Week 13

 Lecture Notes: 

  • Glacial retreat
  • Sea level rise
  • Paris Agreement: 
    • Global average temp. 2 degrees celsius 
    • Goal: level off greenhouse gas emissions 
    • Principle: differentiate between developed and developing countries 
      • Developed countries must lead the way 
    • Financing: rich countries must donate at least $100 million per year towards this cause 
  • More action is required to reach the Paris Agreement
  • History: 
    • US first to sign the agreement 
    • We pulled away from it and joined only two other countries that refused to sign it: Nicaragua and Syria
    • Syria then signed in Nov. 2017
    • Nicaragua held out as long as possible!
    • USA isolated on the world stage (largest economy in the world) 
  • What is climate change? 
    • Climate is the average weather at a given point and time of year, over a long period (typically 30 years) 
    • We expect the weather to change, but climate to stay semi constant
    • What is a significant change? How does this depend on the underlying level of climate variability? 
    • Climate change vs. climate variability 
  • Climate change was predicted in 1896
  • The Greenhouse Effect
    • Some solar radiation is reflected by the Earth & atmosphere
    • Most radiation is absorbed by the Earth's surface and warms it
    • Some of the infrared radiation passes through the atmosphere. Some is absorbed and re-emitted in all directions by greenhouse gas molecules. The effect of this is to warm the Earth's surface and the lower atmosphere
    • Infrared radiation is emitted by the Earth's surface

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