Week 10 GSP: Climate Change

popular opinion and climate change

-people in the developing world are the most likely to experience the most harm from climate change

-most americans accept climate change and human influence

-climate change is seen as a present day problem

-concern is high, opinions remain polarized

symptoms of a changing climate

-rising temperatures, rising sea levels

• reflected in long-term patterns in seasons, temperatures, precipitations, ocean, and wind currents

-surface temperature

• evidence supports the argument that the increase in the Earth’s temperature is due to human activities

• recent years are the hottest on record

-oceans: sea level, salinity, and acidity

• most of the excess energy produced as much as 90% is stored in the oceans, increasing ocean temperature

• in very cold regions, only the top layer os soil thaws each summer

  • permafrost is permanently frozen ground beneath this surface layer

  • as permathrost thaws, it releases greenhouse gases, which accelerate warming

• glacial melting and animal life

  • walrus and polar bears

extreme weather and displaced people

-greater frequency and intensity of extreme weather events

• more and stronger hurricanes, winter storms, landslides, forest fires, heat waves, drought, and flooding

• more deaths, more people affected, more economic issues

  • worse for low income countries

health and nutrition effects

-Extreme weather causes deaths and injuries

-Climate change disrupts the food and water systems

• reduces food security

• damage agriculture

-warmer climates increase disease risk

• allows disease-carrying insects and parasites to spread more easily

-Climate change increases respiratory difficulties

• allergies and asthma

-Climate change will continue, even if emissions of greenhouse gases are eliminated

-Greenhouse Gases (GHG)

• Energy fuels the modern economy

• The Industrial Revolution unharnessed energy stores found in fossil fuels that could do more work than humans and animals, and do it faster

• the energy sector is the single biggest contributor to global GHG emissions