Climate Flashcards
Fossil fuels
global economy based off of; unsustainable
IPCC
intergovernmental panel on climate change
finds that human influence has been biggest cause of global warming
Climate change
Local increases or decreases in precipitation
Increased storms in both summer and winter
Changing ocean currents
greenwashing
companies engage in public relations that make them look like they are helping the global warming issue
i.e. dawn dish soap; bottle is plastic but they help clean up the oil spill…
James Inholfe
politician that thinks global warming is a hoax
says its for religious reasons, but his #1 supporters are oil and gas companies
Greenhouse gases
CO2- half of the impact Methane-15% livestock, natural gas leaks, landfills CFCs-15% Nitrous Oxide- fertilizers and many others
Greenhouse effect
break down of the earths atmosphere; not as much sunlight is reflected and the less heat goes back into space
thermal inertia
causes a lag between our actions and the climatic responses
Water takes a long time to absorb and release energy
If we wait to address climate change until it is having a severe economic impact, the soonest we can expect to undo what we have done would be centuries from now
peak oil
the future production of CO2 from oil would roughly equal what we have produced thus far
if we hit peak, CO2 production would equal that of prehistoric (eocene) times
anthropocene
the period during which human activity has been been the dominant influence on climate and the environment.
political ecology
the study of the relationships between political, economic and social factors with environmental issues and changes.
Economic- many careers in the fossil fuel industry
political divide- conservatives in the US reject the idea because of who generally invests in their campaigns
