What if climate change is real? | Katharine Hayhoe | TEDxTexasTechUniversity

Summary

In this TEDx Talk, Katharine Hayhoe discusses the undeniable realities of climate change and the evidence supporting its existence. She illustrates how misconceptions arise when individuals base their understanding of global warming on personal, localized experiences rather than comprehensive global data. Hayhoe stresses the importance of viewing climate as a long-term phenomenon rather than equating it to short-term weather patterns. She explains the significant scientific consensus on human-associated increases in carbon dioxide levels as a primary driver of recent climate changes. Furthermore, she highlights the critical necessity for proactive adaptation strategies and the opportunity for regions like Texas to spearhead the transition to sustainable energy solutions. With undeniable humor and insight, Hayhoe calls for global awareness and action, emphasizing that with the resources and technology available, a better, sustainable future is achievable for Texas and beyond.

Highlights

• People's perception of climate change can be influenced by their immediate surroundings, such as being in a warm or cold room 🌡️
• Global temperature data since 1900 overwhelmingly shows a warming earth despite temporary local variations 📈
• Natural cycles and the sun are inadequate to explain current climate trends; the human factor is undeniable 🔍
• Evidence of climate change includes phenomena like earlier blooming seasons and more intense hurricanes 🌪️
• Transitioning to renewable energy is necessary and possible, as exemplified by Texas's wind and solar potential 🌬️

Key Takeaways

• Climate change is real and globally evident, not just measured by local weather experiences 🌎
• Scientific data shows significant temperature rises over the decades supporting global warming claims 📊
• Human activities significantly contribute to climate change, primarily through emissions like CO2 📈
• Adapting to climate change involves rethinking infrastructure and energy use for future sustainability 🏗️
• Texas stands as a leader in renewable energy, showcasing potential for sustainable solutions 🌞

Overview

In her engaging TEDx talk, Katharine Hayhoe breaks down the concept of climate change and tackles misconceptions head-on. Using humorous anecdotes, she addresses the common temptation to judge the reality of global warming based on localized and short-lived weather changes. Hayhoe likens climate to a forest rather than a single tree, emphasizing the importance of assessing climate over decades rather than just a few years.

Hayhoe presents compelling data and evidence to clarify doubts about climate change and its anthropogenic influences. She references studies demonstrating how human perceptions are easily swayed by immediate physical environments, illustrating how short-term weather experiences can cloud our understanding of long-term climate trends. She dissects the effects of carbon dioxide levels and highlights undeniable evidence that globally confirms the planet's warming state.

The talk concludes with a hopeful perspective, articulating the essential steps needed to tackle climate change effectively. Hayhoe shares inspiring examples from Texas, emphasizing its vast potential in renewable energy. She paints a picture of how even regions deeply tied to traditional energy industries can lead the way in embracing clean energy solutions. Her message is clear: with proactive measures, Texas and similarly resource-rich places can play pivotal roles in shaping a sustainable future.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 01:00: Introduction and West Texas The chapter titled "Introduction and West Texas" focuses on what West Texas is famous for, including its vast fields of white cotton and the friendly farmers who work there. Besides cotton, the region is also known for raising cows and the products derived from them. Texas Tech is also highlighted as a significant aspect of West Texas's identity.
• 01:00 - 02:30: Temperature Perceptions and Global Warming Reality The chapter explores the discrepancy between local weather perceptions, such as unexpected snowfall in typically warm regions like West Texas, and the broader reality of global warming. It illustrates how local weather events, like ice and snow, can lead people to question or misunderstand global climate trends.
• 02:30 - 04:00: Understanding Climate vs Weather This chapter explores the common misconceptions around global warming, particularly the difference between climate and weather. It addresses the skepticism that arises when experiencing cold weather during winters, questioning the reality of global warming. The discussion emphasizes that despite personal experiences of cold weather, global warming might still be a real phenomenon.
• 04:00 - 06:00: Global Temperature Trends and Misinterpretations The chapter discusses global temperature trends, emphasizing the importance of looking at global data rather than local conditions. For instance, while some regions experienced colder than average temperatures, others, like Alaska, were significantly warmer than average. The key takeaway is that global warming reality isn't solely based on personal local experiences, but on broader, comprehensive data from around the world.
• 06:00 - 07:30: Evidence of Climate Change Beyond Temperatures A study was conducted a few years ago where participants were split into two groups. One group was placed in a warm room and the other in a room with a comfortable temperature. Afterward, they were asked about their beliefs on the reality of climate change.
• 07:30 - 10:00: Natural Climate Change vs Human-Induced In this chapter, a discussion occurs around the perception of climate change depending on one's immediate environment. Participants in a warm room acknowledge and affirm the reality of climate change and global warming, while those in a cold room express skepticism. This experiment underscores the sensitivity of human perception to environmental conditions.
• 10:00 - 13:00: The Role of Carbon Dioxide in Climate Change The chapter discusses the impact of carbon dioxide on climate change. It emphasizes the importance of examining the issue from a global perspective over long periods, rather than focusing on localized or short-term weather patterns. This knowledge highlights the distinction between weather and climate, with climate requiring a comprehensive and sustained view.
• 13:00 - 16:30: The Impact of Climate Change on Society Climate and weather are distinct, with climate referring to long-term patterns over 20 to 30 years, rather than short-term weather events. The chapter begins by clarifying this difference and emphasizes the importance of examining climate data over multiple decades to determine if our climate is undergoing significant changes. The initial focus is on observing the Earth's temperature trends over time.
• 16:30 - 19:30: Preparing for and Mitigating Climate Change The chapter discusses the evidence of climate change observed since the 1900s. The data indicates that while individual years may fluctuate in temperature, there is a clear trend of global warming over the century. The chapter emphasizes increasing temperature records being broken, which signifies the urgency and reality of climate change.
• 19:30 - 20:00: Conclusion: Leadership in Clean Energy The conclusion discusses the contrast in temperature perceptions between different regions, highlighting that despite some regions experiencing colder temperatures, the global trend indicates a record-breaking warm year. The chapter emphasizes the importance of recognizing these global climate trends and the role of leadership in promoting clean energy initiatives to address climate change.

