What are Climate and Climate Change?

What are Climate and Climate Change?

“The climate of a region or city is its typical or average weather…

Earth's climate is the average of all the world's regional climates…

Climate change, therefore, is a change in the typical or average weather of a

region or city.”
What are of
Evidence Climate and
Climate Climate Change?
Change

United Nations
Framework
Convention on
Climate Change

“Climate change in IPCC refers to a change in the state of the climate that can
be identified by changes in the mean and/or the variability of its properties,
and that persists for an extended period, typically decades or longer. It refers to
any change in climate over time, whether due to natural variability or as a
result of human activity. This usage differs from that in the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), where climate change
refers to a change of climate that is attributed directly or indirectly to human
activity that alters the composition of the global atmosphere and that is in
addition to natural climate variability observed over comparable time period”
 Evidence of Climate Change
Vital Signs of the Planet: Sea Level Rise

“Scientific evidence for warming of the climate system is

unequivocal.”
- International Panel on Climate Change
Evidence of Climate Change
Vital Signs of the Planet: Global
Sea Level
Temperature
Rise Rise

Republic of Maldives
Evidence of Climate Change
Vital Signs of the Planet: Shrinking
Global Temperature
Ice Sheets Rise
Evidence of Climate Change
Vital Signs of the Planet: Extreme
ShrinkingEvents
Ice Sheets

ANTARTICA MASSVARIATION SINCE 2002

1000
rictons)

500
Ice Mass (billions of met

-500

-1000

2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014

Evidence of Climate Change
Vital Signs of the Planet: Extreme Events
Climate Change in Mauritius

CLIMATE CHANGE IN

MAURITIUS
Climate Change in Mauritius

Mauritius
Meteorological
Services

Temperature Rise
“Average temperature at all stations is rising at the rate of 0.15 °C per decade
and has risen by 0.74 – 1.2 °C when compared to the 1961-90 long term mean.
At some urban stations the temperature has risen by even greater amounts”
Climate Change in Mauritius

Mauritius
Meteorological
Services

Sea Level Rise

“Sea levels in the southwest Indian Ocean based on reconstructed tide gauge
data and Topex/Poseiden altimeter for the period 1950-2001 shows a rise of
around 1.5 mm/yr at Port Louis and 1.3 mm/yr at Rodrigues.

Analysis of Port Louis data for the period 1987-2007 gives a mean rise of 2.1
mm/yr for the last 10 years”
Climate Change in Mauritius

Mauritius
Meteorological
Services

Annual Rainfall
“Long-term time series of rainfall amount over the past century (1905 to 2007)
show a decreasing trend in annual rainfall over Mauritius. In fact the average
rate of decrease per decade is around 57 mm. The total decrease during the last
ten years is about 8% when compared to the 1950s”
Climate Change in Mauritius

Mauritius
Meteorological
Services

Extreme weather events

“Even though the number of rainy days is decreasing, heavy rainfall events
leading to numerous flash floods and temporary interruption of certain socio-
economic activities during the summer months of February and March has
increased.

The frequency of extreme weather events, heavy rains and storms of tropical
cyclone strength or higher, has increased significantly over the last two
decades
”
Climate Change in Mauritius

Mauritius
Meteorological
Services

Other Impacts
• A lengthening of the intermediate dry period
• A shift in the start of the summer rains
• Rapid or even explosive intensification of tropical storms
Causes of Climate Change

CAUSES OF
CLIMATE CHANGE
Causes of Climate Change

“Earth’s temperature is a balancing act.”

- US Environmental Protection Agency
Causes of Climate Change

Energy from the sun Energy reflected

absorbed by Earth back to space

Altering
Many the Energy
factors, Balance
both natural and human, can cause changes in Earth’s energy
balance,
The powerincluding:
of a process to alter the climate is estimated by its "radiative
•forcing,"
Variations
theinchange
the sun's
in energy reaching
the Earth's Earthbalance due to that process.
energy
• Changes in the reflectivity of Earth’s atmosphere and surface
Some climate forcings are positive, causing globally averaged warming,
and some are negative, causing cooling.
• Changes in the greenhouse effect, which affects the amount of heat retained
by Earth’s atmosphere
Causes of Climate Change
Causes of Climate Change
Natural Causes: Variation
Change inin
Sun’s Energy
Earth’s Orbit
Causes of Climate Change
Natural Causes: Volcanic
VariationEruptions
in Earth’s Orbit
Causes of Climate Change
Natural Causes: Volcanic Eruptions
Causes of Climate Change
Human Causes: Deforestation
Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Causes of Climate Change
Human Causes: Deforestation