Climate

1
Climate Global Change
Science Concepts Feedbacks Photosynthesis
The Earths Carbon Cycle Carbon Budget Carbon
Change Rain Forest Biodiversity Human
Activities Burning Cycles Natural
Changes Desertification Sahel Deforestation
The Earth System (Kump, Kastin Crane) Chap.
8 (pp. 165-167)
2
The Carbon Cycle
Carbon Budget
Deforestation
Atmosphere 750 3/year
5
2
90
50
50
102
92
Land Biota 550
50
Surface Ocean 1000 1/year
Rivers 0.8
Soil and Detritus 1500
36
Biota 3
40
4
5
37
Intermediate and Deep Waters 38000 2/year
Fossil Fuel
0.2
Sedimentation
3
The Carbon Cycle
Ocean Carbon Budget
4
The Carbon Cycle
Carbon Change The largest human contribution
to climate change Human activity adds CO2
to the atmosphere - Fossil fuels - biomass
burning - cement production Carbon dioxide
naturally cycles among the land, atmosphere
and oceans Knowledge of the carbon cycle is
essential to forecasting human influences on
climate
http//www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link/earth/ clim
ate/images/carboncycle_jpg_image.html
5
The Carbon Cycle
Net Primary Productivity Amount of carbon
consumed by plants (both on land and in the
ocean) per square kilometer, called net
primary productivity, in 2002 Note
Rain- forest areas are regions of high
carbon consumptions
http//earthobservatory.nasa.gov/
Study/LBA/escape.html
6
The Carbon Cycle
Rainforests Where are they? Area of Closed
Country Forest in 1985 (Hectares) Brazil 357,48
0,000 Indonesia 113,895,000 Zaire 105,750,000 P
eru 69,680,000 India 51,841,000 Colombia 46,400,
000 Mexico 46,250,000 Bolivia 44,010,000 Papua
New Guinea 34,230,000 Burma 31,941,000 Venezuela
31,870,000 Congo 21,340,000 Malaysia 20,995,000
Gabon 20,500,000 Guyana 18,475,000 Cameroon 17
,920,000 Suriname 14,830,000 Ecuador 14,250,000
Madagascar 10,300,000
7
The Carbon Cycle
Rainforests (Cont) Biodiversity
Importance - Bushmaster snake (lives in the
rainforest) venom used as a pattern to make
hypertension medicine. - As of 1985, 119 pure
chemical substances extracted from higher
plants were used in medicine.
Therapeutic Plant Drug Category Foxglove
Digitoxin Cardiotonix Opium poppy Codeine Analg
esic Morphine Sedative Tobacco Nicotine Inse
cticide May apple Podophyllotoxin Cancer Whi
te willow Salicin Analgesic (Asperin - known
to Hippocrates) Cocoa, Cacoa Theobromine Diuret
ic Curare Tubocurarine Skeletal muscle
relaxant (Arrow poison) Pacific
yew Toxal Ovarian Cancer (4-6 trees to treat
1 woman) (200,000 trees exist) (20,000
cases per year)
8
The Carbon Cycle
South American Burning Cycles 1998 fires Jan
- Dec Note - Aug/Sept/ Oct max for central
and southern regions Note - Feb/Mar max
for northern area
9
South AmericanBurning Cycles (Cont)
The Carbon Cycle
10
The Carbon Cycle
African Burning Cycles 1998 fires Jan - Dec
Dec/Jan max through central Africa, Jun/Jul max
farther south
11
Desertification
June 2005
http//earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Study/ Desertific
ation/desertification.html?
Sahel Sahel stretches across Africa, roughly
15 north of Equator Satellite measurements
of vegetation reveal it as a transition zone
between sands of the Sahara and jungles of
the Congo in heart of Africa
12
Desertification
Sahel (Cont) Collapse
Soil Condition Grams of vegetation per 10,000
m2 (N 450)
N
Cattle, Camels, Goats (N 600,000)
N/2
Population (N 150,000)
1920
1960
2000
2040
Year
http//earthobservatory.nasa.gov/ Study/Desertific
ation/ desertification2.html
13
Desertification
Sahel (Cont) MODIS - Albedo
http//earthobservatory.nasa.gov/ Study/Desertific
ation/ desertification2.html
14
Desertification
Sahel (Cont) Change
http//earthobservatory.nasa.gov/ Study/Desertific
ation/ desertification2.html
15
Desertification
Sahel (Cont) 2003 data spatially averaged
over area 8.5ºW8.5ºE and 12.5º15.5ºN Mont
hly mean precipitation in millimeters per
day (blue) Fraction of Absorbed
Photosynthetically Active Radiation (FAPAR)
(green) Broadband surface albedo (red)
http//www.agu.org/journals/eo/eo0703/2007EO030002
.pdfanchor
Eos, Vol. 88, No. 3, 16 January 2007
16
Desertification
Sahel (Cont) 1984 and 2003 latitudinal
profile of total June to October (JJASO)
precipitation 1984 and 2003 mean August
to October (ASO) broadband surface albedo
averaged between 18ºW and 20ºE
http//www.agu.org/journals/eo/eo0703/2007EO030002
.pdfanchor
Eos, Vol. 88, No. 3, 16 January 2007
17
Deforestation
Brazilian Rainforests
1975
1986
18
Deforestation
Rondonia, Brazil
1973 1978
1983
19
Deforestation
Guatemala
20
Deforestation
Guatemala 1986 to 1997 Red is
forest Greens are roads and cleared land Area
of picture about 40 size of New Jersey
1997 - Peten, Guatemala
1986 - Peten, Guatemala
21
Deforestation
Facts Equivalent of ten city blocks of
rainforest is destroyed every minute, that an
area the size of Pennsylvania lost every year
7 of the Earth's dry land surface is
rainforest, home to more than 50 of the
world's plants and animals A bulldozer must
remove 60 rainforest trees to reach one
mahogany tree There are 100 different
species of large trees in a single acre of
rainforest
22
Deforestation
Facts Estimate rate of deforestation
23
System Dynamics
The Earth System (Kump, Kastin Crane) Chap.
2 (pp. 18-20) Chap. 14 (pp. 279-280
24
System Dynamics
Positive Feedback Desertification -
Sahel Ice - Albedo feedback Negative
Feedback CO2 - Cloud - Albedo feedback
CO2 - Plankton feedback