What if climate change is real? | Katharine Hayhoe | TEDxTexasTechUniversity Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 we're known for a lot of things here in West Texas one of the things we're very well known for is our fields of white cotton and the friendly farmers in them we don't just grow cotton we also raise cows and we're very well known for what we do with those cows and of course no talk at Texas Tech would be complete without mentioning something else we are very well known
• 00:30 - 01:00 for here in West Texas and that is our world class football but there is something that we are not so well known for here in West Texas and it's something we've seen a lot of [Laughter] lately and I have to admit when I was scraping the snow and ice off my car I was tempted to think where's global
• 01:00 - 01:30 warming now I'd like a little of that please this is not what our Winters should look like so here we are talking about what if though what if this global warming thing is real what if despite our hands freezing off and our toes feeling like they have to be amputated what if this thing is really real
• 01:30 - 02:00 well if we look at what our temperatures look like recently we see that yes it was really cold where we are but if we look in other parts of the world we see that it was really warm in fact Alaska was just as much warmer than average as we have been colder than average so the lesson here is that it isn't just what we see in front of our own eyes that can tell us whether global warming is real
• 02:00 - 02:30 I want to tell you about a fun little experiment they did a couple of years ago they took a group of people and divided them in half half of the people you over here got put in a room that was quite warm the other the half of the people you over here were put in a room that was just a comfortable room temperature and then the people were asked is climate change real
• 02:30 - 03:00 what do you think happened yes exactly what you think the group in the warm room said yes there we go the group in the warm room said yes climate change is real global warming is real I feel warm the group in the cold room said no I actually feel like it isn't that's how sensitive we are to our environment
• 03:00 - 03:30 our physical experience informs our brain sometimes in conscious ways and sometimes in unconscious ways so when we look at this issue of global warming or climate change we have to look globally we can't just look in the place where we live not only that but we have to look over sufficient periods of time weather is what we all know and we all remember it's what happens in a single place at a single time weather is
• 03:30 - 04:00 like a tree climate on the other hand is like a forest climate is long-term average of weather over 20 to 30 years so we're not talking about weather we're talking about whether our climate is changing and that means we have to look over multiple not just years but multiple decades so if we look here this is the temperature of the earth starting
• 04:00 - 04:30 in 1900 and we see that one year may be colder than the other one year might be warmer than the other but over the century as we progress through time our planet is getting warmer and warmer that's what we see in the data around the world when we look further into into time we see that not only that but we're starting to break break all kinds of
• 04:30 - 05:00 Records last year was believe it or not the warmest year on record even while it was slightly below average across the Eastern us but here's the thing what's located in the eastern US most of our TV stations and so people are saying oh it's freezing in Atlanta oh it's freezing in Chicago and the rest of the world is like oh it's so hot come visit us
• 05:00 - 05:30 but then you might say well but I've heard these people talking about how you know this global warming has stopped and in fact I've even had people show me some data I've had people show me some data looking at say for example 2001 to 2011 and it's true if you look at just those years you can see global warming look global warming well you might notice that this grass actually goes a little bit longer through time than just 10-year period and when you fill in the
• 05:30 - 06:00 rest of the data this is what you see so these suspicious of anybody toting small little bits of data saying that it proves something the one thing we know in science and in life in general is that we can't just throw out the data we don't like just because we don't like it you go to the doctor the doctor says you really need this you know this this procedure and you say well I don't like it no you're allowed to do that but it's not very
• 06:00 - 06:30 wise and in fact like I said when you put 2014 on there you see that it was the highest temperature on record but you may say okay that's just these thermometers and humans have just been using these thermometers for a while is there any other evidence that the planet is warming there is when we go up to the Arctic we see what used to be permanently frozen ground melting and
