CHAPTER 6
What is climate change
why is it happening?
Climate System- atmosphere, oceans,
cryosphere (snow and ice),land surface, the biosphere,
and the interactions between them.
The Greenhouse effect
-The Earth is surrounded by a thin layer of gasses we c
all greenhouse gases.
-(carbon dioxide, chloroflourocarbon (CFCS), methane
(CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O),tropospheric ozone (O3), an
d water vapor.
- natural occurrence, which maintains Earth’s average t
emperature at approximately 60 degrees Fahrenheit.
Sources of Greenhouse Gases
• Emissions
Ø Greenhouse Gases & Aerosols
àFossil fuels (Personal & Industry)
àLand use
• Land use changes
Ø Agriculture
Ø Deforestation
Ø Urbanization
Ø Water management & reservoirs
The Global Warming
- is the slow increase in the average tempera ture of the eart
h’s atmosphere because an increased amount of the energy (h
eat) striking the earth from the sun is being trapped in the atmo
sphere and not radiated out into space.
How do Human Activities
Contribute to Climate
Change?
• Burning coal, oil and gas produces carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide.
• Cutting down forests (deforestation). Trees help to regulate the climate by
absorbing CO2 from the atmosphere. When they are cut down, that beneficial
effect is lost and the carbon stored in the trees is released into the
atmosphere, adding to the greenhouse effect.
• Increasing livestock farming. Cows and sheep produce large amounts of
methane when they digest their food.
• Fertilisers containing nitrogen produce nitrous oxide emissions.
• Fluorinated gases are emitted from equipment and products that use these
gases.
What are the effects of climate
change?
1. Human Health
2. Sea level rise- The rising water level is mostly du
e to a combination of melt water from glaciers and ic
e sheets and thermal expansion of seawater as it w
arms.
3. Ecological System-Climate change is altering eco
system productivity, exacerbating the spread of invasi
ve species, and changing how species interact with ea
ch other and with their environment.
4. Crops and Food supply
5. Glaciers Melting- add to rising sea levels, which in turn i
ncreases coastal erosion and elevates storm surge as warming
air and ocean temperatures create more frequent and intense c
oastal storms like hurricanes and typhoons.
