LIFS1030 – Environmental Science

Principles of
Environmental Science
Inquiry and Applications
Seventh Edition

Cunningham • Cunningham

Reference: Chapter 1: Understanding

our environment: pp 1-25
 My Identity
 Pei-Yuan Qian, Life Science
 E-mail: boqianpy@ust.hk
 Phone: 2358-7331
 Office: #3442

 Co-Instructors:
 Prof. Wen-Xiong Wang: wwang@ust.hk, #5447
 Dr. Ice Ko: iceko@ust.hk, #5444
 Dr. Cindy Lam: envscindy@ust.hk,
 Course Assessment
 Course activities: 35%
 Group project with intra-group peer evaluation:
25% (5-min video clip by each group)
 Inter-group peer evaluation:10%

 Midterm: 25% (MC)

 Final: 40% (MC)

 What is Environmental Science?
 Environmental Science is the systematic study of our
environment and our place in it.
 Highly Interdisciplinary
 Inclusive
 Holistic
 Mission-Oriented

 Uses concepts and information from various disciplines (i.e.

interdisciplinary) such as biology, chemistry, ecology,
geography, agriculture, economics, politics, ethics to help us
understand
 how the earth works
 how we affect the environment
 how to solve environmental problems
UNDERSTANDING OUR ENVIRONMENT

 Unique in the universe

(?)
 Mild, relatively constant
temperatures
 Biogeochemical cycles
 Millions of species
 Diverse, self-sustaining
communities
 We are living on a planet that is full of
conflicts
 Too rich vs too poor
 Draught vs flooded
 Too crowded vs too isolated
 Starved vs over-fed (obsity)
 Too hot vs too cold
 Too young vs too old
 ……
 ……
 Five components of earth’s climate system
 Atmosphere
 Hydrosphere
 Cryosphere (sea ice, lake ice, river ice, snow
cover, glaciers, ice caps, ice sheets, frozen
ground) – cryosphere overlap with the
hydrosphere
 Lithosphere (restricted to surfaces soils, rocks,
sediments)
 biosphere
 Global Environmental Issues

Questions to be addressed:
 What are the most pressing global
environmental problems that we are
currently facing?
 What are the root-causes of these

environmental problems?
 Scope Survey:
what are the most
important environmental
issues?
 Global climate change
Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_change

 Definition: a significant and lasting change in

the statistical distribution of weather patterns
over periods ranging from decades to millions
of years.
 A change in average weather conditions, or in the
distribution of weather around the average
conditions (i.e., more or fewer extreme weather
events).
 Climate change is often used to describe human-
specific impacts.
 Global climate change
 Source of Energy on Earth: solar radiation
 Energy received from the sun> energy lost to space –
warming up
 Energy received from the sun < energy lost to space –
cooling down

 Energy distribution on earth surface by

 winds
 Ocean currents
 Other mechanisms to affect the climates of different
regions
 Global climate change
Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_change

 Climate forcings/mechanisms – factors that

shape climate
 Oceanic processes (such as oceanic circulation),
 Biotic processes
 Variations in solar radiation received by Earth
 Variations in Earth’s orbit
 plate tectonics and volcanic eruptions
 Greenhouse gas emission - human-induced
alterations of the natural world; these latter effects
are currently causing global warming
 Global climate change

 Climate forcings
 Internal forcing mechanisms – nature
processes
 Thermohaline circulation
 External forcing mechanisms – either
natural or anthropogenic
 Changes in solar output
 Increase emissions of greenhouse gases
 Means to study climate change
 using observations and theoretical
models.
 Borehole temperature profiles (sea floor
drilling programs…)
 ice cores (polar regions and ice glaciers)
 Floral and faunal records,
 Glacial and periglacial processes,
 Stable isotope and other sediment
analyses
 Means to study climate change
 Sea level records serve to provide a climate
record that spans the geologic past.
 More recent data are provided by the
instrumental record.
 Physically based general circulation models
are often used in theoretical approaches to
match past climate data, make future
projections, and link causes and effects in
climate change.
 Internal forcings I: Ocean variability

