Climate Terms
Alan Sundermeier
[email protected]
EMPOWERMENT THROUGH EDUCATION
What Should Ag Professionals
Understand About Climate Change
• In 2012 the Great Lakes Regional Water
Program worked with 17 Extension
professionals from Land Grant and Sea Grant
along with NOAA and the River Network
developed a list of 10 core competencies
related to climate change for Extension and
outreach professionals.
Climate Change Core Competencies
Include
– Climate change science
– Scientific method and consensus on climate change
and potential impacts
– Public division on climate change
– History and implementation of public policy on
climate change
– Ecological principles and climate change
– Evaluating risks and potential adaptations that
address risks to infrastructure, economic
development, and health
– Teach about climate change
Climate Change: The Fundamentals
Climate
Climate
Variability
Climate
Change
• Climate describes how Weather varies at a
particular location over a longer period of time.
• Climate Variability describes fluctuations in the
Climate itself over time. These changes are
usually natural and brief.
• Climate Change describes long-term (decades
or longer) and persistent changes in Earth's
Climate.
Natural Processes
• Natural processes that can produce a change
in Earth’s climate include variations in solar
energy received by Earth arising from variable
solar activity or slow orbital changes
Human Processes
• Human processes that can produce a change
in Earth’s climate include the burning of fossil
fuels (which releases greenhouse gases) and
land use changes like urbanization,
deforestation, and desertification
Greenhouse Gas
• A greenhouse gas is a gas in the atmosphere
that absorbs and emits infrared radiation
Greenhouse Gas
• The most abundant greenhouse gas is water
vapor, and its presence is natural in the
atmosphere. Other greenhouse gases that
occur naturally in the atmosphere are carbon
dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide
Greenhouse Gas
• Man-made greenhouse gases include
chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and ground-level
ozone
Natural Greenhouse Effect
• Greenhouse gases, naturally present in the
atmosphere, allow direct sunlight to reach the
Earth’s surface unimpeded. To balance the
absorbed incoming energy from the Sun, the
• earth radiates this energy back toward space.
However, greenhouse gases absorb part of Earth’s
energy and reradiate it back to Earth (while the
remainder escapes into space).
•
Natural Greenhouse Effect
• As long as the amount of greenhouse gases in
the air stays the same, and as long as the
amount of heat arriving from the Sun is
constant, the natural greenhouse effect
maintains the average temperature of Earth.
Enhanced Greenhouse Effect
• When the concentration of greenhouse gases
increases in the atmosphere, which happens
for example, when fossil fuels are burned and
they release carbon, more heat is trapped in
the lower atmosphere. This intensifies the
natural greenhouse effect and leads to
warmer temperatures at Earth’s surface,
creating an enhanced greenhouse effect
Carbon Cycle
• Carbon dioxide is a natural component of
Earth’s atmosphere and it has been cycling
among large reservoirs in the land, oceans,
and atmosphere throughout the history of
Earth. Humans have altered the natural
carbon cycle by burning fossil fuels,
deforestation, and other land use changes
Where can you go for regional
information on climate change
• Great Lakes Regional Water Program
– http://greatlakeswater.uwex.edu/coordinating-climateoutreach-great-lakes-region
– Core competencies and 2012 distance short courses
• NOAA’s Climate Ready Great Lakes and NERRs
– http://www.regions.noaa.gov/great-lakes/?page_id=395
– Anytime online modules great for learning about regional
climate science and adaptations (great slides you can use)
• OSU Climate Outreach Team
– Features webinars from experts (mostly from Ohio) who explain
climate change and discuss implications for educators
– http://changingclimate.osu.edu/
– Anne Baird OSU Extension [email protected]