Happy Saturday!
We live on a blue planet. Our societies have proliferated along the coastlines for thousands of years. We rely on our oceans, seas, estuaries, and bays to provide us with abundant food, transportation, energy, and leisurely enjoyment. Since our livelihoods are so closely tied to these blue bodies of water, we rely on them not to change. A major change in the marine biosphere will unequivocally mean a major change for our societies.
Yet the oceans are rapidly changing; hard data is available in reports from around the world. But, before we start talking about indicators of change, lets address how climate change is defined. The EPA provides this definition: "Climate change refers to any significant change in measures of climate (such as temperature, precipitation, or wind) lasting for an extended period of time (decades or longer). Climate change might result from natural factors and processes or from human activities."
In a new report titled "Climate Change Indicators in the US," the EPA provides 24 indicators that can be used to document climate change, 4 of these directly relate to the oceans, but 9 have major impacts on the oceans. The main four are: Ocean Heat, Sea Surface Temperatures, Sea Level Rise, and Ocean Acidification. These will all be discussed in the future.
That's all the space I have for today, so come back next time to learn about past cycles of climate change, why ours is unique, and what we can expect from the future.
-N. Gallo
Melting polar ice - just one of the many indicators of climate change.
(Photo credit: http://www.pharmacyescrow.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/global-warming-polar-bear.jpg)
If you'd like to take a closer look at the EPA report, it's available here: http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/indicators.html
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