Social Science Climate Section 3

What is the word "Anthropogenic" come from?

The Greek words Anthropos meaning "human" and kainos meaning "new"

what did nuclear weapons testing when do?

Nuclear weapons testing in 1950 led to spread of plutonium 239, an artificial element, in sediment core samples.

In a non-geologic context, what does the word Anthropocene mean?

Contemporary climate change and global warming

Where did the word "Anthropogene" come from?

Paul J Crutzen and Eugene F Stoermer in 2000

When did Crutzen and Stoermer propose teh start of the Anthropocene?

Late 18th century, coinciding with the start of the Industrial Revolution

In what context is the word Anthropocene used?

In scientific and popular discourse

In news reports and educational content raising awareness.

Under what 2 organizations is the AWG supervised?

1. SQS (Subcommission on Quaternary Stratigarphy)

2. ICS (International Commission on Stratigraphy)

When was the start of the Great Acceleration, and who coined it?

1950, JR McNeil

What did the AWG associate with the Anthropocene?

1. erosion

2. perturbation of

carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus and various metals

3. global warming

4. rising sea levels

5. ocean acidification

6. oceanic dead zones

7. biosphere changes

8. global dispersion of new "minerals" and "rocks"

9. techno fossils

What are the Milankovitch cycles caused by?

The Earth's orbit

What are the 2 uniqueness of the Anthropocene?

Temp trends since 1950 are the warmest in 2000 years

Its consistently throughout the global (unlike LIA which was caused by local facings like volcanoes and sunspots)

What is the popullar image of the Industrial Revolution and who caused it?

Soot covered workers and large coal factories

Charles Dickens, who wrote The Christmas Carol and Oliver Twist

Since when was the term Industrial Revolution used?

Since the 1800s: this signaled that even people at that time knew a huge transformation was occurring.

Why is the start of the Anthropocene not the 1800s or late 18th although some people argue for 1800-1850?

Because features of the Anthropocene were not stable at the start.

Human-driven climate change compared to natural climate change?

Faster, Worse

Temp changes in teh atmosphere?

Rising in the troposphere, but cooling above, this can cause instability

When and who was the first person to argue for GHG's effect on temperature

In the mid 19th century, the American scientist Eunice Newton Fotte argued that CO, water vapor can interact with sun's rays to warm temperature

Coal is used to power ______, oil is used to power _______

plants, machines (automobiles)

Who is the world's top producer and consumer of oil when??

US in the early 2020s

Histroy of oil extraction

In the early 20th century in Iraq, colonialism

For example, in Iraqi city of Kirkuk, 1927,

colonialism in the desire for oil strained relations between different groups

Constituting percentages of CO2 and GHG emissions

Fossil fuels : 75% (72% in 2020) GHG, 90% CO2

Methane, Nitrous oxide: less than 20% of GHG

What emits Methane and Nitrous oxide?

Agriculture, landfill, fossil fuel production,

Why were the Europeans able to industrialize instead of others?

Because they accumulated wealth starting in 1500s due to colonization

Top 4 Carbon emitters rn?

1. US

2. China

3. EU

4. China

Who has cut down on CO2 emissions?

The US and Western Europe

Who is increasing CO2 emissions?

CHina and India

China and India are NOT the bad guys because

1. They have less emissions per capita than the US (1/2 and 1/7)

2.. Most of China's emissions are from exports to the US and EU

3. China's cumulative CO2 emissions since 1750 are 1/4 of all Western countries

Trying to find direct connections between climate change and singular events can be

tenuous, but if they compound over a short time, it is easier to see a trend/effect

Why is human reaction to climate not easy to measure?

Because humans have cultural values, beliefs and communal values that they stick to even in tough times.

What is the triple planetary crisis?

1. Climate Change

2. Loss of biodiversity

3.. Air pollution

What is the highest heat we've ever seen basically?

158 F in Iran, 2023

What are the 3 areas in which severe climate is impacting human lives?

1. Fires

2. Floods

3. Droughts

Where are fires occurring with increased frequency and severity?

1. Greece

2. Australia

3. Canada

4. CA

5. Hawaii

What contributes to forest fires other than warmer temperatures?

Bad forestry

According to what, flooding is how much more frequent?

According to NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), flooding is 300 to 900% more frequent than 50 years ago

Where is flooding occurring right now?

India

Hurricane

Ian in 2022 in Florida: 156 fatalities and 112 billion in damages

What important decision does people from places flooded or hurricaned have to think about?

Whether to rebuild there.

Where is there a drought right now?

2022 mega drought in the Western US: worst in 1200 years

Horn of Africa is 100x more likely to drought

West Mediterranean will experience more heat.

What are the 5 insights the UN has on health risks of climate change?

1. Some groups are more susceptible to ciamte change than others.

2. Cliamte change has an effect on infectious disease vectors including water ones.

3. Disease will be more widespread and lengthen transmission season

4. New Health issues like heat waves

5. Malnutrition and undernutrition caused by flooding and drought

What are economic problems caused by climate change?

Threatens communities that depend on ecological processes like fishing.

Threat disrupts mitigation:

no insurance for frequent flooded places: stability in the market.

How many people migrate due to climate change each year?

30 million people.

What natural resources did colonizers take from colonies?

Food, cotton, oil