Climate change

For current global climate change, see Global warming. For past climate change, see paleoclimatology and geologic temperature record. Atmospheric sciences Aerology Atmospheric physics Atmospheric dynamics (category) Atmospheric chemistry (category) Meteorology Weather (category) · (portal) Tropical cyclone (category) Climatology Climate (category) Climate change (category) Global warming (category) · (portal) v · d · e Climate change is a long-term change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods of time that range from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in the average weather conditions or a change in the distribution of weather events with respect to an average, for example, greater or fewer extreme weather events. Climate change may be limited to a specific region, or may occur across the whole Earth. In recent usage, especially in the context of environmental policy, climate change usually refers to changes in modern climate. It may be qualified as anthropogenic climate change, more generally known as global warming or anthropogenic global warming (AGW). Contents 1 Terminology 2 Causes 2.1 Plate tectonics 2.2 Solar output 2.3 Orbital variations 2.4 Volcanism 2.5 Ocean variability 2.6 Human influences 3 Physical evidence for climatic change 3.1 Historical and archaeological evidence 3.2 Glaciers 3.3 Vegetation 3.4 Ice cores 3.5 Dendroclimatology 3.6 Pollen analysis 3.7 Insects 3.8 Sea level change 4 See also 5 References 6 Further reading 7 External links // Terminology The most general definition of climate change is a change in the statistical properties of the climate system when considered over periods of decades or longer, regardless of cause.12 Accordingly, fluctuations on periods shorter than a few decades, such as El Niño, do not represent climate change. The term sometimes is used to refer specifically to climate change caused by human activity; for example, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change defines climate change as "a change of climate which is attributed directly or indirectly to human activity that alters the composition of the global atmosphere and which is in addition to natural climate variability observed over comparable time periods."3 In the latter sense climate change is synonymous with global warming. Causes Factors that can shape climate are climate forcings. These include such processes as variations in solar radiation, deviations in the Earth's orbit, mountain-building and continental drift, and changes in greenhouse gas concentrations. There are a variety of climate change feedbacks that can either amplify or diminish the initial forcing. Some parts of the climate system, such as the oceans and ice caps, respond slowly in reaction to climate forcing because of their large mass. Therefore, the climate system can take centuries or longer to fully respond to new external forcings. Plate tectonics Over the course of millions of years, the motion of tectonic plates reconfigures global land and ocean areas and generates topography. This can affect both global and local patterns of climate and atmosphere-ocean circulation.4 The position of the continents determines the geometry of the oceans and therefore influences patterns of ocean circulation. The locations of the seas are important in controlling the transfer of heat and moisture across the globe, and therefore, in determining global climate. A recent example of tectonic control on ocean circulation is the formation of the Isthmus of Panama about 5 million years ago, which shut off direct mixing between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. This strongly affected the ocean dynamics of what is now the Gulf Stream and may have led to Northern Hemisphere ice cover.56 During the Carboniferous period, about 300 to 360 million years ago, plate tectonics may have triggered large-scale storage of carbon and increased glaciation.7 Geologic evidence points to a "megamonsoonal" circulation pattern during the time of the supercontinent Pangaea, and climate modeling suggests that the existence of the supercontinent was conducive to the establishment of monsoons.8 The size of continents is also important. Because of the stabilizing effect of the oceans on temperature, yearly temperature variations are generally lower in coastal areas than they are inland. A larger supercontinent will therefore have more area in which climate is strongly seasonal than will several smaller continents or islands. Solar output Main article: Solar