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On 04/10/2005 Software Scientific's Concept Engine TM read 1,000 documents and considered 60,605 links
Research based on What is the evidence for climate change?
Answers | Relevant Documents
Answers
Relevant Documents
These documents are arranged in order of relevance to your query. See also
| Document | Summary |
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| Exploring the Science of Climate Changei This guide translates the major lines of evidence regarding global climate change from the arcane language of science into the mainstream language of English, so that the weighing of evidence can be put back into a public debate that too often weighs only the sound bites of pundits, politicians, industry representatives, & celebrity scientists. i i This evidence, while interesting as a potential "reality check" for global human-caused climate change models, is considered far less reliable than direct observational data. These limitations in evidence make it difficult to draw hard & fast conclusions regarding what changes have actually occurred recently in comparison to past climate conditions.i Nevertheless, we do have evidence at hand regarding recent changes in both atmospheric composition & global climate trends that suggest that humanity has at least changed the Earth’s atmospheric composition in regard to greenhouse gases & other pollutants.i A quick review of the climate changes suggested by the available evidence follows. i Some people interpret the observed changes of temperature as evidence to support the theory that human action has caused changes in the global climate. Others find the evidence regarding observed changes in temperature insufficient to allow a sound conclusion regarding the validity of that theory as of the historical volatility of climate variations. While the last 10,000 years have been abnormally placid as far as climate fluctuations go, evidence of prior climate changes show an Earth that is anything but placid, climatically.i Changes in precipitation trends are, potentially, a form of indirect evidence reflecting whether the Earth is currently experiencing climate change.i Changes in sea level & the extent of ice sheets, sea ice, & polar ice caps are still another form of indirect evidence reflecting whether the Earth is currently undergoing climate change. |
| Sudden climate changes in the recent geological recordi All the evidence indicates that most long-term climate change occurs in sudden jumps rather than incremental changes.i Evidence of climate instability during the Eemian i Overall, the combined sources of evidence suggest that at least one cold & dry event caused a change in circulation patterns in the North Atlantic, a several-degree decline in Atlantic surface temperatures, & on land opened up the west European forests to give a mixture of steppe & trees near the middle of the Eemian, about 122 ka.i Both of these have been attributed to specific pathogen attacks (...), but with the evidence from the Eemian it may now be worth considering these declines in terms of climate deterioration, or at least its effect on the spread of epidemics (A. Parker pers.i For this reason its ?always desirable to have sources of evidence from other regions before invoking a broad, dramatic climate shift.i This is further evidence that if & when the next climate shift occurs, it won't be a gradual century-on-century change but rather a sudden step-function that will begin suddenly & occur over a decade or 2.i its ?still unclear how the climate on a regional or even global scale can change as rapidly as present evidence suggests.i As evidence of such a broader link to global climate, over recent years changes in the monsoon-belt climates of Africa & Asia have also been observed to occur in association with decadal-scale phases of weaker north Atlantic circulation (e.i Broecker notes the evidence for large changes in the water vapour content of the atmosphere in terms of changes in the 18O content of tropical high Andean ice cores (Thompson et al.i Another source of evidence seems to underline the potential importance of sudden climate changes in the coming centuries & millennia: computer modelling studies of the (...) north Atlantic deepwater formation system suggest that its ?indeed sensitive to quite small changes in freshwater runoff from the adjacent continents, whether from river fluxes or meltwater (.,i |
| - Prometheus: Author: Pielke Jr., R. Archives |
| - Prometheus: Climate Change Archives |
| Rapid Climate Change
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| SUDDEN CLIMATE CHANGE THROUGH HUMAN HISTORY:its ?still unclear how the climate on a regional or even global scale can change as rapidly as present evidence suggests. i its ?not known what delay was present in the correlated climate changes between the north Atlantic region & Antarctica, but it is generally thought that other (...) climate mechanisms, eg? greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, linked these 2 far-flung regions & produced rather more closely synchronized changes. i As evidence of such a broader link to global climate, over recent years changes in the monsoon-belt climates of Africa & Asia have also been observed to occur in association with decadal-scale phases of weaker north Atlantic circulation.i In addition to this relatively direct effect of deepwater on North Atlantic & Antarctic climate, other subtle effects on global climate would be expected to result from a sudden change in North Atlantic circulation, or indeed they may themselves trigger a change in the North Atlantic circulation by their effects on atmospheric processes.i C on average, but due to amplification of this change by various factors within the climate system eg? the water vapor content, the resulting change in global climate could have been more than 2 deg.C Another, possibly neglected, factor in rapid regional or global climate changes may be the changes in the albedo of the land surface that result from changes in vegetation or algal cover on desert & polar desert surfaces. i Other smaller changes are observed in the detailed Greenland ice cap record, but its ?important to note that not all the rapid changes observed in the Greenland ice cap correspond to large climate changes elsewhere. For this reason its ?always desirable to have sources of evidence from other regions before invoking a broad, dramatic climate shift. i This is further evidence that if & when the next climate shift occurs, it won't be a gradual century-on-century change but rather a sudden step-function that will begin suddenly & occur over a decade or 2. i Another source of evidence seems to underline the potential importance of sudden climate changes in the coming centuries & millennia: computer modeling studies of the (...) north Atlantic deepwater formation system suggest that its ?indeed sensitive to quite small changes in freshwater runoff from the adjacent continents, whether from river fluxes or meltwater. i |