 Ocean is fundamental part of the climate

systems
 Some changes in ocean occurring at longer
time scales than in the air
 Massing hundreds of times more
 Very high thermal inertia (ocean depths
still lagging today in temperature
adjustment from the little ice age)
Climate change – ocean circulation –
extreme weather
 Increase in frequency and intensity of extreme weathers in
recent years
 Substantial losses in life and properties
 Impact of climate change on
 Water distribution
 Heat distribution
 Ecosystems
 Food
 Coast
 Health
 Economy
 Impact on society
 Ports, infrastructure, public utilities, communication systems,
emergency service, healthcare facilities, transport systems, building
design…
General Patterns of wind over the
Earth surface
General Patterns of Ocean Circulation
Internal forcings – II: Ocean circulation –
conveyor belt
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ifoCIFKYXQ;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vgvTeuoDWY)
 Internal forcings I: Ocean variability

 Variations at different time scales

 Short-term fluctuations – representing
climate variability rather than climate
change
 El Nino-Sothern Oscillation- The 'Southern Oscillation' refers to
variations in the temperature of the surface of the tropical eastern Pacific
Ocean (warming and cooling known as El Niño and La Niña,
respectively) and in air surface pressure in the tropical western Pacific
 Pacific decadal oscillation
 North Atlantic oscillation
 Arctic oscillation
 Long-term alteration of ocean processes
 Thermohaline circulation
Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) 1925-2010

The PDO is detected as warm or cool surface waters in the Pacific Ocean, north
of 20° N. During a "warm", or "positive", phase, the west Pacific becomes cool
and part of the eastern ocean warms; during a "cool" or "negative" phase, the
opposite pattern occurs. It shifts phases on at least inter-decadal time scale,
usually about 20 to 30 years.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_decadal_oscillation
 North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) is a climatic phenomenon in the North Atlantic Ocean of fluctuations in
the difference of atmospheric pressure at sea level between the Icelandic low and the Azores high.
Through east-west oscillation motions of the Icelandic low and the Azores high, it controls the strength
and direction of westerly winds and storm tracks across the North Atlantic.

Winter index of the NAO based on the difference of normalized sea level pressure (SLP) between Lisbon,
Portugal and Stykkisholmur/Reykjavík, Iceland since 1864, with a five year moving average (black)
 Southern Oscillation- El Nino

Normal Pacific pattern: El Niño conditions: Warm

Equatorial winds gather
warm water pool toward the
west. Cold water upwells
along South American coast.
(NOAA / PMEL / TAO)
water pool approaches the
South American coast. The
absence of cold upwelling
increases warming
Southern Oscillation Index (SOI) time series 1876-2011
SOI: indication of the development and intensity of
El Niño or La Niña events in the Pacific Ocean
 Sustainted positive values of the SOI above +8 are typical of a La Niña episode
associated with stronger Pacific trade winds and warmer sea temperatures to the north of Australia.
Waters in the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean become cooler during this time
an increased probability that eastern and northern Australia will be wetter than normal.
Temperature Anomalies 1950–2011, showing ENSO

Anomaly: different from norm

External forcings I: orbital variation

 Orbital variation
 The Earth's orbit is an ellipse,
 The eccentricity is a measure of the departure

of this ellipse from circularity.

 The shape of the Earth's orbit varies in time

between nearly circular (low eccentricity of

0.005) and mildly elliptical (high eccentricity
of 0.058) with the mean eccentricity of 0.028.
External forcings I: orbital variation