variation Variations in solar activity during the last several centuries based on observations of sunspots and beryllium isotopes. The sun is the predominant source for energy input to the Earth. Both long- and short-term variations in solar intensity are known to affect global climate. Three to four billion years ago the sun emitted only 70% as much power as it does today. If the atmospheric composition had been the same as today, liquid water should not have existed on Earth. However, there is evidence for the presence of water on the early Earth, in the Hadean910 and Archean119 eons, leading to what is known as the faint young sun paradox.12 Hypothesized solutions to this paradox include a vastly different atmosphere, with much higher concentrations of greenhouse gases than currently exist13 Over the following approximately 4 billion years, the energy output of the sun increased and atmospheric composition changed, with the oxygenation of the atmosphere around 2.4 billion years ago being the most notable alteration. These changes in luminosity, and the sun's ultimate death as it becomes a red giant and then a white dwarf, will have large effects on climate, with the red giant phase possibly ending life on Earth. Solar output also varies on shorter time scales, including the 11-year solar cycle14 and longer-term modulations.15 Solar intensity variations are considered to have been influential in triggering the Little Ice Age,16 and some of the warming observed from 1900 to 1950. The cyclical nature of the sun's energy output is not yet fully understood; it differs from the very slow change that is happening within the sun as it ages and evolves. While most research indicates solar variability has induced a small cooling effect from 1750 to the present, a few studies point toward solar radiation increases from cyclical sunspot activity affecting global warming.17 18 Orbital variations Main article: Milankovitch cycles Slight variations in Earth's orbit lead to changes in the seasonal distribution of sunlight reaching the Earth's surface and how it is distributed across the globe. There is very little change to the area-averaged annually averaged sunshine; but there can be strong changes in the geographical and seasonal distribution. The three types of orbital variations are variations in Earth's eccentricity, changes in the tilt angle of Earth's axis of rotation, and precession of Earth's axis. Combined together, these produce Milankovitch cycles which have a large impact on climate and are notable for their correlation to glacial and interglacial periods,19 their correlation with the advance and retreat of the Sahara,19 and for their appearance in the stratigraphic record.20 Volcanism Volcanism is a process of conveying material from the crust and mantle of the Earth to its surface. Volcanic eruptions, geysers, and hot springs, are examples of volcanic processes which release gases and/or particulates into the atmosphere. Eruptions large enough to affect climate occur on average several times per century, and cause cooling (by partially blocking the transmission of solar radiation to the Earth's surface) for a period of a few years. The eruption of Mount Pinatubo in 1991, the second largest terrestrial eruption of the 20th century21 (after the 1912 eruption of Novarupta22) affected the climate substantially. Global temperatures decreased by about 0.5 °C (0.9 °F). The eruption of Mount Tambora in 1815 caused the Year Without a Summer.23 Much larger eruptions, known as large igneous provinces, occur only a few times every hundred million years, but may cause global warming and mass extinctions.24 Volcanoes are also part of the extended carbon cycle. Over very long (geological) time periods, they release carbon dioxide from the Earth's crust and mantle, counteracting the uptake by sedimentary rocks and other geological carbon dioxide sinks. According to the US Geological Survey, however, estimates are that human activities generate more than 130 times the amount of carbon dioxide emitted by volcanoes.25 Ocean variability Main article: Thermohaline circulation A schematic of modern thermohaline circulation The ocean is a fundamental part of the climate system. Short-term fluctuations (years to a few decades) such as the El Niño–Southern Oscillation, the Pacific decadal oscillation, the North Atlantic oscillation, and the Arctic oscillation, represent climate variability rather than climate change. On longer time scales, alterations to ocean processes such as thermohaline circulation