Global Warming vs. Climate Change

Things generally associated with Global Warming

  • ______
  • ______
  • ______
  • ______

Global warming is considered to be an enhanced greenhouse effect. Most, but not all, scientists consider human influences to be major contributors to global warming. (Person 1 in poem)

Things associated with Climate Change

  • ______
  • ______
  • ______
  • ______

Climate change is considered to be the natural rise and fall of temperatures over long periods of time. (Person 2 in poem)

Our Planet is Unique

  • The Earth is a unique planet because it has an ______, _____ and ______capable of providing what we need to survive.
  • The daily needs of more than _____ billion people continually stress the limits and balance of the Earth.
  • The Earth’s climate is the complex system that ties together the ______,______and ______ surface.
  • Many scientists believe ______ daily activities are changing our climate.

Is Our Climate Changing?

  • Does one extreme summer indicate climate change?
  • ____. Only by comparing measurements taken over ______ can we sense climate change, i.e., the hottest 10 years, of the past 100 years, have taken place since 1987.

What is climate?

Climate describes the ______ patterns over a long period of time.

How do scientist study past climates?

•______ weather records only exist for the last _____ years or so.

•Clues in the ______ can provide information from thousands of years ago.

•______ -- Ice in polar regions contains air bubbles trapped thousands of years ago.

•______

•______ -- The bones of long-dead animals indicate which species lived in certain areas and when they were there.

•______ -- After determining the age of the sediment layers, scientists can study what plants were growing when the sediment was deposited.

•______

What our Planet could be like…

“When we calculate what the surface temperature of Earth should be, based on the heat it radiates to space, we find the whole globe should be a frozen waste land, colder today by about _____ degrees Fahrenheit on average.”

What our Planet is like…

•Our ______ saves us from that frigid fate.

•We say the atmosphere “______” the Earth’s radiation (heat). We call this planetary warming mechanism the “______.”

•The greenhouse effect is ______.

•______ play a major role in the greenhouse effect.

•By ______ solar radiation away from Earth, some clouds ______the planet.

•Others ______the Earth by ______ heat near the surface, thereby contributing to Earth’s greenhouse effect.

•Clouds and greenhouse gases work together to create the ______.

•The radiation budget must ______ itself.

•Solar energy reaching Earth must ______ the energy leaving the planet otherwise the oceans would eventually boil away or freeze solid.

•Scientists warn that we are currently ______ the Earth’s radiation balance through human actions.

What are the Greenhouse Gases?

•______

•______

•______

•______

•______

•______is the most important greenhouse gas. Humans have very little control over it.

•______ (CO2 ) is the greenhouse gas humans are influencing the most.CO2 is naturally in the air. But ______ have dramatically increased the level of CO2 since the industrial revolution. We continue to emit ______ into the air with cars, manufacturing, burning of rain forests and cutting down of trees. The destruction of ______creates a shortage of plants to remove CO2 from the air.We also release CO2 into the atmosphere when we burn fossil fuels for the generation of electricity. In the last 200 years CO2 levels have risen almost ____%.

•______ (CH4), is another natural greenhouse gas. It is created naturally from decomposing matter in swamps. CH4 is used in industries as a starting material for many chemicals.Methane also comes from ______, coal mining, natural gas fumes, landfills and wood burning. In the last 200 years methane levels have increased by _____%.

•______or chlorofluorocarbons, were ______ naturally in the air. This gas was used mostly in aerosol ______, (spray paint and hair spray), as a refrigerant, for ______, cleaning solvents and packing materials.Using CFCs in aerosol sprays has now been ______ in the United States and most other parts of the world.

•______ (N2O) is emitted during agricultural and industrial activities and during the burning of solid waste and fossil fuels. In the last 200 years nitrous oxide levels have increased by ______%.

•Each greenhouse gas differs in its ability to absorb heat in the atmosphere. ______ are the most heat-absorbent.Methane traps over _____ times more heat per molecule than carbon dioxide.Nitrous oxide absorbs ____ times more heat per molecule than carbon dioxide.

Sources and Sinks

•The elements that compose greenhouse gases, (carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, etc.), normally ______ through the environment between sources and sinks freely.

•______ release elements to the atmosphere.

•______ store the elements.

•Soil, oceans and trees tend to act as natural ______ for carbon. Each year hundreds of ______ of tons of CO2 are absorbed by soils, oceans and trees. When trees are cut down and burned, the stored carbon is ______ into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide. The burning of trees is a carbon source.

Consequences of Too Many Greenhouse Gases

•If the climate cycle were to follow its ______ course, in a few thousand years, the Earth would start sliding into another ______. Our activities threaten to send the climate speeding toward global warming. The build-up of ______ and other gases have already enhanced the Earth’s greenhouse effect. It may take______to feel the warming because atmospheric temperatures will rise significantly only after the oceans of the world have slowly warmed.

What is global warming?

Global warming is the ______ of the planet including the atmosphere, oceans and land.

Evidence of Global Warming…

•The latest data from the World Meteorological Organization shows that ______, 1998, 2002, 2003 and 2004 have been the five warmest years on record, (warmest was 2005).

•The top ___ warmest years have occurred since 1987, nine of them since ______.

•The 1990’s was the warmest ______.

•The ______was the warmest century during the last 1,000 years.

Global Warming and Wisconsin

•Historical records indicate the average global temperature increased by ______0F between 1890 and 1990.

•Scientists predict the temperature may rise another ______0F in the next 100 years.

•Such increases have occurred before but never over such a short time span.

•In fact, the average global temperature has risen more in the last century than at any time in the past ______ years.

Scenarios Wisconsin could face:

•______winters and ______ summers with longer, hotter and more frequent heat waves

•Weather and climate changes that could require farmers to raise different ______

•Dairy cattle stressed by ______exhaustion and growing______ populations

•Poor air quality and higher concentrations of ground-level ______, an air pollutant that causes severe health problems

•Warmer and more shallow ______– conditions that could hurt populations of cold-water fish like trout

•Denser algae blooms and lower ______ levels in ponds and lakes

•More frequent ______, droughts, forest fires and damaging storms

•Changes in ______ species that could affect the forestry industry and wildlife populations

•Increases in disease-carrying ______ populations

•All of these potential changes are just that: ______. It is difficult to predict what an increase in global temperature might bring.

Global Warming and Sea Level Rise

•One of the most significant potential impacts of climate change is ______.It may cause flooding of coastal areas and islands. As global temperatures increase, sea level rise is expected to accelerate due to ______ of the ocean and melting of glaciers. Over the last 100 years, the global sea level has risen by about ______ cm. On this time scale, thermal expansion of the oceans may account for about _____ cm of the sea level rise, while the retreat of glaciers and ice caps may account for another ___cm. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) estimates that sea level will rise ______ cm by the year 2100. A recent EPA study estimated that global sea level has a 50 percent chance of rising ___ cm (1-1/2 ft) by the year 2100, but a 1-in-100 chance of a rise of about ____ cm (over 3-1/2 ft).

How Can You Help?

•Use ______ energy

•Tune-up your ______

•Insulate your ______

•Using energy-efficient ______

•Purchase items with ______, recyclable, or reduced packaging.

•Using alternative ______sources. ______ cars, which use electricity from batteries along with gasoline for power are an excellent choice.

Global Uncertainty

There is no longer much dispute over whether an ______ in global temperature will affect global climate. Exactly how and why the ______ will change are topics for debate.

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