Broken Brick Initiative

Tag: Climate Change

  • Arctic Health Affects the World

    The Arctic climate significantly impacts the rest of the world. It creates feedback loops, which are the impact of an initial force on a system which might amplify (positive) or diminish (negative) the initial force. One ongoing example is the current melting of permafrost and the release of methane gas, the methane traps more heat in the atmosphere, which causes more permafrost melt. With increased methane in the atmosphere, Arctic feedback loops have the potential to speed up global flooding, ice melt, and other climate change impacts. Ice melt is already flooding across the globe: Boston, Bangladesh, Wuhan, and many other coastal cities. 

    Furthermore, the Arctic regulates global climates through the northern jet stream. Warmer temperatures will destabilize the jet stream, disrupting southern climates, and raise the Earth’s temperature while threatening food systems. Freshwater from ice melt may even disrupt ocean circulation patterns and cool down the northern Atlantic ocean. Vegetation zones will shift, resulting in biodiversity loss and southern species migrating north. In a bleak vision of the future, it is possible that viruses, zoonotics, and diseases preserved in the ice and permafrost could be revived with the potential to start devastating pandemics. 

    Feedback loop: an input that speeds up or slows down an output 

    Positive feedback loop: input that amplifies an output

    Negative feedback loop: input that slows down an output

    Jet stream: air current in the Arctic that affects weather systems

    Ocean circulation patterns: large scale movement of water 

    Further Reading: 

    Francis, J. A., & Vavrus, S. J. (2015). Evidence for a wavier jet stream in response to rapid Arctic warming. Environmental Research Letters, 10(1), 014005. Complicated paper that suggests extreme weather in mid latitudes is likely caused by changes in the jet stream related to global warming. Could explain heat waves and cold snaps from atmospheric blocking. 

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration – Ocean Acidification: The Other Carbon Dioxide Problem. Available at: https://www.pmel.noaa.gov/co2/story/Ocean+Acidification An overview of the chemical reactions that occur when excess carbon dioxide is dissolved in ocean water, leading to an increase in ocean acidification. Links on this webpage lead to other articles about the ecosystem impacts of ocean acidification and up-to-date observations of ocean acidification around the world.

    Koven, C. D., Ringeval, B., Friedlingstein, P., Ciais, P., Cadule, P., Khvorostyanov, D., … Krinner, G. (2011, September 6). Permafrost carbon-climate feedbacks accelerate global warming. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 108(36). This article explores how feedback accelerates climate change. As permafrost is expected to melt, further greenhouse gases will be emitted to the atmosphere, contributing more to warming

    References:

    “National Snow and Ice Data Center.” Climate Change in the Arctic | National Snow and Ice Data Center,

    nsidc.org/cryosphere/arctic-meteorology/climate_change.html

    “Six Ways Loss of Arctic Ice Impacts Everyone.”

    WWF, World Wildlife Fund, www.worldwildlife.org/pages/six-ways-loss-of-arctic-ice-impacts-everyone

    Wadhams, Peter, et al. “The Global Impacts of Rapidly Disappearing Arctic Sea Ice.” Yale E360, e360.yale.edu/features/as_arctic_ocean_ice_disappears_global_climate_impacts_intensify_wadhams

  • Climate Change and the Arctic

    Climate change threatens the safety and integrity of the Arctic’s climate, ecosystems, and biodiversity. Sea ice has begun to decline in quality and quantity causing Arctic warming to occur almost twice as fast as anywhere else in the world, with more severe consequences. The volume of sea ice that forms every year is decreasing, and the ice that forms is becoming thinner. 

    Ice has a high albedo, which means it reflects a lot of solar radiation back into space and does not absorb heat. Warmer temperatures melt sea ice, exposing darker surfaces with a lower albedo causing more heat to be absorbed and more ice to melt. Ice melt is endangering species whose habitats are dependent on sea ice, including polar bears, walruses, and seals.

    Increased C02 in the atmosphere has been directly linked to increased C02 in the ocean, and poses a threat to Arctic sea life. Marine Arctic animals have spent millenia adapting to unique Arctic climates; small changes in temperature or acidification have severe consequences. Ocean acidification is disrupting food webs, biochemical composition of marine animals, and ocean circulation patterns. 

    Climate change effects in the Arctic will open up direct shipping routes and facilitate development in the Arctic. As countries rush to stake a claim in the Arctic, there will be an increased risk of oil spills, environmental damage, and ice melt.

    Vocabulary

    Biodiversity: variety of species/ life in an environment

    Albedo: the amount of solar radiation reflected by a surface

    High albedo: more solar radiation is reflected back into space than absorbed (lighter surfaces like snow)

    Low albedo: more solar radiation is absorbed than reflected back into space (darker surfaces like dirt or water)

    Further Reading

    Fu, Q. (2015). Radiation Transfer in the Atmosphere: Radiation, Solar. In: Encyclopedia of Atmospheric Sciences (Second Edition) [North, G.R., Pyle, J., Zhang, F., eds.], Academic Press, p. 1-4. An overview of the physical properties of solar electromagnetic radiation and the effect of this radiation on the Earth’s global climate.

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Science Mission Directorate (2010). Tour of the Electromagnetic Spectrum. Available from: https://science.nasa.gov/ems The landing webpage for NASA’s series of informational articles on electromagnetic radiation, shortwave and longwave radiation, and the greenhouse effect. Web links on page lead to articles and visualizations about the dynamics discussed in this section. 

    Bell, R. E., & Seroussi, H. (2020). History, mass loss, structure, and dynamic behavior of the Antarctic Ice Sheet. Science, 367(6484), 1321-1325. Detailed review paper describes the deep time and more recent history of the Antarctic ice sheet including when the past the ice sheet was absent and current rates of change 

    References

    “The Arctic & Global Warming.” Greenpeace USA, www.greenpeace.org/usa/arctic/issues/global-warming/#:~:text=Melting%20ice%20speeds%20up%20climate,world%20warmer%20as%20a%20result.

    “Climate Change and the Arctic.” Marine Mammal Commission, 2 May 2019, www.mmc.gov/priority-topics/arctic/climate-change/.Wendisch, Manfred. “Understanding Causes and Effects of Rapid Warming in the Arctic.” Eos, 6 July 2017, eos.org/science-updates/understanding-causes-and-effects-of-rapid-warming-in-the-arctic.