play a key role in redistributing heat by carrying out a very slow and extremely deep movement of water, and the long-term redistribution of heat in the world's oceans. Human influences Main article: Global warming Increase in Atmospheric CO2 Levels In the context of climate variation, anthropogenic factors are human activities that change the environment. In some cases the chain of causality of human influence on the climate is direct and unambiguous (for example, the effects of irrigation on local humidity), while in other instances it is less clear. Various hypotheses for human-induced climate change have been argued for many years. Presently the scientific consensus on climate change is that human activity is very likely the cause for the rapid increase in global average temperatures over the past several decades.26 Consequently, the debate has largely shifted onto ways to reduce further human impact and to find ways to adapt to change that has already occurred.27 Of most concern in these anthropogenic factors is the increase in CO2 levels due to emissions from fossil fuel combustion, followed by aerosols (particulate matter in the atmosphere) and cement manufacture. Other factors, including land use, ozone depletion, animal agriculture28 and deforestation, are also of concern in the roles they play - both separately and in conjunction with other factors - in affecting climate, microclimate, and measures of climate variables. Physical evidence for climatic change Evidence for climatic change is taken from a variety of sources that can be used to reconstruct past climates. Reasonably complete global records of surface temperature are available beginning from the mid-late 19th century. For earlier periods, most of the evidence is indirect—climatic changes are inferred from changes in proxies, indicators that reflect climate, such as vegetation, ice cores,29 dendrochronology, sea level change, and glacial geology. Historical and archaeological evidence Main article: Historical impacts of climate change Climate change in the recent past may be detected by corresponding changes in settlement and agricultural patterns.30 Archaeological evidence, oral history and historical documents can offer insights into past changes in the climate. Climate change effects have been linked to the collapse of various civilisations.30 Glaciers Variations in CO2, temperature and dust from the Vostok ice core over the last 450,000 years Decline in thickness of glaciers worldwide Glaciers are considered among the most sensitive indicators of climate change.31 Their size is determined by a mass balance between snow input and melt output. As temperatures warm, glaciers retreat unless snow precipitation increases to make up for the additional melt; the converse is also true. Glaciers grow and shrink due both to natural variability and external forcings. Variability in temperature, precipitation, and englacial and subglacial hydrology can strongly determine the evolution of a glacier in a particular season. Therefore, one must average over a decadal or longer time-scale and/or over a many individual glaciers to smooth out the local short-term variability and obtain a glacier history that is related to climate. A world glacier inventory has been compiled since the 1970s, initially based mainly on aerial photographs and maps but now relying more on satellites. This compilation tracks more than 100,000 glaciers covering a total area of approximately 240,000 km2, and preliminary estimates indicate that the remaining ice cover is around 445,000 km2. The World Glacier Monitoring Service collects data annually on glacier retreat and glacier mass balance From this data, glaciers worldwide have been found to be shrinking significantly, with strong glacier retreats in the 1940s, stable or growing conditions during the 1920s and 1970s, and again retreating from the mid 1980s to present.32 The most significant climate processes since the middle to late Pliocene (approximately 3 million years ago) are the glacial and interglacial cycles. The present interglacial period (the Holocene) has lasted about 11,700 years.33 Shaped by orbital variations, responses such as the rise and fall of continental ice sheets and significant sea-level changes helped create the climate. Other changes, including Heinrich events, Dansgaard–Oeschger events and the Younger Dryas, however, illustrate how glacial variations may also influence climate without the orbital forcing. Glaciers leave behind moraines that contain a wealth of