Chapter 12 Climate Change

CLIMATE CHANGE
Chapter 12
INTRODUCTION
• Climate
- the long-term weather patterns
prevailing over a given area of
the planet.
- came from a Greek word klinein
meaning to slope
- klima – connoting a zone or
region of the Earth as
characterized by its
atmospheric conditions
INTRODUCTION
• Climate
In ancient Greece, the orb of the sun

stood at a high angle in the sky at
noontime as ships sailed toward the
north, and the daytime temperature of
the air would get colder.
 the klima in the north was

colder than in the south.
INTRODUCTION
• Climate
Another explanation:
interaction between the sun and

the Earth
 with the sun in the center, the

Earth moves in an elliptical
motion.
Earth’s Movement Around the Sun
Due to the tilt of the Earth, the whole

area does not receive an equal amount
of sunlight.
The Earth spins around its own axis, an

imaginary line from the North Pole to
the South Pole, which dips and wobbles
gradually.
 like a spinning top (trumpo)
The elements in the interaction
between the sun and the Earth are
defined as:
1. Aphelion
- the point in the orbit of the
Earth farthest from the sun.
2. Perihelion
- the point in the orbit of the
Earth closest to the sun.
defined as:
3. Earth’s axial tilt
- the inclination angle of the
Earth’s rotational axis in relation
to a line perpendicular to its
orbital plane.
defined as:
4. Precession
- the change of the orientation of
the rotaional axis of the Earth.
5. Equinox
- the time the sun at noon is
directly over the equator.
- happens twice a year and causes
an almost equal length of day
and night.
defined as:
6. Solstice
- happens when the sun at noon
sits above the Tropic of Cancer
or Tropic of Capricorn
summer solstice
has the longest period of
daylight in the year
winter solstice
has the shortest period
defined as:
7. Precession of the equinoxes

- the motion of the equinoxes
relative to the precession of the
Earth’s axis of rotation.
- happens over thousands of years
The center of the Earth’s orbital motion

is the sun but the angle or orientation
of the planets around the sun makes all
the difference.
In discussing global warming or climate
change, consider the orbit of the Earth.
Sunlight falling upon the Earth warms

the planet. The amount of sunlight,
however, is not constant since the
orientation of the Earth to the sun
changes.
MILANKOVITCH PARAMETERS
• Is it possible that the 21st century may introduce

yet another dramatic changes in climate?
• Is there enough information to answer the age-old

question of what will the weather be tomorrow?
(Ciliberto, 2015)
• There is a growing body of data suggesting that

the climate is changing all over the world.
• Since the end of the 20th century, many scientists

have asked if the Earth is headed for another Ice
Age (Sparks & Hawkesworth, 2004).
• Milutin Milankovitch
- Slovak scientist and meteorologist
- his interest in the daily weather patterns led
him to investigate the deeper issues:
Do weather and climate come ultimately from

the sun so that it is the sun and its relation to
the Earth that accounts for the change in the
climate?
• Milutin Milankovitch
- his interest in the daily weather patterns led
him to investigate the deeper issues:
Is it possible that as the distance of sun to the

Earth is affected, enough to cause climate to
change?
• Effects of the change in the radius of the Earth’s orbit

• The change in the tilt of the spin of the Earth
• The wobble in the spin axis
 his contemporary scientists critiqued his work

saying that all these were each so small that
they could not alter the amount of sunlight
reaching the Earth enough to cause a
phenomenon like the Ice Age.
• They felt he had a good idea but it was not

enought to explain the event that was being
addressed.
• Milankovitch’s calculations indicated that there

would indeed be a change but seemed far too
small to cause an Ice Age. Even the cumulative
effect would simply be too tiny to matter.
• It could not be proven that one caused the other

and hence could not be qualified as a scientific
fact or genuine theory.
• He believed that he was on to something so much

that he wanted to validate his theoretical
calculations. The work was time consuming and
tedious.
• Since this was the early 20th century, no modern

computing devices were available for him to use.
• Even the electronic adding machine was not
invented yet.
• With the technology at hand, he could not prove
that the mathematics was correct (Gleick, 1987).
• Nevertheless, the mathematical expressions of the

