Will penguins and polar bearsdisappear?

he effects of the climate change will be more intense inthe Arctic region (where polar bears live) than in theAntarctica (where penguins live). In the Arctic it seas,rivers and permafrost, the permanent frozen layer, are begin-ning to melt. All this will modify the distribu-tion and extension of forests, the tundra and,consequently will affect every species thatlives in these environments. It is estimatedthat

the populationofpolar bears willdropfrom20,000 to 14,000 over the next50 years. Atpresent,scientists are notsure whatimpactofglobal warming willhave onpenguinpopulations.

How is it possible to predict theclimate in 50 years if we cannot evenmake an accurate 10 day forecast?

hat happens because

the weather for aspecific day andtheclimate

-that is the average of the weather for many years,over thousands and thousands of days-

aretwo very diffe-rentthings.

With such big numbers statistics can help. For example,we can calculate that the worldwide population will reach 7,000million on October 18, 2012, but wecannot knowspecificallyhowmany relatives wewill each haveon that date. Something similarhappens with the weather forecast and the climate. Although we can-not makea10-day forecast, complexmathematical calculations pro-vide us with the approximateaverage temperature and sea level forthe end of the 21stcentury.

climaticchange

Museos Científicos Coruñeses

Information presented by:

Monographs onscientific communication

Edition sponsored by

AEuropean educationalteam at the service of theeducation community

Within the EUR-OCEANS networkof excellence, the PublicOutreach Group coordinated byOcéanopolis of Brest (France)comprises of 9 European Aquariaand Scientific Cultural Centres.Its aim is todisseminateknowledge to the general public,teachers and students about theresearch carried out by theNetwork’s scientists and tocommunicate their findings aboutthe impact of climatechange onmarine ecosystems (theNetwork’s main focus).Oneofthemaintoolsfordoing thisisthroughfilmscreated specificallyforthegeneral publicand throughthepreparationofteachingmaterialsand educationalworkshops.

How do scientists measure globaltemperature?

norder to do this, the WorldMeteorological Organization(WMO) has 10,000 stationsfor weather observation, 7,000in ships, 300 in anchored buoysand 9 in satellites which aredistributed across the planet.

These devices generate 15million data sets everyday,which are used to calculatethe average global tempera-ture

of the Earth and other pa-rameters. The large amount ofnumbers gathered from such arange of places reduces to themaximum the possible error inmeasurement and, in addition,prevents global averages frombeing distorted by the heat ge-nerated from cities.

Will diseases such asmalaria be morefrequent?

limatechange modifies the geographic dis-tribution of animals and vegetables and willalso do so with the infections that are trans-mitted by many of these species (mosquitoes,worms, etc). It is thought that

the presence ofmany diseases suchas malaria,paludism,yellow fever, dengue and trypanosomiasiswill increase

but mainly in tropical regions.

Has climate change anyadvantages?

he new climatic circumstances could affectthe resources in several regions of the world(harvests, fish, tourism, etc.). Climate changewill have advantages for those people and speciesthat can adapt to the new conditions. In addition,

there will be countries withamilder climate.

Inthe Arctic, as sea ice continues to melt, previouslyimpassable areas are opening up and allowing freenavigation between the Atlantic and the PacificOcean. But climate change could also cause econo-mic crisis, it is important to take into account newrisks caused by extreme meteorological eventssuch as likeheat waves and torrential rains.

What can I do?

lot,wecanalldosomethingtohelplimitclimatechangeandreduceemissionsofCO

.Wecan

avoidwastingenergy,waterandresourceswhereverpossibleespeciallythroughrecyclingandwecanalsoaskgovernmentsandcompaniestodothesame.

Lowenergylightbulbsforexampleuse80%lessenergythannormalonesbutproducethesameamountoflight!Ifallthebulbsinonecountrywerereplacediswouldmakeahugedifference.Itishowever necessary totakesomeprecautionsfortheiruse(donotusethemforthenightordesklight).Arecentstudysuggeststhattheycauseharmfulelectromag-neticradiationin1mvicinity.Also supporting

educationonglobalresponsibility anddefending investmentin scientific research and technologicaldevelopment

will help develop provide theresources necessary to avoid or diminish theeffects of climatechange.

Anetwork for communicating knowledge…

1920

1950

1980 2000

GLOBAL WARMING?

Do scientists agree on the climatic change?

ostly they do,althoughtherearesomeprocessesthatarenotyetfullyun-derstoodandtheirinfluenceonfu-tureclimateisstillbeingdiscussed.

Climatechangeisstudiedfromawiderangeofdisciplinessuchasmeteoro-logy,geography,geology,oceano-graphyandevenastrophysicsallofwhichcomeupwithcomplimentaryconclusions.Inordertounderstandalltheavailableinformation,theUNcrea-tedtheIntergovernmentalPanelforClimaticChange(IPCC),theaimofwhichistogatherandreportthebestscientificknowledgeonthissubject.

Is climatechangeaffecting ocean currents?

Global warming leads to a massive in-crease in the amount of freshwater sup-plied toArctic areas; this is due both toice melting, and to an increase in precipitation.North Atlantic waters have shown a rise intemperature while their salinity has noticeablydecreased.

Suchmodifications couldhaveconsequences onthe functioning oftheoceancurrents.

Therefore, if the Gulf Streamdid slowdown it would not have the catastro-phic consequences predicted by some people.

Will climate changeaffect the production ofseafood?

Global warming has already caused mi-gration and displacement of marinespecies.

Many species of seafoodunable to migrate or adaptare likely to di-sappear

.But more significant will be the ef-fect of CO2 absorption by the oceans. The dis-solved CO2 is making seawater become moreacidic. Even a minor change the pH of the oce-ans will affect some of the creatures that livethere, particularly those that use calcium car-bonatetogrowe.g. coral and molluscs.

Will there be morehurricanes and tsunamis?Will climate change destroythe Earth?

umericalmodelspredictanincreaseinextrememeteorologicalphenomenalikegreathurricaneswhichgettheirenergy fromtheheatoftropicalwaters.This,however,isstillacontroversialissue.Whilearelation-shipdoesseemtoexistbetweenanincreaseinthenumberandfrequencyofhurricanesandglobalwarminginthePacific,nothingisprovedfortheAtlantic.

Tsunamishavenothingtodowithglobalwarming:theyarecausedbysubmarineearthquakes.Scientistsarealsosurethat

theEarthwillnotbedestroyedbyclimatechange.

I S E Ñ O Y

A Q U E T A C I Ó N

C T O

U B L I C A C I O N E S

Can global warming be controlled?

ven if we stopped using all cars and closed down factories, the CO

alreadyemittedwouldremainintheatmosphereforover100years.However,

throughcoherenteconomicalandpoliticaldecisionswecancertainlyslowdownglobalwarminganddiminishitseffects.

Todoso,wemustreducetheCO

emissionsnow,asestablishedbytheKyotoprotocol,signedby141countriesin1997.Unfortunately,todate,manycountrieshavenotfulfilledtheircommitmentsbutmoreworryinglythethreegreateconomicpowers(China,IndiaandtheU.S.A.)havenotevensignedtheprotocol.Althoughatpre-sentthereisnoanswertostopping,

historyshowsthatthescientificdiscoveriescan,andoftendo,helptosolvesuchproblems.

So,thereishopeanditisvitaltocontinueresearch.

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