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Climate

and
Climatic
Change
Climate
Influences everything
Housing -- where we live, heating/cooling
Clothing -- what we wear
Agriculture -- food supply and cost
Flora and Fauna -- palm trees to tundra
Lifestyle -- choice of activities
Climate is defined as:
(1) the aggregate of weather conditions over an
extended time period (1970-2000) and
(2) the frequency of extreme weather events (such
as thunderstorms, tornadoes, hurricanes,
lightning strikes, etc.)
Two Branches of Climatology
Applied Theoretical
Older Newer
Explorers Meteorologists
Geographers Climate Modelers
Empirical Deductive
Descriptive Dynamic
Plant distribution Physical principles
Classification Feedback
What Why
Climate Classification
Vladimir Köppen (1918), father-in-law of Alfred Wegener.
Pattern of world climate classifications still used today.
Based on Temperature, Precipitation.
Related to vegetation types
A. Tropical rainy, cool month > 18o C
B. Dry, desert
C. Mid-latitude rainy, mild winter
D. Mid-latitude rainy, cold winter
E. Polar, warmest month < 10o C
H. Highland, above 15,000 feet
Climate Dynamics (Air masses)
Climate Change
Evidence of Past Climates
(Anthes fig. 7.9)
1. Remote sensing from satellites (since 1979) -- no change
2. Instrumental surface record (since 1860) -- 0.6 C warming
3. Diaries, written records of flood, harvest, ice (1 Ka)
4. Proxy records
Tree Rings or dendrochronology (100 - 5 Ka)
Lake Cores, Packrat Middens (100 a - 10 Ka)
-- sediments, varves, pollen, seeds, C14 (5730 a)
Ice Cores (100 a - 100 Ka)
-- CO2 bubbles, dust deposits, δ O18
Loess Deposits (100 a - 100 Ka)
-- aeolean dust, strata
Ocean Cores (1 Ka - 1 Ma)
-- sediments, mud, Isotopes
Sedimentary Rocks (1 Ka - 100 Ma)
-- fossils, strata
C14 dating proxy
Radioactive C14 is produced in the atmosphere by cosmic ray
bombardment.
It has a half-life of 5730 years and constitutes about one percent of
the carbon in an organism.
When an organism dies, its C14 continues to decay.
The older the organism, the less C14.

δ O18 temperature proxy


Both O18 and O16 are stable isotopes of oxygen
Since O18 has two more neutrons than O16 water (H2O) containing O18
is heavier, harder to evaporate.
As temperature decreases (in an ice age), snow deposits contains
less O18 while ocean water and marine organisms (CaCO3)
contain more O18
The O18 / O16 ratio or δ O18 in ice and marine deposits constitutes a
proxy thermometer that indicates ice ages and interglacials.
Low O18 in ice indicates it was deposited during cold conditions
worldwide, while low O18 in marine deposits indicates warmth.
Milankovitch, Enhanced GH, Ocean circ.
Every star has an “ecosphere”
Warm
and Cold
Periods
in Earth
History
5 Billion BP
(all of Earth history)

Mechanisms: Galactic dust , Evolution of the Sun, Evolution of the Atmosphere


180 million BP

Mechanisms: Evolution of the Atmosphere, Plate Tectonics, Mountain Building,


Volcanic Activity, Solar Variability, Ocean Circulation
1 million BP

Mechanism: Orbital Parameters


120,000 BP

Mechanism: Orbital Parameters


James Croll(1821-1890)
Leading proponent of an astronomical
theory of climate change in the
nineteenth century.
Checquered career including caretaker at
Andersonian College and Museum in
Glasgow and secretary and
accountant for the Scottish
Geological Survey.
Theory of ice ages took into account
variations in orbital eccentricity,
precession of the equinoxes, and
obliquity of the ecliptic.
Pioneer in Climate Dynamics. Feedback
mechanisms -- radiative effects of
the ice fields, enhanced formation of
cloud and fog, changes in sea level,
and the mixing and redirection of
warm and cold ocean currents
enhance the climatic changes
initiated by the orbital elements.
Milutin Milankovitch (1879-1958)
Leading proponent of an
astronomical theory of climate
change in the twentieth century.
Worked in Serbia under extreme
duress including incarceration in
1914 by the Austro-Hungarian
Army and the bombing of
Belgrade (and his publisher!) in
1941.
Calculated mathematically the timing
and influence at different
latitudes of changes in orbital
eccentricity, precession of the
equinoxes, and obliquity of the
ecliptic.
This theory was confirmed in 1976 in
the paleoclimatic proxy record,
so Milankovitch cycles became
known as the pacemaker of the
ice ages.
Ice Age (Pleistocene)
Milankovitch cycle gives minimum insolation
Glaciers advance
Lower sea levels
Lower sea surface temperatures
Reduced evaporation and precipitation
Polar front moves south
Salinity increases
Thermohaline circulation increases
Nutrients and biological productivity increase
Deep water sequesters CO2 from atmosphere
Cooling due to expanding ice caps and decreased CO2
Interglacial (Holocene)
Milankovitch cycle gives maximum insolation
Glaciers retreat
Higher sea levels
Higher sea surface temperatures
Enhanced evaporation and precipitation
Polar front moves north
Salinity decreases
Thermohaline circulation decreases
Nutrients and biological productivity decrease
Deep water releases CO2 to atmosphere
Warming due to shrinking ice caps and increased CO2
Ice Age
World:
18,000
BP
Thermohaline circulation
Interglacial Sea Level
Greenland = 6 meters
West Ant. = 5 meters
East Ant. = 60 meters
Human impacts are HUGE
Glacial Era Sea Level
Glacial-Interglacial Sea Level Changes
18,000 BP
1,000 BP
1870-1990

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