Climate change and global warming
Climate change is a change in the statistical distribution of weather
over periods of time that range from decades to millions of years. It
can be a change in the average weather or a change in the distribution
of weather events around an average (for example, greater or fewer
extreme weather events). Climate change may be limited to a specific
region, or may occur across the whole Earth.
In recent usage, especially in the context of environmental policy,
climate change usually refers to changes in modern climate. It may be
qualified as anthropogenic climate change, more generally known as
“global warming” or “anthropogenic global warming” (AGW).
For information on temperature measurements over various periods, and
the data sources available, see temperature record. For attribution of
climate change over the past century, see attribution of recent climate
change.
Terminology
The most general definition of climate change is a change in the
statistical properties of the climate system when considered over
periods of decades or longer, regardless of cause.
The term sometimes is used to refer specifically to climate change
caused by human activity; for example, the United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change defines climate change as “a change of
climate which is attributed directly or indirectly to human activity
that alters the composition of the global atmosphere and which is in
addition to natural climate variability observed over comparable time
periods.”
In the latter sense climate change is synonymous with global warming.
Causes
Factors that can shape climate are climate forcings. These include
such processes as variations in solar radiation, deviations in the
Earth’s orbit, mountain-building and continental drift, and changes in
greenhouse gas concentrations.
There are a variety of climate change feedbacks that can either
amplify or diminish the initial forcing.
Some parts of the climate system, such as the oceans and ice caps,
respond slowly in reaction to climate forcing because of their large
mass. Therefore, the climate system can take centuries or longer to
fully respond to new external forcings.
Plate tectonics
Over the course of millions of years, the motion of tectonic plates
reconfigures global land and ocean areas and generates topography. This
can affect both global and local patterns of climate and
atmosphere-ocean circulation.
The position of the continents determines the geometry of the oceans
and therefore influences patterns of ocean circulation. The locations of
the seas are important in controlling the transfer of heat and moisture
across the globe, and therefore, in determining global climate.
A recent example of tectonic control on ocean circulation is the
formation of the Isthmus of Panama about 5 million years ago, which shut
off direct mixing between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. This strongly
affected the ocean dynamics of what is now the Gulf Stream and may have
led to Northern Hemisphere ice cover.
During the Carboniferous period, about 300 to 360 million years ago,
plate tectonics may have triggered large-scale storage of carbon and
increased glaciation.[7] Geologic evidence points to a “megamonsoonal”
circulation pattern during the time of the supercontinent Pangaea, and
climate modeling suggests that the existence of the supercontinent was
conducive to the establishment of monsoons.[8]
The size of continents is also important. Because of the stabilizing
effect of the oceans on temperature, yearly temperature variations are
generally lower in coastal areas than they are inland. A larger
supercontinent will therefore have more area in which climate is
strongly seasonal than will several smaller continents or islands.
Solar output
The sun is the predominant source for energy input to the Earth. Both
long- and short-term variations in solar intensity are known to affect
global climate.
Three to four billion years ago the sun emitted only 70% as much
power as it does today. If the atmospheric composition had been the same
as today, liquid water should not have existed on Earth. However, there
is evidence for the presence of water on the early Earth, in the Hadean
and Archean eons, leading to what is known as the faint young sun
paradox.
Hypothesized solutions to this paradox include a vastly different
atmosphere, with much higher concentrations of greenhouse gases than
currently exist.
Over the following approximately four billion years, the energy
output of the sun increased and atmospheric composition changed, with
the oxygenation of the atmosphere around 2.4 billion years ago being the
most notable alteration. These changes in luminosity, and the sun’s
ultimate death as it becomes a red giant and then a white dwarf, will
have large effects on climate, with the red giant phase possibly ending
life on Earth.
Solar output also varies on shorter time scales, including the
11-year solar cycle and longer-term modulations.
Solar intensity variations are considered to have been influential in
triggering the Little Ice Age and some of the warming observed from 1900
to 1950.
The cyclical nature of the sun’s energy output is not yet fully
understood; it differs from the very slow change that is happening
within the sun as it ages and evolves.
While most research indicates solar variability has induced a small
cooling effect from 1750 to the present, a few studies point toward
solar radiation increases from cyclical sunspot activity affecting
global warming.
Orbital variations
Slight variations in Earth’s orbit lead to changes in the seasonal
distribution of sunlight reaching the Earth’s surface and how it is
distributed across the globe. There is very little change to the
area-averaged annually averaged sunshine; but there can be strong
changes in the geographical and seasonal distribution. The three types
of orbital variations are variations in Earth’s eccentricity, changes in
the tilt angle of Earth’s axis of rotation, and precession of Earth’s
axis. Combined together, these produce Milankovitch cycles which have a
large impact on climate and are notable for their correlation to glacial
and interglacial periods,[19] their correlation with the advance and
retreat of the Sahara,[19] and for their appearance in the stratigraphic
record.
Source: Google
|