CLIMATE CHANGE

The Earth's climate has changed throughout history. Just in the last 650,000 years there have been seven cycles
of glacial advance and retreat, with the abrupt end of the last ice age about 7,000 years ago marking the
beginning of the modern climate era — and of human civilization. Most of these climate changes are attributed
to very small variations in Earth’s orbit that change the amount of solar energy our planet receives.

Scientific evidence for warming of the climate system is unequivocal.

- Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

The current warming trend is of particular significance because most of it is extremely likely (greater than 95
percent probability) to be the result of human activity since the mid-20 century and proceeding at a rate that is
th

unprecedented over decades to millennia. 1

Earth-orbiting satellites and other technological advances have enabled scientists to see the big picture,
collecting many different types of information about our planet and its climate on a global scale. This body of
data, collected over many years, reveals the signals of a changing climate.

The heat-trapping nature of carbon dioxide and other gases was demonstrated in the mid-19th century. Their 2

ability to affect the transfer of infrared energy through the atmosphere is the scientific basis of many instruments
flown by NASA. There is no question that increased levels of greenhouse gases must cause the Earth to warm
in response.

Ice cores drawn from Greenland, Antarctica, and Tropical Mountain glaciers show that the Earth’s climate
responds to changes in greenhouse gas levels. Ancient evidence can also be found in tree rings, ocean
sediments, coral reefs, and layers of sedimentary rocks. This ancient, or paleoclimate, evidence reveals that
current warming is occurring roughly ten times faster than the average rate of ice-age-recovery warming.
LOSS OF BIODIVERSITY
 DEFORESTATION
Fast Forest Facts

 13 million hectares of forest have been converted for other uses or destroyed by natural causes. While

I’m writing this, almost 3 hectares have been cleared.

 Up to 28,000 species can go extinct in the next quarter century due to deforestation.

 By the year 2030, we might only have 10% of Rainforests left and it can all disappear in a hundred years.

 10% of the world’s forests are now protected areas. This is roughly the size of India.

 Tropical Rainforests store more than 210 gigatons of carbon and deforestation is the cause of 15% of

carbon emissions.

 Cures for diseases have been found in plants and the raw materials come from our tropical rainforests.
OCEANS ACIDIFICATION
 The ocean absorbs approximately 26% of
the CO2 added to the atmosphere from
human activities each year.

 Ocean acidity has increased by 30% since

the beginning of the Industrial Revolution.
This increase is 100 times faster than any
change in acidity experienced by marine
organisms for at least the last 20 million
years.

 Business as usual scenarios for CO2

emissions could make the ocean up to 150%
more acidic by 2100.
 If the concentration of atmospheric CO2
continues to increase at the current rate, the
ocean will become corrosive to the shells of
many marine organisms by the end of this
century. How or if marine organisms may
adapt is not known.
 Ocean acidification may threaten plankton,
which forms the base of the marine food
chain; it is key to the survival of larger fish.
 Ocean acidification may render most
regions of the ocean inhospitable to coral
reefs, affecting tourism, food security,
shoreline protection, and biodiversity.
 The ocean absorbs CO2 from human
activities at a rate of 22 million tons per day.
 The ocean’s capacity to absorb CO2 from
the atmosphere is being degraded by ocean
acidification, which could worsen its impact
on climate change.
 With the carbon market price range of US
$20 to $200 per tonne of carbon, ocean
uptake of CO2 represents an annual subsidy
to the global economy of US$40 - 400 billion,
or 0.1–1% of the Gross World Product.
 Further research and collective action is
needed to fully understand and mitigate the
impacts of ocean acidification.
Ozone Layer Depletion