Ecological Restoration BIO 409 Dr Mc Ewan Global
Ecological Restoration (BIO 409) Dr. Mc. Ewan Global Change and Restoration
Climate Change Ecology Main points: 1. Climate has never been stable. 2. Climate dynamics impact ecosystems 3. The climate is changing rapidly now. 4. Climate change has substantial implications
Climate Change Ecology Main points: 1. Climate has never been stable. • Enormous variability over the long-term 2. Climate dynamics impact ecosystems 3. The climate is changing rapidly now. 4. Climate change has substantial implications
Delcourt and Delcourt 1987
Delcourt and Delcourt 1987
THE HOLOCENE (11, 000 -now) Delcourt and Delcourt 1987
Younger Dryas: marks boundary Holocene
Holocene Thermal Maximum: (Globally 1 -2 C higher than today) Hypsithermal Holocene
Climate Change Ecology Main points: 1. Climate has never been stable. • Enormous variability over the long-term 2. Climate dynamics impact ecosystems • Species respond to climate dynamics 3. The climate is changing rapidly now. 4. Climate change has substantial implications
Margaret Davis. . .
SCIENCE !
Pollen (SEM) Acer rubrum Juniperus sp. http: //www. geo. arizona. edu/palynology Ambrosia trifida
Margaret Davis: Roger’s Lake Ecology (50: 409 -422), 1969
Pollen Viewer http: //www. geo. brown. edu/georesearch/esh/QE/Research/Veg. Dynam/Veg. Anima/Viewer 32/Web. Viewer. html
Climate Change Ecology Main points: 1. Climate has never been stable. • Enormous variability over the long-term 2. Climate dynamics impact ecosystems • Species respond to climate dynamics 3. The climate is changing rapidly now. • Likely has multiple causes, • Increasing CO 2 may be the most important driver 4. Climate change has substantial implications
Griffith Woods, KY
http: //finance. yahoo. com/real-estate/article/111186/the-ten-bigges -american-cities-that-are-running-out-of-water
But, why?
Well…a lot of things influence climate: 1) Sunspot activity 2) Volcanoes 3) Ocean current changes 4) Earth’s wobble 5) Atmosphere (greenhouse effect)
Sunspots!
Volcanoes can influence global climate, but not real good evidence of more volcanoes the last 50 years or so…
Oceanic currents are a powerful climatic force. They both influence and are influenced by atmospheric conditions. Thermohaline cycles are extremely important. The vulnerability of these systems to ongoing climate warming is not well understood. Why are England other European nations more concerned with climate change than the US or China?
The Earth’s wobble matters…but, thus far we don’t think this has explanatory power with regard to the ongoing warming pattern
A CO 2 driver of Climate Change: The Three Arguments: 1) Physics 2) Correlative 3) Modeling (a combo of physics and correla
The Greenhouse Effect is fundamental to our understanding of how Earth works: http: //earthguide. ucsd. edu/earthguide/diagrams/greenhouse/
Keeling Curve: Measured on Mauna Loa
Occam’s Razor (law of parsimony) and Newton combine to suggest- with extreme confidence that increasing atmospheric CO 2 is the driver of ongoing climate warming. http: //www. ipcc. ch/
Climate Change Ecology Main points: 1. Climate has never been stable. 2. Climate dynamics impact ecosystems 3. The climate is changing rapidly now. 4. Climate change has substantial implications
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