12: Climate Change
- Page ID
- 34550
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This chapter first addresses Earth's climate over the past several hundred million years. This shows the natural fluctuation that does occur. Then it addresses how human activity has accelerated natural processes like warming and the subsequent changes to the atmosphere and sealevel.
- 12.1: Climate Change in Earth’s History
- There have been many glaciations in the Earth’s distant past, the oldest known starting around 2400 Ma. The late Proterozoic “Snowball Earth” glaciations were thought to be sufficiently intense to affect the entire planet. The current glacial period is known as the Pleistocene, and while it was much more intense 20,000 years ago than it is now, we are still in the middle of it. The periodicity of the Pleistocene glaciations is related to subtle changes in the Earth’s orbital characteristics, whi
- 12.2: Increasing Temperatures
- The Earth’s average temperature increased by about 1° C from 1960 to 2020, with the greatest increases at far northern latitudes. This warming has led to more intense evaporation and that has contributed to an increase in wildfire activity in many areas. But the warming air can also hold more moisture, which has led to greater precipitation in some areas, in many cases with extreme outcomes. The greater warmth of the atmosphere is slowly being transferred to the oceans.
- 12.3: Melting Glacial Ice and Permafrost
- Melting of glacial ice is accelerating and that is putting water supplies for humans and for ecosystems at risk. There is an increased risk of slope failure in in areas where valley glaciers have receded. Glacial melt is contributing to sea-level rise, and so to loss of habitable land and loss of groundwater resources. Permafrost is also melting faster, leading to slope instability and release of more greenhouse gases.
- 12.4: Taking Climate Action
- Some of the things we can do to help reduce climate change include: voting for candidates that understand climate change and have pledged to act accordingly, letting politicians know that climate change is the main issue, supporting only climate-friendly businesses and letting other businesses know why we don’t support them, driving much less by walking, biking and taking transit, avoiding all unnecessary trips, driving a smaller car or an electric car, eating less red meat and more locally prod