedo so more energy is
absorbed positive feedback)
Permafrost (Positive feedback)
Permafrost: permanently frozen ground, frozen for at least 2 years (it contains large concentrations
of methane). A quarter of the Northern hemisphere has permafrost underneath. If the permafrost
thaws, we would see a release of methane that is 10x greater than all of the human produced
emissions from fossil fuels emitted in 2016 (NASA, 2018).
Plants and trees: with us or not?
Plants absorb CO2 and provide oxygen for human life through photosynthesis during the day, and at
night they expel CO2 in cellular respiration (plants always respire, they just respire more at night).
However, plants consume more CO2 than they release, and they release more oxygen that they
absorb.
Professor Atkins said that data is starting to suggest that when global temperatures increase, the
rate of respiration increases so plants release more CO2, so they could start to exacerbate global
warming (positive feedback) – (Hutchingford, 2017)
Physical challenges for humans
There has been an increase in droughts such as in Jordan (Stanford University, 2019)
Increasing frequency and intensity of storm surges due to changes in climate and sea levels
Extreme weather e.g. hurricanes also increasing in frequency and intensity
Daily sea level rise impact
‘daily tidal flooding events capable of causing minor damage to infrastructure have already become
5 to 10 times more frequent since the 1960s in several U.S. coastal cities, and flooding rates are
accelerating in over 25 Atlantic and Gulf Coast cities’ (Global Change, 2018: 99).
Farmers are facing a destroyed livelihood because their crops are getting destroyed. Not caused by
climate change, but climate change exacerbates the severity of the extreme weather
Gulf stream impact
In the future the gulf stream will be weakened, and there may be positive feedback so all the warm
air that maintains the climate and weather will cease to be. So the way us and the future
generations live their lives will be massively impacted.
Week 1 – Intro
The Climate Emergency can not be tackled alone – international cooperation
Seminar:
- The image: high co2 and GH gases emissions increases the GH effect, more co2 trapped in
the atmosphere
- Occurs due to modes of consumption and production
- Question who should take the lead in combatting the GH effect. Should the rich do it
because they have the funds, or developed countries as they may be more committed to
mitigation and adaptation to reduce the emissions
The natural challenges of climate change summary:
Humans are worsening climate change by massively increasing the GH effect. The GH effect is
necessary to maintain earth’s living conditions, however an increase in GHGs is causing more long
wavelength infra-red to get trapped in the atmosphere, hence the issue of global warming. Although
humans do require Earth’s natural resources to survive, the extent to which resources have been
exploited has led to the Climate Emergency.
What are your views on Climate Change? Big impact around planet, more flooding,
fires, impact on wildlife. Impacting antarctica. Greta Thunberg said it is easy to talk
about policies and issues, but more action needed to reduce the damage that humans
have on the severity of CC.
* Where do you find the most useful information about climate change? News and
internet, Greta Thunberg, and through me 😊
* Does climate change concern you? Why? Yes because he questions what will happen
to future generations and animals
* What is the biggest risk of climate change? Fire and flooding. Humans, animals and
the planet itself. Extinction is a big risk.
We don’t want to ‘fight’ CC; the planet will get damaged but it will be fine. But we need to maintain
the planet so that it supports humans. So, we are not looking to save the planet, we are looking to
save the human race. CC is inevitable, so there is no solution/way to solve; CC is needed, but only to
a certain extent. You can come up with approaches and ways to improve.
The Paris agreement is not legally binded, so any country can do what they want and there are no
repercussions.
Extra lecture has been put up on moodle.
In a few weeks, choose essay question and have a meeting with Jess. It is due in end of Jan.
Covid had an instant global response, science got properly funded, and CC. some countries effected
more. Social change is needed.
Everyone will be impacted by CC, but those with more resources are able to deal with it better. Covid
bought out the best in some, and the worst in others.
The effects of covid have been quicker. Virus can actually be seen through samples, and can be
compared to viruses in the history in which we have an idea how to response. Where as CC is
dragged out
,GD305: Challenges of climate change
Paris agreement went one stop further than the Kyoto agreement. They demanded that rich people
should pay for the extra that polluted (CHECK IF YOU GOT THIS RIGHT).
Warwick climate forum on insta
Lecture notes:
Where do we get our energy from?
From the sun (infra-red, UV and visible light) and from the centre of the earth e.g., Geothermal
energy.
The greenhouse effect
Energy from the sun is either absorbed by clouds and radiates onto the earth, or it may get reflected
out. Some energy that reaches earths surface would be reflected out, but some gets absorbed. It
comes in as infra-red short wavelength but reflects out as infra-red long wave.
Albedo: is the level of reflectivity of a surface. So, if something has a high albedo, it has a high
reflective capacity. Albedo is higher on lighter surfaces like snow.
The planet has a natural occurring greenhouse effect. Infra-red gets trapped in GH gases and causes
the earth to be heated; without the gases the earth would be cold. The GHGs help maintain the
earths temperature and living conditions.
Humans must use resources: but how should they be used
Humans undertake intensive attraction to achieve a better quality of life
Humans are intensifying the greenhouse effect
GHGs: Water vapour, co2, nitrous oxide, methane, CFCs, ozone
How long have we known that CO2 can ‘trap heat’?
