10.07.2015 Views

Guide on Climate Change and Indigenous Peoples

Guide on Climate Change and Indigenous Peoples

Guide on Climate Change and Indigenous Peoples

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS
  • No tags were found...

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.

Part I<strong>Climate</strong> <strong>Change</strong><strong>and</strong> Processes: An OverviewWhat is climate <strong>and</strong> what is climate change? How are these relatedto greenhouse gases <strong>and</strong> the “greenhouse effect”? Why shouldclimate change be something we should be c<strong>on</strong>cerned about?Let’s define climate, climate change <strong>and</strong> greenhouse gases first beforewe get to the greenhouse effect <strong>and</strong> global warming.1What is<strong>Climate</strong>?• <strong>Climate</strong> is usually defined as “the averageweather.” It is measured by observingpatterns in temperature, precipitati<strong>on</strong>(such as rain or snow), wind <strong>and</strong> the daysof sunlight as well as other variables thatmight be measured at any given site.• The climate is the manifestati<strong>on</strong> of ahighly complex system c<strong>on</strong>sisting of fiveinteracting comp<strong>on</strong>ents: the atmosphere(air), the hydrosphere (water), cryosphere(frozen part of the earth), the l<strong>and</strong> surface,<strong>and</strong> the biosphere (part of the earth wherelife exists).Image Source:Government ofCanada Graphic,from: www.solcomhouse.com/cligovcan.gifPART I: <strong>Climate</strong> <strong>Change</strong> <strong>and</strong> Processes: An Overview 1

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!