Earth The Operators Manual Part 2/4

Summary

The video explains how changes in Earth's orbit and CO2 levels have historically influenced glaciers, like New Zealand's Franz Josef, advancing and retreating over millennia. Today, rising CO2 from human activities is causing glaciers to melt worldwide, evidenced by shrinking ice sheets and rising sea levels. The Pentagon acknowledges climate change as a significant threat, impacting military operations and global stability. Efforts are being made to reduce fossil fuel dependency, using renewable energy to enhance military efficiency and resilience against climate change impacts.

Takeaways

• 🌍 Glaciers are powerful earth-moving machines that can carry and deposit rocks, creating landforms such as moraines.
• ⏳ The Franz Josef glacier advanced significantly during the last ice age, leaving boulders as evidence of its past extent.
• 📉 The Earth's climate has experienced cycles of ice ages and warmer periods, influenced by factors like CO2 levels and Earth's orbit.
• 🌡️ Today, atmospheric CO2 levels are increasing due to human activities, causing temperatures to rise and glaciers to melt.
• 💧 The melting of glaciers, such as the Tasman glacier, contributes to rising sea levels and the formation of new lakes.
• 🧊 Ice cores from around the world, stored at the National Ice Core Lab, provide a historical record of Earth's climate and CO2 levels.
• 🔬 Analysis of ice cores reveals a correlation between historical temperature changes and CO2 levels, indicating a role for CO2 in climate variation.
• 🔍 The rise in CO2 levels today is unprecedented in human history and is attributed to the burning of fossil fuels, not natural volcanic activity.
• 🌐 Climate change is a global concern, with implications for food and water scarcity, disease spread, and potential mass migration.
• 🏢 The Pentagon recognizes climate change as a threat multiplier, impacting military strategy and the need for infrastructure adaptation.
• ⚙️ The U.S. military is exploring renewable energy and energy-saving technologies to reduce reliance on fossil fuels and enhance operational effectiveness.

Q & A

How do oceans absorb CO2 from the air, and what effect does this have on the climate?

Oceans absorb CO2 through a process called solubility pumping, where CO2 from the atmosphere dissolves into the ocean surface. This absorption can lead to a decrease in atmospheric CO2 levels, which in turn can help to cool the planet. However, it also leads to ocean acidification, which can have detrimental effects on marine ecosystems.

What role do glaciers play in shaping the landscape and how do they indicate their past locations?

Glaciers act as powerful earth-moving machines, carrying and depositing rocks as they move. They push rocks in front of them and outline themselves with these rocks, forming a deposit known as a moraine. The presence of these moraines and the distribution of boulders can indicate the historical extent and movement of glaciers.

How did the Franz Josef Glacier advance 20,000 years ago and what evidence confirms its past location?

The Franz Josef Glacier advanced 20,000 years ago due to lower CO2 levels, colder temperatures, and increased snow and ice. The rocks that were deposited by the glacier during this time and are still visible today serve as evidence of its past location.

What is the impact of rising CO2 levels on global sea levels and ice sheets?

Rising CO2 levels lead to increased global temperatures, which in turn cause glaciers and ice sheets to melt. This melting contributes to rising sea levels, potentially leading to flooding in coastal areas and the loss of landmass.

How does the shrinking of the Tasman Glacier illustrate the end of an ice age?

The shrinking of the Tasman Glacier, which has retreated to form a new lake, illustrates the melting of ice that occurs at the end of an ice age. This retreat indicates a warming climate and the breakup of ice structures, which is a characteristic of post-glacial periods.

What evidence from ice cores supports the correlation between CO2 levels and past climate changes?

Ice cores, such as those from the National Ice Core Lab in Denver, contain trapped air bubbles that preserve ancient atmospheric samples. Analysis of these samples shows a pattern where temperature and CO2 levels rise and fall together, indicating a strong correlation between atmospheric CO2 and past climate changes.

How do scientists differentiate the source of rising CO2 levels in the atmosphere between natural sources and human activities?

Scientists differentiate the source of CO2 by measuring the amount of CO2 emitted by natural sources like volcanoes and comparing it to the amount emitted by human activities such as burning fossil fuels. They also analyze the isotopic composition of carbon in the CO2, which can indicate whether it comes from recent plant matter or from ancient, fossilized sources.

What is the significance of the statement that 'one glacier doesn't tell us what the world is doing'?

This statement emphasizes the importance of looking at global patterns and trends rather than relying on the behavior of a single glacier to understand climate change. While individual glaciers can be influenced by local conditions, a comprehensive view of glacier behavior worldwide provides a more accurate picture of global climate trends.

