Climate Change

​What Forces Shape the World?

Climate Change

Some Questions to Consider

• What are global warming and climate change?

• How do we know that the Earth is warming?

• How do we know that it’s caused by human activity?

• What can we expect?

• What can we do?

Word Cloud

What comes to mind when you hear the words "climate change"?

Multiple Choice

What is meant by climate change?

• A short-term shift in weather patterns

• A shift in long-term average weather conditions

• A change in the ozone layer

• Random natural variation in rainfall

Multiple Choice

What is the main difference between weather and climate?

• Weather refers to global conditions, climate to local ones

• Weather changes daily; climate is long-term average patterns

• Climate affects weather but not vice versa

• Climate changes every year

Definitions

Weather = the state of the atmosphere at a place and time, regarding heat, dryness, sunshine, wind, rain, etc.

Climate = average weather conditions over a long period

Climate Change = shift in long-term weather patterns

Multiple Choice

Is climate change a new phenomenon?

• Yes

• No

North America 18,000 Years Ago

Multiple Choice

What makes today’s climate change different from past climate change?

• It is occurring at a slower pace

• It is happening much faster

• It is only affecting polar regions

• It is caused by earth's orbit

• The climate used to change in 100,000 year cycles

• Warming is happening 10x faster than the average natural rate

• CO2 from human activity is increasing 250x faster than it did from natural sources

Multiple Choice

Today's climate change is happening primarily due to:

• Natural volcanic cycles

• Increased solar radiation

• Human activities that increase heat-trapping gases

• Ocean currents

Multiple Choice

What are these heat-trapping gases known as?

• Ozone gases

• Greenhouse gases

• Fossil gases

• Carbon sink

​Greenhouse Effect

Multiple Choice

What is the “greenhouse effect”?

• The glass covering large greenhouses for growing plants.

• The process by which certain gases trap heat in Earth's atmosphere.

• A sudden increase in greenhouse farming globally.

• The process by which the sun becomes stronger.

​Greenhouse Effect

Multiple Choice

Which human activities generate the most greenhouse gases?

• Burning fossil fuels

• Deforestation

• Fertilizers

• Ozone-depleting chemicals

Fossil Fuels

The Industrial Revolution (18th & 19th centuries)

Multiple Choice

Why does deforestation contribute to climate change?

• Trees release methane

• Trees absorb too much oxygen

• Trees prevent landslides

• Trees are major carbon sinks

Multiple Choice

What are the two most significant greenhouse gases released by humans?

• Carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4)

• Carbon dioxide (CO2) and ozone (O3)

• Nitrous oxide (N2O) and F-gases

• Water vapour and methane (CH4)

​Who is most responsible?

Multiple Choice

How much has the Earth warmed since the Industrial Revolution?

• About 0.5°C

• About 1°C

• About 5°C

• About 10°C

Multiple Choice

How do scientists measure average global temperatures?

• By estimating based on seasonal weather forecasts.

• By using thermometers only in major cities.

• By collecting temperature data from weather stations around the world

• By comparing rainfall totals across continents.

Increasing Temperatures

Scientists calculate the global average annual temperature by collecting temp. data from weather stations located all around the world, which have been around since the 1880s.

6. 2015

7. 2017

8. 2022

9. 2021

10. 2018

What do you notice about these dates?

1. 2024

2. 2023

3. 2016

4. 2020

5. 2019

10 Warmest Years on Record

Could it be solar activity causing this warming?

Multiple Choice

How do scientists estimate temperatures before the existence of weather stations?

• By studying air bubbles trapped in ice cores from Greenland and Antarctica

• By analysing biological phenomena such as tree rings

• By observing precipitation, humidity and cloud cover

• All of the above

​Tree Ring Data

Ice Core Research

The ice core data reveals two key findings:

1. There is a clear relationship between levels of CO2 in the atmosphere and temperature

2. The concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere has spiked since the Industrial Revolution

Could it be the volcanoes releasing all that CO2?

Multiple Choice

Scientists have known that human activities were capable of changing the climate since:

• The 1930s

• The 1960s

• The 1990s

• They've always known

Multiple Choice

What percentage of scientific papers agree that climate change is caused by humans?

• 32%

• 56%

• 75%

• Over 97%

Multiple Choice

How do scientists project future climate conditions?

• By guessing based on recent weather events.

• Through the use of complex computer models.

• By averaging temperatures from the past 10 years.

• By observing changes only in one region of the world.

The sophistication and accuracy of these models have improved considerably over time with advances in computing technology

Multiple Choice

If the pace of increase in greenhouse gas emissions continues throughout the 21st century, global temperatures may rise above 2°C by:

• 2050

• 2075

• 2100

• 2150

Multiple Choice

If the pace of increase in greenhouse gas emissions observed in the previous 50 years continues throughout the 21st century, global temperatures may rise above 4°C by:

• 2075

• 2100

• 2150

• 2200

Multiple Choice

Scientists believe these projections are conservative, because they do not include positive feedback loops What is a positive feedback loop?

• A process that reverses the process itself

• A process that elevates the effect of the process itself

• A system that cools the planet

• A result of volcanic eruptions

Multiple Choice

How much more potent is methane than CO2?

• 10x

• 27x

• 56x

• 84x

Arctic sea ice is also shrinking

Arctic and Antarctic ice sheets are shrinking rapidly

Global sea levels are rising at rates that are unprecedented over the past 2,500-plus years

​Mountain Glaciers are retreating

Peterson Glacier, Alaska (1917)

Peterson Glacier, Alaska (2005)

​Mountain Glaciers are retreating