Carbon - EQ3 - Flashcards
How are the carbon & water cycles threatened by human activity
- water pollution
- increased drought
- ocean acidification
- conversion of grassland to farming
Growing demand for food, fuel & other resources have led to…
- contrasting regional trends from land conversion
What is land conversion
- any change from natural ecosystems to an alternative use, it usallu reduces carbon & water stores & soil health
There is a growing demand for food, fuel and other resources globally due to…
- increased population growth
- increased economic growth in NICs/NEEs/MICs (people start to favour meat over rice, etc.)
- improved living standards
Which areas of the world are more affected by changes to land use from resource extraction
- Deforestation and conversion of grasslands to farming is mainly occurring in NICs, LICs and MINT countries
- Afforestation in mainly HICs
What are the implications of land use change
- Changes in forest cover is leading to a decrease in rainfall;
- & the digging up of grasslands reduces the terrestial carbon store,
- having wider implications for the water cycle and soil health..
Give a statistic to say people in developed countries are eating more
By 2030, only 1 in 7 people are expected to be consuming less than 2,500 calories per day
What are the implications for the planet of changing diets
- Grains make up 45% of the world’s diet
- Meat production intensely uses land and water
In 2013 the IPCC estimated that ….% of greenhouse gas emissions came from agriculture and land-use change
24%
Between 1995 and 2005 the global forest area decreased by … million ha, while arable land area increased by .. million ha
- 80 million
- 24 million
Changes in demand leads to changes in land use such as (name 3)
- deforestation
- afforestation
- grassland conversion
What is 1/2 of all deforestation caused by
- soy
- palm oil
- beef
- paper production
Which 5 countries show the highest rates of deforestation globally
- Nigeria
- Indonesia
- North Korea
- Bolivia
- Papau New Guinea
Forests cover …% of the planet although only …% is natural (primary forest)
- 30
- 15
What role do trees play in the water ccyle
- interception, transpiration, rainfall generation & stemflow/ leap drip encourage inflitration & therefore groundwater recharge
What role do trees take in the carbon cycle
- terrestrial store (biomass & leaf litter)
- & CO^2 absoroption during photosynthesis
Define ocean acidification
- involves a decrease in the alkalinity/ ph of oceans, caused by the ocean’s uptake of carbon dioxide from the atmopshere , released by burning fossil fuels.
- The average ocean ph has fallen from 8.2 up until 1800 to 8.1 by 2015.
What are the impacts of deforestation on the water cycle
- Runoff and erosion increase
- Flood peaks are higher and lag time is shorter
- Annual rainfall is reduced
What are the impacts of deforestation on the soil health
- Rapid soil erosion leads to a loss of nutrients
- Raindrop impact washes finer particles away
- Biomass is lost due to reduced plant growth
What is the impact of deforestation on the atmosphere
- Oxygen content is reduced
- Reduced shade means more direct sunlight hitting the floor
- Reduced evapotranspiration which leads to dry air
What is the impact of deforestation on the biosphere
- Reduced carbon store
- Species diversity is reduced
- Ecosystem services are reduced which leads to a decrease in habitats
Why has deforestation occurred in Madagascar and why is it encouraged by the government
- A growing international demand for tropical hardwood, an expanding population and debt repayments
- meant that Madagascan government began to encourage farmers to clear more land to earn money
How are carbon fluxes and stores changed when tropical rainforests are disturbed by deforestation
- Deforestation has a major impact on the size of the terrestrial carbon store
- & also increases the amount of carbon being carried by fluxes such as photosynthesis and respiration
What is afforestation
- refers to planting trees on patches of land which were not previously covered in the forest
What are 2 pros of afforestation
- afforestation is beneficial when trees have been previously removed
- can be advantageous when tackling global warming
What are the cons of afforestation
- These new trees will never create exactly the same ecosystem as the original forest
- The original trees, thousands of years old, —> years for the new trees to catch up
- rare species, may not be replaced, meaning extinction & a reduction of biodiversity could be inevitable
Explain afforestation’s impact on Savanna or tropical grassy biomes
- Land which may appear degraded may actually house its own ecosystem, as tropical grassy biomes are often misunderstood and neglected
- These ecosystems can provide important ecological services & rare species, which could be outcompeted by the introduction of new trees
- Therefore, although carbon sequestration will increase, many ecosystems will be negatively affected or lost
How can the negative possibilities of deforestation & afforestation be limited
- deforestation should be kept to a minimum and afforestation only occurs on truly degraded land
- Without research into land before being afforested & global considerations, irreversible damage can occur unknowingly