 Orbital variation
 The major component of these variations
occurs on a period of 413,000 years
(eccentricity variation of ±0.012). A number of
other terms vary between components 95,000
and 125,000 years (with a beat period 400,000
years), and loosely combine into a 100,000-
year cycle (variation of −0.03 to +0.02). The
present eccentricity is 0.017.
Earth's motion around the Sun, not as simple as we thought

 http://www.search.ask.com/search?q=solar+radiation+of+the+
earth&psv=&apn_dbr=ie_11.0.9600.17728&apn_dtid=%5EOSJ0
00%5EYY%5EHK&itbv=12.24.1.51&p2=%5EBBE%5EOSJ000%5
EYY%5EHK&apn_ptnrs=BBE&o=APN11406&ctype=videos&gct=
hp&pf=V7&tpid=ORJ-SPE&trgb=IE&pt=tb&apn_uid=3220910A-
75AB-46AF-9B01-AE08153D1B92&doi=2015-05-
05&tpr=4&ts=1432951846732
 Youtube:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82p-DYgGFjI
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=
82p-DYgGFjI
 http://www.search.ask.com/search?psv=&apn_dbr=ie_11.0.960
0.17728&apn_dtid=%5EOSJ000%5EYY%5EHK&itbv=12.24.1.51
&p2=%5EBBE%5EOSJ000%5EYY%5EHK&apn_ptnrs=BBE&o=A
PN11406&ctype=videos&gct=hp&pf=V7&tpid=ORJ-
SPE&trgb=IE&pt=tb&apn_uid=3220910A-75AB-46AF-9B01-
AE08153D1B92&doi=2015-05-
05&tpr=5&q=Earth+Rotation+around+the+Sun&ots=14329516
85314
 Milankovitch cycles
 Milankovitch theory describes the collective effects of
changes in the Earth's movements upon its climate.
 Variations in eccentricity, axial tilt, and precession of the
Earth's orbit determined climatic patterns on Earth
through orbital forcing.
 The Earth's axis completes one full cycle of precession
approximately in 26,000 years.
 At the same time the elliptical orbit rotates more slowly.
The combined effect of the two precessions leads to a
21,000-year period between the astronomical seasons and
the orbit.
 In addition, the angle between Earth's rotational axis and
the normal to the plane of its orbit (obliquity) oscillates
between 22.1 and 24.5 degrees on a 41,000-year cycle. It is
currently 23.44 degrees and decreasing.
 Axial tilt (obliquity)
The angle of the Earth's axial tilt (obliquity of the ecliptic)
varies with respect to the plane of the Earth's orbit. These
slow 2.4° obliquity variations are roughly periodic, taking
approximately 41,000
years to shift between a
tilt of 22.1° and 24.5° and back again. When the
obliquity increases, the amplitude of the seasonal cycle in
insolation increases, with summers in both hemispheres
receiving more radiative flux from the Sun, and winters
less. Conversely, when the obliquity decreases, summers
receive less insolation and winters more
Axial precession
Precession is the trend in the direction of the Earth's axis of rotation
relative to the fixed stars, with a period of roughly 26,000 years, due
to the tidal forces exerted by the Sun and the Moon on the solid Earth,
which has the shape of an oblate spheroid rather than a sphere.
When the axis points toward the Sun in perihelion (i.e. the north pole is
pointed towards the Sun), the northern hemisphere has a greater difference
between the seasons while the southern hemisphere has milder seasons.
When the axis points away from the Sun in perihelion (i.e. the south pole
is pointed towards the Sun), the southern hemisphere has a greater
difference between the seasons while the northern hemisphere has milder
seasons. The hemisphere that is in summer at perihelion receives much of
the corresponding increase in solar radiation, but that same hemisphere in
winter at aphelion has a colder winter. The other hemisphere will have a
relatively warmer winter and cooler summer.
Effects of Apsidal precession (25,771.5 to ~21,636 years) on
the seasons (using the Northern Hemisphere terms).
420,000 years of ice core data from
Vostok, Antarctica research station.
 External forcings II: solar output
 The Sun is the predominant source for
energy input to the Earth. Both long- and
short-term variations in solar intensity
are known to affect global climate

 Three to four billion years ago the sun emitted

only 70% as much power as it does today
Variations in solar activity during the last several centuries based
on observations of sunspots and beryllium isotopes.
Ca. 11 year solar cycle (solar magnetic cycle) –
short-term cycle- Royal Observatory of Belgium
External forcings III: Volcanism
 External forcings IV: Plate tectonics
 The motion of tectonic plates reconfigures global land and ocean areas and
generates topography and affect both global and local patterns of climate
and atmosphere-ocean circulation;

 The position of the continents determines the geometry of the oceans and
therefore influences patterns of ocean circulation.

