De Blij Chapter 4 Mind Map

De Blij Chapter 4 Mind Map

1. Intro

   • Global Warming
     • "There is no such thing as "global" warming." - De Blij
     • The average planetary temperature is increasing.
     • When places on Earth warm up, there are always places that stay the same temperature or even cool down.
       • places with lower latitudes can get cold while high latitudes remain hot
     • Saying someplace experienced the coldest or hottest weather in however long does NOT mean that the Earth as a whole is experiencing a sustained warming trend
     • Global Cooling is also NOT a thing
     • the topic of many arguments
     • despite regional variations, the Earth is warming
     • Issues linked: weather extremes (hurricanes, floods, droughts tornadoes, etc...)
   • Climate Change
     • Climate change is real
     • Political leaders cast doubt on science
       • Politicians are saying things over facts scientists say, causing the public to believe the wrong thing
     • media makes things unclear
       • journalists can be exaggerating and can be uncertain sources
     • Human Activity is contributing
       • some advocates of mitigative action inadvertently contribute to the antagonism that continues to mark the public debate
       • Al Gore's movie, An Inconvenient Truth, skirts the truth enough to give critics some solid ground
     • Scientists
       • contributed to people not knowing what to believe through: failing to educate people, not stating their opinion, seeking media celebrity, and accidentally creating doubt
   • Weather v.s. Climate
     • Weather: the state of the atmosphere at a place and time as regards heat, cloudiness, dryness, sunshine, wind, rain, etc...
     • Climate: the weather conditions prevailing in an area in general or over a long period
     • scientists v.s. politicians; environmentalists v.s. energy-company representatives
       • people don't know who to believe
   • EXAMPLES
     • 2012 - Europe: coldest winter in 100 years - no global climate reversal; U.S. Northeast milder winter than normal
     • Paul Krugman - NY Times Colonist - "people who deny global warming are treasonous and immoral"
       • Scientists shocked and affronted
       • effort of Krugman: to suppress any open discussion of global warming
     • Climate Change Bill in the 2009 Congress - 212 representatives voted no, many rejected the idea that global warming relates to greenhouse-gas emmissions
   • Inaccurate Scientists
     • Inaccurate Colorado Scientists - consequences: initial forecast for the 2006 hurricane season-FL-unusually high rainfall, scientists opened the floodgates to lower the level of Lake Okeechobee by approximately 45 cm to prevent flooding and extreme damage during the projected "active season" - prolonged drought - Miami Herald 2007 - Lake Okeechobee and its ecosystem suffered severe damage-FL-lost millions - crops dead
     • In Colorado, a team of climatologists forecasting the intensity and quantity of hurricanes over the Atlantic Ocean and over the North American mainland predicted hurricanes inaccurately and gave bad media to the global warming effort - lots of media coverage
     • never mentioned
     • said they had an improved forecasting method - 2008 - resembled 2006/7 - people still believed - 15 named storms (8 hurricanes, 4 major storms) - "Voodoo meteorology" - did not help build public confidence

2. Cycles and Surges

   • Earth-Sun Relationship
     • the warmth the Earth receives varies according to the angle of rotation of its axis, direction axis points
       • 1st: 41,000 years cycle
       • 2nd: 23,000 years to 26,000 years
     • Earth's orbit around the Sun varies - farther and closer - cycle more than 400,000 years; inclination changes - 100,000 to 400,000
     • Sun's long range cycle not well known
     • 11 year "Sunspot" cycle is well understood
       • Cold phase in Europe between 1645 and 1710 - coincided with low-Sunspot activity - Maunder Minimum

3. Dramatic Beeginnings

4. Oceans Past And Future

5. Ice on the Globe

6. Sudden Death

7. Back to the Future

8. Climates and Primates

9. The Frigid Pleistocene

10. A Close Call