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Edexcel A Level Geography > Carbon > Flashcards

Carbon Flashcards

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1
Q

Define “biogeochemical” carbon cycle

A
  • Biological cycle: fast, sequestration between atmosphere, ocean, sediment etc.
  • Geological cycle: organic matter buried in sediments + takes millions of years to form fossil fuels, carbon from volcanic emission, erosion/formation of sediment on seafloor
  • Chemical: carbon is a non-metal element, can be part of human life, 4th most abundant in world
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2
Q

What are the three carbon stores?

A
  • Terrestrial: in the lithosphere (sedimentary rocks), biosphere (organisms +biomass broken down by micro-organisms into CO2, organic storage)
  • Atmosphere: rapid interchange with terrestrial
  • Ocean: hydrosphere, dissolve in deep ocean and at surface
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3
Q

How do annual fluxes of carbon vary in rate?

A
  • Stable when outputs/inputs are not beyond threshold, equilibrium
  • Small change = shift and amplify feedback loops
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4
Q

How does carbon form sedimentary carbonate rocks?

A
  • Limestone = calcium carbonate
  • Carbon extracted from ocean by phytoplankton/marine creatures through photosynthesis
  • Shells/skeletons cement w heat + pressure to form limestone on ocean floor
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5
Q

How is carbon biologically derived in shale and coal?

A
  • Remains of non-skeletal organic material decay in anaerobic conditions, forming hydrocarbon chains, crude oil stored in pores of shale
  • Coal formed from remains of trees and plants
  • Organic material from swamps become peat, converted to coal w heat/pressure
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6
Q

How are phytoplankton part of the biological pump?

A
  • They sequester CO2 during photosynthesis which becomes organic matter
  • Dead cells sink, carbon transported to deep ocean and decay releases CO2 there
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7
Q

What is the carbonate pump?

A
  • Sediment that sinks to the seabed gradually transforms into rock which remains there for geological epochs
    (Ocean stores more carbon)
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8
Q

What is the thermohaline circulation?

A
  • Cold water holds more gas
  • Warm tropic water moving towards poles evaporates, leaving cold/salty water
  • It’s dense/heavy so sinks to bottom of ocean
  • Carbon pump = sinks and pushes the deep water away (forms N Atlantic deep water)
  • Cold water recharged by Antarctic water (big carbon sink)
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9
Q

What do terrestrial primary producers do?

A
  • Land based absorption of carbon
  • Stores in leaves, roots, bark until needed
  • Converts carbon into carbs during photosynthesis
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10
Q

How is biological carbon stored as dead organic matter in soils?

A
  • Vegetation accumulates and compresses (partially degraded), trapping carbon
  • Held in anaerobic conditions as it’s locked in (waterlogged) peatlands
  • Drying up = aerobic conditions, soil biota decompose veg and respire carbon into atmosphere
  • Burning = release methane, traps more carbon in atmosphere
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11
Q

What is the concentration of atmospheric carbon like?

A
  • Natural carbon release after Ice Age
  • More phytoplankton growth increases CO2 sequestration
  • Permafrost melt = methane release, trap light waves, increase temp (+ve feedback)
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12
Q

How does natural GHG effect determine temperature and precipitation distribution?

A
  • GHGs increase temp, increasing precipitation and clouds

- Leads to albedo effect with increase in reflection, decreasing temp

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13
Q

What is Net Primary Productivity?

A
  • The rate of generation of biomass

- Linked to growth and how many nutrients are stored in the biosphere

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14
Q

How does terrestrial photosynthesis and storage of carbon vary between biomes?

A
  • Depends on latitude due to temp and precip
  • Tropical: large biomass, high decomposition + instant nutrient uptake = less carbon in litter+soil
  • Temperate: more organic matter in soil = higher capacity to store carbon (biota respire through decomposition)
  • Taiga: Slow decomposition + frozen upper soil so soil biota cannot respire much
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15
Q

How does ocean photosynthesis regulate carbon in the atmosphere?

A
  • Tropic water is stratified so surface water is nutrient poor due to evaporation
  • Polar regions have mixed surface/deep water so nutrients available all year
  • Light for photosynthesis decreases with depth (less sequestration)
  • Coastal estuaries = most production (shallow + carbon from erosion)
  • Open ocean also high due to size
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16
Q

How is soil health influenced by stored carbon?

A
  • Stores 30% of global carbon but local conditions determine sequestration and emission
  • Clay-rich soils hold more as it protects carbon from decomposition by biota
  • Soil erosion removes carbon from active surface layer
  • Depends on weathering and decomposition
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17
Q

How has fossil fuel combustion altered the balance of carbon pathways?

A
  • Anthropogenic climate change
  • Carbon transferred from fossil stores to atmosphere, accelerated carbon exchanges
  • Combined with natural changes (albedo effect, Milankovitch cycle etc)
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18
Q

What is energy consumption?

A
  • Total energy use
  • Industrialisation/urbanisation = power grids, increased population, increase household wealth
  • Consumption decreases due to env concerns + efficient appliances
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19
Q

What is an energy mix?

A
  • Proportion of each type of primary resource that the country utilises within a year
  • More than 80% is fossil fuels
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20
Q

What is energy transition?

