Study: Evidence for an Arctic Climate Feedback Loop

By Michael D. Lemonick

From Time April 30, 2010

Animals under siege The article focuses on different problems of the world

in

Alaska India

Thailand

Brazil

Democratic Republic of Congo

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Alaska

There is a risk of extinction of polar bears

Global warming is the increase in the average temperature of Earth’s near-surface air and oceans since the mid-20th century and its projected continuation

27/05/2010 3Frezzato S. and Chonati A. 1C Liceo Scientifico "A. Oriani" Ra

IndiaThe rapid growing

population and economic development are leading to the environmental degradation

The projected population indicates that India will be the first most populous country in the world in the year 2050

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ThailandOver the past few

decades, Thailand’s dramatic economic growth has produced new environmental challenges

The country now faces problems with air and water pollution, declining wildlife population, deforestation

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Brazil

Brazil once had the highest deforestation rate in the world and since 2005 it still has had the largest area of forest removed annually

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Democratic Republic of Congo

Garamba National Park: located in the Democratic Republic of Congo in Africa

The park is also well known for its African elephant domestication

Due to poaching the park was added to the list of World Heritage Sites in Danger in 1996

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TopicsClimate scientists are

professing to know exactly how climate change is playing out

Climate change is real, potentially dangerous and largely due to human activity

The Planet Earth responds to increasing levels of greenhouse gases

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Topics Nature: the Arctic is

warming about twice as fast as the rest of the planet on average (Arctic amplification)

Classic feedback loop: warmer temperature lead to more meltback in sea ice in the summer

The water absorbs energy, leading to even more melting

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Topics Temperature records from

all available sources over the past 20 years (weather station and satellites)

Scientists show that the warming trend is most pronounced near the surface, particulary in the Arctic, rather than at a higher elevation

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Topics The dominant mechanisms

according to which recent climate change has been attributed all result from human activity

They are:

1. increasing atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases

2. global changes in land surface, such as deforestation

3. increasing atmospheric concentrations of aerosols

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TopicsThe extinction risk of

species have becoming very serious due to the effects of global warming

Many species are under threat

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Greenhouse effectIt is caused by atmosphere containing gases that absorb and

emit infrared radiation

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SOURCES

http//: www.time.com/time/ (last access 05-2010)

Animals under siege, T. Boucher, Time, April 13, 2009

Study: evidence for an Arctic climate feedback loop, Michael D. Lemonick, Time, 30 April, 2010

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Liceo Scientifico “A. Oriani” Ravenna

School year: 2009 – 2010

Interdisciplinary project: Man and the environment-Climate changes and endangered species

Subjects involved: English, I.T.

Teacher involved: Prof.ssa Siboni Elisabetta

Class: 1°C PNI

Students involved: Frezzato Simone, Chonati Romo Alejandro

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