Carbon Cycle and Climate Change Projections + Modelling Flashcards
What is the Carbon Cycle?
Flow of carbon through the atmosphere, hydrosphere, terrestrial and marine biosphere, and lithosphere (NOT CRYOSPHERE)
Define the difference between a carbon sink and source?
A sink is any process that removes a GHG from the atmosphere and a source is any process that releases GHG into the atmosphere
What is a Reservoir of Carbon and what is another word for it?
A component of the climate system which has the capacity to store, accumulate, or release a substance
Other term: Pool
The stock is?
The absolute quantity of the substance held within a reservoir at a specified time
What are reservoirs measured in?
Petagrams (PgC)
1 PgC = quadrillion gC (10 to power of 15)
Since pre-industrial to anthropogenic times (now), what are some reservoirs that are showing changes in their stock levels?
Atmosphere: increase carbon stocks
(caused by fossil fuels, net land use change, ocean-atmosphere gas exchange, respiration and fire)
Intermediate and deep sea (LARGEST RESERVOIR): increase carbon stocks
Fossil fuel reserves: decrease carbon stocks
Vegetation: decrease carbon stocks
Finish this statistic: The Co2 emitted from human activities during the decade of 2010-2019 was distributed between three Earth system (reservoir):
46% accumulated in atmosphere
23% taken up by the ocean
31% stored by vegetation in terrestrial ecosystems
What are four major sources of global anthropogenic Co2 emissions? (Largest to smallest)
When and where was this statistic released?
Land use change
Gas
Oil
Coal
In 2021 in AR6
In 2022, the annual average atmospheric CO2 was:
In 1959, the annual average atmospheric CO2 was:
In 1750, the annual average atmospheric CO2 was:
418.57 ppm
315.98 ppm
280.00 ppm
GHGs Co2, Methane, and Nitrous Oxide increased from levels in 1750-2019 by:
47%, 156% and 23% respectively
What is a Carbon Cycle feedback?
Changes in the properties of the land and ocean carbon cycle in response to climate change, such as to temperature and circulation or photosynthesis and soil microbial respiration
What are shared socio-economic pathways?
Illustrative scenarios covering range of possible future development of anthropogenic drivers of climate change
SSPs start in __ and include
2015
Scenarios with high and very high GHG emissions, double from current levels (SSP5-8.5 2050 & SSP3-7.0 2100)
Scenarios with intermediate GHG emissions, remaining around current levels (SSP2-4.5)
Scenarios with very low and low GHG emissions, declining to net zero around or after 2050 (SSP1-2.6 around 2050 and SSP1-1.9 after 2050)
What is a climate model?
Qualitative or quantitative representation of the climate system - properties of its components, interactions and feedback processes
Projects are computed with the…
Aid of a model, conditional on assumptions concerning future developments that may or may not be realised
TEMPERATURE:
Global surface temperatures will increase until ___ under all emission scenarios
Mid-century
Relative to a 1850-1900 baseline, what are the projected increases in global surface temperature for each scenario at 2100?
SSP1-1.9 = 1.5C
SSP1-2.6 = 2C
SSP2-4.5 = 2.5C
SSP3-7.0 = 4C
SSP5-8.5 = 5C
Land/ocean warm more than land/ocean and the arctic and antarctica/tropics warm more than the arctic and antarctica/tropics
Land
Ocean
Arctic and Antarctica
Tropics
Precipitation is likely to decrease/increase over… but increase/decrease over…
Increase
- High latitudes
- Equatorial pacific
- Monsoon regions
Decrease
- Subtropics
Under scenarios with increasing Co2 emissions, the ocean and land carbon sinks are…
projected to be less effective at slowing accumulation of Co2 in the atmosphere
SSP1-1.9 70% taken up
SSP1-2.6 65% taken up
SSP2-4.5 54% taken up
SSP3-7.0 44% taken up
SSP5-8.5 38% taken up
What changes are irreversible for centuries to millennia ?
Loss of ice sheets, and glaciers
Global sea level
