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geography > 3.1.1.4 Climate change > Flashcards

3.1.1.4 Climate change Flashcards

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1
Q

What is climate change?

A

Is any significant change in the Earth’s climate over a long period

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2
Q

What is the Quaternary period?

A

Is the most recent geological time period (spanning from 2.6 million years ago to today)

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3
Q

What was the Earth’s climate like in the period before the

Quaternary?

A

The Earth’s climate was warmer and quite stable

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4
Q

During the Quaternary, what happened to the global temperature?

A

Shifted between cold glacial periods (lasted around 100,000 years) and warmer interglacial period (lasted around 10,000 years)

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5
Q

What has been happening since the last glacial period ended (around 15,00 years ago)?

A

The climate has been warming

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6
Q

What is global warming used to describe?

A

Used to describe the sharp rise in global temperatures over the last century

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7
Q

Name 4 sources of evidence for climate change

A
  1. Ice and Sediment Cores
  2. Tree Rings
  3. Pollen Analysis
  4. Temperature Records
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8
Q

What are ice sheets made up of?

A

Layers of ice

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9
Q

When is a layer of ice formed?

A

Each year

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10
Q

How can we tell what temperature was each year using ice and sediment cores?

A

By analysing the gases trapped in layers of ice they can tell what the temperature was each year
e.g. ice core from Antarctica shows the temperature changes over the last 400,000 years

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11
Q

As trees grows, when do they form a new ring?

A

Each year

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12
Q

What conditions are the rings on trees thicker?

A

The tree rings are thicker in warm, wet conditions

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13
Q

How can we tell what the climate was like each year using tree rings?

A

Scientists take tree cores and count the rings to find the age of the tree → thickness of each ring shows what the climate was like

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14
Q

Explain how analysing pollen can provide evidence for climate change

A
  1. Pollen from plants gets preserved in sediment
  2. Scientist can identify and date the preserved pollen to show which species were living at the time
  3. Scientists know the conditions that plants live now, so preserved pollen from similar plants show that climate conditions were similar
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15
Q

Explain how temperature records can provide evidence for climate change

A
  1. Since the 1950s global temperatures have been measured accurately using thermometers (gives reliable but short-term record of temperature change)
  2. Historical records (e.g. Harvest dates, newspaper weather reports) can extend the record of climate change a bit further back
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16
Q

Name 3 natural possible causes of climate change?

A
  1. Orbital Changes
  2. Volcanic Activity
  3. Solar Output
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17
Q

Explain how orbital changes could have caused climate change

A
  1. The way the Earth moves around the Sun changes
  2. These changes affect amount of solar radiation (how much energy) earth receives - more energy, it gets warmer
  3. Orbital changes may have caused the glacial and interglacial cycles of the Quaternary period
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18
Q

Explain how volcanic activity could have caused climate change

A
  1. Major volcanic equations eject large quantities of material into the atmosphere
  2. Some of these particles reflect the Sun’s rays back to space so the earth’s surface cools
  3. Volcanic activity may cause short-term changes in climate E.g. Cooling that followed the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in 1991
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19
Q

Explain how solar output could have caused climate change

A
  1. The Sun’s output of energy isn’t constant

2. Periods when solar output is reduced may cause the Earth’s climate to become cooler in some areas

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20
Q

What do most scientists think about the solar output causing climate change?

A

Most scientists think that changes in solar output don’t have a major effect on global climate change

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21
Q

Why doesn’t CO2 that volcanoes release cause global warming?

A

They don’t release enough

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22
Q

What (generally) causes global warming and how?

A

Human activities are causing global warming by making

the greenhouse effect stronger

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23
Q

What is the greenhouse effect?

A

It is where greenhouse gases (e.g. CO2 and methane) absorb outgoing heat, so less is lost to space

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24
Q

What does too much greenhouse gas in the atmosphere mean?

A

It means too much energy is trapped and planet warms up

25
Q

Name 4 ways humans are increasing the concentration of greenhouse gases

A
  • Burning Fossil Fuels
  • Cement Production
  • Farming
  • Deforestation
26
Q

Explain how burning fossil fuels contributes to global warming?

A

CO2 is released into atmosphere when fossil fuels like coal, oil, natural gas and petrol are burnt

27
Q

Explain how farming contributes to global warming?

A
  1. Farming of livestock produces a lot of methane

2. Rice paddies contribute to global warming, because flooded fields emit methane

28
Q

Explain how cement production contributes to global warming?

A

Cement is made from limestone, which contains carbon. When cement is produced lots of CO2 is released into the atmosphere.

29
Q

Explain how deforestation contributes to global warming?

A
  1. Plants remove CO2 from the atmosphere and convert it into organic mater using photosynthesis]
  2. When trees and plants are chopped down, they stop taking in CO2
  3. CO2 is also released into the atmosphere when trees are burnt (as fuel or to make way for agriculture)
30
Q

Name 4 effects of climate change on the environment

A
  1. Causes sea level rise
  2. Species to decline
  3. Distribution and quantity of some species could change and biodiversity could decrease
  4. Precipitation patterns are changing - warming is affecting how much rain areas get
31
Q

Explain how climate change can cause sea levels to rise?

