8. Global climate is in crisis because of recent human activity Flashcards
what does IPCC say about climate change
- humans have warmed climate unprecedented in last 2000 years
- CO2 highest in 2 M years
- sea level rising fastest
- artic sea ice lowest level
- glaciers retreat unprecedented
what environmetal changes have been seen due to climate change
- more frequent and intense heat
- heavier rainfall and more frequent
- increasing drought
- more fire weather
- ocean warming, acidifying and loosing O2
unless immediatee large scales reductions of greenhouse gas emissions will be made, limiting warming to what degree is out of reach
1.5
evidence for climate crisis
desertification
wildfire
permafrost melting
coreal bleaching
rising sea levels
hottest year
2023
regional warming highest in what areas and in what months
northern pole area
dec-feb
CO2 hasn’t been this high since
homo sapiens evolved
upshot of CO2 was bout
3 million yeaers ago when australopithecus was dominant hominid
what species lived through all this
horseshoe crab
what is major driver of CO2 emissions
fossil fuel usage
which country has highest CO2 emissions
china
what type of glaciers are disappearing
high elevation seen in NA
glacier thickness has gone
thinner
moost heat is captured by
oceans
what has oceans capturing heat causeed
anoxic dead zones due to phytoplankton blooms
less O2 production
extreme weather events
what makes most O2 in atmosphere
phytoplankton
higher spring and summer temperature mean…
snow melting faster
wildfire risk increase
dry areas becoming drier
more severe fires
sea levels and climate change
- storm surges
- coastal erosion
- groundwater inundation
- small islands at risk
what is sea rise consensus
1m sea rise
oceans acidification , lowering pH
- oceans abosrb CO2, more acid
- corals and marine animals can’t produce calcium carbonate skeletons
- shell formation issues
- coral bleaching leads to this too, expulsion or algae from polyps
natural disasters
more
extreme weathers
flood
drought
prooblem with natural disaster
costly damages
which province thinks least that climate change is happening, and which party
alberta, conservative
drivers of climate change
GHGs
carbon based greenhouse gas
CO2
methane
nitrous oxide
most emisions are thru what in daily life
electricity
primary contributors of increased CO2 in atmosphere
fossil fuel, industry and land use change
what are sinks for climate change
ocean
atmosphere
land
emission by country
1.7% is from canada, but 3rd highest per capita
wealthiest countries are major contributors
who does most emission
top 25 countries is 91.8%
change in individual decisions
- renewabl energy
- flying less
- less diet in animals protein
- less cars
war room
has not tried to disprove global heating, but they promote AB oil and gas
oil sands in alberta
release more carbon than rest of canada combined
just greenhouse gas
not even including fossil fuel burning
impacts of climate change
- water availabiloty less
- food production
- health effect
- infrastructure problems
- biodiversity issues
things attributed to changes due to humans
- ocean acidification
- hot temperatures
- global water rise
- glacier retreat
what if we increase about 1.5 or 2.5 degrees
temperature increase
soil moisture change
more rain but doesn’t mean distrubution will be equal
health risk
food supply will yield less fish and maize, less nutrition
inland migration
how will alberta experience climate change
heat and drought
more days with 30+
more days or rain
more extreme rain does not mean more soil moisture, patchy rains
human violence with hotter and drier weather
hotter= more violent crime
more drought = more inter-group riots
increased risk of conflict
denying climate change is…
political
republicans usually
conservatives usually
