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Climate change for beginners - info & questions


Paul

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Posted
  • Location: Aviemore
  • Location: Aviemore

If you're interested in the subject of climate change but are new to the subject and have questions you'd like to ask or find a link to an article or paper you think may be interesting to people who are new to the subject please feel free to use this thread. 

Due to the at times difficult atmosphere in the climate discussions in the past, this and the other discussions in the climate area will be strictly moderated - please ensure you read the guidelines and adhere to them at all times as there will be zero-tolerance on any posts which break the forum guidelines and disrupt the discussions. 
 
Thread guidelines

    [*]This thread is aimed at people new to the subject of climate change, for more in depth discussion/opinion please use an alternative thread. [*]Posts which break the forum guidelines (viewable here) and are disruptive in any way will be removed and the person making that post blocked from using the climate discussion. [*]All posts giving info / answering questions need to be referencing a reputable source or peer reviewed paper.

If you have any questions about this thread, what is suitable for it, the moderation or anything else please contact a member of the forum team by pm. If you have any concerns over a post in the thread and think it may be against the thread or forum guidelines please hit the report button to alert the team to it.
 
We hope that this (and the other new threads) will be the start of a much improved climate debate here on the community but it requires the support of all involved within the discussions in order for that to happen, so please respect it.

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Posted
  • Location: Ireland, probably South Tipperary
  • Weather Preferences: Cold, Snow, Windstorms and Thunderstorms
  • Location: Ireland, probably South Tipperary

Hi Paul, the new threads seem like an interesting approach, hopefully they will help things improve, fingers crossed!. 

For this thread though, might I suggest adding the condition that questions be answered with evidence from peer reviewed or other reputable sources, or at least with references to them, where possible. Otherwise, I could see it easily turning into the usual pro/anti AGW bickering.

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Posted
  • Location: Camborne
  • Location: Camborne

Not sure whether this is the correct thread but an interesting article by Dr. Ricky Rood.

 

Sea-Level Variability: A Primer

Quote

 

The comments in the last blog helped me realize the complexities of sea-level rise. In this entry I am going to explore sea-level rise more rigorously. I will continue using the East Coast of the U.S. as a case study.One of the most certain consequences of the warming planet is that sea level will rise and land will be flooded. My mantra is that the temperature of Earth’s surface will rise, ice will melt, sea level will rise and the weather will change. It is easy to think of the ocean as a big cup and we are adding more water, from the melting ice, and, therefore, the seas will rise relative to the land. When we look at an individual place, like Norfolk, Virginia in the previous blog, the evaluation of sea level rise takes on many local details. In fact, it is much like talking about a single weather event in the context of a changing climate.

 

http://www.wundergro...ml?entrynum=302

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Posted
  • Location: Aviemore
  • Location: Aviemore

Hi Paul, the new threads seem like an interesting approach, hopefully they will help things improve, fingers crossed!. 

For this thread though, might I suggest adding the condition that questions be answered with evidence from peer reviewed or other reputable sources, or at least with references to them, where possible. Otherwise, I could see it easily turning into the usual pro/anti AGW bickering.

 

Yes, fair point.

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Posted
  • Location: Ireland, probably South Tipperary
  • Weather Preferences: Cold, Snow, Windstorms and Thunderstorms
  • Location: Ireland, probably South Tipperary

For anyone new to the subject that hears a lot of confusing claims about the climate, whether it be that the sun/CFCs/natural cycles/Urban Heat Island are the cause of the recent warming, or that there is no proof that CO2 causes warming, or that the Greenhouse Effect isn't real, or anything like that, then the website skepticalscience is a great place to check out.

Skepticalscience goes through many of these myths and much more, showing what the science actually says with well explained posts, great graphs, animations and references to peer reviewed material for further reading. Many of the main climate myths are debunked using 3 different levels based on your own scientific knowledge, basic, intermediate and advanced. They also do reviews on the latest climate research and updates on the latest data.

 

Another site to check out is RealClimate. It's run exclusively by current active climate scientists, dedicated to explaining the latest research and adding extra context for amateur science followers and journalists, or, as the site says, "Climate science by climate scientists". It can be a little more technical than skepticalscience, but most of the articles are very accessible, and comes right from the experts.

