sri lanka - why should we be worried
TRANSCRIPT
Climate Change / Global Warming
Why should we be concerned about Global Warming?
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NY Times
Climate and Weather
• Climate – Pattern of weather for a month or longer
-- Includes changes in average weather patterns due to
global conditions such as ocean temperature
• Weather – Day-to-day changes in temperature and rain
-- Changes tied to weather systems such as cold and
warm fronts and hurricanes
What is the difference?
Many people consider that Global Warming is
the greatest environmental threat of the 21st
Century.
However, during the 80s and early 90s
scientists argued about the causes and effects
of global warming.
In the late 1990s scientists reached a
consensus that global warming was a cause
for concern.
So, why should you be concerned about global
warming?
“Why should we be concerned about Global Warming?”
Climate Change…
• No longer speculation or theory
• Changes already felt, set to get worse
• Science trying to assess how much, how
fast
• Needed: taking action even before full
knowledge & understanding
• Two types of response:
– Mitigation: preventing problem getting worse
– Adaptation: Learning to live with inevitable
effects
• “Warming of the climate system is
unequivocal, as is now evident from
increases in global average air and
ocean temperatures, melting of snow
and ice, and rising sea level.”
– IPCC 4th Assessment Working Group I,
Summary for Policymakers, 2007
What Is Global Warming?
Global warming is the
warming of the earth through carbon dioxide (CO2)and other GHGs. Then the gases trap heat like the glass in a greenhouse. This is where the term the “greenhouse effect” came from.
http://www.worldviewofglobalwarming.org/
What constitutes a green house gas
(GHG)
June 2, 2009 8
Green House Gases
• Carbon dioxide, CO2
• Methane, CH4
• Nitrous Oxide, N2O
• Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) and Chlorofuorocarbons (CFCs) (covers 13 chemicals)
• Perfluorocarbons, PFCs (covers 7 chemicals)
• Sulfur Hexafluoride, SF6
• Water vapor
Not all GHGs contain carbon
June 2, 2009 9
Solutions to the problem…
Explanation of the causes of global warming
Temperature is increasing!
What’s Happening
Scientists say that the barrier
insulating the continental ice
caps is melting.
“The impacts of warming
temperatures in Antarctica
are likely to occur first in the
northern sections of the
continent, where summer
temperatures approach the
melting point of water, 32
degrees F (0 degrees C).”
http://www.climatehotmap.o
rg/antarctica.html
What’s Happening
As the ice melts, big
chunks of glaciers will
break off and become
like ice cubes in a big
glass of water. The ice
chunks, known as
icebergs, create mass in
the ocean. The icebergs
displace the water
causing the ocean level
to rise..
Evaluation of the different viewpoints held about
global warming by MEDCs and LEDCs
What Will Happen
“Rising global temperatures are expected to change precipitation and other local climate conditions. Changing regional climate could alter forests, crop yields, and water supplies. It could also affect human health, animals, and many types of ecosystems. http://yosemite.epa.gov/oar/globalwarming.nsf/content/impacts.html
http://www.nrdc.org/globalWar
ming/default.asp
Explanation of the effects of global warming in
both MEDCs and LEDCs
Where Has It Been Happening
This is where temperatures have risen in the world.
http://www.worldviewofglobalwarming.org/pages/war
mingmap.html
How Long Has It Been Going On
“According to NOAA,
the global warming rate in the last 25 years has risen to 3.6 degrees F per century, which tends to confirm the predictions of temperature increases made by international panels of climate scientists (IPCC).” /
How Long Has It Been Going On
• The earth has had highs
and lows, droughts and
floods, but nothing has
been like the past 150
years.
http://www.worldviewofglobalwarming.org/
What’s Happening to the Animals
• “Penguin population decline. ”
Reference: Fraser, W. 1998. Antarctic biology and medicine program, University of Montana, personal communication. http://www.climatehotmap.org/antarctica.html
What’s Happening to the Animals
“Coral reef bleaching,,
results from the loss of
symbiotic zooxantheallae
and/or a reduction in
photosynthetic pigment
concentrations in
zooxanthellae residing
within corals..
http://www.marinebiolog
y.org/coralbleaching.htm
Regions where major coral reef bleaching
events have taken place during the past 15
years low spots indicate major bleaching events.
http://www.marinebiology.org/coralbleaching.htm
Carbon neutral
• The “world of the year” in the new Oxford
Dictionary
• adj.: “emitting no net carbon dioxide into
the atmosphere”
• Carbon Footprint ?
