1. Signs of Climate change
OLLI WEST: EARTH CLIMATE – WEEK 4
Signs of Climate change
Tuesday October 7th, 2014
Paul E. Belanger, Ph.D.

2. OLLI WEST: Signs of Climate change
Last weeks field trip / web page and slides
PowerPoint of week 3 – cover elements today
Signs of climate change:
Past
Present
Future
CO2 emissions; CH4 emissions

3. OLLI WEST: Signs of Climate change (cont.)
We are changing the climate:
CO2
CH4
And resulting temperatures

4. Climate Changes from Ocean Sediment Cores, since 5 Ma
Climate Changes from Ocean Sediment Cores, since 5 Ma. Milankovitch Cycles
the last time inferred temperatures will have been this high – once equilibrium is reached, will have been 3-5 million years ago or more
41K
100 K *
we are now about here
3.0Ma
4.0Ma
2.0Ma
1.0Ma
5.0Ma
When CO2 levels get below ~ ppm Orbital parameters become more important than CO2

7. U.S. CO2 Emissions have come down

8. Lest we forget: CO2 is still going up*
400 ppm

9. What about Methane? http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/aggi/aggi.html