What are the 2 types of grasslands
- temperate
- savannah/tropical
What took place concerning biofuel from 2007-15
- Between 2007 and 2015, a biofuel ‘rush’ swept across the American Midwest
- Farmers were encouraged to grow……………………………………………..as part of the US Environmental Protection Agency’s Renewable Fuel Standard policy
- corn, soya, canola (a cype of rapeseed) and sugar cane
What are the aims of the US Environmental Protection Agency’s Renewable Fuel Standard policy
- increase the amount of ethanol being used in petrol
- boost the economies of rural US states
- reduce US dependence on overseas oil imports
- reduce CO, emissions from transport
Give a stat suggesting the demand for biofuel has economic consequence
- By 2013 the price of corn had trebled
- Grasslands, traditionally used for cattle ranching, were ploughed up,
- & in some states the area of corn being cultivated doubled
Give a stat displaying how biofuel demand led to land exploitation in the Americna Midwest
Over 5.5 million hectares of natural grassland disappeared across the American Midwest, which matches the rate of rainforest deforestation across Brazil, Malaysia and Indonesia
What are the benefits of natural grasslands
- maintain natural habitats
- cultivated soils
- act as a carbon sink - absorbing CO,
What are the disadvantages of converting grasslands to grow biofuel crops
- The initial removal of grasslands releases CO
- Annual ploughing enables soil bacteria to release CO
- Biofuel crops need carbon-based nitrogen fertiliser and chemical pesticides, so they produce a net increase in CO, emissions
- biofuel crops are heavy consumers of water
Ocean Acidification
Our oceans have absorbed approximately ….. our CO^2
half
Ocean Acidification
As the oceans warm what can it no longer do
- take up as much CO^2
Ocean Acidification
What happens to some sea creatures such as clams, oysters & coral
- their shells & skeletons are getting weaker
Ocean Acidification
Why is shells and skeletons of marine life becoming weaker an issue
- 1 in 7 people get there protein from seafood, & if shellfish cant grow as big, the food chain will be massivley affected having a knock on effect
Ocean Acidification
How much more acidic has the ocean become since we started pumping out CO^2
- 30%
Ocean Acidification
How many ocean species live in coral reef ecosystems
1/4
Ultimately, why is ocean acidification such a major concern
- we might make the ocean more acidic than it has been in the last 20 years, so species will not be able to evolve quick enough
How is ocean acidification impacting in the biological carbon store
- food webs
- phytoplankton
- deep ocean sediments
- shellfish & corals
How is ocean acidification impacting in the geological carbon store
- carbon sequestration from biological organisms reduces
- this affects the amount of carbon in the food chain
- the dead creatures have less carbon which reduces marine snow
- reduced carbon in the calcareous ooze
- less stored in the geology
Coral around the world turning white & dying has triggered…
- the fourth global mass coral bleaching event
Across the ……km of the Great Barrier Reef, it houses vast structures that house …% of all marine species
- 2,000
- 25%
Give an example of how fish biodiveristy would decline
- once coral dies, creatures like fish that navigate using coral noise can struggle to find their way home
Coral can recover from …. stress, but it needs time - ideally several …..
When weakened, it is susceptible to ….. & can easily die
- heat
- years
- disease
what is the calcareous ooze
- a calcium carbonate mud formed from the hard part of bodies of free-floating organisms
- once this mud has been deposited it can be conerted into stone by processes of compaction, cementation & recrystallisation
define ph
- ph - a measurement of acideity or alkalinity within the oceans
define ecosystem resilience
- the level of disturbance that ecosystems can cope with while keeping their original state
define critical threshold
- a point beyond which damage becomes irreversible - a ‘tipping point’
What are ecosystem services
- concept helps us to understand the use & management of natural resources
- human health & services depends on services provided by ecosystems
What are the 4 ecosystem services
- provisioning
- regulating
- culturaal
- supporting
What is meant by the ecosystem service ‘provisioning’
- products humans obtain from ecoystems
- e.g food, raw materials, medicine
What is meant by the ecosystem service ‘regulating’
- services nature provides that regulate the environment
- e.g air quality, climate, water purification
What is meant by the ecosystem service ‘cultural’
- non-material benefits of nature for humans
- e.g touris, aesthetic values, religious & spiritual values
What is meant by the ecosystem service ‘supporting’
- the underpinning services that enable all other services to function - encompasses both human & ecosystem needs
- e.g photosythesis, nutrient cycling, soil formation
Which 3 processes most impact climate change
- global atmospheric circulation
- thermohaline circulation/ocean currents
- enhanced greenhouse effect
There are more than … different climate zones across the globe, simplified as…
There are more than 30 different climate zones across the globe, simplified as equatorial, polar, tropical and temperate.