| The evidence for climate change |
| Evidence for Climate Change |
| UBC Botanical Garden Weblog: Climate Change |
| Study finds climate change evidence in the far north - Faculty of Science - University of Alberta |
| Summary for Policymakers: The Science of Climate Change - IPCC Working Group I |
| Bibliography: Discovery of Global Warming |
| Global Warming/Climate Change Home Page
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| UBC Botanical Garden Weblog: Anecdotal Evidence of Climate ChangeHome / Resources & Writings / Weblog / Climate Change / Anecdotal Evidence of Climate ChangeAnecdotal Evidence of Climate Changecgi/224 Listed below are links to weblogs that reference 'Anecdotal Evidence of Climate Change' from UBC Botanical Garden Weblog. Botanical Art Botanical Resources Botanists Climate Change Herbaria Invasive Plants Novel Uses of Plants Other Botanical Gardens Plant Conservation Plant Discoveries Plant Diseases & Pests Plant Explorers Plant Legal News & Issues Plant Relationships Plants in the Landscape Plants, Food. ... |
| Evidence for Climate Change |
| Major Climate Change Occurred 5,200 Years Ago: Evidence Suggests That History Could Repeat Itself
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| Anthropogenic Climate Changei The 2nd Assessment Report (SAR) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) concluded that:
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| 01-006 (Climate Change on Mars)
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| Climate Change: The Evidence Mounts Up
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| PM speech on climate changePM Speech on Climate ChangeThe PM? called climate change the world's greatest environmental challenge in a speech in London tonight. "Our effect on the environment, & in particular on climate change, is large & growing; he said." But tonight I want to concentrate on what I believe to be the world's greatest environmental challenge: climate change. i Just as science & technology has given us the evidence to measure the danger of climate change, so it can help us find safety from it.i The scientific evidence of global warming & climate change: UK leadership in environmental science i & amongst our particular strengths are the environmental sciences, lead by the world-renowned Hadley & Tyndall centres for climate change research. i In short, we need to develop the new green industrial revolution that develops the new technologies that can confront & overcome the challenge of climate change; & that above all can show us not that we can avoid changing our behaviour but we can change it in a way that is environmentally sustainable. i |
| Human Contribution to Climate Change Remains Questionablei The most widely quoted attempt to address climate changes of the past & to speculate about the future is the series of reports produced by the IPCC, the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.i The 2nd scientific assessment, published in 1996, no longer made this claim; instead, it found it necessary to introduce a previously overlooked factor, human-caused atmospheric sulfate aerosols, to reach the conclusion that "the balance of evidence suggests there is a discernible human influence on global climate" [IPCC, 1996, p.i Yet we have increasing amounts proxy data from tree rings, ocean sediments, ice cores, & other evidence that tells us about climate in the distant past. i Evidence is now forthcoming that UV-caused variations of the ozone layer or changes in solar particulate emissions (...) could (...) influence atmospheric circulation or cloudiness - which in turn can cause significant climate changes [...].i There is evidence also for winter warming, but not yet for the expected warming at high latitudes predicted by the climate models.i My essay concludes otherwise: The observational evidence described above suggests that any warming from the growth of greenhouse gases is likely to be minor, difficult to detect above the natural fluctuations of the climate, & therefore inconsequential.i The IPCC arrived at the ambiguous conclusion that "the balance of evidence suggests there is a discernible human influence on global climate," based on "fingerprints" in the climate record, i.i IPCC WGI, Climate Change 1995: The Science of Climate Change, (...), Karl, T. R., Kukla, G., Razuvayev, V. N., Changrey, M. J., Quayle, R. G., Heim Jr., R. R., Easterling, D. R., & C. B. Fu, Global warming: Evidence for asymmetric diurnal temperature change, Geophys.i |
| The Environmental Literacy Council - Abrupt Climate Change |
| "Climate change - there is no need for concern". Going against the flow of popular opinion.
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| News@UofT -- Study reveals climate change in Western Canada -- November 27, 2002
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| StudyWorks! Online : Increasing Evidence for Human Linked Climate ChangeIncreasing Evidence for Human Linked Climate Change |
| The Discovery of Rapid Climate Change - Physics Today |
| Past Cycles: Ice Age Speculations
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| Simple Models of Climate
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| James M. Inhofe - U.S. Senator - Oklahoma |
| Abrubt Climate Change
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| Nature shows alarming evidence for climate change |
| British Energy - The theory & evidence of climate change |
| Climate Change Information Sheet 8 |
| What's New, US Global Change Research Program
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| Abrubt Climate Change
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