Anthropocene finally (my ass is tired from making these decks guys) Flashcards

1
Q

How do geologists divide their geological timelines?

A

according to global-scale changes to the state of the planet

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2
Q

What kind of global-scale changes have marked geological epochs?

A

Wholesale changes in the atmosphere or oceans
continental drift
shifts in the planetary climate regime
meteor or asteroid bombardement
sustained volcanic eruptions

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3
Q

Geological timelines can mark changes when either or both ____ and ____ are detectable

A

Causes and consequences

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4
Q

Why do we justify the existence of the Anthropocene?

A

Because human activity is global and its impacts should be observable in the geological record for millions of years to come?

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5
Q

What is a meromitic lake?

A

Water layers do no intermix fully

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6
Q

What Canadian lakes are meromitic?

A

Lake Crawford and pink lake

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7
Q

Why are meromitic lakes advantageous for geologists?

A

Because they can steadily accumulate sediments (or biological matters if the lake is anoxic) at the bottom layers,

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8
Q

Which Canadian lake was nominated for a golden spike (GSSP marker) for the proposed Anthropocene?

A

Lake Crawford

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9
Q

Geologists require ___ and ___ evidence to assign a start to a new epoch

A

tangible, datable

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10
Q

What kind of tangible evidence for geological changes is there?

A

-Absence or presence of fossils
-Chemical elements in suitable sediments, deep ice

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11
Q

Doubt can be used to justify ____ or ____

A

Action or inaction

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12
Q

When was the inventor if the steam engine, Thomas Newcomen, born?

A

1663

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13
Q

What did Newcomen’s steam engine burn? What did it produce?

A

prodigious quantities of coal or wood– made lots of CO2

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14
Q

Leibniz’s charts included which elements?

A

Fire, air, water, earth

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15
Q

Ignorance of co2 emissions allowed what?

A

increase in consumption

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16
Q

Which chemist first isolated a “gas Sylvestre”? (Co2) when?

A

Jan van Helmont in 1630

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17
Q

Which chemist isolated co2 in pure form in 1754-1756 (he called it fixed air)

A

Joseph Black

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18
Q

Which chemists determined that air is a combination of carbon and oxygen? (1775-1787)

A

French chemists Antoine Guyton de Moreau and Antoine Lavoisier

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19
Q

Which chemist correctly guessed co2’s precise composition? (1803)

A

British chemist John Dalton

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20
Q

Which Chemist published his findings that CO2 in the air fosters the trapping of the sun’s heat? (1861)

A

British Chemist John Tyndall

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21
Q

What factors contaminated early readings of co2 until mid 20th century?

A

Measurements done in cities at ground level, contaminated by pollution and vegetation releasing co2 nearby

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22
Q

From what areas did co2 measures become more consistent?

A

Antarctic ice cores and Mauna Loa in Hawaii

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23
Q

Which scientists calculated that changes in CO2 concentration might bring about an ice age or global warning, and estimated that doubling atmospheric co2 might take 3,000 years (1894-1896)

A

Arvid Högboen and Svante Arrhenius

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24
Q

For the first half of the 20th century, what contributed to the belief that climate change was overestimated?

A

Heat trapping in the atmosphere could reach a maximum and excess head would be absorbed by the oceans

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25
Q

Which scientist published several papers linking the burning of fossil fuels to co2 emissions and global warming? (1938-1949)

A

Guy Stewart Callendar

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26
Q

Which scientist used a digital computer to show that heat absorption by CO2 does not saturate as much at higher altitudes? (1952)

A

Lewis D. Kaplin

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27
Q

Which scientists proved that oceans absorb 10 times less co2 than expected (only about 25-30% of human emissions)? (1957)

A

Hans Suess and Roger Revelle

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28
Q

Which Scientist announced in 1960 that his sampling of atmospheric co2 in Antarctica revealed a continual increase since 1957, then continued from Hawaii?

A

Charles David Keeling

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29
Q

How do the Antarctica and Hawaii CO2 readings compare?

A

Almost exactly align

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30
Q

When do we see an huge upward spike in co2 emissions?

A

ABout 1970

31
Q

What three parts govern basic climate change?

A

1) Increase in human production of greenhouse gases
2) increased atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases
3) increasing world temperatures

32
Q

What parts must all be true to say climate change is not happening?

A

1) Human Greenhouse gases must be entirely absorbed
2) Another natural source of greenhouse gases must explain their rise
3) There must be another heat source to explain rising temperatures
4) Something else must counter the heating effect of greenhouse gases

33
Q

By the 1980s, what ecological crises demanded attention

A

Acid rain
Hole in the ozone layer

34
Q

By 1988, what two agencies of the UN established the IPCC?