How can climate zones be impacted from rising global temperatures
- They are not static, warming of 2 degrees could lead to 5% of the Earths land areas shifting to new climate zones
What are the estimated consequences of new climate zones
- Cool summer will change to hot summers in many places
- The coldest climate zones will largely reduce in size while dry regions will increase
- Higher latitude, mountainous regions are predicted to experience more changes than lower-latitude places
What are some facts about the Amazon drought
- plays key role in the earth’s carbon cycle, holding 17% of the terrestrial vegetation carbon source
- it will change from a carbon sink to a carbon store
- increased temperatures can alter rainfall patterns across all of South America
define human well-being
- the state of being or feeling healthy, happy, comfortable & secure
The UN has described the world’s forests as…
fundamental to human well-being & survival
Over ……… people depend on forests & over …% of these people are in the poorest societies
- 1.6 billion
- 90
What does the environmental Kuznet’s curve hypothesize
relationship between environmental quality & economic development
Environmental Kuznets’s curve
In countries where ………………….. are no longer seen as priorities (because they are taken for granted), many people realise that ………………..
- human development, water & food supply
- environmental care for the planet is important
Describe afforestation examples in developed countries
-China
- China aims to increase its forested area by 23% between 2015 & 2020
Describe afforestation examples in developed countries
-temperate forests
- Temperate forest area covering many HIC has increased,
- although the tropical forest area covering many LIC has decreased
- forest loss rate is highest in LIC
In May 2011, Indonesia’s president declared………
- a plan aimed at reducing deforestation
Explain Indonesia’s efforts to reduce deforestation
- US$1 billlion funding from the UN
- & issuing permits for deforestation
- By 2020, 26% fall in CO^2 emissions
Describe the Great Wall, Africa
- 8,000 km lomg & 15km wide project of afforestation reversing desertificatoion & mitigating climate change
What are the implications of climate change to precipitation patterns
- existing patterns will strengthen
- atmospheric ciruclation changes will shift storm trends polewards
- increased temps lead to increased evaporation & moisture in the atmosphere
What are the implications of climate change to precipitation patterns & the water cycle
-glaciers
- river flows will initially increase from melting glaciers,
- but this will eventually decrease
What are the possible implications of climate change on precipitation patterns in Yukon
- increased precipitation
- increased snowmelt
- increase in river discharge & river regimes
- thawing of permafrost
Between 1958-2008, the total ice area in Yukon shrank by _ % from glacial recession
22%
List some possible uses of the ocean
- carbon sink
- water industries
- energy production
- source od biomedical organisms
- transport
- oil rigs
- food source
Ocean health is being affected by…
- increasing temperatures, acidity, salinity & possible changes to currents
Explain the impact of changes to coral reefs
- the most biodiverse ecosystems will have declining services, causing loss of cultural & leisure activities, & will reduce the protection from storms that reefs offer
How would developing countries food source be impacted by declining ocean health
- the ability of particularly developing counries to harvest resources will change from a polweward shift of fish species, suggested to be occurring at a rate of 26km per decade
Describe the location of the Coral Triangle
- stretches across 6 countries in South East Asia, located in the West Pacific Ocean
Describe the biodiversity of the Coral Traingle in South East Asia
- 660 types of coral
- 2,000 types of fish
- 75% of the world’s coral species
What are the threats to the coral triangle
- oceana acidification means coral reefs will diappear there by 2100
- mangrove deforestation –> less reef protection
- unregulated toursm & overfishing from poor governance
What is being done to help the coral triangle
- The WWF has created protected areas
- These protect from destructive fishing practises e.g banning commercial nets
- Ocean stewards are also implemented to watcho ver the reefs
- Education is provided to locals on the impacts of reef destruction
Why is there so much variation in average temperatures
-natural
- milankovitch cycles, sunspot cycles, El Nino & volcanic activity
Why is there so much variation in average temperatures
-physical
- populations may grow, demands change & energy profiles can change with developing technology
Why is there uncertainty about future global warming
- even if we stopped al CO^2 emissions, tommorrows change would still be inevitable because greenhouse gases stay in the atmosphere for a long time
