Group Discussion Question

1
Group Discussion Question

• Over the weekend (4 Feb 6 Feb) there was a
  political pundit talk show on television. At one
  point, the moderator of the show asks the panel
  about the current weather storms (especially snow
  storms in USA and cyclone in Australia) and if
  they may be a result of global warming. The
  moderator quotes Al Gore about the reason that
  these weather patterns may be indicators of
  global warming. One of the pundits response was
  that Al Gore would link anything bad to global
  warming. Discuss in your groups these matters.
  Address two questions in your responses
• How is the moderator question itself flawed?
• How may global warming and low pressure storm
  intensity be causally linked?

2
Sample Answer

• The moderator question itself is flawed because
  the moderator wishes the responder to compare
  weather and climate. Global warming is a climate
  characteristic while storm systems are weather
  characteristics. You cannot compare weather and
  climate. Weather is a local and short term
  phenomenon. Climate is a global and long term
  phenomenon.
• Global warming and low pressure storm intensity
  can be causally linked by a study of the flow of
  energy. If global warming has taken place, that
  provides more energy to the atmosphere because
  temperature is a measure of the average kinetic
  energy of the molecules in the atmosphere. If the
  energy available in the atmosphere is increased,
  then all atmospheric systems can use that energy
  and develop higher intensity storms of all types,
  snow storms in the winter (as seen recently in
  the USA) and rain storms in the summer (as seen
  recently in Australia).