Bio 346 - Freshwater Eco. (Chpt 16) --> Climate Change and Future of Freshwater Flashcards
Greenhouse effect
Natural process that warms the earths surface. When the suns energy reaches the earths atmosphere some of reflects back to space and the rest is absorbed and re-radiated by GHG’s
What does the greenhouse (GHG) effect allow?
Allows some places to be cooler while other places are warmer with the orbit, energy put out by the sun and the tilt
How can we tell the climate is changing? (4 things)
- Fossils
- Rock chemistry
- Composition of gas bubbles in ancient polar ice
- Balance of O2 isotopes
What is the average increase of world temp?
0.76C
What is the average global temp caused by?
GHG
What are 6 examples of GHG?
- CO2
- Methane
- Water vapour
- Nitrous oxide (N2O)
- CFC
- Ozone
What are GHGs caused by? (4 things)
- Increase in burning carbon stores
- Fossil fuels
- Forest clearance
- Oxidation of wetland soils
What do GHGs change? (4 things)
- Temp
- Wind activity
- Precipitation
- Moisture
- Caused floods and droughts in certain places
Whats 1 consequence of GHGs?
Melting ice caps that raise the sea level
What happens to snow cover as, temp and sea levels increase?
It decreases
What happens to stratification and drought if runoff, streamflow, floods and temp all increase?
They decrease
What do the changes in atmosphere create?
More extreme weather patterns
Eg) Hurricanes, storms and drought
What does the letting of permafrost mean?
Longer growth season for wetland plants
What has warming extended?
Stratification (making it more stable)
Abrupt permanent
Remains constant (permanent) - See notes for graph
Gradual permanent
Has a gradual decrease
- See notes for graph
Abrupt temporary
- Not stable
- Changes in short term periods
- See notes for graph
What are 4 approaches to predict future effects on freshwater?
- Direct experimentation
- Space-for-time studies
- Used in bigger systems - Paleo-ecological reconstruction
- Dynamic modelling
What are 3 benefits for the predicting future effects?
- Easy to do
- Inexpensive
- High replication using microbial communities
What happens to the male taking care of their young as temp increases?
Spends less time taking care of their young
- As a result the survivorship decreases
What is a problem with predictions of the future?
It might not happen fast enough and won’t see a major effect in the strutting of the ecosystem
Why are temperate latitudes changing drastically?
Glaciation
Positive feedback
The amplification of an effect by its own influence on the process that gives rise to it
Increase in CO2 [ ] in the air lead to what?
Increase in dissociation in the ocean
- Decrease in pH and less CO2 can be absorbed
What does GDP stand for?
Gross domestic product
GDP
Is the sum of consumer expenditure, social and welfare costs and the costs of repair on enviro damage
- More the needs to be done the greater the GDP
What is a major regulator of the earths carbon balance?
Ecosystems
Loss of ecosystems =
Decrease in carbon stores
Increase in ecosystems =
Risk of global warming
What does GPI stand for?
Genuine progress index
How is the ecological footprint measured?
As the equivalent area of land needed to support the food, material and energy consumption per person in a given country
Why is waste production easier to get rid of?
Waste has a commercial value as a raw material and recycling schemes have been readily adopted
