Climate change is one of the most prominent problems facing mankind in the 21st century and remote sensing through space based observation has come to play a more and more important role in the study of climate change since its inception (Cracknell and Varatsos, 2011; Navalgund and Singh, 2011.). Cracknell and Varatsos (2011) says there are two reasons as to why remote sensing plays a vital role in the study of climate change, namely the huge coverage the data provides in terms area which allows studies at a local, regional or global scale and also the temporal coverage of this data as there are now libraries of data covering several decades available.
The goal of of remote sensing within the realm of climate change is to provide a reliable scientific grounds for helping establish policies relating to both natural and anthropomorphic induced changes in the Earth's environment (Navalgund and Sing, 2011). Both the European Space Agency (ESA) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) both have space based observation programs dedicated to climate change.
The ESA have the Living Planet Program (ESA, 2006; Navalgund and Singh, 2011), with GOCE (Gravity field and steady state Ocean Circulation Explorer) recently completing its mission there now 5 missions operating at the moment in SMOS (Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity), ADM-Aeolus(Atmospheric Dynamics Mission), CryoSat-2, SWARM and Earth CARE (Earth Clouds Aerosols and Radiation Explorer. Soon the Sentinel series of satellites will also be added to this group ( Malenovsky et al., 2012) with Sentinel-1 due to launch in 2014.
Similar to the Living Planet Program NASA have the Earth System Science Pathfinder Program (ESSP) (NASA, 2013; Navalgund and Singh, 2011). Th...
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...and Singh, R. P., 2011. Climate Change Studies Using Space Based Observation, Journal of the Indian Society for Remote Sensing, 39(3), pp. 281 - 285.
Paul, F., et al., 2013. The glaciers climate change initiative: Methods for creating glacier area, elevation change and velocity products, Remote Sensing of Environment [Online] Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2013.07.043 [Accessed: 30 November 2013]
Willis, M., J., Melkonian, A. K., Pritchard, M. E. and Ramage J. M., 2012. Ice loss rates at the Northern Patagonian Icefield derived using a decade of satellite remote sensing, Remote Sensing of the Environment, 117, pp. 184-198.
Wulder, M. A., Masek, J. G., Cohen, W. B., Loveland, T. R. and Woodcock, C. E., 2012. Opening the Archive: How free data has enabled the science and monitoring promise of Landsat, Remote Sensing and the Environment, 122, pp. 2-10.
University of Colorado, Boulder, August 11, 2003, NASA funds Colorado University at Boulder study of changes in Earth’s glacier systems in Ascribe Science News Service: pNa, p 1.
Many scientist believe that the current warming trend is significant because, much of it has been caused by human activities. Satellites orbiting the earth and other technological equipment enables scientists to see and collect various information about our planets climate. Scientists have studied this collected information and has revealed the many changes of our planet and how these changes are effecting our climate, a few of them are:
“How Dangerous are Glaciers?: Glaciers Have Their Own Warning Signs.” Alaska Satellite Facility. University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2014. Web. 17. Feb. 2014.
The book by David Archer (2009) includes details that will make the readers understand the future of climate change as well as past events that have changed the present climate, as we know it. David Archer is a professor of geophysical sciences at the University of Chicago and has done many public presentations on the earth’s climate change before releasing his book, the long Thaw.
...this information in a concise and understandable manner which can be used by resource managers and policy makers will be the challenge of scientists. The studies presented here illustrate the uncertainties that may arise when analyzing ice core data and the importance in adequately interpreting and analyzing information obtained from glacial deposits.
Earth has experienced many episodes of dramatic climate changes with different periods in earth history. There have been periods during which the entire planet has been covered in ice and at another time it has been scorchingly hot and dry. In this regards, earth has experienced at least three major periods of long- term frigid climate and ice ages interspersed with periods of warm climate. The last glacial period which current glaciers are the result of it, occurring during the last years of Pleistocene, from approximately 110,000 to 10,000 years age (Clayton, 1997). Indeed, glaciers present sensitive indicators of climate change and global warming and by estimating and monitoring the dynamic evolution of these ice masses, several aspect of climate change impact on environmental phenomena can be revealed.
The argument to support the fact that global weather patterns have changed, draws its evidence from a number of sources and documented events, and by observation of what is happening in the environment. The increase in carbon emissions from industry, transportation and farming practices is widely accepted as being responsible for the greenhouse
In the findings by Thompson, Brechera, Mosley-Thompson, Hardy, and B. G. Mark, they discovered that “of the ice cover present in 1912, 85% has disappeared and 26% of that present in 2000 is now gone”. They traced the receding ice back to the early 20th century, beginning in 1912, where “summit ice cover (area extent) decreased ~1% per year from 1912 to 1953 and ~...
The methods by which polar scientists quantify the amount of ice sheet growth or decline took a large leap in the early 1990s when satellite observations began providing spatially comprehensive sets of data. Three separate methods each with particular approaches and limitations have been used to acquire data on ice sheet mass. Satellite altimetry measures ice sheet volume changes from laser and or radar altimeters. This can be converted to changes in mass by accounting for spatially and temporally varying surface density distribution coupled with spatial exploration of unsampled regions. Limitations of this method, similar to other scientific methods lie in the models used. A second method used is referred to as input-minus-output. Through this method scientists calculate the difference between the sn...
There is no longer any question that our world climate has changed (King, 2004). Over the last 100 years, "temperatures have risen by about 0.6 degrees Celsius and global sea level has risen by about 20cm" (K...
McMean, G. (2007, June). Artic climate impact assessment (C. Symon, Ed.). New York, NY: Cambridge Univercity Press. http://www.acia.uaf.edu/pages/scientific.html
“Climate change: How do we know?” NASA. NASA n. d. n. pag. Web. 28 November
It is an unquestioned fact that the climate is changing. There is abundant evidence that the world is becoming warmer and warmer. The temperature of the global land average temperature has increased by about 8.5 degrees centigrade from 1880 to 2012 (Karr, et al 406). The one or two degrees increase in temperature can cause dramatic and serious consequences to the earth as well as humans. More extreme weather occurs, such as heat waves and droughts. The Arctic Region is especially sensitive to global climate change. According to the data in recent decades, the temperature in the Arctic has increased by more than 2 degrees centigrade in the recent half century (Przybylak 316). Climate change has led to a series of environmental and ecological negative
Climate change is evidenced through shifts in the weather patterns such as winds, humidity and temperatures over certain durations. Natural climate changes occur less frequently and they are triggered by factors related geographical aspects as well as solar radiation. The earth’s movement on the orbit triggers changes in climate causing some areas to have higher temperatures than usual while others are significantly cold depending on the position of the earth on the orbit. The heat form the sun causes changes on the stratospheric ozone and it increases the amount of greenhouse gases. Heat from the oceanic crust also contributes to warming as a result of episodic hydrothermal venting (Liao & Sandeberg, 2012). Volcanic activity also causes a release of certain elements that may block the sun and also contribute to increase greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
Hardy, J. T. Climate Change: Causes, Effects, and Solutions. New York: J. Wiley, 2003. Print.