The document discusses climate change versus global warming. Climate change refers to long-term shifts in weather patterns due to both natural causes and human activities that release greenhouse gases. Global warming refers specifically to rising surface temperatures from increased greenhouse gases. The document notes that climate change is caused by both natural factors like solar activity and volcanic eruptions, as well as human activities like burning fossil fuels and deforestation that release greenhouse gases. It provides data showing that the top greenhouse gas emitters and hottest years on record have all occurred in the last 15 years. The document examines the natural and enhanced greenhouse effects and the anthropogenic impact on increasing global temperatures. It discusses risks from extreme weather events and inequities in how climate change burdens

1. What is Climate Change?
Section I

2. • Weather: short-term
• Climate: Average
weather over a long
period of time “Global climate variation on
Earth due to natural causes
and also to the actions of
man, as evidenced by the
increases in average
temperatures and extreme
weather patterns.”
The climate is a
highly complex
system!
CLIMATE CHANGE!
Weather vs. Climate

3. Increase of
greenhouse gases in
the atmosphere
Volcanic eruptions
Variation of
Solar Energy
Natural
Variablity
Climate change is NOT only from human activities, the
climate can also change from natural processes:
Climate change is not just human-induced, it also occurs naturally
What causes climate change?
GHGs
Emission
Land-use
Change
Biomass
burning
Aerosols

4. Climate change and global warming refer to a different range of phenomena
Climate Change vs Global Warming
Global Warming Climate Change
A term that specifically
refers to the increase of
the Earth’s average surface
temperature due to a
build-up of greenhouse gas
in the atmosphere
A broader term that refers
to long-term changes in
climate, including average
temperature, precipitation,
and wind/weather
patterns
Refers exclusively to the
rising surface
temperatures.
Includes the “side effects”
of warming – melting
glaciers, heavier
rainstorms, frequent
droughts, etc.

5. Four main greenhouse gases
01
Water vapor
10- 50,000ppm
02
Carbon Dioxide
400 ppm
03
Methane
1.8ppm
04
Nitrous oxide
330 ppb

6. Greenhouse gas emission(%)
All were
in the last
15 years!
Top 10 global greenhouse gas emitters Top 10 hottest years on record
Source: RholdiumGroup Source: Climate central

7. Natural Greenhouse Effect
If the atmosphere includes greenhouse gases, the
atmosphere works as insulating blanket, so trapping the
heat. Natural greenhouse effect warms the surface by 33°C

8. As anthropogenic greenhouse gases
increase, more infrared radiation is trapped,
which gradually increases the temperature of
the Earth Surface
Anthropogenic Greenhouse Effect

9. ANTHROPOGENIC
Human beings Produced/ Caused by

10. Climate in global mean temperature
Source: [WG1AR5/Figure
SPM.1]

11. Anthropogenic Impact
With Anthropogenic GHGs Without Anthropogenic GHGs
Source: [WG1AR5/Figure TS.9]
 There is significant anthropogenic warming over the past 50 years
 It is “extremely likely” that human influence has been the dominant cause
of observed warming since the mid 20th century.

12. Assessment of Risks from Extreme
Events
Source: [WG2AR5/Figure SPM.1]

13. Where is the hottest location in the world?
Spatial distribution of the maximum temperature climatology
Does the region characterized by the highest maximum temperature coincide with
the region where the people suffer from the worst heat stress Source: [WG2AR5/Figure SPM.1]

14. Impact of extreme temperature
Extreme heat events will affect
Agriculture
Public Health
Energy
Transportation
Water Resources

15. Case Study – Climate risk for New Yok City
Source: IPCC

16. Inequity in Climate Change
Population
Country sizes show total population (2013) –
which includes all residents except refugees. Asia
balloons enormously, emphasizing that more
than half of the world's people live there.
Country sizes show total GDP (2013), the sum
of all the economic activity in each nation. The
map is dominated by North America
and Western Europe, which account for more
than half the world's GDP, despite being home
to less than a fifth of the global population.
Wealth
Source: The carbon map

17. Inequity in Climate Change
People at risk
Poverty
Country sizes show the number of
people injured, left homeless, displaced
or requiring emergency assistance due
to floods, droughts or extreme
temperatures in a typical year. Climate
change is expected to exacerbate many of
these threats.
Country sizes show the number of
people living on less than 1.25 dollars a
day. Poverty adds to climate change
vulnerability because lack of access to health
services increases the risks of climatic
changes, and lack of access to capital makes
it harder to implement adaptation measures.
Source: The carbon map