A

World Meteorological Organization, UN Environmental Programme

35
Q

What does the IPCC stand for?

A

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

36
Q

What three working groups form the IPCC

A

Physical climate science
Adaptation (impacts, vulnerability)
Mitigation (policy, ethics, risk assessment)

37
Q

Does the IPCC carry out original research?

A

No

38
Q

What does the IPCC do?

A

Conducts assessments bout the state of climate change research

39
Q

Why do IPCC reports start to take over one year to complete?

A

reflects the growing complexity of the research

40
Q

IPCC reports flag which two kinds of uncertainties?

A

-Expert’s qualified judgement
-Intrinsic margin of error of data or a model

41
Q

What causes “climate forcing?”

A

Greenhouse gases, aerosols, sunlight intensity, (but not water vapour)

42
Q

What are the most important greenhouse gases for warming?

A

1) CO2
2) Methane
3) Ozone
4) CFCs/halocarbons
5) Nitrous xide

43
Q

Can some aerosols cool the environment by reflecting sunlight?

A

yet

44
Q

WHat share of global emissions come from CO2?

A

Almost 3/4

45
Q

WHat share of global emissions come from fossil fuel use?

A

56.6%

46
Q

Aside from fossil fuel use, where does the rest of CO2 use come from?

A

deforestation, decay of biomass, etc

47
Q

How does climate change affect seafood harvests?

A

Mean acidity and higher temperatures cause coral reef death which destroys habitats

48
Q

How does global warming affect the spread of tropical diseases?

A

Warmer climates spread more disease.

49
Q

How does global warming affect war?

A

Higher temperatures meaning decreased rainfall

50
Q

What are the human consequences of climate change?

A

hunger, epidemics, water and food conflicts, migrations, famine

51
Q

Which events have most dramatically affected the earth’s climate in the short term since 1850?

A

Volcanic eruptions such as Tambora, Krakatoa, and pinatubo

52
Q

True or false: The high error bar for cloud effected cooling indicates high uncertainty for its effect

A

true

53
Q

CO2 emissions take place mostly in which part of the world?

A

Temperate zone of the northern hemisphere

54
Q

Which climate consequences have we already reached given our current climate heat above pre-industrial levels?

A

amphibian extinctions increasing on mountains, increased coral reef bleaching

55
Q

How much heating have we passed pre-industrial levels by 2000?

A

About 0.9 degrees celsius

56
Q

Which country has majorly increased its per=capita emissions

A

China

57
Q

Has canada followed the Kyoto target?

A

No

58
Q

Which climate target did the covid pandemic briefly align Canada with?

A

2015 commitments at the Paris conference of 30% reduction from 2005 levels by 2030

59
Q

When did Canada’s emissions stabilize?

A

about 2000s

60
Q

Why does Canada have a hard time committing to climate change action to lower emissions?

A

Population growth
Federal-provincial divides in interest
Resource-based economy

61
Q

When did American emissions start to decline?

A

After 2008

62
Q

Which provinces have the most emissions per capita?

A

Saskatchewan and Alberta

63
Q

Which province has the least emissions per capita?

A

Quebec

64
Q

Which energy have the most lifetime co2 emissions?sources

A

Thermal from natural gas, coal, and oil

65
Q

Which energy sources have the least lifetime co2 emissions?

A

Hydro, wind, solar, nuclear, biomass

66
Q

Of all energy sources, which has the lowest co2 footprint?

A

Hydro

67
Q

According to the IPCC, is the level of scientific understanding of the effect of clouds on Global Warming greater r smaller than for GHG’s

A

Smaller

68
Q

What did Canada commit to at Kyoto?

A

6% reduction from 1990 levels by 2012

69
Q

Did Canada meet its Kyoto targets?

A

Nope

70
Q

Canada’s per capita emissions are above or below global average?

A

Above

71
Q

Worldwide, the use of coal increased more rapidly in the 19th or 20th centuries?

A

19th

72
Q

True or False: With reference to the period from 1951 to 1980, global air temperatures have increased by about one degree Celsius.

A

True

73
Q

According to data from 2003-2005, wind, solar, and nuclear energy are very nearly equivalent in terms of CO2-equivalent emissions per unit energy production over their entire life-cycle?

A

False: Solar has substantially higher emissions

74
Q

What fossil fuels have been added to coal in the 20th c?

A

Natural gas, oil