27. Global Warming

The Atmosphere, the Ocean and Environmental Change (GG 140)

The issue of global warming is discussed. Recent climate change over the last half of the 20th century is thought to be driven largely by greenhouse gas emissions, with carbon dioxide playing a large role. The carbon cycle describes the reservoirs of carbon (atmosphere, terrestrial biomass and ocean) and the exchanges that occur between these reservoirs. Inputs of carbon to the atmosphere include burning of fossil fuels and respiration from biomass. Vegetation also removes carbon from the atmosphere through photosynthesis, and a similar uptake of carbon from the atmosphere occurs in the ocean through biological processes. Residence time for carbon in the atmosphere can be computed and is estimated to be a few hundred years. Atmospheric carbon dioxide has been measured directly since the 1950s, and longer records exist over geologic time from ice core data.

00:00 - Chapter 1. Global Warming
08:45 - Chapter 2. The Carbon Cycle
23:48 - Chapter 3. Residence Time of Carbon Dioxide in the Atmosphere
27:31 - Chapter 4. Carbon Dioxide Concentration Trends
34:40 - Chapter 5. Carbon Isotopes
40:41 - Chapter 6. The Holocene as a Climatic Reference Time Period

Complete course materials are available at the Open Yale Courses website: http://oyc.yale.edu

This course was recorded in Fall 2011.