TED: The emergent patterns of climate change | Gavin Schmidt

The video explores the complexity of climate systems, highlighting the challenges in modeling climate patterns across various scales. It discusses the evolution of climate models, the concept of emergent properties, and how different factors like greenhouse gases and deforestation impact the climate. The video emphasizes the importance of model skill in predicting climate changes and the choices humanity faces in mitigating climate impacts.

What is a major challenge in understanding climate patterns?

• They are static and unchanging.

• They can be easily reduced to smaller parts.

• They repeat exactly the same way each time.

• They are complex and vary across different scales.

How have climate models evolved from the 1990s to the 2010s?

• They no longer use any coding languages.

• They have become less accurate.

• They now cover more orders of magnitude.

• They have decreased in complexity.

What is an example of an emergent property in climate models?

• Spontaneous formation of cyclones.

• Exact replication of historical weather.

• Pre-programmed weather patterns.

• Static ocean currents.

Which of the following can change the climate system?

• Constant greenhouse gas levels.

• Unchanging Earth's orbit.

• Stable solar cycles.

• Volcanic eruptions.

What is meant by 'model skill' in climate modeling?

• Models provide more information than available otherwise.

• Models predict the future with certainty.

• Models are always correct.

• Models are never useful.

Why are climate models important for future predictions?

• They provide exact future observations.

• They eliminate all uncertainties.

• They replace historical data.

• They help us understand potential future scenarios.

What is a key reason for using climate models?

• To observe past climates.

• To predict future climate changes.

• To ignore current climate data.

• To confirm that climate never changes.

What choice does humanity face regarding climate change?

• To ignore climate models.

• To rely solely on natural changes.

• To increase carbon emissions.

• To mitigate carbon emissions.

What did Sherwood Rowland emphasize about scientific predictions?

• They are always accurate.

• They should be ignored.

• They are useless without action.

• They predict the past.

What is the role of climate models in decision-making?

• To confirm that no action is needed.

• To provide exact future data.

• To inform and guide actions.

• To replace human judgment.