- nitrous oxide has a life span of 110 years & woould require a 50% global decrease to destabilise
- this is unlikely as Inia & China are still rapidly developing
What factors would influence predictions about climate change
- populaion change
- economic growth
- energy sources
- carbon sinks - forests & oceans
- peatlands & permafrost
What is a tipping point
- an abrupt possibly irreversible large scale change over a few decades or less
What are the 7 IPCC tipping points first identified in 2014
- atlantic thermohaline circulation collapse
- monsoon climate circulation collapse
- seabed methane release
- artic ocean free of sea ice in summer
- dieback of tropical rainforests
- dieback of boreal forests
- long term droughts
Explain the 7 IPCC tipping points
-atlantic thermohaline circulation
- increased columes of freshwater & density changes may alter currents in the atlantic
Explain the 7 IPCC tipping points
-seabed methane release
- methane hydrates in seabed sediments could be ddestabilised by warming releasing methane gas from a solid form
Explain the 7 IPCC tipping points
-dieback of tropical rainforests
- moist, complex forest such as Amzonia could change to a less carbon dense, drought & fire adapted ecosystem because of long-dry seasons
Explain the 7 IPCC tipping points
-dieback of boreal forests
- artic ecosystems are vulnerable to thawing permafrost, shrubs spreading into the tundra
- drought stress may cause a collapse of boreal forest since it cannot adapt
Explain the 7 IPCC tipping points
-artic ocean free of sea ice in summer
- higher air temperatures & a warmer ocean melt sea ice
Explain the 7 IPCC tipping points
-long term droughts
- the subtropical zones moves poleward as large-scale atmospheric circulation modifies the Hadley cell over a long timescale
Explain the 7 IPCC tipping points
-collapse of monsoon climate circulation
- more intense precipitation occurs during the monsoon wet season because of more evaporated moisture in warmer air
What are the 2 tipping points which we are critically most likely to hit soon
- atlantic thermohaline circulation collapse
- forest dieback
Why is it likely atmospheric thermohaline circulation will collapse soon, reaching a tipping point
- the melting of the Northern ice sheets releases significant quantities of freshwater into the ocean, which is lighter & less salty
- therefore blocking & slowing the converyor belt e.g the Gulf Stream
- If the tipping point is reached, north of the equator could see a decrease in temperature of ….degrees celcius,
- & the south could see a rise of up to …. degrees celcius
- -8
- 6
Why is likely the forest die back tipping point will be reached soon
- rainfall in the Amazon basin is largely recycled from moisture within the forest
- if forests are subject to drought —> trees dieback
- a tipping point could be reached where the level of dieback actually stops the recycling of moisture resulting in further dieback
- same is said for the boreal forest ecosystems
- tipping point could be reached where trees no longer absorb CO^2
Define adaptation
- adopt new ways of doing things in order to live with the likely outcomes of climate change
What will adaptation be determined by
- how much more the Earth warms, which is driven by how much more COz is emitted
- however, if all GHG emissions stopped today, we still need to learn how to cope with changes as it takes a long time for the CO^2 to disperse from the atmosphere
Define mitigation
- rebalance the carbon cycle and reduce/prevent the impacts of climate change
What are the 5 adaptation strategies
- Solar radiation management
- Water conservation & managment
- Resilient agricultural systems
- Land use planning
- Flood risk management
What are the 5 mitigation strategies
- Mitigation
- Renewable Switching
- Energy Efficiency
- Afforestation
- Carbon capture & storage
What are the benefits of water conservation management
- Fewer resources used, less groundwater abstraction
- Attitudinal change operates on a long-term basis: use more grey (recycled) water
- Can be used as a measure during drought to conserve water
What are the costs of water conservation management
- Efficiency and conservation cannot match increased demands for water
- Changing cultural habits of a large water footprint needs promotion and enforcement by governments, e.g. smart meters
What are two examples of water conservation & management
- Signapore - collect rainwater, recycle greywater, import water from Malaysia & use efficient infrastructure to save water
What are the benefits of resilient agricultural systems
- Higher-tech, drought-tolerant species (i.e breeding animals with smaller appetites) help resistance to climate change and increase in diseases
- Low-tech measures generate healthier soils, helping carbon dioxide sequestration and water storage: selective irrigation, crop rotation, reduced ploughing, agroforestry.
