Earth System Science

  • Hydrosphere

    • Total liquid sphere of the Earth

  • Atmosphere-

    • Layer of gasses surrounding the earth

  • Lithosphere

    • Outermost, solid, layer of Earth

  • Biosphere

    • Encompasses all living things on Earth

  • Weather v Climate

    • Weather

      • State of the atmosphere at any place and time

    • Climate

      • Average/typical conditions of atmosphere and how conditions change over time

    • Weather adds up to climate

      • Frequency of intense rainstorms

      • Average annual temperatures over 30 years

      • El Niño and La Niña

      • Climate Change

      • Ice Ages

  • SI Units

    • Temperatures : C

    • Precipitation: mm

    • Pressure: hPa

    • Streamflow: m3/s

  • What is parts per million (ppm)

    • Pie charts: abundance as a percent

      • Percent = ppm

    • Changes in very small abundances

  • How do we visualize climate

    • For a single location

      • Climate graph

      • Maps

  • What is an anomaly

    • Anomaly = observation - mean

  • Climate Change

    • Greenhouse Effect and Greenhouse Gases

    • Fossil carbon has an isotopic signature

    • Temperature is warming as predicted

    • Does 5 degrees C matter?

    • What to do?

    • CO2 is a green house gas that traps heat in the atmosphere

      • Weak greenhouse gas

    • Greenhouse effect

      • Sun produces solar radiation

      • Hits the earths surface

      • Earth radiates heat

      • Atmosphere gasses absorb the heat

    • Greenhouse gasses

      • Water Vapor

      • Carbon dioxide

      • Methane

      • Nitrous oxide

      • Other man made compounds

  • How much have we really changed the atmosphere

    • CO2 has risen from 315 ppm in 1958to 407 ppm in 2018

  • How do we know that the CO2 is ours

    • Fossil fuel burning has changed the isotopic C composition of the atmosphere: Our carbon leaves a chemical signature

  •  Fossil fuel has changed the isotopic C composition of the atmosphere

  • Climate has always changed

    • Yes but it changing more in recent years

  • Maybe it is the sun

    • Number 1 contributor is CO2 not the sun

  • Didn't it stop warming

    • No just slowed down for a little bit

  • Can we predict what will happen to the climate system in 100 years

    • The biggest think that we are unsure about with climate in the future is what we are going to do about it.

  • Does 5 degrees c matter

    • 5x the variation of the entire Holocene (last 10k years)

    • Some change as from last ice to Holocene, but warmer and 20x faster

    • Falling harvests

    • Sea level rise

    • Water shortages and extreme flooding

    • Extinction of coral reefs and 1.5 C and many other species

    • Continued extreme wildfire

    • Other unpredictable risks to the climate system

  • What are we going to do about ir

    • Nothing - business as usual

    • Mitigate - reduce the cause (greenhouse gases)

    • Build Resilience - invest in infrastructure, emergency support, community-building

    • Adapt - change the way we live to suit warmer climate