This idea was first published in 1856, when there was no internet and so people at the time did not
know about this concept. People knew that if the Industrial Revolution continued, that the effect
would increase.
Eunice Foote demonstrated the heat trapping properties of co2 at a conference in 1856.
The intensification of the human economy increases the concentration of co2, methane and nitrous
oxide in the atmosphere because of the amount of them released during things like industrialisation
How well are we recognising the issue?
Rio Earth Summit in 1992 – At this event, CC was recognised, and a global apparatus was set in place
to make change
Despite the global efforts to recognise and control the drivers of climate change, the concentration
of GHGs have continued to rise throughout the year.
The ozone protects the earth from certain types of
dangerous radiation from the sun. CFCs deplete that
protection, so the Montreal Protocol was aimed to
reduce this, and this was successful as graphs show a
decrease/flattening out of CFCs after the protocol was
set. CO2, nitrous oxide and methane however still
continued to rise.
,GD305: Challenges of climate change
Human emissions have not yet plateaued, let alone reduced.
What country is to be blamed?
Biggest emitter of CO2 is China, then the USA. Both of their emissions are growing. Since Brexit, EUs
emissions have been beginning to decline. The top 6 emitters in 2018 covered 67% of global
emissions.
China 28%, US 15%, EU 9%, India 7%, Russia 5%, Japan 3% (Peters et al., 2019 and Friedlingstein et
al., 2019 and Global carbon project, 2019)
US has the largest number of emissions per capita (Friedlingstein et al., 2019 and Global carbon
project, 2019)
Non-human factors for climate change
The incoming radiation from the sun is changing in intensity hence the changes in temperature. But
graphs do not support this past 1960 because past this there is no correlation.
There has been rises in temperature previously before shown in data (NASA,2011) so why are we
worrying now if the same has happened in the past?
The intensity of change has massively changed, so although it has been hotter in the past, it was
more suitable back then.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) – IPCC is a good source for quality work
IPCC is designed to gather scientific, technical and socio-economic information that is relevant to
understand the scientific side of human induced climate change, its impacts and possibilities for
adaptation and mitigation (IPCC, 1998).
In 2018, IPCC wrote a report on keeping global warming below a 1.5 OC increase. Allowing a 1.5
increase would cause a lot of problems for us, so it should even be less than this.
RCP refer to concentrations not the
emissions of GHGs. Higher RCP is worse.
You can compare a high and a low RCP to
see the change in OC over time.
Source: (IPCC,2014)
To know how accurate future predictions
are, it is good to see how accurate
historical prediction are
The report says that if we can hold
temperature rise below 1.5 OC, that life on earth will be far more comfortable
Positive and negative feedback
Positive speeds up GW, and negative slows down GW
Arctic temperature – How does this affect us?
, GD305: Challenges of climate change
There are fluctuations in temperature overtime but overall, it is increasing. Many do not care about
what happens in the Arctic because they do not live there, hence why they continue to pollute and
eat meat.
When the Arctic warms, the ice melts, and sea levels rise. Where ice melts, there is a change in
albedo. When there is ice, the suns energy reflects right back out. But if the energy lands in the
darker water, the water absorbs it and then radiates it back out in a different wavelength, and it gets
trapped in the earths system (warmer planet means less ice and lower albedo so more energy is
absorbed positive feedback)
Permafrost (Positive feedback)
Permafrost: permanently frozen ground, frozen for at least 2 years (it contains large concentrations
of methane). A quarter of the Northern hemisphere has permafrost underneath. If the permafrost
thaws, we would see a release of methane that is 10x greater than all of the human produced
emissions from fossil fuels emitted in 2016 (NASA, 2018).
Plants and trees: with us or not?
Plants absorb CO2 and provide oxygen for human life through photosynthesis during the day, and at
night they expel CO2 in cellular respiration (plants always respire, they just respire more at night).
However, plants consume more CO2 than they release, and they release more oxygen that they
absorb.
Professor Atkins said that data is starting to suggest that when global temperatures increase, the
rate of respiration increases so plants release more CO2, so they could start to exacerbate global
warming (positive feedback) – (Hutchingford, 2017)
Physical challenges for humans
There has been an increase in droughts such as in Jordan (Stanford University, 2019)
Increasing frequency and intensity of storm surges due to changes in climate and sea levels
Extreme weather e.g. hurricanes also increasing in frequency and intensity
Daily sea level rise impact
‘daily tidal flooding events capable of causing minor damage to infrastructure have already become
5 to 10 times more frequent since the 1960s in several U.S. coastal cities, and flooding rates are
accelerating in over 25 Atlantic and Gulf Coast cities’ (Global Change, 2018: 99).
Farmers are facing a destroyed livelihood because their crops are getting destroyed. Not caused by
climate change, but climate change exacerbates the severity of the extreme weather
Gulf stream impact
In the future the gulf stream will be weakened, and there may be positive feedback so all the warm
air that maintains the climate and weather will cease to be. So the way us and the future
generations live their lives will be massively impacted.
