Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Climate Change
Climate change is considered to be the natural rise and fall of temperatures over
long periods of time. (Person 2 in poem)
The daily needs of more than _____ billion people continually stress the
limits and balance of the Earth.
The Earth’s climate is the complex system that ties together the
______________, _________ and _______ surface.
Many scientists believe ________ daily activities are changing our climate.
1
What is climate?
Climate describes the ____________ patterns over a long period of time.
• Others _________ the Earth by _________ heat near the surface, thereby
contributing to Earth’s greenhouse effect.
• Clouds and greenhouse gases work together to create the
__________________________.
• The radiation budget must ____________ itself.
2
• Solar energy reaching Earth must _______ the energy leaving the planet
otherwise the oceans would eventually boil away or freeze solid.
• Scientists warn that we are currently ___________ the Earth’s radiation
balance through human actions.
3
• _______________ (N2O) is emitted during agricultural and industrial
activities and during the burning of solid waste and fossil fuels. In the last
200 years nitrous oxide levels have increased by ______%.
• Each greenhouse gas differs in its ability to absorb heat in the atmosphere.
_______ are the most heat-absorbent. Methane traps over _____ times more
heat per molecule than carbon dioxide. Nitrous oxide absorbs ____ times
more heat per molecule than carbon dioxide.
4
• The top ___ warmest years have occurred since 1987, nine of them since
______.
• The 1990’s was the warmest _________.
• The ________ was the warmest century during the last 1,000 years.
5
temperatures increase, sea level rise is expected to accelerate due to
______________ of the ocean and melting of glaciers. Over the last 100
years, the global sea level has risen by about ________ cm. On this time
scale, thermal expansion of the oceans may account for about _____ cm of
the sea level rise, while the retreat of glaciers and ice caps may account for
another ___ cm. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
estimates that sea level will rise ___ ___ cm by the year 2100. A recent EPA
study estimated that global sea level has a 50 percent chance of rising ___
cm (1-1/2 ft) by the year 2100, but a 1-in-100 chance of a rise of about ____
cm (over 3-1/2 ft).
Global Uncertainty