7.2 Climate change

Question 1

what is the difference between climate and weather in very simple terms?

Answer 1

time scale

Question 2

what is weather and how is it defined?

Answer 2

Weather is the daily result of changes in temperature, pressure, and precipitation in the atmosphere.

Varies from place to place
Can only be predicted about 5 days out

Question 3

what is climate and how is it defined?

Answer 3

Climate is the average weather pattern over a long period of time for a particular location on Earth.
Can show long term trends.

Question 4

what is the oceanic circularity systems that affects the climate and weather?

Answer 4

the great ocean convert belt.

Question 5

explain how the great ocean convayer belt affects the climate and weather?

Answer 5

the majority of the sun’s radiation is absorbed by the ocean. Particularly in the tropical waters around the equator, the ocean acts a as massive, heat-retaining solar panel.

it helps to distribute heat around the globe. When water molecules are heated, they exchange freely with the air in a process called evaporation. Ocean water is constantly evaporating, increasing the temperature and humidity of the surrounding air to form rain and storms that are then carried by trade winds, often vast distances.

Question 6

how does the atmospheric system affect climate?

Answer 6

land areas and the atmosphere absorb some sunlight.
Earth’s atmosphere also helps to retain heat that would otherwise quickly radiate into space after sunset.

Question 7

what are the key features of an atmospheric system?

Answer 7

air motion
pressure variations
general circulation models

Question 8

what are the key feature of a ocean systems?

Answer 8

specific heat capacity
surface ocean currents
Coastal margins

Question 9

what are the main green house gasses?

Answer 9

Water, CO2, methane and chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) are the main greenhouse gases.

Question 10

which greenhouse gasses are being increased by humans? and what does this cause?

Answer 10

Human activities are increasing levels of CO2, methane and CFCs in the atmosphere, which may lead to global warming.

Question 11

what are some examples of human actives that are leading to an increase in greenhouse gasses in our atmosphere?

Answer 11

Burning of fossil fuel which release carbon dioxide

Deforestation affects earth’s ability to absorb carbon dioxide

pastoral Agriculture of cattle increase the methane level

Use of fertilizers lead to higher nitrous oxide

Question 12

do we need greenhouse gasses?

Answer 12

yes to an extent, the greenhouse effect is a normal and necessary condition for life on Earth. Consider carbon dioxide (CO2) levels in geological times.

Question 13

what is the ‘positive’ roles of greenhouse gasses?

Answer 13

Maintain mean global temperature

Normal and necessary condition for life on Earth

allow short wavelengths of radiation such as visible light and UV too pass through to the Earth’s surface,

Question 14

what does the increase in greenhouse gasses lead to?

Answer 14

an increase in mean global temperature

increased frequency and intercity of extreme weather events.

the potential for long term changes in climate and weather patterns.

rise in sea level.

Question 15

can you expand on an increase in mean global temperature as an effect of an increase in greenhouse gasses?

Answer 15

due to the enhanced green house effect, more evaporation and clouds, changes in precipitation, salinity is affected and so is temp of water, ice melts and cycle continues.

Question 16

can you expand on an increased frequency and intensity of extreme weather events as an effect of an increase in greenhouse gasses?

Answer 16

when the avrage temperature rises, weather disasters become more frequent such as cyclones, heatwaves and floods.

This leads to a loss of trationional lifestyle, biodiversity loss, spread of disease and economic loss.

Question 17

can you expand on rising in sea levels as an effect of an increase of greenhouse gasses?

Answer 17

ice cap melt, sea leavles rise, salinity of water is diluted, density changes, the Gulf Stream is modified leading to Europe cooling and many places such as India and South America won’t get precipitation they rely on for food.

Geenreal ocean circulation upheaval leads to abrupt climate change.

Question 18

what are the impacts of climate change you need to be aware of?

Answer 18

changes in water availability- Gulf Stream. India and south America.

distribution of biomes and crop growing areas- precipitation changes productivity and hence biome distribution.

loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services- motile organism can change location, non can not and might die.

coastal inundation (flooding)- rising sea level and changes in weather and climate patterns.

damage to human health- heat stroke, casualties from extreme weather events, famine. Tropical disease such as malaria from mosquitoes.

