Climate change

• Disturbance


  • Fire
• Climatic Variation Within British Columbia
• Orographic Precipitation


  Precipitation caused by the lifting of moist air over mountains

  
• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
• Lodgepole pine


  • Regenerates in the understory on some dry sites with low densities
  • Produces viable seed by age 5 - 10 years
  • Serotinous cones - therefore requires heat for cone opening
  • Can form pyral climax communities

  
• Damaging Agents & Potential Hazards

  • Mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae)
  • Dwarf mistletoe
  • Various fungi

  
• Observed presence of mountain pine beetle from 1999 to 2012

  
• Lodgepole pine trees killed by mountain pine beetle near Bonaparte Lake, BC

  
• Eighty years of fire exclusion – giant sequoia-mixed conifer forests of Yosemite National Park

  
• Impacts of Climate Change in our Region

  • Wildfires
  • Insect Outbreaks
  • Drought
  • Flooding
  • Economics
  • Social
• Ecosystems are constantly changing – they are not static.
• It's the rate of change that is concerning to us.
• Climate


  Long-term statistics of climate elements (such as temperature, pressure, or winds) sustained over several decades or longer
• Precipitation Kamloops Airport 1951-2012
• Climate data


  Used for long-term planning and understanding trends
• Weather data


  Used for short-term forecasting and understanding current conditions
• Climate change is any systematic change in the long-term statistics of climate elements (such as temperature, pressure, or winds) sustained over several decades or longer
• Earth coordinate system
• Climates of the Earth
• What to believe


  • Firsthand experience
  • Values
  • Opinion leader
  • Experts
• Has the climate changed in your lifetime?
• Does it fit in with your world view?
• If you believe in unfettered freedom, you might reject smoking as dangerous to you and others because it represents government control
• Opinion leaders


  • Joe Oliver - Canada's former finance minister
  • Al Gore - former Vice President of the USA
  • Buzz Aldrin - astronaut
  • Rush Limbaugh - talk show host
  • David Suzuki - environmentalist
• Climate scientists
• Shortwave radiation


  Solar radiation
• Longwave radiation


  Infrared radiation emitted by the Earth's surface and atmosphere
• Net radiation equation


  Incoming shortwave radiation - Outgoing longwave radiation
• Greenhouse effect


  Trapping of longwave radiation by greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, causing the Earth's surface to warm
• Where does nearly all the energy driving our climate come from?
• Joules


  Unit of energy
• Watts


  Unit of power (energy per time)
• Radiation depends on temperature


  Energy emitted = T^4, where T is temperature in Kelvins and is emissivity
• Each surface has an energy budget
• Shortwave radiation (K)


  Solar radiation irradiating on a surface
• Longwave radiation (L)


  Infrared radiation emitted by the Earth's surface and atmosphere
• Albedo


  Measure of how much shortwave radiation is reflected by a surface, between 0 and 1
• Albedo can vary considerably
• Shortwave radiation budget calculation
• Absorptivity


  Ability of a surface to absorb longwave radiation