Global Warming: How does it effect you?

Global warming is a loaded word, using the word 'warm' makes it sound like it will be warmer all the time, but in reality it's the global average we are talking about, hence the word 'global'. But we are getting more days that's warmer than before, so even if you think one day is cold it doesn't mean we doesn't have any global warming.

I've read lot of articles from Climate Progress and I like how they are using the word 'on steroids' because that's really true. When the atmosphere is heating up, it's possible for it to take up more water and with warmer oceans they will release more water through vapor than before.  This will make it possible for storms and rainfall to be more intense than before, which is how steroids works they are making easier to be stronger.

With warmer climate many places on earth will get less rain and some places will get more rain. Usually the places that already get rain will get more and the places where rain is rare will get even lesser rain. Which is happening because of the warmer climate, the places where it's already scarce with water will get more vaporization and as I already said storm systems will carry more water that later will rain down on the already rainy places.

Something that we in Europe and US is affected by is the so called storm tracks, where most of our storms develops. Because of global warming they will change, and this will effect us all. In northern hemisphere we have our storm track that starts in the Rocky Mountain and then travels over the Atlantic to reach Europe. The pattern varies depending on the so called 'Subtropical High', a high pressure system that often can be found around the Azores. Because of melting ice sheet, the usual straight storm track will get wavy and slower. Thus creating times when the weather stand still, either we will get heat waves or rain.

If you want to read more about climate and what's happening with climate progress you should check out Climate progress.

//Osced

Weather School: A climate discussion.

It's easy to think that the global warming isn't happening when it gets colder where you live, but we need to remember it's global so even if it gets colder at your place the global temperature can still increase.

Global warming can be divided in two categories; man made and naturally global warming. Many global warming skeptics are using the fact that the sun has different kind of cycles and that for example they say its due to solar spots. Of course solar variability are affecting the climate, but the changes of the temperature can't be fully correlated with the warming. We also has volcano eruptions, but none of the latest volcano did affect the global temperature.

Some of the skeptics even doesn't fully understand the greenhouse effect, and mostly of the scientist that doesn't believe in that the anthropogenic emissions is the cause of the global warming is in a minority. This article (http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2010/06/22/1003187107.abstract) found out that most of the scientist that isn't a 'believer' doesn't actively publishing in this field. I think that's interesting, wonder why? I won't answer that and instead let my readers think about that.

In spirit of the climate discussion I will try to explain the greenhouse effect in several simple ways. I start with the easy and probably the most used way:

We can compare the greenhouse gases with a coat, it works the same way holding the heat inside, making the temperature increasing. This might easily explain the effect, but it can be harder to explain why increased anthropogenic gases would make the temperature increase. The easiest way is to think about it like you another coat on earth. More greenhouse gases means more 'coats'. Pretty simple and explains the essence of the greenhouse effect.

But my favourite explanation is one I learned from one of my teachers. It is still very easy to understand but you can explain a lot more than with the 'coat' explanation. We start with imagining a pub and a little cabin, between the cabin and the pub is a thick forest. If we imagine the forest as the greenhouse gases and the cabin as the open space. The heat or infra-red radiation can then be a drunk person leaving the pub, heading for the cabin. What happens when he walks through the forest? He will have trouble walking in a straight line and 'bounce' between the trees, if the forest is thicker he will have a lot harder to walk through the forest. This is how the greenhouse effect works, with more gases the heat will stay inside the atmosphere longer and heating up it more.

A more scientific explanation talks about 'windows' of radiation that depends on the structure of a molecule. A greenhouse gases has a specific structure that makes it absorb long-wave radiation (heat).

I hope you think this was an interesting reading, please comment and tell me what you thought about it or if you have a question.

//Osced