How does

GLOBAL WARMING and THE GREENHOUSE

EFFECT
impact the environment ?
Ms. Pride
Regents Biology
SB1-03 or SB1-16
October 16, 2008
Global Warming and The Greenhouse
Effect
 Global warming is defined as the
gradual increase in average measured
surface temperature on Earth
 The Greenhouse effect is defined as
the trapping and build-up of heat in the
lower atmosphere near a planet's
surface. Some of the heat flowing back
towards space from the Earth's surface
is absorbed by water vapor (H2O),
carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4)
and other gases in the atmosphere.
 ENVIRONMENT
Increased Surface Temperatures on
Earth
 Global surface
temperature increased
0.74 ± 0.18 °C
(1.33 ± 0.32 °F) during
the
100 years ending in
2005.

 Enhanced and attributed

to an increase in
greenhouse gas
concentrations
 Increasing CO2 Concentrations
Fluctuations in temperature (red line) and in the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide (yellow) over the
past 649,000 years. The vertical red bar at the end is the increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide levels over the
past two centuries and before 2007.
 Humans Impact on Global
Warming and the Greenhouse
Effect
 Increased Carbon Dioxide
concentrations resulting from burning
fossil fuels (e.g. coal (picture),
petroleum and natural gas)for energy
 U.S. Energy Information Administration
reported that 86% of primary energy
production in the world came from
burning fossil fuels
 Complete Combustion:
 Effects of Global Warming and The

 
Greenhouse Effect
Increased Global temperatures

                                                                                                       

Changes in weather patterns as a result of fluctuations in

Global temperatures resulting in increased storm
frequencies and intensities
 Examples of Attributed and Expected
Effects of Global Warming and The

 
Greenhouse Effect
Changes in agricultural yields due to changes in amounts
of precipitation (i.e. droughts, flooding, etc.)
Changes in Global Glacial Thickness (Glacial Retreat)

                                                                                                         

                 
Examples of Attributed and Expected
Effects of Global Warming and The
Greenhouse Effect
Sea-Level rising and Coastal Flooding due
to Glacial melting, small ice cap melting,
ice sheet melting in the Arctic and
Greenland
Loss of Natural Ecosystems and
Biodiversity resulting in changes of
migration patterns for some species,
changes in growth patterns for plant life
due to seasonal changes.
 References
 www.science.org.au/nova/016/016glo.htm
 http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/science/pastcc.html
 http://www.eia.doe.gov
 647426 BC to 411548 BC:  Siegenthaler, U., T. F. Stocker, E. Monnin, D. Lüthi, J. Schwander, B. Stauffer, D. Raynaud, J.M. Barnola, H. Fischer, V.
Masson-Delmotte, and J. Jouzel. 2005. Stable Carbon Cycle-Climate Relationship During the Late Pleistocene. Science 310: 1313-1317. Data
 415157 BC to 339 BC: Barnola, J.-M., D. Raynaud, C. Lorius, and N.I. Barkov. 2003. Historical CO2 record from the Vostok ice core. In Trends: A
Compendium of Data on Global Change. Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Department of Energy, Oak
Ridge, Tenn., U.S.A. Data
 9002 BC to 1515 AD: Flückiger, J., E. Monnin, B. Stauffer, J. Schwander, T.F. Stocker, J. Chappellaz, D. Raynaud, and J.-M. Barnola, 2002, High
resolution Holocene N2O ice core record and its relationship with CH4 and CO2, Glob. Biogeochem. Cycles, Volume 16, Number 1, March 2002,
10.1029/2001GB001417. Data
 1010 AD to 1978 AD: D.M. Etheridge, L.P. Steele, R.L. Langenfelds, R.J. Francey, J.-M. Barnola and V.I. Morgan. 1998. Historical CO2 records from the
Law Dome DE08, DE08-2, and DSS ice cores. In Trends: A Compendium of Data on Global Change. Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center, Oak
Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Department of Energy, Oak Ridge, Tenn., U.S.A. Data
 1958-2006 AD: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Earth System Research Laboratory, Global Monitoring Division. 2007.
Monthly Mean CO2 concentrations from Mauna Loa, Hawaii.   (Accessed May 29, 2007). Data
 Dyurgerov, Mark B. (2002). "Glacier Mass Balance and Regime: Data of Measurements and Analysis". Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research,
Occasional Paper 55.
 Dyurgerov, Mark B. and Mark F. Meier (2005). "Glaciers and the Changing Earth System: A 2004 Snapshot". Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research,
Occasional Paper 58.
 J. Oerlemans (2005). "Extracting a Climate Signal from 169 Glacier Records". Science 308 (5722): 675-677. DOI:10.1126/science.1107046
 http://www.ipcc-wg2.org/index.html