• The Scientific Consensus on Climate Change by Naomi Oreskes
• Global Warming: A Perspective from Earth History by Jan Zalasiewicz, et al.

Themes of the Day:

• Global Climate Change Overview
• Earth's Atmosphere and Global Warming
• Causes of Climate Change
• Potential Effects of Climate Change
• The Grand Experiment

Global Climate Change Overview

• Earth System Science
• Tools for Studying Global Climate Change
  • Geologic Record - The Past
  • Real-Time Monitoring - The Present
  • Mathematical Models/Computer Simulations - The Future
• Global Climatic Zones

Earth's Atmosphere and Global Warming

• Atmospheric Constituents
  • Nitrogen - 78%
  • Oxygen - 21%
  • Argon - 0.9%
  • Carbon Dioxide - 0.03%
  • Everything Else - 0.07%
  • Water Vapor - variable - 0-4%
• Atmospheric Energy Budget
• Global Warming
  • Electromagnetic Spectrum
  • Solar/Earth Radiation
  • Greenhouse Effect
  • Greenhouse Gasses - Who's responsible?
  • Atmospheric CO₂ Increase
    • Last 160,000 years - primarily indirect measurements
    • Last 500 years - direct and indirect measurements
    • Last 50 years - direct measurements
    • Last 50 years - from the source (CDIAC)
• Global Temperature Change - Pay close attention to time scale and magnitude of temperature change.
• 20th Century Warming - Supporting Evidence

Causes of Climate Change

• Role of Ocean Currents
• Solar Causes
• Volcanic Causes
• Anthropogenic Causes
• Atmospheric CO₂ vs. Global Temperature
  • Long Term vs. Last Millenium
  • "Hockey Stick" - or Not
  • Future???

Potential Effects of Climate Change

• Glacial Advance and Retreat
  • By the Numbers
  • Alpine Glaciers
  • Continental Ice Sheets
  • Sea Level Consequences
• Desertification
  • Dune Advance
  • Dust Bowl
• Weather Effects - El Niņo
  • Cause
  • Effect

The Grand Experiment

• The Earth System
• Cause-Effect Lag Time for CO₂
• Fossil Fuel Carbon Sources