Climate Change Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Climate Change - Essay Example Describe three key findings of the AR4 report that are mentioned in the Introduction Section. Key findings include: 1. An increase in global average air and ocean temperatures, widespread melting of snow and ice and rising global sea levels 11 out of last 12 years from 1995-2006 rank among the 12 hottest years on record Global sea level rise of 1.8mm from 1961-2003 Polar ice caps shrinking – Artic sea ice extent shrank 2.7% per decade Changes in precipitation – decline in Mediterranean, Sahel, southern Africa and increase in eastern part of North and South America, North Europe 2. Natural systems are being affecting by regional climate change, particularly temperature increase Glacial runoff increase glacial lake sizes Hydrological effects – increase runoff, earlier spring peak discharge, warming of lakes/rivers, which effects thermal structure and water quality 3. Effects of regional climate change in natural and human environment are emerging, although many are difficult to discern due to adoption and non climatic drivers Agricultural changes – planting crops earlier on in the year Increase in climatic health hazards, e.g. European 2003 heat wave killed 15,000 people in France What is the difference between natural and anthropogenic drivers of climate change? Provide an example of each. Natural changes refer to climatic alterations in the Earth’s atmosphere that aren’t affected by humans. Astronomical Effects Terrestrial Effects Orbital variability of the Earth Global geometry of continent/ocean distribution Solar storms and flares Ocean tide cycles Sunspot cycles Periodic ocean circulation changes, e.g. El Nino These processes control the amount of suns radiation reaching specific latitudinal zones on Earth Volcanic eruptions Anthropogenic drivers have also been highlighted as contributing to climate change and accelerating the warming of the Earth’s atmosphere. Examples include increased CO? (280ppm from pre industrial levels to 379pmm by 2005), burning of fossil fuels, deforestation, CFC’s and aerosols and from agriculture, e.g. cows releasing significant amounts of methane. What is a greenhouse gas (GHG), and how have their levels changed in the atmosphere changed since 1970? A GHG is a gas in the Earth’s atmosphere that contributes to the greenhouse effect through absorbing and emitting radiation causing climate change. They include CO?, methane, nitrous oxide and halocarbons. Changes in the atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases and aerosols, land cover and solar radiation alter the energy balances of climatic systems. There has been a 70% increase in global GHG emissions due to human activities between 1970-2004. CO? annual emissions have increased by 80% from 21 to 38 gigatonnes. CO? also represents 77% of total anthropogenic GHG emissions. Describe the SRES scenarios. What are they, and why do we have more than one of them? SRES refers to the scenarios descr ibed in the IPCC Special Report on Emission Scenarios. The SRES project an increase of baseline global GHG emissions by a range of 9.7 to 36.7 GtCO? – eq (25% to 90%) between 2000-2030. The SRES scenarios are grouped into 4 scenario families (A1, A2, B1, B2). They explore alternative development pathways, covering a wide range of demographic,

Choju Giga Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Choju Giga - Essay Example Anthropomorphism: this is the attribution of human behavior or manner to that of an animal. Various cultures have a long-standing anthropomorphized tradition characteristic that represent behaviors of human in both art and storytelling traditions. This paper will illustrate the influence of animal representations in â€Å"Choju Giga† artwork. Satire: This form of art and literature brings about vices and conventions fun among individuals and groups with a significance of ridiculing them. This paper will apply â€Å"Choju Giga† as context to demonstrate the use of animal characteristic in order to make connections between visual and literary satire. Parody: this an artistic and literary work that imitates the style of characters of the author or work for effects of comic or ridicule. This paper will use the satirical emaki examination as a context to illustrate the use of images of animal in animation. â€Å"Choju Giga† is regarded as unusual from other build hand scrolls the difference being that, it is limited to an accompanying text, and for its humorous matter of subject. The scrolls are acknowledged as a satirical observation on monastic life and moral decrease in Japan’s 12th century (Baker 88). In difference to West, where animation has performed a significant cultural role in the Japan’s 20th century, the country has a long pictorial tradition. Various scholars comment that these scrolls are important for their history as some the earliest Japanese manga forms (Napier 73). In this scrolls segment, there is a marked absence of intense colors, with rather an emphasis on ink and strokes of the brush. The scroll is meant to be viewed from the right side to the left side. On the left side end, there is a frog image next to the monkey. The frog is observed to be holding a leaf umbrella and the monkey clothing what emerges to be branches. The umbrella hold