Questions about changes of the climate system, including questions about global warming.
6
votes
1answer
63 views
Geological evidence about climate change: has there ever been a period with a rate of climate change as great as it is today?
Most statistics about climate change are based on climate data over the last 150 year (as long as records have been kept). This seems irrelevant in terms of the geological time scale of temperature ...
5
votes
2answers
45 views
How would Earth map look like if all ice melts?
Is there somewhere a map which indicates which areas and cities become sea?
0
votes
0answers
26 views
Human activities in Prehistory, and Global Cooling
If we assume that nowadays the humans are responsible of the global warming by the emission of too much CO$_2$ in the atmosphere, why we should not assume that
the Ice Ages occurred because the ...
1
vote
1answer
37 views
Equations for Global Temperature Models
I'm a volunteer for 350, a grassroots organization that is fighting against climate change through education and advocacy. We're all volunteers, not climate scientists, and I'm looking for some ...
0
votes
1answer
30 views
What was the percentage of land mass in prehistoric times when temperatures were high enough that we had no ice caps?
I grew curious after watching a presentation about the large creatures of prehistoric times. One of the theories cited about why creatures were so big was the increased oxygen in the atmosphere due to ...
40
votes
3answers
7k views
How do 'greenhouse gases' let heat in, but not let it out?
That honestly doesn't make any sense to me. How could heat pass through a gas one way but not the other? Its not like our upper atmostphere has a bunch of doors that can only open one way. To me, that ...
4
votes
1answer
61 views
Was climate change inevitable anyway, or is there more to it?
Climate change is now one of the greatest challenges facing humanity, but it seems that we have been here before; if we look at the world's climate over a much longer period than 150 years.
During ...
1
vote
1answer
48 views
Intuition on overall effects from climate change under different levels of warming
I am not a climate scientist, but I have been reading climate literature lately for my own education. Much of it discusses various effects that could be expected with different levels of warming, ...
1
vote
0answers
22 views
Relationship between Earth's heat dispersion rate (average surface air temperature from summer to winter time) and greenhouse gases
What is the most effective way to study global warming and the role of greenhouse gases using a methodology based on analyzing the Earth's seasonal variations (summer-winter) of the temperature of ...
0
votes
1answer
33 views
In terms of the greenhouse effect, what is the Earth's heat capacity?
(Question moved from physics to earth science)
Has the earth’s atmosphere reached an equilibrium at which the input radiation energy roughly equals its output, or is the output significantly lower ...
2
votes
1answer
107 views
To what year do we need to return to prevent climate change?
I regularly see articles like this where a country has or has committed to reduce their carbon emissions by a certain percentage in relation to a certain year. That article mentions that Scotland has ...
1
vote
1answer
54 views
Does “Arctic Greening” mean an increase in the spatial extent of vegetation, an increase in particular types of vegetation, or both?
I am trying to study the impact of biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs) on the atmospheric chemistry of the Arctic Region which has been said to be "greening", by taking HCHO as a proxy.
1
vote
2answers
59 views
If plants convert a greenhouse gas into a non-greenhouse gas, do they cool?
Plants turn Carbon Dioxide into Oxygen, that is not a greenhouse gas. But Carbon Dioxide is.
Therefore, wouldn't plants cool the area?
4
votes
1answer
552 views
Every 202,500 years, Earth wanders in a new direction; does it affect climate?
I refer to this article on nytimes.com: Every 202,500 Years, Earth Wanders in a New Direction
TLDR: Scientists believe the earth's orbit oscillates between circular
and more elliptical due to the ...
3
votes
1answer
48 views
Does global warming affect tsunamis?
I have been doing some research into global warming, and I was curious as to whether or not increasing the temperature of the oceans would affect tsunamis to any significant degree.
My gut tells me ...
2
votes
0answers
38 views
Quantifying long term melt record on glacier surface
I intend to create a long term melt record on a glacier surface. What are parameters required to efficiently calculate the same using satellite, weather station observations & reanalysis datasets (...
1
vote
0answers
40 views
Global climate change
We all know that global climate change is becoming a big real change that is affecting the world's ecosystems and life cycles.
Will global climate change affect the hot areas of the world or deserts ...
1
vote
0answers
24 views
Where I find the info about what plants, trees can be planted in a locality
I would like to know what plants, trees can be planted in a locality. I wanted this info around the globe based on latitude and longitude or by some other means. Is there a source organisation/source ...
