Role of Science, Technology and Innovation in Addressing …
61
1 Introduction
Although Climate change add more stress on the poor mainly in the developing countries and presents challenges, it also presents opportunities for development. Linking
climate change and development became important to ensure increasing resilience
of the poorest and most vulnerable communities, Providing them with the needed
tools and technologies should be the main task of the international communities to
approach impact of climate change [1].
Climate change phenomena are based originally on scientific facts where research
tools are being used to confirm the data and information related to the cause of climate
change as well as its impact. The strong evidence that significant global warming
is occurring is based on measurement of air temperature and subsurface ocean temperature in addition to the increase in the sea level at the global scale, retreating
glaciers as well as changes in many ecosystems retreating most of the warming in
recent decades can be attributed to human activities [2]. Extensive scientific evidence made it clear that the main cause of the change in the climate of the past
half century is human-induced increases in the amount of atmospheric greenhouse
gases. This scientific opinion is expressed in technical reports and scientific articles by scientific national and international entities and by conducting surveys of
opinion among climate scientists. According to Cook et al. [3] individual scientists,
universities, and laboratories contributed to the overall scientific opinion via their
peer-reviewed publications. Cook et al. [3], analyzed the evolution of the scientific
consensus on the global warming in the peer-reviewed literature, examining 11,944
climate abstracts from 1991 to 2011, reaching the conclusion that 97.1% endorsed
the consensus position that humans are causing global warming.
Complex, integrated mathematical models are being used for projecting future
climate change. The model is essentially a representation of the many interactions
within the climate which includes the atmosphere, oceans, land surface, and ice.
Climate models are typically quantitative in nature and range from simple depictions
of the Earth’s climate to very complex ones. Climate models are based on wellestablished physical principles and have been demonstrated to reproduce observed
features of recent climate and past climate changes. Results from a wide range of
climate model simulations suggest that our planet’s average temperature could be
between 2 and 9.7 °F (1.1–5.4 °C) warmer in 2100 than it is today.
Global climate models (GCM) can simulate many important aspects of Earth’s
climate: large-scale patterns of temperature and precipitation, general characteristics
of storm tracks and extratropical cyclones, and observed changes in global mean
temperature and ocean heat content as a result of human emissions. Models can
simulate the impacts at the local and global scale, e.g. crop yields, hydrological, and
water quality models [4].
61
1 Introduction
Although Climate change add more stress on the poor mainly in the developing countries and presents challenges, it also presents opportunities for development. Linking
climate change and development became important to ensure increasing resilience
of the poorest and most vulnerable communities, Providing them with the needed
tools and technologies should be the main task of the international communities to
approach impact of climate change [1].
Climate change phenomena are based originally on scientific facts where research
tools are being used to confirm the data and information related to the cause of climate
change as well as its impact. The strong evidence that significant global warming
is occurring is based on measurement of air temperature and subsurface ocean temperature in addition to the increase in the sea level at the global scale, retreating
glaciers as well as changes in many ecosystems retreating most of the warming in
recent decades can be attributed to human activities [2]. Extensive scientific evidence made it clear that the main cause of the change in the climate of the past
half century is human-induced increases in the amount of atmospheric greenhouse
gases. This scientific opinion is expressed in technical reports and scientific articles by scientific national and international entities and by conducting surveys of
opinion among climate scientists. According to Cook et al. [3] individual scientists,
universities, and laboratories contributed to the overall scientific opinion via their
peer-reviewed publications. Cook et al. [3], analyzed the evolution of the scientific
consensus on the global warming in the peer-reviewed literature, examining 11,944
climate abstracts from 1991 to 2011, reaching the conclusion that 97.1% endorsed
the consensus position that humans are causing global warming.
Complex, integrated mathematical models are being used for projecting future
climate change. The model is essentially a representation of the many interactions
within the climate which includes the atmosphere, oceans, land surface, and ice.
Climate models are typically quantitative in nature and range from simple depictions
of the Earth’s climate to very complex ones. Climate models are based on wellestablished physical principles and have been demonstrated to reproduce observed
features of recent climate and past climate changes. Results from a wide range of
climate model simulations suggest that our planet’s average temperature could be
between 2 and 9.7 °F (1.1–5.4 °C) warmer in 2100 than it is today.
Global climate models (GCM) can simulate many important aspects of Earth’s
climate: large-scale patterns of temperature and precipitation, general characteristics
of storm tracks and extratropical cyclones, and observed changes in global mean
temperature and ocean heat content as a result of human emissions. Models can
simulate the impacts at the local and global scale, e.g. crop yields, hydrological, and
water quality models [4].