Page 175 - Geosystems An Introduction to Physical Geography 4th Canadian Edition

THEhumanDENOMINATOR 5 Global Temperatures
TEMPERATURE HUMANS
• Temperature patterns drive Earth systems, making the planet habitable for humans and other life.
• Heat and cold determine individual comfort levels.
HUMANS TEMPERATURE
• Humans produce atmospheric gases and aerosols that affect clouds and the Earth–atmosphere energy budget, which in turn affects temperature and climate.
• Rising sea-surface temperatures alter evaporation rates, affecting clouds and rainfall, with associated effects on the biosphere.
5a
Solar energy drives Earth systems, including winds, ocean currents, weather, and living ecosystems. [NASA/JSC.]
5b
A severe heat wave hit India during the summer of 2010, bringing the hottest temperatures in over 50 years and causing hundreds of casualties.
[Bappa Majumdar/Reuters.]
Global Surface Temperatures
Four independent records show nearly identical long-term warming trends. 0.8
Measurements taken in 1909 and in 2004 indicate that the McCarty Glacier in Alaska retreated over 15 km. Accelerated loss of ice is happening to glaciers in
high latitude and mountain regions owing to climate change. (More on glaciers in Chapter 17.) [1909 by G. S. Grant, USGS; 2004 by Bruce F. Molnia, USGS.]
5d
During 2012, the warmest summer on record in the United States up to that time, large fires in Idaho and Montana contributed to the over 3.6 million hectares burned across the country, with the increase in wildfires tied to climate change impacts.
[NASA/Jeff Schmaltz/LANCE MODIS Rapid Response.]
The background true-color earth image was made be satellite
in February as part of naSa's Blue Marble program; see: earthobservatory.nasa.gov/ Features/BlueMarble/
5c
0.6 0.4 0.2
0 -0.2 -0.4 -0.6
1880 1900
1920 1940 1960
Year
1980 2000
NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies
Met Office Hadley Centre/Climatic Research Unit NOAA National Climatic Data Center
Japanese Meteorological Agency
ISSUES FOR THE 21ST CENTURY
Records from several international scientific agencies are in agreement as to recent climate change impacts on global temperatures. [NASA Earth Observatory/Robert Simmon.]
• Rising average global temperatures will enhance climate change effects across the globe.
• Changes in sea-surface temperatures will have far-ranging effects on Earth systems.
geosystemsconnection
global temperature patterns are a significant output of the energy–atmosphere system. We ex- amined the complex interactions of several factors that produce these patterns and studied maps of their distributions. in the next chapter, we shift to another output of this energy–atmosphere system, that of global circulation of winds and ocean currents. We look at the forces that interact to produce these movements of air and water over earth. We also examine multiyear fluctuations in global circulation patterns, such as the phenomena of el niño and la niña patterns in the Pacific Ocean and their far-reaching effects on world climates.
Temperature Anomaly (C°)
139