Chapter 3: Climate Change and the Energy Transition
description
Transcript of Chapter 3: Climate Change and the Energy Transition
![Page 1: Chapter 3: Climate Change and the Energy Transition](https://reader035.fdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022062501/56816226550346895dd259bb/html5/thumbnails/1.jpg)
Chapter 3: Climate Change and the
Energy Transition
![Page 2: Chapter 3: Climate Change and the Energy Transition](https://reader035.fdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022062501/56816226550346895dd259bb/html5/thumbnails/2.jpg)
• “Ever since civilization began, each generation has left the next a planet similar to the one it inherited. Our generation may be the first to abandon that tradition.”
![Page 3: Chapter 3: Climate Change and the Energy Transition](https://reader035.fdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022062501/56816226550346895dd259bb/html5/thumbnails/3.jpg)
Evidence of Climate Change
• Earth’s average temperature has risen 0.6°C since 1970
• Projected to rise by up to 6°C by the end of the century
• Sea level rose 7 inches in the 20th century• Projected to rise 3 to 6 feet by the the end
of the century
![Page 4: Chapter 3: Climate Change and the Energy Transition](https://reader035.fdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022062501/56816226550346895dd259bb/html5/thumbnails/4.jpg)
Causes of Warming
• Greenhouse gases:• CO2 = 63%• Methane = 18%• Nitrous oxide = 6%• Other gases = 13%
Atmospheric Brown Clouds
![Page 5: Chapter 3: Climate Change and the Energy Transition](https://reader035.fdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022062501/56816226550346895dd259bb/html5/thumbnails/5.jpg)
Sources of Carbon
• Electricity generation, heating, transportation and industry
• Only about 5 million tons are absorbed by oceans, soil and vegatation, the rest remains in atmosphere
• In 2008:• 7.9 billion tons emitted by burning of fossil fuels• 1.5 billion tons emitted by deforestation• Total of 9.4 billion tons
![Page 6: Chapter 3: Climate Change and the Energy Transition](https://reader035.fdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022062501/56816226550346895dd259bb/html5/thumbnails/6.jpg)
Sources of Methane• Mostly human caused through agriculture• Landfills• Thawing of permafrost• Arctic soil contains more carbon than currently
resides in the atmosphere• Problem: permafrost is melting
![Page 7: Chapter 3: Climate Change and the Energy Transition](https://reader035.fdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022062501/56816226550346895dd259bb/html5/thumbnails/7.jpg)
Sources of Atmospheric Brown Clouds
• Soot particles from burning coal, diesel fuel and wood
• Affect climate in 3 ways:1) Intercept sunlight, heating upper atmosphere2) Reflect sunlight, lowering earth’s surface
temperature3) When deposited, darken surfaces and accelerate
melting
Particular concern over Tibetan Plateau, Himilayas, Sierra Nevadas
![Page 8: Chapter 3: Climate Change and the Energy Transition](https://reader035.fdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022062501/56816226550346895dd259bb/html5/thumbnails/8.jpg)
Effects of Climate Change
• Diminish crop yields lower food production• Melt mountain glaciers feeding rivers• Generate more destructive storms• Increase severity of floods• Intensify drought• Cause more frequent/destructive wildfires• Alter ecosystems worldwide loss of species
![Page 9: Chapter 3: Climate Change and the Energy Transition](https://reader035.fdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022062501/56816226550346895dd259bb/html5/thumbnails/9.jpg)
Melting ice, Rising seas
• Rapid shrinking of the Earth’s 2 largest ice sheets• Greenland, potential to raise sea level by 23 ft• West Anarctica, potential to raise by 16 ft
![Page 10: Chapter 3: Climate Change and the Energy Transition](https://reader035.fdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022062501/56816226550346895dd259bb/html5/thumbnails/10.jpg)
The Arctic Region• Arctic is warming 2x faster than the rest of the planet• In surrounding regions (Alaska, western Canada,
eastern Russia) winter temperatures have risen 3-4°C over last half century
• 1979-2006, summer sea ice shrinkage accelerated to 9.1%/decade
• 2007 (record melt year), sea ice shrank to an area some 20% smaller than the previous melt record in 2005
• Multiyear sea ice is not recovering in winter
![Page 11: Chapter 3: Climate Change and the Energy Transition](https://reader035.fdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022062501/56816226550346895dd259bb/html5/thumbnails/11.jpg)
Albedo Effect• Self – reinforcing trend, accelerating melt• Typically, when sunlight strikes sea ice, 30%
is absorbed and 70% is reflected back• As ice melts, sunlight hits darker surface of
water and 94% is absorbed and only 6% is reflected back
![Page 12: Chapter 3: Climate Change and the Energy Transition](https://reader035.fdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022062501/56816226550346895dd259bb/html5/thumbnails/12.jpg)
Greenland
• April 2004-April 2006, lost ice 2.5x faster than in preceding two years
• Ice melt seeps through cracks in glacier, lubricating surface between glacier and rock accelerating glacial flow and calving
• Huge masses of ice falling into sea are causing minor earthquakes
![Page 13: Chapter 3: Climate Change and the Energy Transition](https://reader035.fdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022062501/56816226550346895dd259bb/html5/thumbnails/13.jpg)
NASA Satellite Data
• 2007 – ice shelves shrank by 24 square miles
• 2008 – ice shelves shrank by 71 square miles