• 06:30 - 07:00 the homes of hundreds of Native American villages crumbling and falling into the ocean we see that trees and flowers are blooming weeks earlier than in the year than they have over hundreds of years of Records we see that our heavy rainfall and even our heavy snowfall is getting more frequent as the humidity of the atmosphere increases because warmer air means more water evaporates out of our oceans and our lakes and our rivers and we see that our hurricanes are getting
• 07:00 - 07:30 stronger because hurricanes are powered by warm ocean water and our oceans are warming if we look around the world we see 26 and a half thousand lines of evidence telling us that the planet is warming so is climate changing yes it is but you may say
• 07:30 - 08:00 hasn't climate always changed before yes it has changed before it's changed because of different amounts of energy from the Sun and it's changed because of natural cycles so that is actually a large part of what we climate scientists do we spend a lot of time studying the natural reasons why climate changes on this planet and when we study these natural reasons though this is what we see let's look at the sign
• 08:00 - 08:30 first this is the temperature of the earth that we've already seen this is how it looks since 1900 now let's look at the energy from the Sun but before we do I just want to ask you a question get your thumbs ready because you're going to use your own thumbs now if our Earth's temperature were going up would that mean that we were getting more energy from the Sun or less energy from the Sun more yes that's how we know that we'd be getting
• 08:30 - 09:00 warmer because of the Sun so let's look to see if that's what we're getting the sun's energy was going up until the 1970s but since then it's been going down it can't be the sun that's controlling our current temperature because if it were we'd be getting cooler not warmer so it can't be the Sun but maybe it's natural cycles we know all about natural cycles here in West Texas don't we we know about alino we we know about the droughts that linia brings and we're
• 09:00 - 09:30 certainly hoping that we're going to get a nice wet year in the future we have to recognize though that these type of Cycles all they do is move heat around the earth they don't make the entire planet hotter or the entire planet colder they just move the heat from north to south from east to west from Pacific to Atlantic and often from the atmosphere to the ocean but today we see that the entire planet is warming not just the atmosphere but the ocean also so when we look at the whole planet
• 09:30 - 10:00 there's only one type of natural cycle that causes the whole planet to get warmer or cooler and that's the natural cycle that causes the ice ages so we know that we had an Ice Age a really really long time ago and we know that that Ice Age ended when a squirrel was chasing a nut and broke off broke off a piece of a glacier I see a few people have seen that that was that was an eye opener for climate scientists I
• 10:00 - 10:30 tell you we had we did not have squirrels in our models until then so it's a natural question to say well aren't we still getting warmer after the last ice age right here's the thing though that warming peaked about 8,000 years ago and if we look at the Earth's temperature over the last 6,000 years this is what we see can you believe that our planet was
• 10:30 - 11:00 actually getting cooler and our carbon dioxide levels which we'll talk about in a minute were pretty stable until when something happened around about 300 years ago and we see that in the earth's records then and only then do we really as climate scientists have intellectual
• 11:00 - 11:30 permission to say okay well what happened at that time why is our climate changing and when we do it's pretty easy to figure out where to point the finger we know that about 300 years ago we figured out how to dig massive amounts of coal and natural gas and oil out of the ground and burn it it powered tremendous technological innovations we would not be sitting here today if it were not for the Industrial
• 11:30 - 12:00 Revolution I would not be alive today if it were not for the medical advances that accompanied it the Industrial Revolution was an amazing thing for humankind it brought Untold benefits to our lives and our society but what we did not know at the time of the Industrial Revolution was that when we burn all of this this coal and gas and oil it
• 12:00 - 12:30 produces a heat trapping gas called carbon dioxide why do we care about carbon dioxide we care about it because our planet has this amazing natural blanket that natural blanket is totally transparent to energy from the Sun the energy from the sun comes down hits the Earth and the Earth heats up but then the Earth gives off heat and those little invisible particles of carbon dioxide and methane and water vapor trap