A
  • Changes from pre-industrialised, industrialising, industrialised, post-industrial
  • Causes change in energy mix
  • Slow due to geopolitical tensions
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21
Q

What is domestic vs foreign energy?

A
  • Internally produced

- Imported, dependency

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22
Q

What is primary and secondary energy?

A
  • Primary = original source of energy (coal, oil, wind)

- Secondary is converted from primary energy into a form that energy can be consumed in (electricity)

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23
Q

What is renewable and non-renewable energy?

A
  • Renewable is when the source is not depleted when used (wind, water, sun)
  • Non-renewable is when the source is finite, the resource is not replenished at the rate of consumption (biomass, fossil fuels)
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24
Q

What is Dutch disease?

A
  1. One resource dominates econ, is exported and other countries buy it
  2. Lots of foreign currency comes in and the nation’s currency value increases
  3. Second resource wanting to export is harder (expensive for others to buy)
  4. Second industry dies out, reinforces cycle
25
Q

What is the physical availability of Mozambique’s energy resources?

A
  • Secure: 130bn m3 of gas, world’s 4th largest reserve

- Insecure: Only 4bn exploited so far, majority exported to S Africa

26
Q

What is the cost of Mozambique’s energy resources?

A
  • Secure: $350bn of potential resources, tax rules on resource sales leading to $1bn in 2013
  • Insecure: TNCs can’t wait 3yrs to sort out tax + concession agreements
27
Q

What is the technology needed for Mozambique’s energy resources?

A
  • Secure: countries such as India and China want to invest in oil, gas and infrastructure (possible $10bn over 3yrs)
  • Insecure: after infrastructure spending, only £13bn left of total worth of energy sources
28
Q

What is the public perception of Mozambique’s energy usage?

A
  • Secure: concerned abt gov exploitation of resources (helps in ST)
  • Insecure: may go against gov if corruption continues
29
Q

What is the effect of level of econ dev on Mozambique’s energy resources?

A
  • Secure: 7% GDP growth rate and increasingly educated young population
  • Insecure: civil war left 55% below poverty line w/ illiterate population not knowing land rights
30
Q

What are the environmental priorities in relation to Mozambique’s energy resources?

A
  • Young people feel gov isn’t doing enough to protect env

- ST opposition but LT can improve management

31
Q

What is the role of TNCs in energy pathway and supply?

A
  • Nearly half of oil + gas companies are state owned, not technically TNCs
  • Involved in a range of operations: extract, transport, refine and produce petrochemicals
  • Pathway = energy flows from area of high supply to high demand
32
Q

What is the role of OPEC in energy pathway and supply?

A
  • Manage prices to control global crises and prevent undercutting
  • 12 members and own 2/3 of global reserves
  • Control amt entering the market and accused of reducing production to increase prices
  • Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries
33
Q

What is the role of consumers in energy pathway and supply?

A
  • Encompasses all people but the most influential are: domestic users, transport, industry
  • Passive players for fixing energy prices
34
Q

What is the role of governments in energy pathway and supply?

A
  • Number of roles

- Guardians of national energy security and influence energy sourcing for geopolitical reasons

35
Q

What does the shift to renewable and recyclable energy involve?

A
  • IPCC wants to treble renewable output by 2050
  • Wind power lacks consistency and depends on location
  • Japan are uncertain about recyclable energy so decreased nuclear
  • Requires complex tech, issue of safety + waste (long decay life)
36
Q

What is decoupling?

A
  • The ability to maintain economic development whilst reducing env damage
  • Moving away from fossil fuels
  • Represented by environmental Kuznets Curve
37
Q

What are the economic costs/benefits of renewables (+recyclables)?

A
  • Low oil and gas prices make it expensive
  • Biggest problem is price of producing and selling
  • Orgs such as Nordpool allow sharing of excess energy through reciprocal agreements
38
Q

What are the social costs/benefits of renewables (+recyclables)?

A
  • Majority agree with the idea until farms are proposed to be built near them
  • NIMBYism
  • But personal wind turbines save $3000/yr on electricity bill
39
Q

What are the env costs/benefits of renewables (+recyclables)?

A
  • Need to drown rivers to form HEP reservoirs
  • Large areas of land covered by solar/wind farms
  • No pollution or extractions
40
Q

What are biofuels?

A
  • Uses biomass to replace petrol, renewable source
  • Converted into ethanol or biodiesel
  • Recognised as a way to reduce fossil fuels + CO2
  • Mainly includes wheat, maize, sugar cane, soy beans
41
Q

What implications do biofuels have for food supply?

A
  • First gen biofuels use food stock which replaces food sources
  • Worse for countries with high levels of poverty
  • Fertilised = eutrophication, fish die and contaminated water
42
Q

Why is there uncertainty over whether biofuels are carbon neutral?

A
  • The CO2 is produced when biomass is burnt is only what was sequestered whilst it was growing
  • But there’s deforestation of land to grow the crops
  • The amt absorbed by crops is less than previous vegetation e.g. Brazil/Amazon
  • Also deforestation for displaced agriculture
43
Q

How does nuclear energy work? (Radical tech)

A
  • Uranium filled fuel pellets are placed alongside water-filled cylinders
  • Uranium produces heat that makes steam, steam = energy to turn turbines to generate electricity
44
Q

How is nuclear energy waste used?

