Natural Hazards and Disasters

Question Set 8

Guidelines

Your answers to the questions should be concise and in a scientific writing style. Please, include your name at the top and the questions before each answer.

The answers have to cite the sources consulted in writing the answer and a list of references. Preferably, base your answer on peer-reviewed literature. At the end of the document, provide a list of the references. Insufficient citation or missing list of references will result in subtraction of up to 20 points. Citations and Reference have to follow the documentation style defined by the Council of Scientific Editors, known as the CSE style. See SSF-Guide or the WISC page for more information on the CSE style.

Make sure that your document includes your name and the title of the question set. In your answers, provide detailed citations of all sources you used to write the answer.

Please, prepare written answers to the questions based on the discussions in the lab and submit these not later than on the following Friday, 6:00 PM by e-mail to me. I recommend that you discuss the questions in small groups and then write your own individual answers. If you do discuss the question in a group, I would appreciate if you could state the names of those you discussed the questions with.

Questions

Question Set 8: Modern Climate Change

Answer three of the four questions.

1. How do the changes in global average surface temperature over the last five decades compare to previous variations in global surface temperature? In which region did the surface temperature change most?
2. What are the three main drivers that determine Earth's climate and which of them have changed a lot during the last few decades? Describe the changes.
3. The earth is currently storing on the order of 320 TW of additional energy. Where is this energy being stored and what are the potential impacts of this additional energy?
4. What is the range of global average sea level change expected by 2100 and what contributes most to making this range large? What is the maximum sea level rise that we cannot safely exclude?

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