• 12:30 - 13:00 that heat inside the earth system now this is entirely natural and it's entirely good we'd be 60° fahit colder today if it wasn't for this natural blanket we'd be a Frozen ball of ice if it wasn't for this blanket so what's the problem the problem is we have been adding to that blanket and so just like my grandma used to do on a cold night she used to sneak into our room on a cold night and she would put extra blanket over us because
• 13:00 - 13:30 she was afraid we're going to freeze to death we did have Central Heating and so we would wake up in the middle of the night saying Grandma I did not need this blanket that's what we're doing to our planet we're sneaking up on our planet and we're wrapping an extra blanket around it a planet a blanket that it never needed and the planet is heating up so is climate changing yes it is do we know why it's changing we do it is
• 13:30 - 14:00 for the first time in human civilization it's us but then that begs one final question what if climate change is real well then so what what do we do right and that's the most important question this is why we care about climate change it's not because of the polar bear it's not only because of people living on low-lying islands in the South Seas it's because our
• 14:00 - 14:30 civilization is built on the assumption that we can have ups and downs heat and drought cold and wet but it'll all average out in the end what happens if it doesn't a thousand years ago what would happen if sea level went up 3 feet in Houston you pick up your tent and you move what would happen a thousand years ago if the Caribou decided they prefer to live in North Alaska instead of Southern Alaska you pick up your tent and you move
• 14:30 - 15:00 what happens today if sea level Goes Up 3 feet or if all of a sudden we can't grow cotton here anymore we can only grow it up in Kansas what happens then that's why we care about climate we're already seeing the impacts here in Texas we're seeing increased risk of wildfires like the ones we saw in 2011 we're seeing increased risk of drought as hotter temperatures bake our soils and we're even seeing increased
• 15:00 - 15:30 risk of flood as warmer air means more water available in the atmosphere for those storms to pick up and dump on us and we've seen that right here in LEC this year so what if climate change is real what do we have to do about it two things the first thing we need to do is we need to prepare for a changing climate for years years we have been conducting our society as if we're
• 15:30 - 16:00 driving down a dead straight road from Leck to plan view looking in a rearview mirror to keep us on the road it works doesn't it until you get to that huge curve in the road the one with the giant cement silos where if you are still looking in your rearview mirror you will have a bad accident in the same way we've been building our buildings and our infrastructure and growing our crops and planting for our water and our energy as if that road is straight and the past is
• 16:00 - 16:30 a good predictor for the future today that assumption is no longer valid and so that's why I work with cities and states all over the United States to help prepare for a changing climate to rip our eyes off of that rearview mirror and to look down the road that's coming and say in 20 or 30 or 40 years this is what our water is going to look like this is what our energy demand is going to look like and these are the places where we can grow our food and our crops but there's one more thing we need to to do we've just seen how we're wrapping
• 16:30 - 17:00 this extra blanket around the earth and that blanket is made up of heat trapping gases like carbon dioxide if we keep wrapping thicker and thicker blankets around the earth it's going to heat up faster and faster and our weather disruptions are going to get worse and worse so that's why it is also essential to do exactly what we are already doing here in Texas we are already transitioning from our old and dirty and frankly very
• 17:00 - 17:30 inefficient ways of getting energy to new clean sources of energy that will never run out on us this is a picture from Floy data just about an hour away from us right here every time we fly into leic we see these enormous wind farms that we pass over last year we broke the record here in Texas one week in March we got over a third of our electricity from wind we are doing this here in Texas and Texas is a big part of the
• 17:30 - 18:00 solution so what if climate change is real here in Texas we can do this we need a world economy and we have what it takes we have enough solar potential here in Texas to power the entire world two times over and so that's why my answer to the question is probably not what you'd expect what but if climate change is real then Texas can lead the way into a
• 18:00 - 18:30 better future thank you