John C. Baez's Blog, page 87

What Does the New IPCC Report Say About Climate Change? (Part 5)

guest post by Steve Easterbrook

(5) Current rates of ocean acidification are unprecedented.

The IPCC report says:

The pH of seawater has decreased by 0.1 since the beginning of the industrial era, corresponding to a 26% increase in hydrogen ion concentration. [...] It is virtually certain that the increased storage of carbon by the ocean will increase acidification in the future, continuing the observed trends of the past decades. [...] Estimates of future atmospheric and oceanic carbon dioxide...

New IPCC Report (Part 4)

guest post by Steve Easterbrook

(4) Most of the heat is going into the oceans

The oceans have a huge thermal mass compared to the atmosphere and land surface. They act as the planet’s heat storage and transportation system, as the ocean currents redistribute the heat. This is important because if we look at the global surface temperature as an indication of warming, we’re only getting some of the picture. The oceans act as a huge storage heater, and will continue to warm up the lower atmosphere...

What Does the New IPCC Report Say About Climate Change? (Part 4)

guest post by Steve Easterbrook

(4) Most of the heat is going into the oceans

The oceans have a huge thermal mass compared to the atmosphere and land surface. They act as the planet’s heat storage and transportation system, as the ocean currents redistribute the heat. This is important because if we look at the global surface temperature as an indication of warming, we’re only getting some of the picture. The oceans act as a huge storage heater, and will continue to warm up the lower atmosphere...

New IPCC Report (Part 3)

guest post by Steve Easterbrook

(3) The warming is largely irreversible

The summary for policymakers says:

A large fraction of anthropogenic climate change resulting from CO2 emissions is irreversible on a multi-century to millennial time scale, except in the case of a large net removal of CO2 from the atmosphere over a sustained period. Surface temperatures will remain approximately constant at elevated levels for many centuries after a complete cessation of net anthropogenic CO2 emissions.

(Fig...

What Does the New IPCC Report Say About Climate Change? (Part 3)

guest post by Steve Easterbrook

(3) The warming is largely irreversible

The summary for policymakers says:

A large fraction of anthropogenic climate change resulting from CO2 emissions is irreversible on a multi-century to millennial time scale, except in the case of a large net removal of CO2 from the atmosphere over a sustained period. Surface temperatures will remain approximately constant at elevated levels for many centuries after a complete cessation of net anthropogenic CO2 emissions.

(Fig...

New IPCC Report (Part 2)

guest post by Steve Easterbrook

(2) Humans caused the majority of it

The summary for policymakers says:

It is extremely likely that human influence has been the dominant cause of the observed warming since the mid-20th century.

(Box 13.1 fig 1) The Earth’s energy budget from 1970 to 2011. Cumulative energy flux (in zettajoules!) into the Earth system from well-mixed and short-lived greenhouse gases, solar forcing, changes in tropospheric aerosol forcing, volcanic forcing and surface albedo, (rela...

What Does the New IPCC Report Say About Climate Change? (Part 2)

guest post by Steve Easterbrook

(2) Humans caused the majority of it

The summary for policymakers says:

It is extremely likely that human influence has been the dominant cause of the observed warming since the mid-20th century.

(Box 13.1 fig 1) The Earth’s energy budget from 1970 to 2011. Cumulative energy flux (in zettaJoules!) into the Earth system from well-mixed and short-lived greenhouse gases, solar forcing, changes in tropospheric aerosol forcing, volcanic forcing and surface albedo, (rela...

New IPCC Report (Part 1)

guest post by Steve Easterbrook

In October, I trawled through the final draft of this report, which was released at that time:

• Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis.

Here’s what I think are its key messages:

The warming is unequivocal.
Humans caused the majority of it.
The warming is largely irreversible.
Most of the heat is going into the oceans.
Current rates of ocean acidification are unprecedented.
We have to choose which future we want...

What Does the New IPCC Report Say About Climate Change? (Part 1)

guest post by Steve Easterbrook

In October, I trawled through the final draft of this report, which was released at that time:

• Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis.

Here’s what I think are its key messages:

The warming is unequivocal.
Humans caused the majority of it.
The warming is largely irreversible.
Most of the heat is going into the oceans.
Current rates of ocean acidification are unprecedented.
We have to choose which future we want...

Civilizational Collapse (Part 1)

This story caught my attention, since a lot of people are passing it around:

• Nafeez Ahmed, NASA-funded study: industrial civilisation headed for ‘irreversible collapse’?, Earth Insight, blog on The Guardian, 14 March 2014.

Sounds dramatic! But notice the question mark in the title. The article says that “global industrial civilisation could collapse in coming decades due to unsustainable resource exploitation and increasingly unequal wealth distribution.” But with the word “could” in there, w...