Temperature Records from 1000 B.P.

and for the global annually averaged air temperatures for the Northern and Southern hemispheres.

2010 -CO2 levels = 391 ppm

2010 Methane Levels=1800 ppb

Concentrations of carbon dioxide, methane, oxygen isotope ratios (temperature) and nitrous oxide over the past 650 thousand years (derived mostly from Antarctic ice cores). Source: Thompson, 2011; Forster et al, 2007.

Arguments against climate/environmental change

Climate change is not occurring Climate change is occurring but is not consequential Climate change is occurring but has always done so therefore we are powerless to intervene Climate change has no human imprint Climate change has a human imprint but it is not significant Climate change is slow so we will have time to adapt or mitigate When climate change occurs we can do something about it Climate change is real, there is a human imprint but we cannot economically justify the corrective solutions.

62

62

60

Mean Annual Temp.

60

Temperature (F).

58

58

56

56

54

54

52 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010

52 2020

Year.

54 52

54

Minimum Temps.

52 50 48 46 44 42 2020

Temperature (F).

50 48 46 44 42 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010

Year.

ANNUAL: Air Temperature (F): Data and regression results for Louisville data for intervals of: 1917-2007; 1948-2007; 1975-2007. Projected to 2020.

Temperature (F).

Temperature (F).

Impacts of climate change:

Depend upon adaptation or mitigation as a strategy for solution.
Environmental
Water Resources Agricultural production Ecosystem alteration Sea level rise Sea level temperatures Changes in seasonal patterns Severe weather

Human
Public Health Air quality Relocation (forced migration) Sustainability Impact global trade Issues of social justice Change in political thinking Change in economic policies

Path Forward?
Public must trust in science and climate scientists. There must be objectivity and openness. Scientists must not be so nave as to assume the data speak for themselves. The public must take time to be informed of the issues. We must hold the political structure responsible to enact responsible and informed measures. The social media must present information in a fair and balanced forum. What ever the strategy for solution there must be a long-term commitment to that strategy. Non-climate change advocates must be held to the same standard of verification as those that present climate change as a valid environmental and social concern.

THERE IS GOOD NEWS: REALLY!!!!!!

There is now overwhelming evidence that mankind is a major contributor to observed global climate change (IPCC, 4th Assessment
Rept, 2007).

We have access to a tremendous body of knowledge.

Ongoing Accumulation of environmental knowledge.

Technology: Data collection and data transfer

Quelccaya Ice Cap, Peru. July 2009.

Field deployment and repair of a remote meteorological Station, McCall Glacier, May 2011.

Climate change is becoming a central public concern and is widely expressed in mainstream media.

We understand primary causal factors of climate change and that there is a responsibility required for environmental stewardship.

Climate and climate change has a local impact. Louisville, KY, 2009.

Figure 1. True color composite image (RGB, 321) captured by sensor-equipped aircraft for a section of the Ohio River (north) and central downtown of Louisville, Kentucky. Image taken in the spring of 2012 (Louisville/Jefferson County Information Consortium LOJIC).

Figure 4. Landsat 8s Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS) detects energy emitted in the infrared band as a result of surface heating. The dark red areas indicate the highest surface temperatures and are associated with greater concentrations of urban development. In this false color image the blue areas are clouds which are cooler than the surface and, therefore, radiate less energy in the IR spectrum. This image of the greater Louisville Metropolitan area was recovered on June 6, 2013.

We understand primary causal factors of climate change and that there is a responsibility required for environmental stewardship.