• an environmental regulator establishes a “cap” that limits emissions from a designated group, such as power plants, to a level lower than their current emissions
• The emissions allowed under the cap are then divided up into individual permits that represent the right to emit that amount
• Companies are free to buy and sell permits in order to continue operating in the most profitable manner available to them
What can you do?• Calculate and understand your “carbon footprint”
• Reduce your use of energy
• Look for ways to use renewable energy
• Support efforts by all who encourage
– Energy efficiency
– Renewables
– Carbon neutrality
Green House Gases (Counted in a
Carbon Footprint)
• Carbon dioxide, CO2
• Methane, CH4
• Nitrous Oxide, N2O
• Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) and Chlorofuorocarbons (CFCs) (covers 13 chemicals)
• Perfluorocarbons, PFCs (covers 7 chemicals)
• Sulfur Hexafluoride, SF6
ANSI/ISO/NSF 14064-1 Greenhouse Gases- Part 1: Specification with Guidance at the Organizational Level for
Quantification and Reporting of GHG Emissions and Removals
Not all GHGs contain carbon
June 2, 2009 31
Policy Framework
• Inter-governmental response:
– UN-FCCC (global climate treaty), SL ratified 1993
– Kyoto Protocol, SL acceded 2002
• National focal point: Ministry of Environment & Natural Resources (MENR)
• Leading action: Climate Change Secretariat
• National Action Plan for Haritha Lanka:
– Mission 3: Meeting the challenges of climate change
MENR/CCS Mission
"To lead the country to take comprehensive action to contribute towards local, regional and global efforts in combating Climate Change, and to integrate unavoidable climate change scenarios into national sustainable development plans.“
Source:http://www.climatechange.lk
“A major part of Jaffna and
other northern areas of Sri
Lanka will be submerged when
sea levels rise. So people are
fighting and dying over areas
that may soon not be there.”
Prof Mohan Munasinghe, former
vice chair, UN-IPCC, in 2007 media
interview
http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=37463
Impact on Sri Lanka?
The Nation newspaper, 23 Oct 2007
Montage news magazine
cover, April 2007
• More to come here
ENSO
Changes in water
temperature in this
red-shaded area of the
Pacific Ocean on the
equator near South
America are monitored
to track El Niño or La
Niña phase
ENSO events• Strong conditions influence global weather, e.g.
1982-1983 El Niño
• Flooding, drought, erosion, fires, tropical storms,
harmful effects on marine life
Fig. 7.21
S
• Caused by changes in sea surface temperature
(SST) in the equatorial Pacific Ocean
• Strongly influence climate around the world
• Return every 2 to 7 years but do not always
follow each other
• Affect production of winter vegetables and
other crops in the southeast U.S.
El Niño and La Niña: What are they?
• El Niño Phase – Warmer than normal sea surface
temperature in the Pacific Ocean near the equator
Example: Strong El Niño phases in 1982-83 and
1997-98 caused excessive rainfall on the West
Coast and the Gulf coast
• La Niña Phase – Cooler than normal sea surface
temperature in the Pacific Ocean near the equator
Example: 1998-99 and 1999-2000 La Niña phases
caused drier and warmer winters in Florida.
Result: increase forest fires; drier and warmer than
usual temperatures in other parts of the U.S.
El Niño and La Niña Phases
Normal conditions
Fig. 7.18 a
P
El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO): Warm
phase (El Niño)
Fig. 7.18 b
P
P
P
ENSO events• El Niño warm phase about every 2 to 10 years
• Highly irregular
• Phases usually last 12 to 18 months
Fig. 7.20
P
La Niña conditions
We are responsible for the
solutions…