Question 19

what causes the variation of the effects climate change?

Answer 19

location

Question 20

what are the two ways one can persive the affects of climate change?

Answer 20

adverse or beneficial.

adverse- preventing development and success; harmful or unfavourable.

Question 21

what is a feed back mechanism?

Answer 21

a feedback mechanism refers to a process in which the output or result of a system or process is fed back into the system as input, potentially leading to changes in the system’s behaviour.

Question 22

what are the two types of feed back mechanism?

Answer 22

Feedback mechanisms can be positive or negative, and can either amplify or dampen the effects of a system’s behavior.

Question 23

what is a positive feed back mechanism and what is its affect on global warming?

Answer 23

Positive feedback mechanisms amplify or reinforce a system’s behavior, leading to an exponential increase in the output.

Examples of positive feedback mechanisms in environmental systems include the melting of polar ice caps, which leads to less ice reflecting sunlight and more absorption of heat by the ocean, causing further ice melting.

Question 24

what is a negative feed back mechanism and what is its affect on global warming?

Answer 24

Negative feedback mechanisms, on the other hand, dampen or reduce the effects of a system’s behavior, helping to stabilize the system.

Examples of negative feedback mechanisms in environmental systems include the release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, which leads to increased plant growth and photosynthesis, which in turn absorbs some of the carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

Question 25

in feed back mechanisms what is the lag time?

Answer 25

In feedback mechanisms, the “tag time” refers to the time it takes for the system to respond to changes in the input or output.

A long tag time indicates that the system responds slowly to changes in the input or output.

Question 26

what does it mean when a system has a long lag time?

Answer 26

when a systems has a slow reaction to changes in external factors such as climate change or pollution. This can have negative consequences for the stability of the system, as slow response times can allow changes to accumulate and potentially lead to irreversible damage.

Question 27

what is the faster lag time, positive or nagative feed back?

Answer 27

postive has a fast lag time, negative slow.

Question 28

why is there often debate around the issue of climate change in general?

Answer 28

the complexity of the problem and the uncertainty of global climate models.

Question 29

what are other people arguing is the cause of climate change other than human actives discussed before?

Answer 29

Greenhouse gases can be produce by natural: volcanic activity; release of methane by animals and peat bogs; sunspot activity

Earth’s tilt and variation in orbit around the sun leads to seasonal and regional changes in temperatures

Ocean currents can lead to warming or cooling

Global dimming: the cooling effects of air pollution

Question 30

why is climate change such a complex problem?

Answer 30

the huge scale: atmosphere, the oceans and the land.
Not all feedback mechanisms are fully understood
Many impact and processes are long-term, hard to predict.

Question 31

why is there uncertainty behind the climate models?

Answer 31

it is clearly a very complex task, so models are built to estimate trends rather than events.

Yet unknown tipping points.

Difficulty in predicting human behaviour and associated GHG emissions.

Difficulty in predicting when major volcanic events will occur.

Question 32

what is a climate model?

Answer 32

Climate models are mathematical representations of the interactions between the atmosphere, oceans, land surface, ice – and the sun.

Question 33

what is unique about greenhouse gasses that make them contribute to an increase in global tempreture?

Answer 33

GHGs are those atmospheric gases that absorbed infrared radiation, causing global tempretures to be higher than they would otherwise.

Question 34

what is a tipping point?

Answer 34

A tipping point in the context of climate change refers to a critical threshold at which a small change in the Earth’s climate system can trigger a much larger, potentially irreversible change. Once a tipping point is crossed, it can be difficult or impossible to stop or reverse the resulting changes.

Question 35

what are some examples of tipping g points in climate change and what will be their effect?

Answer 35

Examples of tipping points in the Earth’s climate system include a global mean tempreture increase 1.5 decreases celcuius. This was decided at the pairs climate conference in 2015.

Once these tipping points are crossed, they can lead to a range of impacts, such as rising sea levels, more frequent and intense extreme weather events, and the disruption of ecosystems and food systems.