Earth is Our Home Climate Change Video Series

June 14, 2021
Climate Change

Tom Blaine, Associate Professor, OSU Extension, CD, has been hosting a series on climate change titled Earth is Our Home, which is a production of OSU South Centers and co-hosted by Patrick Dengel. 

The purpose of this video series is to give the viewer basic competence in discussing the factors that cause global temperatures to change, and how climate changes as a consequence. 

The entire series is based here, but you can view individual episodes as indicated belowEpisodes are about 30 minutes in length.

The most recent videos are:

  • Climate Changes and Global Warming - why global warming is likely to lead to more extreme weather events (floods, heat waves, droughts, etc.)
  • Currents and Gyres:
    • Part 1 discusses the Gulf Stream, one of many major ocean currents that play a huge role in Earth’s climate, and it obeys the same principles that guide all the other ocean currents.
    • Part 2 addresses how the Earth nearly slipped back into an ice age during a major climate upheaval on the order of 12 thousand years ago.

Earth's Climate History:

  • Part 1 deals with Earth's climate history and starts with climate as it was nearly 600 million years ago. Major temperature changes, warming, and cooling episodes through the Paleozoic Era (before dinosaurs), the Mesozoic Era (the time of dinosaurs), and the Cenozoic Era (since the dinosaurs) are discussed.
  • Part 2 focuses on the series of ice ages earth has experienced over the past million years and what is responsible for the coming and going of the ice ages.
  • Part 3 comes right up to the present, as global temperatures for April 2021 are reviewed and compared with previous temperatures, along with a thorough explanation of what is responsible for current trends. El Niño and La Niña, solar output, and carbon dioxide concentrations caused by the burning of fossil fuels are also discussed.

Earth's Climate Engine:

  • Part 1 is a basic introduction to Earth's climate engine.
  • Part 2 shows how land features, including the positions of the continents relative to seas and oceans, give rise to changes in the basic circulation model and make climate much more complicated than it would otherwise be.
  • Part 3 contrasts the climate effects of the tropical Atlantic Ocean, which brings us hurricanes and tropical storms, with that of the tropical Pacific, which brings us El Niños and La Niñas and shows how this portion of the climate engine (called the Southern Oscillation) works, and how it affects our weather/climate.

The series is easy to follow, with lots of color graphs, maps, and charts to make the presentations memorable and pleasant.