material—including organic matter, quartz, and potassium that may be dated—recording the periods in which a glacier advanced and retreated. Similarly, by tephrochronological techniques, the lack of glacier cover can be identified by the presence of soil or volcanic tephra horizons whose date of deposit may also be ascertained. Vegetation A change in the type, distribution and coverage of vegetation may occur given a change in the climate; this much is obvious. In any given scenario, a mild change in climate may result in increased precipitation and warmth, resulting in improved plant growth and the subsequent sequestration of airborne CO2. Larger, faster or more radical changes, however, may wellweasel words result in vegetation stress, rapid plant loss and desertification in certain circumstances.34 Ice cores Analysis of ice in a core drilled from a ice sheet such as the Antarctic ice sheet, can be used to show a link between temperature and global sea level variations. The air trapped in bubbles in the ice can also reveal the CO2 variations of the atmosphere from the distant past, well before modern environmental influences. The study of these ice cores has been a significant indicator of the changes in CO2 over many millennia, and continues to provide valuable information about the differences between ancient and modern atmospheric conditions. Dendroclimatology Dendroclimatology is the analysis of tree ring growth patterns to determine past climate variations. Wide and thick rings indicate a fertile, well-watered growing period, whilst thin, narrow rings indicate a time of lower rainfall and less-than-ideal growing conditions. Pollen analysis Palynology is the study of contemporary and fossil palynomorphs, including pollen. Palynology is used to infer the geographical distribution of plant species, which vary under different climate conditions. Different groups of plants have pollen with distinctive shapes and surface textures, and since the outer surface of pollen is composed of a very resilient material, they resist decay. Changes in the type of pollen found in different layers of sediment in lakes, bogs, or river deltas indicate changes in plant communities. These changes are often a sign of a changing climate.3536 As an example, palynological studies have been used to track changing vegetation patterns throughout the Quaternary glaciations37 and especially since the last glacial maximum.38 Insects Remains of beetles are common in freshwater and land sediments. Different species of beetles tend to be found under different climatic conditions. Given the extensive lineage of beetles whose genetic makeup has not altered significantly over the millennia, knowledge of the present climatic range of the different species, and the age of the sediments in which remains are found, past climatic conditions may be inferred.39 Sea level change Main articles: Sea level and Current sea level rise Global sea level change for much of the last century has generally been estimated using tide gauge measurements collated over long periods of time to give a long-term average. More recently, altimeter measurements — in combination with accurately determined satellite orbits — have provided an improved measurement of global sea level change.40 To measure sea levels prior to instrumental measurements, scientists have dated coral reefs that grow near the surface of the ocean, coastal sediments, marine terraces, ooids in limestones, and nearshore archaeological remains. The predominant dating methods used are uranium series and radiocarbon, with cosmogenic radionuclides being sometimes used to date terraces that have experienced relative sea level fall. See also General Attribution of recent climate change Paleoclimatology and links therein Abrupt climate change and links therein Atmospheric physics Climate change in literature Geologic time scale Glossary of climate change List of climate change topics Temperature record Climate of the deep past Faint young sun paradox Oxygen catastrophe Snowball Earth Climate of the last 500 million years Ice ages Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum Permo–Carboniferous Glaciation Wikinews has news related to: Climate change Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Climate change Environment portal Energy portal Climate of recent glaciations Bond event Dansgaard-Oeschger event Younger Dryas Recent climate Anthropocene Global warming Hardiness Zone Migration Holocene Climatic Optimum Little Ice Age Medieval Warm Period Temperature record of the past 1000 years Year Without a Summer References ^ "Glossary – Climate Change". Education Center – Arctic Climatology and Meteorology. NSIDC National Snow and Ice Data Center. http://nsidc.org/arcticmet/glossary/climate_change.html.  ^ Houghton, John Theodore, ed (2001). "Appendix I – Glossary". Climate change 2001: the scientific basis: contribution of Working Group I to the Third Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-80767-0. http://www.ipcc.ch/ipccreports/tar/wg1/518.htm.  ^ "The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change". 21 March 1994. http://unfccc.int/essential_background/convention/background/items/1349.php.  ^ Forest, C. E.; Wolfe, J. A.; Molnar, P.; Emanuel, K. A. (1999). "Paleoaltimetry incorporating atmospheric physics and botanical estimates of paleoclimate". Geological Society of America Bulletin 111: 497. doi:10.1130/0016-7606(1999)111<0497:PIAPAB>2.3.CO;2.  ^ "Panama: Isthmus that Changed the World". NASA Earth Observatory. http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=16401. Retrieved 2008-07-01.  ^ Gerald H., Haug (2004-03-22). "How the Isthmus of Panama Put Ice in the Arctic". WHOI: Oceanus. http://www.whoi.edu/oceanus/viewArticle.do?id=2508. Retrieved 2009-07-21.  ^ Peter Bruckschen, Susanne Oesmanna, Ján Veizer (1999-09-30). "Isotope stratigraphy of the European Carboniferous: proxy signals for ocean chemistry, climate and tectonics". Chemical Geology 161 (1-3): 127. doi:10.1016/S0009-2541(99)00084-4. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6V5Y-3XNK494-8&_user=10&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&view=c&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=7db7616e9dc94e6ed49a817195926851.  ^ Judith T. Parrish (1993). "Climate of the Supercontinent Pangea". Chemical Geology (The University of Chicago Press) 101 (2): 215–233. http://www.jstor.org/pss/30081148.  ^ a b Marty, B. (2006). "Water in the Early Earth". Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry 62: 421. doi:10.2138/rmg.2006.62.18.  ^ Watson, Eb; Harrison, Tm (May 2005). "Zircon thermometer reveals minimum melting conditions on earliest Earth.". Science 308 (5723): 841–4. doi:10.1126/science.1110873. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 15879213.  ^ Hagemann, Steffen G.; Gebre-Mariam, Musie; Groves, David I. (1994). "Surface-water influx in shallow-level Archean lode-gold deposits in Western, Australia". Geology 22: 1067. doi:10.1130/0091-7613(1994)022<1067:SWIISL>2.3.CO;2.  ^ Sagan, C.; G. Mullen (1972). Earth and Mars: Evolution of Atmospheres and Surface Temperatures. http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/177/4043/52?ck=nck.  ^ Sagan, C.; Chyba, C (1997). "The Early Faint Sun Paradox: Organic Shielding of Ultraviolet-Labile Greenhouse Gases". Science 276 (5316): 1217–21. doi:10.1126/science.276.5316.1217. PMID 11536805.  ^ Willson, Richard C.; Hugh S. Hudson (1991-05-02). "The Sun's luminosity over a complete solar cycle". Nature 351: 42–44. doi:10.1038/351042a0. http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v351/n6321/abs/351042a0.html.  ^ Willson, Richard C.; Alexander V. Mordvinov (2003). "Secular total solar irradiance trend during solar cycles 21–23". Geophys. Res. Lett. 30 (5): 1199. doi:10.1029/2002GL016038. http://www.agu.org/pubs/crossref/2003/2002GL016038.shtml.  ^ "Solar Irradiance Changes and the Relatively Recent Climate". Solar influences on global change. Washington, D.C: National Academy Press. 1994. p. 36. ISBN 0-309-05148-7. http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=4778&page=36.  ^ "NASA Study Finds Increasing Solar Trend That Can Change Climate". 2003. http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/news/topstory/2003/0313irradiance.html.  ^ Svensmark H, Bondo T, Svensmark J (2009). "Cosmic ray decreases affect atmospheric aerosols and clouds". Geophys. Res. Lett. 36: L15101. doi:10.1029/2009GL038429. http://www.agu.org/pubs/crossref/2009/2009GL038429.shtml.  ^ a b "Milankovitch Cycles and Glaciation". University of Montana. http://www.homepage.montana.edu/~geol445/hyperglac/time1/milankov.htm. Retrieved 2009-04-02.  ^ Gale, Andrew S. (1989). "A Milankovitch scale for Cenomanian time". Terra Nova 1: 420. doi:10.1111/j.1365-3121.1989.tb00403.x.  ^ Diggles, Michael (28 February 2005). "The Cataclysmic 1991 Eruption of Mount Pinatubo, Philippines". U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet 113-97. United States Geological Survey. http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/1997/fs113-97/. Retrieved 2009-10-08.  ^ Adams, Nancy K.; Houghton, Bruce F.; Fagents, Sarah A.; Hildreth, Wes (2006). "The transition from explosive to effusive eruptive regime: The example of the 1912 Novarupta eruption, Alaska". Geological Society of America Bulletin 118: 620. doi:10.1130/B25768.1.  ^ Oppenheimer, Clive (2003). "Climatic, environmental and human consequences of the largest known historic eruption: Tambora volcano (Indonesia) 1815". Progress in Physical Geography 27: 230. doi:10.1191/0309133303pp379ra.  ^ Wignall, P (2001). "Large igneous provinces and mass extinctions". Earth-Science Reviews 53: 1. doi:10.1016/S0012-8252(00)00037-4.  ^ "Volcanic Gases and Their Effects". U.S. Department of the Interior. 2006-01-10. http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/Hazards/What/VolGas/volgas.html. Retrieved 2008-01-21.  ^ IPCC. (2007) Climate change 2007: the physical science basis (summary for policy makers), IPCC. ^ See for example emissions trading, cap and share, personal carbon trading, UNFCCC ^ Steinfeld, H.; P. Gerber, T. Wassenaar, V. Castel, M. Rosales, C. de Haan (2006). Livestock's long shadow. http://www.fao.org/docrep/010/a0701e/a0701e00.HTM.  ^ Petit RA, Humberto Ruiloba M, Bressani R, J.-M. Barnola, I. Basile, M. Bender, J. Chappellaz, M. Davis et al. (1999-06-03). "Climate and atmospheric history of the past 420,000 years from the Vostok ice core, Antarctica". Nature 399 (1): 429–436. doi:10.1038/20859. http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v399/n6735/full/399429a0.html.  ^ a b Demenocal, P. B. (2001). "Cultural Responses to Climate Change During the Late Holocene". Science 292: 667. doi:10.1126/science.1059827. http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/~peter/Resources/Publications/deMenocal.2001.pdf.  ^ Seiz, G.; N. Foppa (2007) The activities of the World Glacier Monitoring Service (WGMS). (Report). Retrieved 2009-06-21. ^ Zemp, M.; I.Roer, A.Kääb, M.Hoelzle, F.Paul, W. Haeberli (2008) United Nations Environment Programme - Global Glacier Changes: facts and figures. (Report). Retrieved 2009-06-21. ^ "International Stratigraphic Chart" (PDF). International Commission on Stratigraphy. 2008. http://www.stratigraphy.org/upload/ISChart2008.pdf. Retrieved 2009-07-22.  ^ Bachelet, D; R.Neilson,J.M.Lenihan,R.J.Drapek (2001). "Climate Change Effects on Vegetation Distribution and Carbon Budget in the United States" (PDF). Ecosystems 4: 164–185. doi:10.1007/s10021-001-0002-7. http://www.usgcrp.gov/usgcrp/Library/nationalassessment/forests/Ecosystems2%20Bachelet.pdf.  ^ Langdon, PG, , Lomas-Clarke SH (August 2004). "Reconstructing climate and environmental change in northern England through chironomid and pollen analyses: evidence from Talkin Tarn, Cumbria". Journal of Paleolimnology 32 (2): 197–213. doi:10.1023/B:JOPL.0000029433.85764.a5. http://www.springerlink.com/content/t7m324u675701133/.  ^ Birks, HH (March 2003). "The importance of plant macrofossils in the reconstruction of Lateglacial vegetation and climate: examples from Scotland, western Norway, and Minnesota, USA". Quaternary Science Reviews 22 (5-7): 453–473. doi:10.1016/S0277-3791(02)00248-2. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/B6VBC-47YH3W8-2/2/fde5760538b5b3adb92d8564ea968b9a.  ^ Miyoshi, N (1999). "Palynology of a 250-m core from Lake Biwa: a 430,000-year record of glacial–interglacial vegetation change in Japan". Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 104: 267. doi:10.1016/S0034-6667(98)00058-X.  ^ Colin Prentice, I; Bartlein, Patrick J; Webb, Thompson (1991). "Vegetation and Climate Change in Eastern North America Since the Last Glacial Maximum". Ecology 72 (6): 2038–2056. doi:10.2307/1941558. http://jstor.org/stable/1941558.  ^ Coope, G.R.; Lemdahl, G.; Lowe, J.J.; Walkling, A. (1999-05-04). "Temperature gradients in northern Europe during the last glacial—Holocene transition(14–9 14 C kyr BP) interpreted from coleopteran assemblages". Journal of Quaternary Science 13 (5): 419–433. doi:10.1002/(SICI)1099-1417(1998090)13:5<419::AID-JQS410>3.0.CO;2-D. http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/abstract/61001707/ABSTRACT.  ^ "Sea Level Change". University of Colorado at Boulder. http://sealevel.colorado.edu/documents.php. Retrieved 2009-07-21.  Further reading Emanuel K (August 2005). "Increasing destructiveness of tropical cyclones over the past 30 years" (PDF). Nature 436 (7051): 686–8. doi:10.1038/nature03906. PMID 16056221. ftp://texmex.mit.edu/pub/emanuel/PAPERS/NATURE03906.pdf.  