In this IBDP Biology blog post, we will see how global temperature influences climate change, and what the coorelation between the two are.
Global Temperature and Climate Change influenced
Global temperature and climate patterns are influenced by concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere
The is a strong dispute about whether global warming and other climate changes are due to greenhouse gas emissions from human activity
Correlation between rising CO2 & temperatures sinc
To find out Temperatures and Carbon Dixode concentrations from the past coloumns of ice have been drilled in the Antartic.
- Ice deeper within is older than the ice near the surface
- Bubbles of air trapped in the ice can be extracted and analysed to find the CO2 concentration
- Global temperatures can be deduced from hydrogen isotopes in the water molecules
- Correlations do not mean causations - research showed CO2 is a greenhouse gas
- Atleast some of the tempreature variations over the years must therefore have been to rises and falls of atmospheric carbon dioxide
Evidence:
- Correlation supported by ice core data over 400 000 years
- Temperature shows greater variation than carbon dioxide
- Most rises and falls in CO2 correlated with rises and falls in temperature
Recent increases in CO2 are because of combustion
Strong correlation between human emissions of fossilzed organic matter and and atmospheric levels of CO2
As CO2 levels increased the amount of CO2 absorbed by carbon sinks has increased
(only about 40% of emissions have remained in the atmosphere
200 years ago both combustion of fossil fuels and CO2 concentrations have increased more steadily along with the global temperatures
CO2 concentrations and global temperature are correlated but not directly proportional as other variables also affect temperatures such as sun spot activity
Increases in greenhouse gases will likely cause:
- Higher global average temperatures
- More frequent and intense heat waves
- Areas becoming more prone to droughts
- Areas becoming more prone to intense rainfall and flooding
- Changes to ocean currents
- Tropical storms will become more frequent and more powerful
That's it for this sub-topic!
References:
- https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nationalgeographic.org%2Fencyclopedia%2Fgreenhouse-effect%2F&psig=AOvVaw0yAmbYcdHGw5tjoObR13bQ&ust=1626287125520000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAoQjRxqFwoTCLCr3OfV4PECFQAAAAAdAAAAABAD
Drafted by Venetia (Biology)