Carbon Cycle Flashcards
PER CAPITA ENERGY CONSUMPTION
POINT 1 - ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
- Due to the expensive costs involved with energy it means that high economic development is necessary.
- Economic development is also linked to standard of living as seen with the growth of the global middle-class and ‘BRICS’ nations. This can be seen with Russia’s kgoe/a of 5904 placing them 13th and China ranked 15th.
- Essentially, energy is necessary for industrialisation which empowers economic development.
PER CAPITA ENERGY CONSUMPTION
POINT 2 - CLIMATE
- In countries that suffer from an extreme environment such as North America, the Middle East and Australia high amounts of consumption is seen in order to cope with the extremes of warm and cool temperatures.
- Middle East countries making up 4 of the top 6 in 2013, USA 10th and Australia 11th
- However, this idea links into economic development and the ability of a country to afford energy.
PER CAPITA ENERGY CONSUMPTION
POINT 3 - ENVIRONMENTAL PRIORITIES
- Certain governments are largely committed to managing the environmental implications of energy production and consumption. As seen with Iceland where almost 95% of energy is produced from renewable sources. Certain governments even provide incentives for green energy alternatives such as the “feed-in tariff” in the UK which essentially is a cashback scheme, paying individuals for generating their own green energy.
- Contrastingly, due to the costs involved in renewable energy for some governments this isn’t an option and they will take the cheapest route to manage their resource costs, regardless of the environmental impacts involved.
UNCONVENTIONAL FOSSIL FUEL SOURCES
POINT 1 - TAR SANDS
- Tar Sands is a mixture of clay, sand, water and oil. Extracted by mining and then injected with steam to make the tar less viscous so it can be pumped out.
- This method is used in Canada. Currently, tar sands produces 40% of Canada’s oil output
- Whilst this has social benefits with 102,500 jobs created as well as providing energy security for North America with no imports needed
- However, Tar Sands produces 3.7 million tonnes of greenhouse gases a year, 2.3 million tonnes of which are carbon dioxide alone.
- Furthermore, 775,000 hectares of land in the Alberta tar sands region have been deforested which has social implications as it ruins what was once a beautiful environment but also has means the vegetation can no longer photosynthesise and consequently meaning more carbon is in the atmosphere.
UNCONVENTIONAL FOSSIL FUEL SOURCES
POINT 2 - SHALE GAS
- Natural gas that is trapped in fine-grained sedimentary rocks
- Produced by fracking which involves pumped in water and chemicals forcing out gas.
- Environmental impacts of fracking include possible contamination of groundwater by the chemicals in the pumping fluid and surface subsidence. Fracking is known to produce airborne pollutants such as methane, benzene and sulfur dioxide. However, it’s believed this methods remains more environmentally friendly than using natural gas
- USA, produces 23% of energy using this method.
UNCONVENTIONAL FOSSIL FUEL SOURCES
POINT 3 - DEEPWATER OIL
- Oil and gas that is found well offshore and at considerable oceanic depths
- Produced by drilling from ocean rigs, already under way in the Gulf of Mexico and Brazil
- In Brazil, Petrobras aims to raise production to 500,000 barrels of oil a day.
- This has environmental impacts as the oil is found 2,000m below the seabed surface and production releases explosive, flammable gases.
- Despite being 200 km offshore the entire body of water is now considered too dirty to swim in.
Suggest why energy pathways may be prone to disruption [6 marks]
POINT 1 - NATURAL DISASTER
- Natural disasters have implications for the infrastructure of a pathway
- Due to most oil coming from the Middle East and Eastern Asia area the pathways are prone to such disruption as the area is the meeting point of the African, Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates
- Hurricane Katrina 2005 affected oil production and refining in the Gulf of Mexico which lead to price rises for
Suggest why energy pathways may be prone to disruption [6 marks]
POINT 2 - GEOPOLITICAL CONNECTIONS
- Pathways usually flow through many different countries.
- If neighbouring countries where the pipeline flows are clashing geopolitically disrupting the pathway is a common strategy used, having effects of countries further along the pipeline.
- e.g. Trans-Siberian pipeline with Ukraine and Russia
Explain how climate change will affect the carbon cycle?
POINT 1 - PHOTOSYNTHESIS
Photosynthesis or the process by which green plants and organisms use sunlight to synthesise nutrients from CO2 and water. Whether in terrestrial or oceanic stores this process is able to maintain a constant level of CO2 in the system and therefore regulate the Earth’s mean temperature. The scale of photosynthesis varies spatially, particularly due to net primary productivity that is the amount of organic matter that is available for human consumption or harvest. In warmer, wetter areas of the world, the NPP is higher and therefore plants will photosynthesise more to help maintain the balance of carbon in the given area. Vise versa for tundra or boreal forests where the levels of NPP are minimal in comparison.
Explain how climate change will affect the carbon cycle?
POINT 2 - SOIL HEALTH
Secondly, through their soil forests regulate carbon. Soil health is an important aspect of ecosystems and a key element of normal functioning of the carbon cycle. Soil health depends on the amount of organic carbon stored in the soil. The storage amount is determined by the balance between the soil’s inputs (plant and animal remains, nutrients) and its outputs (decomposition and erosion), given when the soil has better health, there is likely to be greater capacity to store carbon and hence greater regulation.
