weve given some consideration into how Earths climate has changed over geologic time – this week we want to consider what is happening today. There is no doubt that the Earths climate is currently changing very rapidly, and in fact it is perhaps changing at such a rate that the evidence of this change will be forever preserved in the rock record – which would allow us to enter a new geologic epoch – the Anthropocene.
After reading the documents and watching the video for this week Id like you to comment on:
How have you personally experienced climate change in your life
***write about climate change in past 30 years in Seattle**
What we should use to define the Anthropocene, and
When should we say that the anthropocene actually began?
Note:
If you are under the age of 30 that means that you only have “lived experience” of 1 climate state and therefore have no ability to compare climate states that you have lived through. Further, if like me, you are over 30 but have moved around a lot and you now live someplace other than where you grew up, the climates you are comparing are proverbial apples and oranges.
I also would like us to steer clear of pointing to extreme weather events (“It was really cold this winter so climate is probably cooling”) or perceptions (“the snow was much deeper when I was a kid” – which could be true or could be a perception based on the fact that you are now much taller than you were when you were a kid making it seem like there’s less snow now), and attempt to use data instead. While personal anecdotes are data – and can be valuable data in many instances – I would like us to make an attempt to place our observations and anecdotes in the context of existing data. Also, multiple years of unusual weather observations (at the same time of year) is a better argument for climate change than a single observation (i.e. a consistent trend versus a freak event).
So how do we find context (particularly if we’re under 30 and/or have moved a lot) for the climate state we are experiencing at our chosen location?
If I said “Two of the last three winters in central Maine have been unusually warm” then a good way to get context is to define what “usual” is. We have the ability to do that regardless of our age and where we’ve lived. However, this can get tricky as we would have to locate temperature data that covered winter months only and then do some number comparisons. A potentially easier way is to find a news article where they have done the legwork for you: [Imaginary headline] “Waterville Maine experiences record warm winter for the second time in three years”. In this made up example the climate state of now has been compared to a historical climate state.
Note that you do not have to use temperature or even weather phenomena as your example of how climate is changing. You can use proxies! As we have seen, climate impacts all aspects of the Earth system so you could choose sea level, species ranges, species populations, growing season length, timing of budburst, length of bear hibernation, sales of AC units, etc. etc. as a way to make comments on how climate is changing.
RESOURCES:
https://www.epa.gov/climate-indicators/health-society
