FACT OR MYTH?

Laura Blackburn, LWV-Houston Area

MANMADE?

Or

NATURAL CAUSES

Or

BOTH ????

(uV

)

Infrared

TYPES & DISTRIBUTION OF GREENHOUSE GASES

Reference: IPCC 4th Assessment Report:Climate Change 2007:  Synthesis Report

Total CO2 = 76.7%Total CO2 =

76.7%

C(Chlorofluorohydrocarbons)

(Methane)

Current global emissions = 38 billion metric tons/year

WATER IS ALSO A GREENHOUSE GAS:

TERMITES AND COWS?

Figure 2-1: Global sources of methane

Cows, sheep, etc.

TYPES & DISTRIBUTION OF GREENHOUSE GASES

Reference: IPCC 4th Assessment Report:Climate Change 2007:  Synthesis Report

Total CO2 = 76.7%Total CO2 =

76.7%

C(Chlorofluorohydrocarbons)

(Methane)

Source: U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory (y-axis units are teragrams of CO2 equivalent)

For the following graphs, please note the BEGINNING year:

800,000 Year Record of Carbon Dioxide Concentration(Lüthi et al.; Tans; International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis)

Analysis of air bubbles trapped in an Antarctic ice core extending back 800,000 years.

Note the close correlation between CO2 and global surface temperature.

Note: While temperature may be going down, the trend is still UP!

Hadley CRU - University of East Anglia Climate Research UnitMSU – Michigan State University

This is a short-term map, which does not show the long-term trend.

However, nine of the world’s hottest years have occurred this decade.

"Bergie Seltzer"Melting water streams from iceberg calved from Ilulissat Kangerlua Glacier in Disko Bay, Greenland. When an iceberg melts, it makes a fizzing sound called "Bergie Seltzer." This sound is made when compressed air bubbles trapped in the iceberg pop.

Himalayan Glacier

February 12, 1993

February 21, 2000

Friday, 4 December 2009

Nepal cabinet holds meeting on Mount Everest

Nepalese ministers have held the world's highest cabinet meeting on Mount Everest, to raise awareness of the effects of climate change.

Grinnell Glacier in Glacier National Park, Montana

An iceberg reaches Macquarie Island, 930 miles southeast of Tasmania, Australia, on Nov. 16

NASA & Chinese Study of ice cores from 5 Tibetan Plateau glaciers:

•Melting faster than global warming would suggest

•Found rapid increases in black soot since 1990’s

•Mostly from air pollution over Asia, especially India

•Soot-darkened snow and glaciers absorb sunlight- increased melting

Black Soot and the Survival of Tibetan Glaciers

Posted December 15, 2009

NASA Earth Observatory

Loading Image...

Open boats on Shennong Stream, in the Three Gorges off the Yangtze River in China

Melting of Glaciers and Ice Sheets + Thermal Expansion

Table 1. Estimated potential maximum sea-level rise from the total melting of present-day glaciers. http://pubs.usgs.gov/factsheet/fs50-98/]

 

LOCATION POTENTIAL SEA-LEVEL RISE (m)

East Antarctic ice sheet……………………………………….. 64.8

West Antarctic ice sheet………………………………………… 8.06

Antarctic Peninsula…………………… 0.46

Greenland………………………………… 6.55

All other ice caps, ice fields,and valley glaciers…………………………………….. 0.45 TOTAL 80.32

What would happen to Houston if the glaciers and ice of Greenland melted?

U.S.G.S. – One meter rise in sea levels would affect 25% of of U.S. population.

Houston

New Orleans

Miami

What would happen to London? To Amsterdam? To Calais?

RESULTS OF RISING SEAS:

A woman speaks on her phone in flood waters during a period of seasonal high water in Venice November 30, 2009. The water level in the canal city rose to 130 cm (4 feet) above normal, according to the monitoring institute.

Date: 14-Dec-09Country: INDONESIAAuthor: REUTERS

Photo: Yusuf Ahmad A Woman Prepares A Meal Inside Her House Which Is Surrounded By Sea Water As A Result Of Rising Sea Levels In Una Una , Indonesia

More Slide Shows

The loss of permafrost and protective sea ice may force villages like Alaska's Shismaref to relocate.

Aerial photo of Male Atoll, Republic of Maldives. Atoll will vanish with 2ºC temperature rise. NG Photo

DESERTIFICATION

Northwestern Kenya's drought has brought conflict between pastoralists

A villager walks through a partially dried reservoir in Yingtan, Jiangxi province October 29, 2009.Photo: Reuters

The Milluni reservoir has receded as glaciers that provide some of Bolivia's water and electricity have melted and disappeared.

A farmer stands next to the burnt Amazon forest next to the city of Careiro da Varzea November 28, 2009.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.Global warming is happening.

2.The correlation between global temperature and carbon dioxide concentration is very high.