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Climate Change Basics
What is Climate?
Climate is often confused with weather. Weather is the temperature over a short period of time or a day. Climate is the average temperature over a longer period of time, usually at least ten years.
The Greenhouse Effect
The sun emits ultraviolet radiation and visible light waves. The light waves provide us with light, and also with heat. Some of the waves are reflected back into space, but the rest penetrates the atmosphere and is converted in infrared radiation. This infrared radiation is actually what heats the Earth. It gets trapped in the Greenhouse gases in our atmosphere. Some examples of these gases are carbon dioxide, methane, water and ozone. These gases absorb the infrared radiation instead of transmitting or reflecting it. When there is an over-abundance of Greenhouse gases in our atmosphere, more infrared radiation will be trapped, causing the Earth to become warmer.
How Humans Are Affecting Climate Change
In addition to natural causes, humans are affecting climate change. The greenhouse gas that humans have contributed to adding the most of is carbon dioxide. The burning of fossil fuels is the primary way we are contributing to the increase in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. When coal and like fuel sources are burned, carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere. Also, the production of cement contributes to carbon release. Deforestation contributes as well because plants consume carbon dioxide and use it for photosynthesis, and they expel oxygen. This is only a part of the contribution of humans to climate change, but it is the most prominent.
The Effects of Climate Change on Water
With warmer global temperatures comes warmer oceans, and with these warmer oceans comes a multitude of negative effects. So, how is the ocean warming up? The oceans are absorbing carbon dioxide and heat from the air, and warming as the air is. The warming oceans cause there to be increased warming of the Earth, more female see turtles are being born (see link for additional info) https://www.thedailybeast.com/climate-change-is-making-sea-turtles-more-female-now-what?ref=scroll, increases infrastructure costs, and threatens polar creatures and coral reefs. Sea ice is also melting as a result of the increase in temperature. This also helps to accelerate the warming of the Earth because there will be a lower albedo. Albedo is the amount of Earth’s reflectivity, which is dependent on the surface. Snow and ice are the most albedo surfaces, so a loss of sea ice will lower the albedo and more heat will become absorbed instead of reflected. The loss of sea ice also threatens animals and people living in the artic. Sea ice is crucial in the hunting strategies of numerous species. The same goes for the melting glaciers. There will be short term increases in flash floods and a long term decline in water resources. The rising sea level is also going to affect many ecosystems and coastal communities, and at one point potentially destroying them. The difference in the temperatures of the sea and the air makes hurricanes. The higher the difference the stronger the storms. The increase in air temperature has made the difference greater. These storms kill people, cause severe damage, affects marine and land species, and increases flooding.