 The locations of the seas are important in controlling the transfer of heat
and moisture across the globe, and therefore, in determining global climate -
the Isthmus of Panama about 5 million years ago shut off direct mixing
between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

 About 300 to 360 million years ago, plate tectonics may have triggered large-
scale storage of carbon and increased glaciation.

 The size of continents is also important - A larger supercontinent will have

more area in which climate is strongly seasonal than will several smaller
continents or islands.
 External forcings V: Human influences

 Increased CO2 levels due to emissions from

fossile fuel combusion
 Aerosols
 Cement manufacture
 Ozone depletion
 Land use
 Animal agriculture
 deforestation
 Evidence of climatic change

Arctic temperature anomalies over a 100 year period as estimated by NASA. Typical
high monthly variance can be seen, while longer-term averages highlight trends.
 Evidence of climatic change

Comparisons between Asian Monsoons from 200 A.D. to 2000 A.D. Northern
Hemisphere temperature, Alpine glacier extent (vertically inverted as marked), and
human history as noted by the U.S. NSF.
Evidence of climatic change
Evidence of climatic
change

A change in the
type, distribution
and coverage of
vegetation
Evidence of climatic change
(Sea level rise)

Changes in sea level since the

end of the last glacial episode.
Additional reading materials
 Arctic Oscillation time series for the
extended (DJFM) winter season 1899–2011
Milankovitch cycles
 Milankovitch theory describes the
collective effects of changes in the
Earth's movements upon its
climate.
 Variations in eccentricity, axial tilt,
and precession of the Earth's orbit
determined climatic patterns on
Earth through orbital forcing.
 The Earth's axis completes one full
cycle of precession approximately
every 26,000 years.
 At the same time the elliptical orbit
rotates more slowly. The combined
effect of the two precessions leads to
a 21,000-year period between the
astronomical seasons and the orbit.
 In addition, the angle between
Earth's rotational axis and the
normal to the plane of its orbit
(obliquity) oscillates between 22.1
and 24.5 degrees on a 41,000-year
cycle. It is currently 23.44 degrees
and decreasing.
Orbital inclination
 Inclination in
general is the angle
between a reference
plane and another
plane or axis of
direction;

 In the Solar System,

the inclination of the
orbit of a planet is
defined as the angle
between the plane of
the orbit of the planet
and the ecliptic —
which is the plane
containing Earth's
orbital path
Variations of Cycle Times, curves
determined from ocean sediments
 Evidence of climatic change

The decline in Arctic sea ice, both in extent and thickness, over the
last several decades is further evidence for rapid climate change
 Evidence of climatic change
(Antarctic ice sheet)

Polar climatic temperature changes throughout the Cenozoic, showing glaciation

of Antarctica toward the end of the Eocene, thawing near the end of the
Oligocene and subsequent Miocene re-glaciation.
 Global mean land-ocean temperature change
from 1880–2011, relative to the 1951–1980 mean

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_warming
Global Cooling Evidence (daily mean
temperature in Arctic)
http://ocean.dmi.dk/arctic/meant80n.uk.php
a close correlation between extrema in the Southern Oscillation Index (SOI), indicating ENSO events, and special phases a and d
within the ascending and the declining part of the 11-year sunspot cycle. The SOI data are reversed so that strong positive peaks
point to El Niños and troughs to La Niñas. The 11-year cycle is not symmetric. Reliable observations available since 1750 show
that the mean rise to the sunspot maximum (4.3 years) is considerably steeper than the decline to the sunspot minimum (6.7
years). The mean ratio of the rising part to the whole 11-year cycle is 0.39.