A
  • Waste is radioactive plutonium
  • Mixed with thorium for new pellets
  • Holds energy that is worth 800L of diesel
  • Sustainable and produces 4 time more energy than the initial pellet
45
Q

How does carbon capture and storage work?

A
  • Capture CO2 emitted by fossil fuels
  • Compress it into liquid
  • Transported to storage site
  • Deep underground rock (porous rock with a caprock) = Geo sequestration
  • Monitoring system for CO2 levels at site
46
Q

How do hydrogen fuel cells work?

A
  • Electrolysis of water produces H2 used in a fuel cell and O2 is a byproduct
  • But need electricity for it (renewables or GHGs?)
  • Hard to store safely but is cheap, no environmental danger and has many uses
  • For electric cars, limited range
47
Q

How does CC affect the oceans

A
  • Ocean acidification: ecosystem damage, biodiversity loss
  • Coral bleaching: coral polyp needs energy, symbiotic rship with algae (sunlight energy), algae migrates when temp increases and polyps die
  • Coral for tourism, food supply, protection
  • SLR: thermal expansion, glacial melt, coastal flooding
  • Storm surges: LP systems
48
Q

What is needed for countries to be successful in decoupling?

A
  • High GDP, developed economy, post industrial
  • Private and public investment, good governance
  • Research and technology for infrastructure
  • Good location
  • Reduce consumption (education, change habits, efficiency)
  • Tax, incentives, subsidies
49
Q

What is water management and its costs? (Adaptation)

A
  • Reduce, reuse, recycle, high tech conservation
  • Needs good gov and attitudes e.g. Singapore
  • Costs: need stable government for policies, hard with population growth + demand, no over-abstraction solution in Lower Mekong with transboundary conflicts
50
Q

What is resilient agricultural systems and its costs? (Adaptation)

A
  • High tech drought tolerant species or low tech better practices e.g. crop rotation
  • Includes food systems e.g. lab meat, plant alternatives
  • Costs: high energy cost for indoor farming, expensive tech unavailable to poor subsistence farmers, food insecurity = quick fixes that don’t consider LT sustainability
  • Easy to implement in developing countries
51
Q

What is land-use planning and its costs? (Adaptation)

A
  • Zone areas of risk so there are no people or property, resilient infrastructure design in other areas
  • Need restrictions and laws for vulnerable areas
  • Costs: infeasible in coastal megacities, requires strong enforcement and compensation, public antipathy
52
Q

What is flood-risk management and its costs? (Adaptation)

A
  • Hard engineering for localised flooding, soft engineering e.g. afforestation, high tech solutions e.g. permeable tarmac
  • Flood resistant housing, relocations, monitor reservoirs
  • Costs: landowners demanding compensation, reduced property values in rezoned areas, techno-fix culture interferes with nature, constant maintenance needed
53
Q

What is solar radiation management and its costs? (Adaptation)

A
  • Increase reflection before radiation reaches surface (seawater into atmosphere for condensation and cloud coverage, albedo effect)
  • Costs: not tested, don’t understand possible positive feedback, unpredictable weather changes
  • More mitigation than adaptation
54
Q

Strengths of global climate agreements (mitigation)

A
  • Montreal Protocol led to eliminating 99% of ozone-depleting substances
  • Progress can occur through smaller groups and by sector: 600 local US governments have detailed climate action plans, investors put money into climate-friendly funds
55
Q

Weaknesses of global climate agreements (mitigation)

A
  • Kyoto Protocol and Paris Agreement: agree to reduce GHGs but CO2 in atmosphere is rising
  • No enforcement mechanisms to ensure countries meet their own Paris targets + pledges aren’t ambitious or quick enough
  • Disagreement on how to set priorities, developed/developing countries blame each other
56
Q

Threats and opportunities of global climate agreements (mitigation)

A
  • Ineffective agreements will have consequences including SLR, floods + species loss
  • Above 1.5°C will lead to coral bleaching, ocean acidification, Arctic ice thaw
  • Opportunities: COP and UNFCC led to Kyoto and Paris, climate club that penalises countries or treaties that apply to specific emissions or sectors
57
Q

What is ocean acidification?

A
  • 40% of CO2 produced by humans dissolves in the ocean, pH increases
  • CO2 reacts with water and a chain of reactions leads to release of hydrogen ions which increases acidity
58
Q

Why is ocean acidification a problem?

A
  • Current acidification is similar to a greenhouse event
  • Leads to extinction at vital levels of ecosystem production and threatens biodiversity (fish immunity and destroys coral)
  • Skeletons formed with dissolved calcium carbonate but carbonate ions and hydrogen forms bicarbonate
  • Less calcium carbonate to grow and repair
59
Q

Complications of climate models/future projections

A
  • Spatial variation
  • Change over time
  • Positive feedback
  • Unknown research and development
  • Severity, knock on effects
  • Govmt policies

Edexcel A Level Geography (15 decks)

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