EAS 1540 Lecture Notes - Lecture 16: Ocean Acidification, Sea Level Rise, Food Security
23 Dec 2016
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Document Summary
Consequences of increased co2 (global warming, sea level rise, artic sea loss, coral bleaching, ocean acidification, extreme weather, food security) Co2 levels - increased by 40% since industrial level. Increases by 2 to 3 ppm per year. Consequences of increased atmospheric co2: greenhouse gas effect. Short wavelength radiation passes through the glass (earth"s atmosphere) Long wavelengths are radiated out as heat energy. Increased co2 has created a persistent energy imbalance. About 2 watts/m^2 being added every hour of everyday of every year - so the earth warms. We should not let earth cross 2 degrees over pre-industrial level (civilization will fall apart, will cause global wars, mass migration, etc) Perspective: 4 degrees colder causes 1km of ice (ice age) above ithaca. Last time co2 was at 400ppm was 4mill years ago (and humans didn"t exist) Natural rise/fall of co2, average temperatures, sea levels. Natural climate forcing factors (are small compared to current human forcing)
