Department of BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
What
is climate change?
Climatologists readily acknowledge natural variation in climate over a time scale of years or decades, however current
patterns of change are far more rapid and point to climate change that
is human induced. Emissions of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide
form
a blanket
around the earth, trapping heat energy inside. Past concentrations and
recent rapid increases of atmospheric greenhouse gases have been well documented
from a myriad of sources.
Is the
climate really changing?
Yes. Climate monitoring over the last century
and long-term reconstructions of climate over the past millennium indicate
that the earth is indeed warming up. Global mean surface temperatures have
increased by 0.6oC since
the late 19th century, and by 0.2 - 0.3oC
over the past 40 years. Physical features of the earth's surface, such
as sea ice and glaciers, also appear to be responding in a predictable
way to the warming trends. Glaciers in the European Alps for example have
lost 30 - 40% of their surface area and approximately half their volume
since the mid-1800s.
Some useful links:
- IPCC(Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change),
- Bureau of Meterology,
- CSIRO,
- Queensland Department of Resources,
- UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change)