Cheng Shae Nee 7D6B4294 / 13869870

Geology 108 Assignment Report

Question 1
Anthropogenic climate change has been in the spotlight of concern in the recent years.
Many climatologists and meteorologists are uncertain about future climate change, and the
calamities that may befall us when humans disrupt the natural balance of the climate.

The global temperature is one of the key factors that induce climate change. The Earth’s
temperature is always changing. However, humans can only sustain their lives on Earth if the
global temperature stays within our comfortable range. Any variations of the global mean
temperature can disrupt the equilibrium of human life.

The global mean temperature can be divided into two parts based on data measurement
methods. ‘Instrumental temperature records’ are temperature data obtained from modern methods,
such as through weather stations, weather buoys, weather balloons, or through Geographic
Information System (GIS) via satellites. The oldest known data obtained by this method dates back
to only 1861, which dwarfs compared to the Earth’s climate history of 4.6 billion years(Soon and
Baliunas). The second method is using ‘climate proxies’, where the global mean temperature of the
past is measured by indirect methods such as oxygen isotopes, tree rings, ice bubbles etc. The
second type of measurement can provide the global mean temperature for up to millions of years
ago, but contains more uncertainties since other existing factors can manipulate the results of the
findings.

‘Instrumental temperature record’ can be subdivided again into two parts, surface
temperature and lower atmosphere temperature (troposphere). Many climate models tell that when
there is a change of mean surface temperature, the mean troposphere temperature will rise
simultaneously but on an amplified scale. To calculate mean surface temperature, data from land
(via weather stations) and sea (via weather buoys or satellites) are obtained. To calculate mean
troposphere temperature, weather balloons and satellites are used.

A weather station is a facility where atmospheric

observations are made with modern technology in order to
make weather predictions as well as record data for further
climate studies. The maximum, minimum, mean, and mode
temperatures are determined by using thermometers situated
in highly ventilated gauges.

Figure 1
A weather station situated in the
North Pole
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From the/ 13869870
picture above, there is
Geology 108 Assignment Report
high density of weather stations in urban
regions of the globe. The greatest flaw is
that the number of weather stations is not
equally distributed around the globe.
Henceforth, the data from all weather
stations obtained may be more biased
towards climate changes in urban
countries.(Peterson 2006)

Figure 2
The distribution of weather stations around the globe

Secondly, from the information above,

developed nations are known to undergo a
phenomenon called the ‘urban heat island’ effect.
Since weather stations population are denser in
urban areas, data produced may be inaccurately
represented due to heat emissions from cars,
compressors etc.(Peterson 2006)

Figure 3
A graph illustrating the urban heat island effect

The Sea Surface Temperature (SST) is another method in measuring

global mean temperature. Prior to the 1940s, SST was measured by reading
from a thermometer inserted into a ducked bucket of seawater into the ocean.
After 1940s, SST was taken by measuring the temperature of the seawater
entering an engine cooling system. Today, one of the methodologies of
attaining the SST is through sea buoys scattered in the ocean.(Soon and
Baliunas)

Figure 4
A sea buoy
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Geology 108 Assignment Report
From the diagram
above, it is noticed that the
global buoys are fairly
distributed around the globe. It
is deemed to be fairly reliable in
obtaining the SST. However,
one flaw is the inconsistency of
data measurement methods
before and after the 1940s,
leading to great variances
between old and new data.(Soon
and Baliunas)

Figure 4
Global distribution of sea bouys

Weather balloons are used to evaluate the upper atmospheric

conditions and gather information by height finding radar, remote
sensing by earth-orbiting stationary satellites and aircraft instruments.
Light gas (such as Helium or Hydrogen) is placed inside a latex
material and has a radiosonde attached to the lower end of the string.
The weather balloon rises to the troposphere and measure properties
such as temperature, precipitation, wind speed etc. Weather balloons
are perceived as more reliable since its data is highly similar to the
data collected by satellites. However, its limitation lies with the fact
that data collected by this method dates back to only less than 100
years ago.(weather balloon)

Figure 5
A weather balloon

Satellites are observational devices released into the

upper atmosphere to detect the global climate behaviours.
They obtain data by having sensors called scanning
radiometers which record thermal and infrared images.
These infrared images show the amount of heat absorbed
and then reflected by land, sea, clouds etc. Up till today, it is
the most reliable and modern technology in measuring
global mean temperature.(weather satellite)

Figure 6
Picture of 2 different weather satellites that
orbit the earth
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Geology 108 Assignment Report