 

 

To start off with, a piece by skepticalscience, looking at the current situation with regard to the possible El Nino this year

http://www.skepticalscience.com/El-Nino-in-2014-Still-on-the-way.html

 

And a piece on realclimate about a recent study on Rossby waves and extreme weather

http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2014/07/rossby-waves-and-surface-weather-extremes/

 

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Posted
  • Location: Ireland, probably South Tipperary
  • Weather Preferences: Cold, Snow, Windstorms and Thunderstorms
  • Location: Ireland, probably South Tipperary

Actually, RealClimate has a beginners section, under the "start here" tab on the top of the page (link). Here's what it shows

 

-------------- ---------------- ------------ -------------------- ------------------------- ---------------

We’ve often been asked to provide a one stop link for resources that people can use to get up to speed on the issue of climate change, and so here is a first cut. Unlike our other postings, we’ll amend this as we discover or are pointed to new resources. Different people have different needs and so we will group resources according to the level people start at.

 

For complete beginners:

NCAR: Weather and climate basics
Center for Climate and Energy Solutions: Global Warming basics
Wikipedia: Global Warming
NASA: Global Warming update
National Academy of Science: America’s Climate Choices (2011)
Encyclopedia of Earth: Climate Change Collection
Global Warming FAQ (Tom Rees)
Global Warming: Man or Myth? (Scott Mandia, SUNY Suffolk)
Oxford Begbrooke: Climate Basics

There is a new booklet on Climate Literacy from multiple agencies (NOAA, NSF, AAAS) available here (pdf).

The UK Govt. has a good site on The Science of Climate Change (added Sep 2010).

The portal for climate and climate change of the ZAMG (Zentralaanstalt für Meteorologie und Geodynamik, Vienna, Austria). (In German) (added Jan 2011)

 

 

Those with some knowledge:

 

The IPCC AR4 Frequently Asked Questions (here (pdf)) are an excellent start. These cover:

RealClimate: Start with our index

 

 

Informed, but in need of more detail:

 

Science: You can’t do better than the IPCC reports themselves (AR4 2007TAR 2001).

History: Spencer Weart’s “Discovery of Global Warming†(AIP)

Art: Robert Rohde’s “Global Warming Art‘

 

 

Informed, but seeking serious discussion of common contrarian talking points:

 

All of the below links have indexed debunks of most of the common points of confusion:

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Posted
  • Location: Exile from Argyll
  • Location: Exile from Argyll

A big thanks, BFTV for all the good links - an excellent reference point being as it is on the first page. :hi:

 

I'm not a beginner as in I've read extensively but never felt able to contribute to the dog fight as it manifests on so many climate forums; very off-putting when one has no passionate ideals and an incomplete grasp of the validity of either side of the argument.

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Posted
  • Location: glasgow
  • Weather Preferences: snowy winters hot summers
  • Location: glasgow

a very big thanks to you BFTV. Some great links for a beginner like me.

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Posted
  • Location: Dumfries, South West Scotland.
  • Weather Preferences: Snow and cold in winter and dry and very warm in summer
  • Location: Dumfries, South West Scotland.

As others have said thanks BFTP!

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Posted
  • Location: N.Bedfordshire, E.Northamptonshire
  • Weather Preferences: Cool not cold, warm not hot. No strong Wind.
  • Location: N.Bedfordshire, E.Northamptonshire

BFTV has been busy :)

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Posted
  • Location: Ireland, probably South Tipperary
  • Weather Preferences: Cold, Snow, Windstorms and Thunderstorms
  • Location: Ireland, probably South Tipperary

Just to be clear folks, I didn't find all those links, they came from the realclimate "start here" page. I may have a lot of free time, but not that much!

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Posted
  • Location: N.Bedfordshire, E.Northamptonshire
  • Weather Preferences: Cool not cold, warm not hot. No strong Wind.
  • Location: N.Bedfordshire, E.Northamptonshire

Just to be clear folks, I didn't find all those links, they came from the realclimate "start here" page. I may have a lot of free time, but not that much!

Well put together all the same :good: as with the others making contributions :)

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