Effects of abiotic factors: Climate

Current status of global climate change research

Ecological impacts of global climate change

Calculate your impact on the climate: Web Exercise

Get prepared for the in-class discussion:
1. What is greenhouse effect? What is the difference between natural and anthropogenic greenhouse effects?
2. Which gases cause greenhouse effect?
3. What is the range of predicted temperature increase due to global warming over the next 100 years (the lowest and highest estimates)? What are other climatic changes expected due to global warming (other than temperature increase)?
4. Find and describe at least 2 examples of changes in distribution and abundance of animal or plant populations due to recent global warming.

Recommended reading for in-class discussion:
1. EPA on Global Climate Change
 http://yosemite.epa.gov/oar/globalwarming.nsf/content/Climate.html
2. Global climate change in Exploratorium
 http://www.exploratorium.edu/climate/biosphere/index.html
3. Global climate change in Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_change

 

 

 

 

Current status of global climate change research:

*  markes recommended reading for in-class discussion

US Department of Energy on Kyoto Protocol

http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/kyoto/kyotorpt.html

 *EPA on Global Climate Change

http://yosemite.epa.gov/oar/globalwarming.nsf/content/Climate.html

 Intergovernmental panel on Climate Change

http://ipcc-ddc.cru.uea.ac.uk/

*Global climate change in Exploratorium

http://www.exploratorium.edu/climate/biosphere/index.html

 

 Examples of ecological impacts of global climate change  

  1. Impact on marine ecosystems

Global warming enhances effects of marine pollution
Research in Dr. Sokolova's lab: see summary at http://www.bioweb.uncc.edu/Faculty/Sokolova/

 Coral bleaching

http://www.science.org.au/nova/076/076key.htm

http://marine.wri.org/pubs_content_text.cfm?ContentID=686

http://www.marinebiology.org/coralbleaching.htm

 

  1. Impacts on terrestrial ecosystems: Temperature-dependent sex determination in reptiles

 Endangered tuatara

http://cres.sandiegozoo.org/projects/sp_global_warming_tuatara.html

Painted turtles

http://www.pnas.org/cgi/reprint/91/16/7487

And may be dinosaurs?

http://www.nature.com/news/2004/040419/pf/040419-11_pf.html

 

  1. Human health effects

http://www.ucsusa.org/global_environment/global_warming/page.cfm?pageID=508 (See also references therein)

 

Web Exercise

Calculate Your Climate Impacts

Global climate change may well be the single most important environmental problem your generation will face. Each of us plays a role in creating this problem in the ways we live, the things we buy, and most importantly, the way we use energy. You can calculate how much CO2 and other greenhouse gases your activities create. Go to https://www.greentagsusa.org/GreenTags/calculator_intro.cfm , a site maintained by Bonneville Environmental Fund. Follow the steps in their carbon calculator. If you don’t know specifics about your consumption patterns, use average figures supplied on each page.