Climate+Change

=Understanding Climate Change=

Future climate change resulting from the anthropogenic release of greenhouse gases is the irrefutable conclusion of the overwhelming majority of climatologists and ecologists. Climate change is already manifesting itself through increasing global temperature, melting of polar and glacial ice, and changes in precipitation. The consequences of this climate change will be varied and many including everything from sea level rise and displacement of organisms to increased heat-related mortality and decreased revenue at ski-resorts. In this assignment you will explore a small subset of climate change issues. Besides the specific links I ask you to visit to answer specific questions, many helpful resources can be found at [] and at []. This second link will be helpful for questions 2 and 3. Also, this [|page] has regional reports that help summarize the overall effects for a given region.

In 1999 Dr. Janine Bloomfield and Dr. Sharon Locke put together a global map illustrating climate change that can be found at []. This map was updated in 2003 to include over 150 independent observations of climate change and its effects. This map distinguishes between fingerprints and harbingers of climate change.

1. What is the difference between these two ways of looking at the problem of climate change?

Choose a region of the world and select one fingerprint and one harbinger from the map and report on each: 2. fingerprint

3. harbinger

Visit the U.S. Government (Environmental Protection Agency) website on climate change at []. Choose two of the following four impact areas from the menu on the left-hand side of the page: water resources, polar regions, forests, or birds. Indicate the area of impact you've chosen and then briefly summarize some of its elements.

4. Impact Area: water resources polar regions forests birds

Go to [|__http://www.climatechoices.org/ne/index.html__]. This is a portal to a set of scientifically accurate reports and scenarios that demonstrate the effects of climate change by regions and states (not all states are ready at this time). The information contained at this website is also found in a full report (Confronting Climate Change in the U.S. Northeast) with more details and explanations at the link below. I suggest looking at the relevant sections of the report to assist you in answering these questions.

5. Visit this link [] to see projected changes in average annual temperature under a lower emissions and a higher emissions scenario. Briefly describe what you think the the types of changes in temperatures depicted may mean for agriculture, commerce, human health, and biodiversity.

6. Visit this link [] to see models that depict changing climates under the two emissions scenarios over time. Pick one of the states on the right and look at the effect climate change will have. Tell me which state you chose and briefly describe the overall effect under both emissions scenarios.

7. Visit this link [] to see how climate change can affect maximum summer temperatures in some cities. Pick a city (from the right) and describe the affects as shown by the web page.

8. Visit this link [] to see the overall effects on the northeast. You'll see a map with symbols ... click on a symbol and a window pops up that describes your selected effect.

Choose four of these symbols and summarize what you've learned about climate change from your selections. (note: the popup windows are transparent and are sometimes hard to read when there is text or images behind them. Feel free to move them to a portion of your screen that allows easy viewing; it's easiest to move them if you "grab" the window at it's top near the word 'Close'.)

Point your web browser here: [] to see a report, entitled, "Confronting Climate Change in the U.S. Northeast." Although I'm not assigning reading this entire report, I would encourage you to spend some time scanning it for some further insight. For example, there are sections that describe climate changes effects on winter sports, marine resources, health, and agriculture.

I am assigning that you read pages 91---104 in this report so that you may answer the following question:

9. Explore how changes in climate will affect human health. (List three effects.)

In the same report referenced above, find the section titled Coastal Areas (pages 15-32). Scan this section and especially look at the boxes colored in tan (Coastal Flooding in Boston, Insurers retreat from the coast, and Changes in storm patterns). Also examine the maps depicting coastal flooding in New York City and Atlantic City.

10. List three specific adverse impacts of this sea level rise.

Use the following website to calculate your household greenhouse gas production: []. Use your home in the calculations (as opposed to trying to calculate for your dorm or Ithaca address). If you do not know your Home Energy figures, use the U.S. average values.

11. How many pounds of CO2 is your household responsible for?

12. The CAFE standards for the U.S. auto fleet is 27.5 mpg for cars and 20.7 mpg for light trucks. Use the section, What You Can do to Reduce Emissions, to look at your transportation fuel efficiency. Using your own car’s fuel efficiency (miles per gallon) and assuming that you drive 225 miles per week (U.S. average) would you save more by doubling your gas mileage or cutting your driving in half? Explain the details of your answer.

This lesson can be found at http://www.ithaca.edu/faculty/rborgella/environment/climate_change_assign.html