2. PLAN
1. Climate change basics
2. The international arena
3. The national arena
4. Predictions and consequences
3. Earth’s global average temperature has increased by
nearly .8°Celsius over the last 100 years because of
increased concentrations of CO2 and other
greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the atmosphere. Human
activity is directly and indirectly responsible for the
release of these GHGs. The primary drivers are
combustion of fossil fuels followed by deforestation,
gases released from landfills, fugitive emissions,
agriculture, and other minor sources. We are warming
the planet. If we continue these habits, the most
credible scientists and scientific organizations in the
world agree we will warm Earth by 4°Celsius.
4.
5. 1824 Fourier describes the
greenhouse effect.
1859 Tyndall discovers
CO2 greenhouse property
Arrhenius determines
raising atmospheric
concentration of CO2 will
raise global average
temperature.
These basic findings
enable heat-seeking
200 years of scientists
missiles to work Greenhouse Effect
6. Two mile time machine:
Instrumental records since
Paleoclimatic data from ice
1880
cores
7. We can read the carbon
fingerprint of CO2 and
determine its source.
Human activity adds ~27
billion tons of CO2 to the
atmosphere per year.
Since the beginning of the
industrial revolution, we have
added raised CO2
concentrations by about 30%
(280 ppm to 392 ppm).
9. Rising Sea Levels
Glacial, Ice Cap, & Sea Ice
Retreat
Heat Waves
Storms and Floods
Droughts
Disease and Pests
Economic Disruption
Conflict and War
Biodiversity Loss
Ecosystem Collapse
10. The U.S. is about to register the warmest year
on record in the lower 48 states, and the
world its ninth-hottest, a United Nations
agency said in a report, adding new urgency
to the quest to control global warming.
Two-thirds of the U.S. states suffered drought
this year, while heat waves hit across
Europe and in Morocco, Jordan, China and
Russia, the World Meteorological
Organization said in a report released in
Doha, where UN climate talks began this
week. It noted Arctic sea ice shrank to its
smallest on record.
“The alarming rate of its melt this year
highlighted the far reaching changes taking
place on Earth’s oceans and biosphere,”
WMO Secretary-General Michel Jarraud
said in a statement. “Climate change is
taking place before our eyes and will
continue to do so as a result of the
concentrations of greenhouse gases in the
atmosphere, which have risen constantly
12. 1988: The Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change
(IPCC) was established in 1988
under the auspices of the United
Nations Environment
Programme and the World
Meteorological Organization for
the purpose of assessing “the
scientific, technical and
socioeconomic information
relevant for the understanding of
the risk of human-induced
climate change.
Like the U.S. National Academy
of Sciences, the IPCC is meant
to inform policy makers about
the scientific understanding and
real-world implications of
climate change.
The IPCC has no policy-making
authority.
13. International Stage: United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate
Change
Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 resulted in the signing of the
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC),
which now has 195 parties.
Its goal was to “stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere
at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with
the climate system.”
14. 1997: Kyoto Protocol
negotiated that signatory
nations will reduce their
annual GHG emissions
5.2% below 1990 levels by
2020.
Its mechanisms were
decided in 2001 via the
Maracesh Accords.
Became binding in 2005.
Only 37 countries and the
EU ratified it, accounting for
25% of global emissions.
Three withdrew – Canada,
Russia, and Japan.
15. In 2002, the German
Bundestag unanimously
ratified Kyoto.
Germany has reduced its
GHG emissions 22.4%
below 1990 levels.
Ambitious renewable
energy goals through
wind and solar
installation – 20%
renewable energy by
2020.
16. November, 26 to December, 7 2012 COP18
Stated goal: To ensure that the sum of parties’ commitments will
keep us on a pathway where it is still possible to hold
temperature increase at 2 degrees Celsius over preindustrial
levels by the end of the century?
The closing of the Ad-hoc Working Group on Long-term
Cooperative Action
Agreement on a second commitment period of the Kyoto
Protocol: European Union, Australia, and Switzerland
Advancement of a work plan for the Durban Platform for
Enhanced Action
17. Fuel efficiency standards
Conversion of coal-fired
power plants to natural
gas
Increased development
of renewable energy
Green Building Initiative
Programs will reduce
U.S. GHG by 3-4% from
1990 levels by 2020.
18. "While climate change alone does
not cause conflict, it may act as an
accelerant of instability or conflict,
placing a burden to respond on
civilian institutions and militaries
around the world."
"Although they produce distinct
types of challenges, climate change,
energy security, and economic
stability are inextricably
linked…[and] extreme weather
events may lead to increased
demands for defense support to civil
authorities for humanitarian
assistance or disaster response
both within the United States and
overseas. In some nations, the
military is the only institution with
the capacity to respond to a large-
scale natural disaster."
19.
20. Tobacco risks
Risk of
chloroflourocarbons to
the ozone layer
Acid rain
Nuclear winter
Climate change
21.
22. Rising Sea Levels
Glacial, Ice Cap, & Sea Ice
Retreat
Heat Waves
Storms and Floods
Droughts
Disease and Pests
Economic Disruption
Conflict and War
Biodiversity Loss
Ecosystem Collapse
