1. A
TERM PAPER
PRESENTATION
ON
CLIMATE CHANGE
BY
Mr. Prince Iwu-fred

2. INTRODUCTION
Climate is the average weather or behaviour of land-ocean-
atmosphere system over a long period of time.
Fig 1: Land-Ocean-Atmosphere Interactions

3.  Climate Change refers to the changes in climatic parameters
taking place from time to time on a long time scale locally and
around the globe e.g. averaging period of 30 years and above.
• Climate Change may be due to natural internal processes within
the climate system (internal variability), or variations in natural or
anthropogenic external forces (external variability).
• The most crucial things about climate change is not only the time
periods but also the degree of variability that the change is
subjected and impact of such variability on man and the
ecosystem.
Fig 2 : The Climatic Distributions of the World

4. CAUSES OF CLIMATE CHANGE
natural internal processes anthropogenic external forces
Distance From The Sea (Continentality)
Ocean Current
Direction of Prevailing Winds
El Nino
Topography (Relief)
Human Influence

5. CAUSES OF CLIMATE CHANGE
1. Distance From The Sea (Continental)
 The coastal areas are cooler and wetter than inland
areas due to proximity to sea or ocean.
 The center of continents are subject to a large range
of temperatures.
 In the summer, temperatures can be very hot and dry
as moisture from the sea evaporates before it reaches
the center of the continent. The winter can be very
cold and snowy.

6. 2. Ocean Current
Ocean currents can increase or decrease temperatures.
The Californian Current brings cool water temperature
thereby creating cooler air temperatures along
California.This means that the air coming from Alaska to
California is also cool.
The air is quite moist as it travels over the Pacific Ocean
which makes the West Coast to receive wet weather.
The Gulf Stream (in the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic
Ocean) keeps the west coast of Europe free from ice in the
winter and warmer in the summer than other places of
similar latitude.

7. Fig3:The Ocean Currents of the World.

8. 3. Direction of Prevailing Winds
Winds that blow from the
sea often bring rain to the
coast and dry weather to
inland areas.
Winds that blow to California
from warm inland areas such
Mexico or central U.S.A. will
be warm and dry.
Winds that blow to California
from northern inland areas
such as Canada will be cold
and dry in winter.
These winds are caused by
influences of the global
winds and Coriolis effect.
Fig4: Prevailing winds over the globe.

9. 4. Proximity To The Equator
Fig5: The Earth's Position in Relation to the Sun.
The position of the earth to the sun makes the equator hotter than the poles.
The equator is hotter because the sun has less area to heat.
It is cooler at the north and south poles as the sun has more area to heat up.
It is cooler as the heat is spread over a wider area.

10. Proximity To The Equator CONTINUED

11. 5. El Nino
•El Nino refers to the irregular warming of surface water.
•El Nino affects wind and rainfall patterns which result to drought, flooding, land
slide and mud slide.

12. 6. Topography (Relief)
Climate can be affected by mountains.
 The wind-ward side of Mountains receive more
rainfall than leeward areas due to winds rising and
condensing.
 As altitude increases, air becomes thinner and is
less able to absorb and retain heat which leads to the
occurrence of snow on the mountains.

13. 7. Human Influence
Human activities (Anthropogenic activities) have been affecting the climate
with all their activities like deforestation, burning of fossil fuels and release
of gases like CO2 e.t.c. which result to tornado, smog and forest fires and so
on
Tornado in Florida
Smog in Indonesia
Forest Fires in Brazil

14. EVIDENCES OF CLIMATE CHANGE
 Hurricanes in the Atlantic are likely to become more intense as ocean temperatures
rise.
Glaciers around the world are shrinking, and the amount of sea ice in the Arctic
Ocean has decreased since the 1970s.

15. From heat waves to melting glaciers, the signs of a changing planet are documented
in a new EPA report presenting 24 indicators of climate change.
 Average sea level worldwide is projected to rise up to two feet by the end of this
century. This rise would eliminate approximately 10,000 square miles of land in
the United States.

16. Impacts of climate change on various regions of the World
Africa: climate change would result in sea-level rise, coastal
erosion, saltwater intrusion, and flooding. Desanker et al.
(2001) predicted that these changes would have a significant
impact on African communities and economies.
Coasts and low-lying areas: Climate change will cause opening of
new ocean routes due to reduced sea
icewhich will result to sea level rise.
Polar regions: climate change will cause increase in infrastructure and
will increase economic costs.
Create new opportunities for trading and shipping across
the Arctic ocean, lower operational costs for the oil and
gas industry and lower heating costs.
Small islands: tourism is a major contributor to GDP and employment
in small islands which for the most part, will be
negatively affected by climate change.

17. SOLUTIONS TO CLIMATE CHANGE
GLOBAL: There should be global bodies that will be checking and giving
advice about climate change like the WMO,European Union
with powers to impose measures on sovereign states.
CONSTITUTIONAL: There should be constitutional law protecting the environment .
OTHERS: There should be educational campaigns on climate change and its
implications to the public.
FINANCIAL: Government can assist in the aspect of finance to check climate
change and reduce it like providing measures to control pollution and also provide
tree seedlings to the public.

18. CONCLUSION
The awareness of :
increasing temperature
increasing evapo-transpiration
decreasing rainfall amount in the continental interiors
increasing rainfall in the coastal areas
increasing disruption in climate patterns
 increasing frequency of unusual or extreme weather related
events such as; landslides, floods, droughts, bush fires, sea level
rise, increase desertification, drying up of rivers.
 Consequences of climate changes are transforming into more
threats to our ability to meet the basic needs such as adequate
food, water, energy, safe shelter and a healthy environment.

19. REFERENCES
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