How does the Pentagon view climate change in terms of national security and military strategy?

The Pentagon views climate change as a 'threat multiplier' that can contribute to food and water scarcity, disease spread, and mass migration, potentially leading to destabilization of nations. It is incorporated into military strategies and defense reviews to ensure preparedness for the impacts of climate change on global hot spots and military installations.

What steps is the military taking to address its own energy use and reduce its contribution to climate change?

The military, recognizing its significant energy consumption, is exploring renewable energy sources and energy-saving technologies. Training exercises and bases are being adapted to use less fossil fuel and more renewable energy, such as solar power, and to practice energy conservation techniques.

What is the significance of the ice core data in understanding the natural carbon cycle and human impact on climate change?

Ice core data provides a historical record of atmospheric CO2 levels and climate conditions over thousands of years. This record allows scientists to observe natural carbon cycles and to identify the human impact on climate change by comparing pre-industrial levels of CO2 with the sharp increase seen in recent centuries.

Outlines

00:00

🌏 Impact of Climate Change on Glaciers and Earth's History

The first paragraph discusses the significant role of glaciers as 'earth moving machines' and their historical advance and retreat in response to climate changes. It describes how glaciers like the Franz-Josef left their mark through moraines and how their movement was indicative of past climates. The script also covers the melting of glaciers today due to rising CO2 levels and global warming, evidenced by shrinking glaciers like the Tasman and the Columbia. The paragraph concludes with the importance of ice cores as a 'frozen library' that provides a record of Earth's climate history, showing a correlation between temperature changes and CO2 levels over 400,000 years.

05:00

🔍 The Evidence of Human-Induced Climate Change

The second paragraph delves into the scientific evidence linking the current increase in atmospheric CO2 to human activities, particularly the burning of fossil fuels. It explains how measurements of CO2 and oxygen levels, along with the isotopic composition of carbon, confirm that the rise in CO2 is not from natural volcanic sources but from the burning of ancient plant matter. The paragraph emphasizes the unprecedented levels of CO2 in the atmosphere and the consensus among scientists that human activities are the primary driver of climate change, with potential global impacts including food and water scarcity, disease spread, and mass migration.

10:03

🏢 Pentagon's Perspective on Climate Change as a Security Threat

The third paragraph presents the view of the U.S. Department of Defense, which considers climate change a 'threat multiplier' and an issue of national security. It outlines the Pentagon's recognition of climate change's potential to exacerbate global conflicts through food and water scarcity, disease, and displacement of populations. The script discusses the military's vulnerability to climate effects, such as sea-level rise, which poses a risk to numerous naval installations. The paragraph also highlights the military's efforts to adapt and reduce its reliance on fossil fuels, showcasing initiatives in renewable energy and energy efficiency in military training and operations.

Keywords

💡CO2

CO2, or carbon dioxide, is a greenhouse gas that plays a significant role in the Earth's climate system by trapping heat in the atmosphere. In the video, it is discussed as a major factor in historical climate changes and the current global warming trend. The script mentions how fluctuations in CO2 levels have corresponded with the advance and retreat of glaciers over thousands of years, and how today's increased levels of atmospheric CO2 are linked to human activities such as burning fossil fuels.

💡Glaciers

Glaciers are slow-moving masses of ice that carve through landscapes and can significantly impact the Earth's climate and geology. The video script uses glaciers, such as the Franz Josef glacier, to illustrate the historical scale of climate change. It explains how glaciers advance and retreat in response to climate fluctuations, leaving behind landforms and deposits like moraines, which serve as evidence of their past extent.

💡Ice Age

An ice age is a long period characterized by the expansion of ice sheets and glaciers, leading to a drop in global temperatures. The script refers to the last ice age to provide context for the natural variability of Earth's climate and to contrast it with the current, human-induced climate change. It mentions how lower CO2 levels and colder temperatures during an ice age contributed to the growth of glaciers.

💡Moraine

A moraine is a accumulation of rocks and debris that a glacier carries and deposits as it moves. In the video, moraines are described as indicators of a glacier's past presence and extent. They are formed by the glacier's bulldozing and dumping actions, leaving a trail of rocks that outline the glacier's path.

💡Global Sea Level

Global sea level refers to the average height of the world's oceans relative to the center of the Earth. The script discusses how the melting and formation of ice sheets during ice ages affected global sea levels, with the mention of sea levels being almost 400 feet lower during the last ice age due to water being locked up in ice.