IPCC. (2007) Climate change 2007: the physical science basis (summary for policy makers), IPCC. Edwards, Paul Geoffrey; Miller, Clark A. (2001). Changing the atmosphere: expert knowledge and environmental governance. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press. ISBN 0-262-63219-5.  Ruddiman, W. F. (2003). "The anthropogenic greenhouse era began thousands of years ago". Climate Change 61 (3): 261–293. doi:10.1023/B:CLIM.0000004577.17928.fa.  William F. Ruddiman (2005). Plows, plagues, and petroleum: how humans took control of climate. Princeton, N.J: Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-13398-0.  Ruddiman, W. F., Vavrus, S. J. and Kutzbach, J. E. (2005). "A test of the overdue-glaciation hypothesis". Quaternary Science Review 24 (11).  Schmidt, G. A., Shindel, D. T. and Harder, S. (2004). "A note of the relationship between ice core methane concentrations and insolation". Geophys. Res. Lett. 31: L23206. doi:10.1029/2004GL021083. http://www.agu.org/pubs/crossref/2004/2004GL021083.shtml.  External links Listen to this article (info/dl) This audio file was created from a revision of Climate change dated 2010-03-19, and does not reflect subsequent edits to the article. (Audio help) More spoken articles Climate Change at the Open Directory Project Climate Change Resources from SourceWatch Climate Change from the UCB Libraries GovPubs Climate Change from the Met Office (UK) Global Climate Change from NASA (US) Ocean Motion: Satellites Record Weakening North Atlantic Current Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) United Nations University's 'Our World 2' Climate Change Video Briefs United Nations University's 'Our World 2' Indigenous voices on climate change films Climate Change: Coral Reefs on the Edge An online video presentation by Prof. Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, University of Auckland Climate Change on In Our Time at the BBC. (listen now) Climate Change Performance Index 2010 List of Climate Change related Organizations v · d · eClimate changes  Temperatures Instrumental record · Satellite record · Past 1,000 years · Since 1880 · Geologic record · Historical climatology · Paleoclimatology  Causes Anthropogenic Attribution of recent climate change  · Aviation · Biofuel · Carbon dioxide · Earth's energy budget · Earth's radiation balance · Fossil fuel · Global dimming · Global warming potential · Greenhouse effect · Greenhouse gases · Land use and forestry · Radiative forcing · Urban heat island Natural Albedo · Bond events · Cloud forcing · Feedbacks · Glaciation · Global cooling · Ocean variability (AMO · ENSO · IOD · PDO) · Orbital variations · Orbital forcing · Solar variation · Volcanism Models Global climate model  History History of climate change science · Svante Arrhenius · Charles David Keeling  Opinion and controversy Scientific opinion on climate change · Scientists opposing the mainstream assessment · Media coverage of climate change · Public opinion on climate change  Politics United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC / FCCC) · Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) · Climate change denial  Potential effects and issues General Abrupt climate change · Climate change and agriculture · Climate change and ecosystems · Drought · Economics of global warming · Effects on marine mammals · Fisheries and climate change · Glacier retreat · Mass extinction · Ozone depletion · Ocean acidification · Plant biodiversity · Runaway climate change · Sea level rise · Season creep · Shutdown of thermohaline circulation By country Australia · India · United States  Mitigation Kyoto Protocol Clean Development Mechanism · Joint Implementation · Bali roadmap · Copenhagen Summit Governmental G8 Climate Change Roundtable · European Climate Change Programme · United Kingdom Climate Change Programme Emissions reduction Coal phase out · Emissions trading · Carbon tax · Carbon offset · Carbon credit Carbon-free energy Efficient energy use · Renewable energy · Nuclear energy · Carbon capture and storage Other Geoengineering · Carbon sink · Individual and political action on climate change · Climate change mitigation scenarios  Proposed adaptations Strategies Damming glacial lakes · Drought tolerance · Irrigation investment · Rainwater storage · Sustainable development · Weather control Programmes Avoiding Dangerous Climate Change · Land Allocation Decision Support System Category:Global warming · Portal:Global warming · Category:Climate change · Glossary of climate change · Index of climate change articles