Soil can be eroded by flooding which is caused by irregular weather patterns due to climate change
air temperature rising affects soil health also with the new climate affecting vegetative covers which protect soil and soil therefore eroding more commonly
Evaluate the costs and benefits of using radical technologies to help solve future energy demands [12]
POINT 1 - CARBON CAPTURE AND STORAGE
Carbon capture and storage involves the ‘capturing’ of CO2 released by the burning of fossil fuels, and burying it deep underground. This process has been implemented into the UK in Ferrybridge however is expensive due to the technology involved. In terms of effectiveness, there is a marked uncertainty around where the stored carbon will end up and whether it will simply leak above the surface and into the atmosphere, meaning the process has not been prevented at all and simply delayed. However, Carbon capture is being developed constantly, especially new found tech that is able to ‘scrub’ some of the C02 out of exhausts produced when burning fossil fuels. All in all, whilst the tech is able to capture the carbon effectively, we can see that it is floored in the long run given the lack of understanding on the effectiveness of the long term storage.
Evaluate the costs and benefits of using radical technologies to help solve future energy demands [12]
POINT 2 - HYDROGEN FUEL CELLS
Furthermore, hydrogen fuel cells can be utilised to help solve future energy demands. This involves the combination of hydrogen and oxygen to produce electricity, heat and water. They will produce electricity as long as hydrogen is supplied, furthermore they never lose their charge. Meaning, plentiful energy resources can be created with minimal long run environmental impacts. THese sources of power have been used to power various vehicles and also as a source of electricity for buildings. However, it must be considered that there are still a variety of limitations to this cleaner energy source. First and foremost it is challenging to find a cheap and easy source of hydrogen, which is the main element to keeping this power effective, given that whilst it is a relatively simple and abundant chemical element, it doesn’t occur as a natural gas, meaning that it is always chemically bonded with other elements and hence must be purified before being utilised for helping future energy demands.
What are the IPCC projections for future CO2 levels?
Carbon dioxide levels in 2017 were 400 ppm, an increase from 315 ppm in the late 1950s. IPCC projections for 2100 range from 500 ppm to 900 ppm showing there is a large amount of uncertainty
Explain why there is uncertainty in the projections of the future atmospheric co2 concentrations [8 marks]
POINT 1 - HUMAN
The first reason for uncertainty is because greenhouse gas emissions of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrogen oxides are caused by human activities such as farming, industry, electricity generation (fossil fuels) and transport. These emissions result from resource consumption. This is related to both total population and the average level of affluence. UN population projections for 2100 range from 8 to 12 billion. Not only is the future number of people not known, but their wealth and ecological footprint can’t be known either.
Explain why there is uncertainty in the projections of the future atmospheric co2 concentrations [8 marks]
POINT 2 - MITIGATION
Secondly, efforts to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions could reduce the growth rate of emissions. The 2015 COP21 meeting is Paris agreed some emissions targets but these may not be met. On the other hand future agreements could reduce emissions further. A business as usual emissions scenario would probably mean carbon dioxide levels of 800 - 900 ppm by 2100, i.e. people consume resources, especially fossil fuels, in much the same way in the future as they do today.
Explain why there is uncertainty in the projections of the future atmospheric co2 concentrations [8 marks]
POINT 3 - PHYSICAL SYSTEMS
Thirdly, the response of physical systems such as the carbon cycle to global warming is uncertain. Global warming could increase the melting of Arctic permafrost which would lead to biological decay of frozen organic material releasing carbon dioxide. In addition, it would release trapped methane - a powerful greenhouse gas. On the other hand, warmer temperatures could lead to increased forest growth which would sequester carbon from the atmosphere. The ocean is the Earth’s largest carbon store that has a relatively rapid rate of flux. The oceans could sequester more carbon from the atmosphere in the future but this is uncertain.
Explain one reason why the Arctic is called a barometer for climate change. [3 marks]
For ocean acidification the arctic ocean is likely to be first affected because of its low pH, threatening its vulnerable ‘cold’ corals. Furthemore, in the past few decades average Arctic temperatures have risen twice as fast as global averages. As a net sink, Arctic stores far more carbon than any other region and thus the impacts of climate change are amplified.
What is an anthropogenic interference?
Anthropogenic interferences are interferences created by humans and their actions on the planet.
Evaluate the impact of Anthropogenic interferences on the carbon cycle [12]
POINT 1 - LAND USE
Land usage changes can change the amount of carbon released and sequestered in the cycle. With land being increasingly used for the farming of livestock to keep up with population growth, more methane is released being one of the main contributions to the increase in the amounts of greenhouse gasses within the atmosphere. Furthermore, land used for agriculture needs to be cleared of trees and vegetation, this means they have to be destroyed, uct down and used for something different. The deforestation of large areas destroys large carbon sinks as trees and plants photosynthesis to grow, sequestering the carbon to perform life processes. When destroyed, carbon is released as the wood from the trees is either left to decompose, or is burnt for fuel. When the trees are left to decompose, the decomposers respire, putting more carbon into the atmosphere, thus increasing greenhouse gases and potentially speeding up global warming due to the atmospheric greenhouse effect used to warm the earth.
Evaluate the impact of Anthropogenic interferences on the carbon cycle [12]
POINT 2 - FOSSIL FUELS
Humans also influence the carbon cycle through the burning of fossil fuels to create energy. With the further increasing population of the planet, along with the increase in technology requiring energy, due to globalisation, fossil fuels are burnt regularly in large quantities, producing over 21 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide per year.
