Climate change, Does it matter? Martin Hedberg meteorologist Swedish Weather Center

1. Climate change,
Does it matter?
Martin Hedberg meteorologist
Swedish Weather Center

2. Weather (Precipitation, clouds, winds, humidity, temperature…)
Natures way of balancing forces in the atmosphere.

3. Climate
Climate: Statistics about the weather.
Climate is the average weather pattern over a longer period of time.
100 years

4. Climate change (Weather patterns, glaciers, sea level rise…)
Climate change is a significant change in weather patterns.
When you put it in the perspective of a longer period of time you find it has
happened many times before.
100 000 years

5. Greenhouse effect
At any planet with an atmosphere.

6. Energy radiates from
the earth surface
Radiation from the
sun warms the
earth’s surface
Without
greenhouse gases:
-18 degrees!
With
greenhouse gases:
+15 degrees!
Greenhouse gases are
being warmed by the
radiation from earth
Energy radiates from
the atmosphere

7. External causes
 Solar activity
 Earths orbit
 Meteorites
Internal causes
Anthropogenic
 Emissions of greenhouse gases
 Particles/clouds
 Land change
Internal causes
Natural
 Feedback
 Volcanic eruption
Chance
- Climate change -

8. Greenhouse
gases
Particles
Left in the atmosphere
for 1 week
Left in the atmosphere
for 100 years
(mostly a cooling effect)
(has a warming effect)

10. Roger Revelle and Hans E. Suess. Carbon Dioxide
Exchange Between Atmosphere and Ocean and the
Question of an increase of Atmospheric CO2 during the
Past Decades. Tellus 1957.

11. CO
 Easy to make statistics from
 Easy to compare to historical climate
 There are more greenhouse gases, both natural and anthropogenic
 There are more things than greenhouse gases that affect the climate
Carbon dioxide is used to describe
how we affect the climate

12. Ice age
Year 1900
Year 2100?
Year 2000
Climate change within 100 years:
About half an ice age, but on the
warm side

13.  Easy to make statistics from
 Easy to compare to historical climate change
 Might misunderstand ”climate-temperature” vs. daily temperature
 Climate change is also precipitation, humidity, winds etc
Temperature as a tool to measure climate change

14. The thermometer is how we
measure climate change
But it isn’t about the temperature itself.
It is all about the consequences.

17. Ideström & Skinnarmo

21.  It’s getting warmer.
 More evaporation. And more rain.
 Sea-levels are rising, Glaciers are melting, Extreme
weather...
Plants and animals adapt, or disappear.
People and societies adapt.

22. ”It’s just natural climate change”
”When we understand all the physics, we can stop it”
”Somebody else has to lower their emissions”
Humanity's large self-deception

23. Many small steps. They all add up.

24.  More effective use of energy
 Renewable energy
 Capture carbon dioxide
from both bio-fuels and fossil fuels

25. Weather patterns change
When, where, how often, strength…
Average temperature rises
More/heavier precipitation
Flooding, landslides…
More evaporation.
Drought, erosion, wildfires…

26. Long braking distance
Climate has…

27. Domino effects
Climate has…

28. Many irreversible processes
Climate has…

29. YES Climate change
matters.
As usual.