麻豆影院

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CU-麻豆影院 climate expert comments on 2014 being warmest year on record
Jan. 16, 2015听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 James White
听听听听听听听听听听听 CU-麻豆影院 climate change expert James White, a professor of geological sciences and environmental studies, is not surprised that 2014 will go down in the record books as the warmest year since record keeping began in 1880.
CUT 1 鈥淚t is definitely in line with what we expect from the fact that greenhouse gases are accumulating at really remarkable rates in the atmosphere. (:10) We expect those gases to trap energy in the lower atmosphere and we expect roughly half of that energy to be expressed as the temperature that we sense 鈥� the so-called 鈥榮ensible temperature.鈥� So the atmosphere warming up is very predictable.鈥� (:22)
听听听听听听听听听听听听 As to whether people should be concerned with another record-setting year, White says they should be, and that the concern should extend beyond the records.
CUT 2听 鈥淚 think people should be concerned in general. We live in a world in which climate is changing and we are heavily dependent on that world for freshwater, for the food that we eat, for everything that we do. (:14) And as climate changes there are challenges to freshwater. There are certainly challenges to agriculture. Agriculture depends on having a temperature condition and the right amount of moisture coming in the right season. (:27) And as climate changes those are things that are likely to change. We ought to be concerned about that.鈥� (:32)
听听听听听听听听听听听听 In response to people who question whether greenhouse gases are contributing to a warmer atmosphere, White says all you have to do is look at the laws of nature for your answer.
CUT 3 鈥淭he first thing I would say is that you can鈥檛 deny physics. Molecules like water vapor, CO2 and methane absorb the Earth鈥檚 outgoing infrared radiation. That鈥檚 what they do. They cannot do anything else. They cannot be told to do anything else.听 A vote by Congress will not get them to do anything else. (:18) Greenhouse gases absorb energy. That鈥檚 a physical reality. It鈥檚 certainly expected that when we accumulate greenhouse gases in the atmosphere we will warm the planet as time goes by.鈥� (:30)
听听听听听听听听听听听 According to NOAA, the average temperature for 2014 was 58.24 degrees globally, 1.24 degrees above the 20th-century average.
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