💡Climate Feedback Loop

A climate feedback loop is a process where a change in one part of the climate system leads to further changes that amplify or dampen the initial change. In the video, the script explains how rising CO2 levels can lead to warming, which in turn can cause more CO2 to be released, creating a feedback loop that intensifies climate change.

💡Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution marks a period of rapid industrialization and the large-scale shift from agrarian to industrial societies that occurred during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The script uses this term to highlight the time when human activities, particularly the burning of fossil fuels, began to significantly increase atmospheric CO2 levels, leading to the current era of anthropogenic climate change.

💡Ice Core

An ice core is a long cylinder of ice drilled from a glacier or ice sheet, which contains layers that can be analyzed to reconstruct past climate conditions. The video script describes how ice cores, such as those studied at the National Ice Core Lab, provide crucial data on historical CO2 levels and temperatures, helping scientists understand the relationship between CO2 and climate over hundreds of thousands of years.

💡Volcanoes

Volcanoes are geological phenomena that release molten rock, ash, and gases from the Earth's crust. The script addresses the common misconception that volcanic activity is the primary source of atmospheric CO2, but clarifies through scientific evidence that human activities, specifically the burning of fossil fuels, are responsible for the current rise in CO2 levels.

💡Carbon Isotopes

Carbon isotopes are variants of carbon atoms that have the same number of protons but different numbers of neutrons, such as carbon-12, carbon-13, and carbon-14. The video explains how the analysis of carbon isotopes in atmospheric CO2 can help determine its source. The script points out that the rise in carbon-12, which is common in plants, and the absence of a rise in carbon-13 and carbon-14 indicate that the CO2 increase is from burning fossil fuels, not volcanic activity.

💡Pentagon

The Pentagon is the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense. In the script, it is mentioned as an institution that recognizes the reality and implications of climate change, particularly in terms of national security and military preparedness. The Pentagon's Quadrennial Defense Review includes climate change as a factor in its strategic planning, acknowledging its potential to exacerbate global tensions and threats.

Highlights

Glaciers like the Franz-Josef advanced significantly during the last ice age, leaving a trail of boulders and deep ice in wide valleys.

Glacier movement is likened to an earth-moving machine, capable of carrying and pushing rocks, creating a moraine as a historical marker of its path.

20,000 years ago, the Franz Josef glacier was much further out to sea, depositing rocks that are still visible today, indicating its former extent.

A computer-generated time-lapse illustrates the advance and retreat of glaciers tied to CO2 levels and temperature changes over thousands of years.

During the ice age, 30% of today's land area was covered by massive ice sheets, which significantly lowered the global sea level.

Changes in Earth's orbit, along with the warming and cooling effects of CO2 levels, are key to explaining historical climate changes.

Today, increasing atmospheric CO2 levels are causing temperatures to rise and glaciers, including the Tasman glacier, to melt at an accelerated rate.

The retreat of glaciers worldwide, not just the Tasman, indicates a global trend of shrinking ice masses.

The Columbia glacier in Alaska is rapidly retreating, a clear sign of the effects of global warming.

Evidence from thermometers in the air, ocean, and ground, as well as from satellites, all point to a warming Earth.

The National Ice Core Lab in Denver preserves ice samples dating back 400,000 years, revealing Earth's climate history.

Ice cores show a correlation between temperature changes and CO2 levels, with natural cycles of ice ages driven by Earth's orbit.

Since the Industrial Revolution, CO2 levels have surpassed 380 parts per million, a level not seen in over 400,000 years.

Human activities, specifically the burning of fossil fuels, are identified as the main source of the current rise in atmospheric CO2.

The Pentagon recognizes climate change as a significant factor affecting global security, contributing to food and water scarcity, disease spread, and potential mass migration.

The U.S. military is taking steps to adapt to and mitigate climate change, including reducing fossil fuel use and increasing renewable energy sources.

Climate change is acknowledged as a 'threat multiplier' by the Pentagon, with potential destabilizing effects on nations and global hot spots.

The military is investing in renewable energy and energy-saving technologies to prepare for the long-term strategic challenges posed by climate change.