Laws of Nature (Isaac Newton, 17th century) have
some subtle features that might help explain the
role of the Milankovitch parameters in changing
climate.
• Laws of Nautre – allow for cumulative or

summative effects:
* If the sun warms a small piece of land, it can

warm a larger piece of land in the same way.
* If a cup of water can be heated by one
degree, 2 cups can be heated in the same
way, 1 cup after another.
But what if 2 cups are added together? Can the sum

be heated with the same amount of energy?
 No, twice as much heat would then be
needed.
 The laws of science seem quite consistent
and reasonable.
Henri Poincare – French mathematical physicist
- all these need not be as straightforward as it
might seem
Scientists went back to the mathematical equations

that described how the sun-Earth relationship
causes the climate to change over the years.
 came to realize that changing the
Milankovitch parameters over long periods
of time can indeed have a cumulative
effect far greater than it appears at first
glance.
 Chaos Theory (Gleick, 1987)
SUMMARY:
1. Science has been reviewing for decades the
issue of how and why the climate changes,
especially with regard to explaining the Ice
Age.
2. Milankovitch studied whether or not the

direct amount of sunlight falling on Earth
was the cause of the Ice Age.
SUMMARY:
3. He reasoned that over thousands of years,
the relative position of the Earth and sun
changes, causing variations in the solar
radiation reaching the Earth over thousands
of years.
 he knew that the change would be very
small at any one time but wanted to see
if the cumulative effect could be
sufficient to cause the ice in the North
Pole region to grow massively enough
over time to lead to the Ice Age.
SUMMARY:
4. By the end of the century, mathematics had
advanced and more data became available
 scientists are more open to new
theories that could be verified by
examining if the data and predictions
conform to one or more
mathematical theories.
SUMMARY:
5. With the advent of Chaos theory, it seems
that the Milankovitch theory might in fact
be relevant to the question of long-term
climate change.
GLOBAL WARMING
• Average temperature of the Earth’s atmosphere
has been increasing by over 90% in the latter part
of the 20th century.
• 2 opposing arguments on the issue of whether or
not this global warming is just natural:
1. Nature, simply acting according to its laws
with no reference to human beings and
their actions, is the main reason.
 GW will happen as naturally as the
sun rises and sets
GLOBAL WARMING
• 2 opposing arguments on the issue of whether or
not this global warming is just natural:
2. GW is caused or greatly abutted by the
actions of human beings.
 it lays the blame on the actions of
humanity, past and present.
• What can nurses do for climate change?
• Nurses can be instrumental in communications with patients

and families, working with their hospitals and health systems
to reduce emissions and influencing the adoption of strategies
to better prepare our health care facilities and our
communities for the health impacts of climate change
• The nursing profession has a duty to contribute to climate
change adaptation (reducing vulnerability to the harmful
effects) and mitigation (reducing or preventing Green House
Gas emissions – water vapor is the most abundant gas in the
atmosphere) as it is committed to protecting health and
wellbeing and to promoting social justice.

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Chapter 12 Climate Change

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CLIMATE CHANGE

In ancient Greece, the orb of the sun

 the klima in the north was

interaction between the sun and

 with the sun in the center, the

Due to the tilt of the Earth, the whole

The Earth spins around its own axis, an

7. Precession of the equinoxes

The center of the Earth’s orbital motion

Sunlight falling upon the Earth warms

• Is it possible that the 21st century may introduce

• Is there enough information to answer the age-old

• There is a growing body of data suggesting that

• Since the end of the 20th century, many scientists

Do weather and climate come ultimately from

Is it possible that as the distance of sun to the

• Effects of the change in the radius of the Earth’s orbit

 his contemporary scientists critiqued his work

• They felt he had a good idea but it was not

• Milankovitch’s calculations indicated that there

• It could not be proven that one caused the other

• He believed that he was on to something so much

• Since this was the early 20th century, no modern

• Nevertheless, the mathematical expressions of the

• Laws of Nautre – allow for cumulative or

* If the sun warms a small piece of land, it can

But what if 2 cups are added together? Can the sum

Scientists went back to the mathematical equations

2. Milankovitch studied whether or not the

• Nurses can be instrumental in communications with patients

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