GEOG 1410 Lecture Notes - Lecture 16: Anthropocene, James Hansen, Industrial Revolution
7 May 2018
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GEOG 1410
October 31, 2017
The Politics of Climate Change
Technology and the politics of responsibility
The Anthropocene - what marks the era we’re living in, is the human impact on the natural
world. Some mark it as the start of the industrial revolution.
Dr. James Hansen
● CO2 naturally exists in the atmosphere, human activity has contributed to an
extraordinary rise in emissions.
● 2nd half of the 20th century is the largest rise, use of automobiles and the burning of
fossil fuels for energy
The average global temperature of the air is rising.
● Greenhouse effect and warming the air as a whole
● Changing the poles, arctic sea ice melting
● Glaciers are melting, a way in which water is stabilized, keeping the water cold as
well as in one place
● Antarctica - stable ice that is not expected to change is melting
● Rising sea levels - has an immediate effect on place we live, in some cities long term,
and in low lying islands and coastal communities
● King Tides - earth, sun, moon align, raising the sea level. Floods occur even when
there is no rain or storm surges.
● Changes happening to ocean life - octopus living closer to the shore, responding to
the ocean
● Could be due to the ocean water warming - Ocean is holding a majority of the rising
heat
● Damage to ocean habitats - as oceans warm and absorb CO2, the Ph levels go down
and become more acidic
● Bringing more extreme conditions - more intense hurricanes, warm water contributing
to this
○ As a hurricane travels across open water it gains speed, and the warmer the
water, the more the hurricanes are going to pick up speed
● Drought - increased heat evaporates water supplies - heavy drought in California
○ Effects growing season - California also supplies Canada with fruit
○ Contributes to wildfires - this year California had one of its worst wildfire years
● San Paulo in Brazil
○ Unexpected drought due to deforestation and rising temperatures
○ An area that has heavy rainfall
● Trees are migrating - maple trees are moving north
○ Response to climate change - not all species are able to adapt and relocate
themselves in time
○ Decline in the number of species alive
● Extinction rate of plants, bugs, and reptiles are on the rise
○ Believed that the animal populations counted in 2010 are half the amount
counted in 1970
Document Summary
The anthropocene - what marks the era we"re living in, is the human impact on the natural world. Some mark it as the start of the industrial revolution. Co2 naturally exists in the atmosphere, human activity has contributed to an extraordinary rise in emissions. 2nd half of the 20th century is the largest rise, use of automobiles and the burning of fossil fuels for energy. The average global temperature of the air is rising. Greenhouse effect and warming the air as a whole. Changing the poles, arctic sea ice melting. Glaciers are melting, a way in which water is stabilized, keeping the water cold as well as in one place. Antarctica - stable ice that is not expected to change is melting. Rising sea levels - has an immediate effect on place we live, in some cities long term, and in low lying islands and coastal communities. King tides - earth, sun, moon align, raising the sea level.