Transcripts

on land changing currents let the oceans

absorb co2 from the air that cooled the

southern hemisphere and unleashed the

immense power of glaciers such as the

franz-josef which advanced down this

wide Valley filling it with deep thick

ice now we're flying over today's

coastline where giant boulders are

leftovers from that last ice age a

glacier is a great earth moving machine

it's a dump truck that carries rocks

that fall on top of it it's a bulldozer

that pushes rocks in front of it and it

outlines itself with those rocks making

a deposit that we call a moraine that

tells us where the glacier has been

we're 20 kilometres 12 miles from the

front of the franz josef glacier today

but about 20,000 years ago the ice was

depositing these rocks as it flowed past

us and out to sea

the rocks we can still see today confirm

where the glacier once was now in a

computer-generated time-lapse condensing

thousands of years of Earth's history

we're seeing what happened lower co2

colder temperatures more snow and ice

and the Franz Josef advanced 20,000

years ago 30 percent of today's land

area was covered by great ice sheets

which locked up so much water that the

global sea level was almost 400 feet

lower than today

then as Earth's orbit changed

temperatures and co2 rose and the

glacier melted back the orbit set the

stage but by themselves they weren't

enough we need the warming and cooling

effects of rising and falling co2 to

explain the changes we know happened

today atmospheric co2 is increasing

still more temperatures are rising and

glaciers and ice sheets are melting you

can see this clearly on the lake formed

by the shrinking Tasman glacier

across the range from the Franz Joseph

this is what the end of an ice age looks

like glaciers falling apart new legs new

land icebergs coming off the front of

the ice in the early 1980s we would have

been inside New Zealand's Tasman glacier

right here now we're passing icebergs in

a new lake from a glacier that has

mostly fallen apart and ends over six

kilometers or miles away one glacier

doesn't tell us what the world is doing

but while the Tasman has been retreating

the great majority of glaciers on the

planet have gotten smaller this is the

Columbia glacier in Alaska it's a type

of glacier that makes the effects of

warming easy to see it's been retreating

so fast that the extreme ice survey had

to reposition their time-lapse cameras

to follow its motion in Iceland warming

air temperatures have made this glacier

simply melt away leaving streams and

small lakes behind

thermometers in the air show warming

thermometers near far from cities show

warming put your thermometer in the

ground in the ocean look down from

satellites they show warming the

evidence is clear the Earth's climate is

one this frozen library the national ice

core lab in Denver Colorado has ice from

all over kept at minus 35 degrees the

oldest core here goes back some 400,000

years here really ancient ice from

Greenland in the north and Antarctica in

the South reveals Earth's climate

history let's see what cores like this

can Dallas

first are those layers I mentioned in

the New Zealand snow they've turned to

ice and we can count them summer winter

summer winter like tree rings we can

date the car other course tell other

stories look at this see ash of a

Icelandic volcano that blew up to

Greenland fifty thousand years ago

course hold other and even more

important secrets look at these bubbles

they formed as the snow turned to ice

and trapped old air that's still in

there

scientists now we're working with cores

from Antarctica that go back even

further

they tell us with a very high degree of

accuracy how much carbon dioxide was in

the air that far back researchers braked

chunks of ice and vacuum chambers and

carefully analyzed the gases that come

off they're able to measure very

precisely levels of carbon dioxide in

that ancient air looking at the course

we see a pattern that repeats 280 parts

per million of co2 then one eighty to

eighty one eighty to eighty by analyzing

the chemistry of the oxygen atoms in the

ice you can also see the pattern of

rising and falling temperature over time

colder during the ice ages warmer during

the interglacial periods now put the two

lines together and you can see how

closely temperature and carbon dioxide

track each other they're not exactly

alike at times the orbits caused a

little temperature change before the

feedback effects of co2 joined in but

just as we saw in New Zealand we can't

explain the large size of the changes in

temperature without the effects of co2

this is the signature of natural

variation the cycle of the ice age is

driven by changes in Earth's orbit with

no human involvement but here's where we

are today in just 250 years since the

Industrial Revolution

bolon passed 380 with no sign of slowing

down it's a level not seen in more than

400,000 years 40 times longer than the

oldest human civilization so physics and

chemistry tell us that adding carbon

dioxide to the atmosphere warms things

up and Earth's climate history shows us

there will be impacts from melting ice

sheets to rising sea level

but how do we know with equal certainty

that it's not just more natural

variation that humans are the source of

the increasing co2 when we look at a

landscape like this one we know

immediately that volcanoes put out all

sorts of interesting things and that

includes co2 so how do we know that the

rise in co2 in the atmosphere that we

see comes from our burning of fossil

fuels and not from something that the

volcanoes have done well the first step

in the problem is just bookkeeping we

measure how much co2 comes out of the

volcanoes we measure how much co2 comes