A

Warmer temperatures are causing glaciers to shrink and ice sheets like Greenland to melt → melting of ice on land = water stored on land as ice returns to oceans

32
Q

What is the effect of sea ice is shrinking?

A

Loss of polar habitats

33
Q

What is the effects of sea levels rising? Name 2

A
  • Low-lying and coastal area (like Maldives) will be flooded more regularly
  • Coastal erosion will increase & some coastal areas will be submerged, so habitats lost
34
Q

Give an example how species are declining due to warming

A

Some coral reeds are suffering from bleaching due to increasing sea water temperatures

35
Q

Explain how the distribution and quantity of some species could change and biodiversity could decrease due to global warming

A
  • Some species are now found in higher latitudes due to
    warming temperatures
  • Some habitats are being damaged or destroyed due to climate change = species that are specially adapted to
    these are may become extinct
36
Q

Explain how global warming has changed number of deaths occurring

A
  • In some places deaths due to heat have increased

- But deaths due to cold have decreased

37
Q

Explain how global warming is causing places to be impossible to inhabit

A
  • Some areas could become so hot and dry that they’re difficult or impossible to inhabit
  • Low-lying costal areas could be lost to sea or flood so often that they become impossible to inhabit
38
Q

What is effects of more places becoming impossible to inhabit?

A

Leads to migration or overcrowding in other areas

39
Q

Explain how climate change is affecting farming in

different ways around the world

A
  • Globally, some crops have suffered from climate change (e.g. Maize crops have got smaller due to warming in recent years)
  • But some farmers in high-latitude countries are finding that crops benefit from warmer conditions
40
Q

What does lower crop yields mean for people?

A

Means there could be an increase malnutrition, ill heath and death from starvation (particularly in lower latitudes)

41
Q

How does climate change affect the weather?

A

It’s getting more extreme

42
Q

What does extreme weather mean for people

A

Means more money has to be spent on predicting extreme weather events, reducing their impacts and rebuilding after them

43
Q

What are two methods of tackling climate change?

A
  • Mitigation Strategies

- Adaptation

44
Q

What is the aim of mitigation strategies?

A

To reduce the causes of climate change, by reducing the concentration of greenhouse gases in atmosphere

45
Q

Name 4 examples of migration strategies

A
  • Planting Trees
  • Carbon Capture
  • Alternative Energy Production
  • International Agreements
46
Q

Explain how planting trees can reduce the causes of climate change?

A

Increases amount of carbon dioxide that is absorbed from atmosphere through photosynthesis

47
Q

What is Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS)?

A

New technology designed to reduce climate change by reducing emissions from fossil fuels burning power stations

48
Q

Explain how carbon capture can reduce the causes of climate change?

A

CCS involves capturing CO2 and transporting it to places where it can be stored safely (e.g. deep underground)

49
Q

Explain how alternative energy production can reduce the causes of climate change?

A

Replacing fossil fuels with nuclear power and renewable energy can help reduce climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions from power station

50
Q

What is the Kyoto Protocol?

A

An international agreement that most countries in the world signed, agreeing to monitor to cut greenhouse gas
emissions

51
Q

Explain how international agreements can reduce the causes of climate change?

A

For the Kyoto Protocol: each country’s was set a target (e.g. The UK agreed to reduce emissions by 12.5% by 2012. The UK met the target, reducing emissions by an average of 22%)

52
Q

What is adaptation?

A

Responding to changes caused by climate change

53
Q

Name 3 ways of adapting to climate change

A
  • Changing Agricultural Systems
  • Managing Water Supply
  • Coping with Rising Sea Levels
54
Q

Why do agricultural systems need to be changed?

A

Changing rainfall patterns and higher temperatures will affect the productivity of existing systems

55
Q

Explain how are/can agricultural systems be changed to reduce the effects of climate change

A
  1. May be necessary to plant new crop types that are more suitable to new climate conditions in an area
  2. Biotechnology is being used to create new crop varieties which are more resistant to extreme weather events
56
Q

Why do water supplies need to managed?

A

Dry areas are predicted to get drier = more water shortages so people need to use water resources more efficiently

57
Q

How can water supplies be managed?

A
  1. Water metres can be installed in people’s homes to discourage them from using a lot of water
  2. Rainwater can be collected and waste water can be recycled to make more water available
58
Q

What is predicted to happened to sea levels and why os this a problem?

A

Sea levels are predicted to rise (by up to 82 cm by 2100), which could flood many islands and coastal areas

59
Q

Explain how rising sea levels are being coped with

A
  1. Physical defences such as flood barriers are being built and better flood warning systems are being put in place
  2. In areas that can’t afford expensive flood defences,
    (e.g. Bangladesh), people are building their houses on top
    of Earth embankments and building raised flood shelters
    to use in emergencies

geography (9 decks)

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