1
vote
0answers
15 views
Trying to calculate the percentage of carbon emissions that is offset by 45,000 acres?
In my problem there is an average net ecosystem production rate of:
0.25kgC/m2/yr
Am asked:
a. What percentage of 140,000.000tons/yr would be offset from reforesting 45,000 acres?
...
0
votes
2answers
75 views
What does 5,000,000 tonnes of CO2 look like?
Reading a news article Probe after Gorgon releases millions of tonnes of greenhouse gas, I am confused. CO2 is a gas, right? Gases are not very dense, right? So what does 5MT of the stuff look like?...
0
votes
2answers
27 views
Calculating exoatmosphereic flux and figuring out amount of SW Earth will absorb at an albedo of 0.3?
Am working through two problems which I am not sure if I am handling correctly. Here they are:
a. If the Earth decreases its distance from the sun by 0.03
Astronomical Units (AU), what will be ...
-1
votes
1answer
62 views
Global warming versus nuclear half-lives [closed]
What is (roughly) the half-life of the materials used/generated in a nuclear plant, if that plant goes into meltdown? Could the world bounce back from global warming in a shorter time period than that ...
5
votes
2answers
109 views
Winter in the Northern Hemisphere in July? Can anyone explain it?
The July 2007 issue of the National Geographic Magazine dedicates several pages to "Climate Change" and "Global Warming". The author explains in detail the Earth's movements and how they provoke ...
1
vote
1answer
31 views
How sustainable is timber housing? [closed]
Recently I watch a video on which they made a pretty impressively large building complex for housing out of timber. And they were saying that timber is sustainable compared to concrete and such. From ...
1
vote
0answers
24 views
Gulf stream weakening affects on both ends of the system - Europe and Carribean
There have been reports about the Gulf Stream weakening. Everything I have read about this concentrates on the (possibly substantial) cooling this would cause in Europe.
If this weakening occurs, ...
0
votes
0answers
33 views
How does one analyze this graph on atmospheric C02 data obtained from the Mauna Loa observatory?
Graph I am analyzing:
What I am trying to figure out from the graph is:
What is the range for CO2 over the record (approximation)
What are the major forcings for the overall trend in this record
...
1
vote
0answers
22 views
How to analyze this data showing atomospheric CO2, CH4 and tempertures obtain from an ice sample?
Here is the chart:
My questions are:
Is the atmosphere in equilibrium over this record?
how would I determine what the maximum and minimum values for each
record is (approximation).
Is there a ...
5
votes
0answers
50 views
Will the recent findings regarding nitrogen rock weathering alter climate change projections?
I've seen a few articles lately about research published in the Journal Science that concludes that 26% of the nitrogen in the ecosystem is from rock weathering. These results seem to fill in a ...
22
votes
2answers
6k views
“Five of the Solomon Islands disappeared” due to sea level rise, how is this possible so quickly?
The text of the introduction to the BBC Podcast Sea Levels Rise; The Compass, Living on the Edge Episode 1 of 4 says:
Five of the Solomon Islands have disappeared, many more are becoming ...
6
votes
1answer
80 views
Carbon's role in ocean acidification
This might seem like a basic question, but I'm a little confused about the effects on ocean acidification of different carbon compounds.
I have heard that increased levels of carbon dioxide in the ...
8
votes
1answer
110 views
Is altitude of everything decreasing due to sea level rise?
We know that sea level is rising, though some people say climate change is fake.
Altitude is defined as the height of something measured from sea level.
Since sea level is increasing, and the ...
5
votes
1answer
34 views
Why the $\delta \, ^{18}\text{O}$ in foraminifera shells decrease with temperature even if the oceanic $\delta \, ^{18}\text{O}$ stay constant?
I understand why foram shells contain more $^{18}\text{O}$ when there are ice sheets present, since $^{16}\text{O}$ evaporates more readily and gets trapped in the ice, increasing the relative ...
1
vote
1answer
53 views
Understanding a diagram of Earth's radiation balance
Trying to understand this image. Can someone tell me if I have the right reasoning here:
Sun has 100% SW shooting to earth
30% of that 100% is reflected by clouds
70% remains
Of that 70%, 45% of that ...