out of our smokestacks and tailpipes the

natural source is small humans are

putting out fifty to a hundred times

more co2 than the natural volcanic

source we can then ask the air whether

our bookkeeping is right and the air

says that it is volcanoes make co2 by

melting rocks to release the co2 they

don't burn and they don't use oxygen but

burning fossil fuels does use oxygen

when it makes co2 we see that the rise

in co2 goes with a fall of oxygen which

says that the rising co2 comes from

burning something we can then ask the

carbon in the rising co2 where it came

from carbon comes in three flavors the

lightweight carbon-12 which is

especially common in plants the medium

weight carbon 13 which is a little more

common in the gases coming out of

volcanoes and the heavyweight carbon 14

it's radioactive and decays almost

entirely after about 50,000 years which

is why you won't find it in very old

things like dinosaur bones or fossil

fuels

we see a rise in carbon-12 which comes

from plants we don't see a rise of

carbon-13

so the co2 isn't coming from the

volcanoes and we don't see a rise in

carbon-14 so the co2 can't be coming

from recently living plants and so the

atmosphere says that the rising co2

comes from burning of plants that have

been dead a long time

that is fossil fuels the co2 is coming

from our fossil fuels it's us so physics

and chemistry show us carbon dioxide is

at levels never seen in human history

and the evidence says it's all of us

burning fossil fuels that's driving the

increase but what about climate change

in global warming are they for real

here's what those who have looked at all

the data say about the future climate

change energy security and economic

stability are inextricably linked

climate change will contribute to food

and water scarcity will increase the

spread of disease and may spur or

exacerbate mass migration who do you

suppose said that not a pundit

not a politician the Pentagon these war

games at Fort Irwin California provide

realistic training to keep our soldiers

safe the purpose of the Pentagon's

quadrennial defense review that QDR is

to keep the nation safe the review

covers military strategies for an

uncertain world the Pentagon has to

think long term and be ready for all

contingencies the 2010 QDR was the first

time that those contingencies included

climate change Rear Admiral David titli

is oceanographer of the Navy and

contributed to the defense review well I

think the QDR really talks about climate

change in terms that it really isn't for

debate and you take a look at the global

temperatures you take a look at sea

level rise you take a look at what the

glaciers are doing not just one or two

glaciers but really glaciers worldwide

and you add all of those up together and

that's one of the reasons we really

believe that the the climate is changing

so the observations tell us that physics

tells us this as well what climate

change means for key global hot spots is

less clear we understand the earth is

getting warmer we understand the oceans

are getting warmer what we do not

understand is exactly how that will

affect things like strong storms

rainfall rates rainfall distribution so

yes climate change is a certainty but

what is it going to be like in

civic regions of the world and when one

area of particular concern to the Navy

is sea-level rise

sea level rise is going to be a

long-term and very very significant

issue for the 21st century the QDR

included an infrastructure vulnerability

assessment that found that a hundred and

fifty three naval installations are at

significant risk from climatic stresses

from Pearl Harbor Hawaii to Norfolk

Virginia the bases and their nearby

communities will have to adapt even with

one to two meters of sea level rise

which is very very substantial we have

time this this is this is not a crisis

but it is certainly going to be a

strategic challenge globally

climate change is expected to mean more

fires floods and famine nations may be

destabilized for the Pentagon climate

change is a threat multiplier but with

sound climate science that Lee believes

forewarned is forearmed the good thing

is is the science is advanced enough in

oceanography Glaciology meteorology that

we have some skill at some timeframes of

predicting this and if we choose to use

those projections we can in fact by our

behavior alter the future in our favor

titli in the Pentagon think the facts

are in climate change is happening and

there is very very strong evidence that

that a large part of this is in fact

man-made the military is America's

single largest user of energy and it

recognizes that its use of fossil fuels

has to change the Pentagon uses 300,000

barrels of oil each day that's more than

12 million gallons

an armored Humvee gets four miles to the

gallon at full speed an Abrams battle

tank uses four gallons to the mile and

it can cost as much as $400 a gallon to

get gas to some remote bases in

Afghanistan Fort Irwin is a testbed to

see if the army can operate just as

effectively while using less fossil fuel

and more renewable and it's not just for

tour when in the Army at Camp Pendleton

Marines were trained on an energy-saving

experimental Forward Operating Base that

deployed with them to Afghanistan before

any equipment goes into theater we want

Marines to get trained on so what are

some of the things that we could take

hold of right away and and make sure

that we can make a difference for the

warfighter downrange they test out

different kinds of portable solar power

units they also practice how to purify

stagnant water and make it drinkable the

Army and Marines both want to minimize

the number of convoys trucking in fuel

and water