- More ‘indoor’ intensive farming
What are the costs of resilient agricultural systems
- More expensive technology, seeds and breeds unavailable to poor subsistence farmers without aid
- High energy costs from indoor and intensive farming
- Genetic modification is still debated - GMO crops
- Growing food insecurity —> ‘quick fixes’
What are the benefits of land-use planning
- Soft management: land-use zoning, building restrictions in vulnerable flood plains and low-lying coasts
- Enforcing strict runoff controls and soakaways
- new developments go through environmental impact assessment to ensure sustainability
What are the costs of land-use planning
- Public antipathy
- Abandoning high-risk areas and land-use resettling is often unfeasible
- Need strong governance, enforcement & compensation
What are the benefits of flood-risk management
- Hard-management traditionally used: localised flood defences, river dredging
- Simple changes —> permeable tarmac
- Reduced deforestation and more afforestation upstream to absorb water and reduce downstream flood risk
What are the costs of flood-risk management
- Debate over funding sources, especially in times of economic austerity
- Land owners may demand compensation for afforestation or ‘sacrificial land’ kept for flooding
- Constant maintenance is needed in hard management
- Ingrained culture of ‘techno-centric fixes’
What are the benefits of solar radiation management
- Geoengineering involves ideas and plans to deliberately intervene in the climate system to counteract global warming
- The proposal is to use orbiting satellites to reflect some inward radiation back into space
- It could cool the Earth within months and be relatively cheap compared with mitigation
What are the costs of solar radiation management
- untested
- Would reduce but not eliminate the worst effects of GHGs: for example, it would not alter acidification
- Would need to continue geoengineering, as it is a very complex system for decades or centuries as there would be a rapid adjustment in the climate system if SRM stopped suddenly
Mitigation strategies
What is carbon taxation
- The carbon price floor tax sets a minimum price companies have to pay to emit carbon dioxide
- 37 countries have already implemented it
What is the concensus on carbon taxation
- It was unpopular with both industry and environmental groups and had a debatable effect on emissions
- In 2015, the policy was ‘frozen’
- In 2015, oil and gas exploration tax relief was expanded to support fossil fuels, hence the fracking debate
Mitigation strategies
What is renewable switching
- The relationship between the big energy producers & the government dictates the amount of switching from fossil fuels to renewables and nuclear power (issues with storing)
- Renewables provide intermittent electricity,
- while fossil fuels provide the continuous power essential for our current infrastructure
Mitigation strategies
How much could switching to fossil fuels save by 2050
$22 trillion
Mitigation strategies
Explain what is meant by energy efficiency in the context of the UK government
- The Green Deal scheme encouraged energy-saving improvements to homes, such as efficient boilers and lighting, and improved insulation
- It was scrapped in 2015
- Energy suppliers must comply with the Energy Company Obligation scheme to deliver energy-efficient measures to households
Mitigation Strategies
How should energy efficiency be undertaken as a strategy
- works best as a bottom up strategy:
- improving outdated infrastructure & changes in lifestyle to use less power
Mitigation strategies
How can afforestation be used as a mitigation scheme
- Tree planting in the UK is increasing, helping carbon sequestration
- It involves the Forestry Commission, charities such as the National Trust and the Woodland Trust, landowners and local authorities.
- The Big Tree Plant campaign encourages communities to plant 1 million new trees, mostly in urban areas
Mitigation strategies
What are the current carbon capture & storage projects like
- Few geologic CCS projects exist globally, despite its potential
- Canada’s Boundary Dam is the only large scale working scheme
- In 2015, the UK government cancelled its investment in full-scale projects
Mitigation strategies
What is carbon capture & storage
- it helps take carbon out the atmosphere & pumps it back into porous rocks underground
- geological carbon cycle could potentially take it back out as fossil fuels