3
votes
0answers
50 views
What is the general procedure to run WRF-chem with chen_opt=16
Is there anybody who has run WRF-chem with chem_opt=16 successfully to simulate the green house gases? According to the User guide, it can be done in this way. But ...
7
votes
1answer
142 views
Are we now and/or have we been in the RCP8.5 scenario?
Is it generally understood that we (globally) have been living in an RCP8.5 scenario over the past 7-8 years?
Such that a predictive climate model using RCP8.5 assumptions that was run circa 2011 can ...
2
votes
1answer
58 views
Are these the net radiation at surface, and the complete energy balance at surface?
Could not find these in my book but I found something I think might them online (is this correct):
Net radiation balance:
R_NET = SW↓ - SW↑ + LW↓ - LW↑
Complete energy balance:
R_NET - G = H + LE
...
4
votes
0answers
49 views
How to relate RCM/GCM RCP climate projections to observational data for use in a hydrologic model
As a (smaller) part of my research, I want to look at climate projection data and how that might influence the hydrology within a study catchment in Rajasthan, India. For "the present day" climate, I ...
0
votes
0answers
39 views
What is radiative forcing and climate feedback?
I understand what a positive and negative feedback loops are but not radiative forcing and climate feedback. With that in mind does increases in C02 lead to a positive water vapor feedback that ...
1
vote
0answers
53 views
Correlation between temperature and precipitable water in the tropical climate
Air temperature is known to correlate well with precipitable water at higher latitudes. What are the likely factors that degrade the correlation in the tropical monsoon climate?
1
vote
1answer
54 views
How much warming there was over time for a specific month?
I'm calculating warming trends in specific places and periods of time, that are related to the time a migratory bird spends in a stopover. But using different methods I got different results and I'm ...
6
votes
2answers
103 views
Is global warming a linear process?
Is global warming linear in the sense that doubling the emission of Greenhouse gases will result in a doubling of global warming. Is there a threshold, i.e. is there are certain concentration of GHG ...
4
votes
1answer
37 views
CMIP5 multi-model ensemble, can it be shown as ensemble average?
Let’s say I have got 15 CMIP5 models’ outputs of a given variable e.g. temperature, for RCP6.5 (2020-2100) run.
I want to plot how the temperature will change in the future 2020-2100 (scatter plot, x ...
17
votes
3answers
5k views
Do fossil fuels insulate the crust from the Earth's interior?
I was doing a project for my English class, and I came upon the article Energy conservation in the earth's crust and climate change. I can't view the full text of the article, but the abstract piqued ...
5
votes
0answers
48 views
How well do past climate models stick to current observations? [duplicate]
I'm wondering how good the climate models of the recent past have been at predicting the current climate.
Notably, I've heard quite a few times that the temperature was increasing faster than the ...
3
votes
3answers
192 views
What evidence is backing the claim that the CO₂ we're releasing in the atmosphere is the main cause of climate change?
There's a lot of evidence that:
mankind is putting a lot of CO2 in the atmosphere
CO2 levels are currently rising
CO2 contributes to the green-house effect, which contributes to increase earth ...
3
votes
1answer
67 views
Calculating 30% less solar energy. Provided the math is right, would there have been liquid water on Earth?
The Sun is estimated to have had a solar luminosity about 30% lower when the solar system was formed.
Now if I assumed that Earth's albedo was the same as it is today, what ...
4
votes
2answers
69 views
Do current general circulation models model climate oscillations?
Ten years ago I studied the third report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change with some friends. I remember a bit of a hedge in the report, to the effect that general circulation models ...
5
votes
1answer
67 views
Status of overdue glaciation hypothesis
What is the status of the Early Anthropocene hypothesis, in the specific meaning that the climate would be projected to be significantly cooler (such as, on the order of by 0.8 degrees in the planet ...
6
votes
3answers
821 views
If there's more water in the atmosphere due to global warming, how are there fewer mountain glaciers?
As I understand it, moisture condenses at mountain tops to form the mountain glaciers that provide water. The mountain topography doesn't change much in the span of a few decades, so if there's more ...
2
votes
0answers
39 views
What regions of the US will have *improved* climate given current predictions of climate change?
This is really a two part question:
1) Is there a good model for mapping climate conditions in a particular location to pleasantness or livability or something like that?
2) If there is such a model,...
