Possible Results of Climate Change
By Kenton Shepard
Gathering Climate Information
Our history of weather observation using instruments goes back 157 years, and weather/climate data, including that from ice field cores, goes back 650,000 years. Improvements in technology range from the use of weather balloons for recording atmospheric information to global weather data from microwave satellite technology.
Weather-related Changes
- Regional climate dynamics begin to change. Warm, humid equatorial regions which already have large amounts of moisture in the air are affected less than cold, dry polar regions. Weather patterns change. Some areas suffer droughts and others an increase in precipitation. Weather in many areas becomes more extreme.
- Increased speed of climate change. As the atmosphere becomes increasingly warm, it can hold more moisture, since warm air holds more moisture than cold air. More moisture in the air intensifies the greenhouse effect and the whole process happens with increasing speed like a snowball increases in size and speed as it rolls down a hill.
Exactly how climate change will influence future weather… no one really knows. Scientists do their best to create climate projections using computer models which requires the best guesses of those who build them. Although these are often very well-educated guesses, they’re still guesses.
Shrinking Amounts of Snow and Ice
Major ice and snow fields melt and shrink are shrinking as the earth becomes warmer. This raises sea levels through increased run-off and exposes dark-colored land, which absorbs radiation instead of reflecting it, which contributes to the warming process.
Ocean-related Changes
80% of the heat produced by global warming is absorbed by the world’s oceans, which contain over 320 million cubic miles of water. This heat is spread worldwide by currents which not only circle the earth but also follow paths in which they both dive deeply and rise to the surface. This makes the world’s oceans a very large heat sink. Because this absorbed heat is spread over such a vast area, small changes in ocean temperature can reflect large changes in the overall world temperature.
Warming oceans have the following results...
- Thermal expansion from increased water temperatures is projected to be responsible for over 50% of future rises in sea level.
- Changes in ocean currents: one major concern is that changes in ocean temperature and salinity may affect the behavior of major ocean currents such as the Gulf Stream, which has a large influence on world weather.
ATTITUDES and POLICIES CONCERNING GLOBAL WARMING
Attitudes and government policy connected with global warming varies widely throughout the world. In the U.S. alone, in addition to federal policies which are subject to change depending on presidential priorities, each state has its own policies and legislation. An effective, cooperative, global effort to address problems stemming from greenhouse gas emissions appears difficult to achieve.
SOURCES for MORE INFORMATION
On June 7, 2005, the National Science Academies of Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America issued a joint statement endorsing the consensus reached by the United Nation's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and calling on all governments to take "prompt action" to combat the threat of global warming.
INTERGOVERNMENTAL PANEL on CLIMATE CHANGE (IPCC)
The IPCC was established by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) in 1988. In 2007 it was a co-recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize for its work on climate change.
Refer to the following links/documents for more detailed information about scoping, schedules, and reviews to date:
NATIONAL CENTER for ATMOSPHERIC RESEARCH (NCAR)
Using various tools and techniques including climate models, radar and weather-balloon observations, satellite data, etc., NCAR climate researchers are working to understand the impacts of global and regional climate change. NCAR scientists and support staff contributed to the Nobel prize winning IPCC report linked above.
Current levels of the various greenhouse gases can be found at the website for the Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center. |
