Chapter 11 Flashcards
What are the causes and effects of Global warming?
Causes:
Burning of Fossil Fuel
Greenhouse Gasses
Effects:
Increase…
Storms
Flooding
Droughts
What is IPCC?
About the IPCC The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is the United Nations body for assessing the science related to climate change.
Provide policymakers with regular scientific assessments on climate change, its implications and potential future risks, as well as to put forward adaptation and mitigation options.
What was the latest goal for IPCC in the 2010s?
Keep temperature at 1.5 degrees C
- Global emissions must peak before 2025
- Decrease Global Emissions by 43%/45% by 2030
- No more fossil fuel
- Remove carbon
- Transform systems
What is the Greenhouse gas effect?
Process through which heat is trapped near Earth’s surface
- Carbon dioxide and temperature
- Temp and CO2 over last 800,000 yrs from ice cores
Throughout the years on Earth, there shows an occurrence of Carbon rising which led to temperatures rising. What makes the difference with our current situation?
Its happening at a faster rate as our planet quickly becomes warmer.
What is Green house gasses? What are the main greenhouse gasses?
Gasses are responsible for absorbing and re-radiating sun
energy in the atmosphere
Main Greenhouse gasses
* CO2,
* Methane
* CFCs - chlorofluorocarbons
* Water vapor
If we increase the CO2 and water vapor amounts in the atmosphere…
then 15% of that gets absorbed into the atmosphere, increasing the gasses stored on earth
What factors produce methane.
Methane (CH4, Natural gas) production:
Coal deposits
Bacteria
Cattle
Termites
Wetlands
Where does Methane gets absorbed in?
trees and sink into soil
What are the three big problems we face in climate change?
- Global climate
- Sea levels
- Ocean acidification
What changes would we face in a big scale (North America)?
*Temperatures Will Continue to Rise
*Frost-free Season (and Growing Season) will Lengthen
*Changes in Precipitation Patterns
*More Droughts and Heat Waves
*Hurricanes Will Become Stronger and More Intense
*Sea Level Will Rise 1-4 feet by 2100
*Arctic Likely to Become Ice-Free
What are changes to be expected in an ecosystem scale (Polar regions and Oceans)?
Polar regions
*amplified in the polar regions
*Air temp increased by about 5°C
*90% of all fresh water on the earth’s ice-vitally role in influencing the world’s climate, reflecting back the sun’s energy and helping to regulate global temperatures
Oceans
*vital ‘carbon sinks’ absorb huge amounts of carbon dioxide
*Oceans more acidic
*Large-scale changes at a warming of 1°C, with critical thresholds expected to be reached at 1.5°C
*Coral reefs decline by 70-90% at 1.5°C at 2°C virtually all coral reefs will be lost
What can we expect in climate change for species scale?
American red squirrel population in Yukon
*Rapid evolution of earlier breeding during increased average spring temp
*Squirrels having baby sooner in the spring
Rabbits
*White in winter, brown in summer
*Rabbits winter and summer coats still stays on during a sooner winter and summer
*Color mix-match will likely increase rapidly
For both rates of temperature evolution and rates of precipitation evolution, what was the discovery of past and present organisms to the change in climate on earth?
Present day animals need to evolve 10,000 times faster to adapt to climate change.
Note:
- Measures how fast through changes in temp in evolution
- Black is known data of how they evolved in the past
- Red is the speed they need to evolve through climate changes
What is Ocean Acidification?
chemical change to global ocean chemistry in
response to rising levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide
The absorption of CO2 has increased the acidity to the extent that it now threatens coral reefs and open-ocean ecosystems that have large calcium carbonate components.
Ocean absorbs CO2 from the atmosphere.
What did Maldives plan to do to prepare for the sea levels to rise?
Create and artificial island called Hulhumale and have the City of Hope
Maldives government is in the final stages of negotiation with Saudi Arabia to lease Faafu Atoll, consisting of 23 islands
What are the positive aspects happening upon the earth?
Human population increase is stabilizing
Coral are growing faster is keeping up to sea level change if acidification is kept as a reasonable rate
Renewable energy predicted to surpass coal and nuclear
What is 350?
Student lead movement started in Middlebury college in Vermont
Mobilized activists to do newsworthy events in their own neighbourhood
What are the various forms of energy (radiation) emitted by the sun?
infrared radiation
visible light
ultraviolet radiation
What are the four greenhouse gases?
CO2
Methane
Chlorofluorocarbon (CFC)
Water Vapor
What aspects provide to the cause increase in CO2 levels?
Fossil Fuel
Cement
What are the carbon pools that absorb CO2?
Several inorganic forms and organic matter (Photosynthesis through plants)
Soil
- Important pool of “stable structural” carbon
- Mostly in the form of humus
What is global warming?
A gradual increase in the earth’s temperature generally due to the greenhouse effect caused by increased levels of carbon dioxide, CFCs, and other pollutants.
What is proxy data?
indirect information that can be used to estimate the magnitude of a particular factor of interest.