The second part of this report is concerning the second method of temperature
measurement, proxy measurement. There are many methods to determine the paleoclimate,
such as sedimentary structures, ice bubbles, paleontological evidence etc. However, only the 3
common methods to be discussed in this report, which are tree rings, coral deposits, and ice
cores. (Bruckner 2008)

Trees has a unique nature that can mark time,

it has growth rings. One growth ring represents one
year of growth. The thickness of the growth ring
represents its rate of growth in that year. Trees grow
faster in warmer climate, and slower in colder ones.
By using radiocarbon techniques, scientists can
determine the growth year of the tree in relation to
human time, and then, determine the surface mean
temperature by its growth rate. Scars and burns of the
tree can also mark past events such as forest
fires.(Bruckner 2008)

Figure 7
Cross section of a tree that can help
mark time

While this method is a great way to determine mean local temperature of a region for
thousands of years ago, there are a few criticisms posted by scientists. First of all, another factor
that accelerates tree growth rate is the amount of precipitation. The more precipitation, the
faster a tree will grow. If one do not posses an independent record of precipitation for a region,
it would be difficult separate both factors from data obtained from tree rings. Another flaw in
using this method is that tress ring growth only happens when it photosynthesizes. Tress does
not photosynthesize during the night time or the cold winter. Night and winter temperatures are
important in determining local mean temperature, hence, data obtained may skew. Lastly, the
exponential rise in anthropogenic carbon dioxide and urban heat island effects can also
accelerate tree growth, causing biasness in the results. (Loehle 2007)
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Geology 108 Assignment Report

Moving on, corals are also used as temperature proxies. Corals do not have defined
layers like tree rings, but their carbonate or silicate shells can imprint the effects of temperature
during that time. Oxygen exists in two isotopes, 18O and 16O. At warmer waters, 18O tends to be
less. Since corals extract calcium carbonate (CaCO3) from the sea water, the ratio between 18O
and 16O can help determine the sea temperature during that time(Soon and Baliunas).

One of the uncertainties that come with this

method is that sea water temperature alone is not the
only controlling factor in oxygen isotope variation. 16O
is dominant in rainfall, and can dilute 18O concentration
during long periods of rainfall. Conversely, long
periods of drought can cause 18O to concentrate over
time.(Soon and Baliunas)

Figure 8
Calcareous corals that contains oxygen
isotopes

Ice sheets that cover Antartica, Greenland, and some islands

of Northern Canada represent the accumulation of several
thousands of years of snowfall. In very cold, dry, areas, year to year
evaporation and melting is extremely little. Snow compresses into
annual layers of ice. The thickness of each layer reflects the amount
of snowfall during the year (which marks precipitation), and from
each layer, the oxygen isotopes can give a clue on the mean
atmospheric temperature.(Soon and Baliunas)

Figure 9
The drilling of ice cores
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Geology 108 Assignment Report

Among the uncertainties that come with this method is that snow deposition varies from one
location to another. To overcome this, data has to be collected from many random spots. Another
uncertainty to note is its timescale uncertainty. As depth of ice increases, so does its timescale
uncertainty. Seasonal markers are difficult to identify. Also, there is a diffusion uncertainty, where
geochemical markers (such as 18O and 16O) migrate in the ice due to difference in geophysical properties
(molecular mass etc).(Soon and Baliunas)

Bibliography

Bruckner, M. 2008. Paleoclimatology: Climate Proxies.

http://serc.carleton.edu/microbelife/topics/proxies/paleoclimate.html (accessed October 2,
2008).
Loehle, C. 2007. A 2000-Year Global Temperature Reconstruction Based On Non-Treering
Proxies. Energy & Environment 18 (7+8): 1049-1051.
http://www.ncasi.org/publications/Detail.aspx?id=3025 (accessed October 2, 2008).
Peterson, T. C. 2006. Examination of Potential Biases In Air Temperature Caused By Poor Station
Locations. Americal Meteorological Society: 1073 - 1080. AMS Online Journals.
http://ams.allenpress.com/perlserv/?request=get-abstract&doi=10.1175%2FBAMS-87-8-
1073 (accessed October 1, 2008).
Soon, W., and S. Baliunas. Lessons & Limits of Climate History: Was the 20th Century Climate
Unusual? The Marshall Institute. http://www.marshall.org/pdf/materials/136.pdf (accessed
October 2, 2008).
weather balloon. In The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia. Pearson Education, publishing as
Infoplease.
weather satellite. In The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia. Pearson Education, publishing as
Infoplease.