CLIMATE

• Weather


  Day-to-day condition of the atmosphere
• Climate


  The long-term average of weather patterns
• Climate change


  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
• Earth's climate has stabilized only in the tens of thousands of years
• Complex physicochemical processes in our atmosphere, oceans, and the sun support life on earth
• Role of the atmosphere


  • Protects us from harmful ultraviolet solar radiation
  • Warms the planet
  • Prevents extremes between day and night temperatures
  • Keeps the Earth habitable
• Factors that influence an area's weather

  • Latitude
  • Altitude
  • Geography (large bodies of water, mountains, urban areas)
• Factors that influence an area's climate

  • Location
  • Large-scale climate system (El Niño Southern Oscillation)
• Climate of the Philippines

  • Type I (two pronounced seasons)
  • Type II (pronounced peak in wet season)
  • Type III (no pronounced seasonal cycle)
  • Type IV (rainfall more or less distributed throughout the year)

  
• Natural greenhouse effect


  Naturally occurring concentrations of atmospheric gases trap enough heat from the sun to sustain life
• Earth's atmospheric gases


  • Nitrogen
  • Oxygen
  • Water
  • Carbon dioxide
  • Methane
• Greenhouse gases


  Absorb the energy of specific wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation (i.e. light) and transfer parts of that energy to the atmosphere as heat
• Natural greenhouse effect


  1. Solar radiation reaches the Earth's atmosphere - some is reflected back into space

  2. The rest of the sun's energy is absorbed by the land and the oceans, heating the Earth

  3. Heat radiates from Earth towards space

  4. Some of this radiative heat is trapped by greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, keeping the Earth warm enough to sustain life
• Enhanced greenhouse effect


  Human activities increase the amount of greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere, trapping extra heat and causing the Earth's temperature to rise
• Natural sources of carbon dioxide emissions

  • Decomposition of vegetation
  • Ocean release
  • Volcanic eruptions
  • Naturally occurring wildfires
  • Respiration
• Anthropogenic sources of carbon dioxide emissions

  • Production
  • Land use land cover change
  • Deforestation
  • Burning of fossil fuels (coal, oil, and natural gas)
• Climate change is 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
• Bill Nye, "The Science guy": '"It's not that the world hasn't had more carbon dioxide, it's not that the world hasn't been warmer. The problem is the speed at which things are changing. We are inducing a sixth mass extinction event kind of by accident, and we don't want to be the extinctee"'
• Global and local indicators of climate change

  • Changes in weather extremes and variability (extreme temperatures, prolonged droughts, severe storms, typhoons, flooding)
  • A collective series of extreme events (beyond normal, how frequent, how strong)
• What climatologists monitor


  • Temperature
  • Precipitation
  • Sea-level rise
  • Ocean and atmospheric currents
  • Incident solar radiation
  • Clouds
  • Water budget in the biosphere and atmosphere
• Impacts of climate change

  • Biodiversity loss
  • Agriculture
  • Coastal zones
  • Economy
  • Fisheries
  • Human health
  • Food security
  • Terrestrial ecosystems & forests
  • Water resources
  • Saltwater intrusion
  • Sea level rise
  • Coral bleaching & Ocean acidification
  • Drought
  • Flooding
  • Abnormal weather patterns
• A 2-degree rise in global temperature is considered a critical threshold above which dangerous and cascading effects of human-generated climate change will occur
• At 1.5°C, 69 million people will be directly affected or displaced by rising seas, while at 2.0°C, 80 million people will be affected
• At 1.5°C, 14% of the population will be exposed to deadly heat waves at least once every five years, while at 2.0°C, 37% will be exposed
• At 1.5°C, 350 million people will be exposed to drought, while at 2.0°C, 411 million people will be exposed
• At 1.5°C, there will be a 6% more insects, 4% fewer invertebrates, and 8% fewer plants, while at 2.0°C, there will be 18% more insects, 8% fewer invertebrates, and 16% fewer plants
• At 1.5°C, we will lose 70-90% of coral reefs, while at 2.0°C, 99% of our coral reefs will be lost
• The numbers are global averages, and different areas around the world will have the worst experience than others
• To keep temperatures from rising higher than 1.5 degrees, global emissions need to be reduced to 45% by 2030 and cut to 0% by 2050
• Main objective of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC)

  Stabilization of atmospheric GHG concentration at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system, give enough time for ecosystems to adapt to climate change, and ensure food security and sustainable economic development
• GHG emitting activities


  • Energy
  • Industrial processes
  • Agriculture
  • Land use change
  • Forestry
  • Waste
• Stopping emissions is not enough, as carbon dioxide concentration will not respond immediately due to the residence times of GHGs
• The Philippines is vulnerable to climate change due to environmental impacts, rapid urbanization, higher population density, and incidence of poverty