Climate and Change Flashcards
Name 3 proofs to show that the climate was different in the past
Fossilised animals, plants and pollen that no longer live in the UK
Land forms, like the U-shaped valleys left by retreating glaciers
Samples from ice sheets from Greenland + Antarctica which contain trapped CO2 to identify the temperature at that time
What are interglacials?
Warm periods
What are glacials?
Cold periods
Name 3 types of proofs to show that the climate was different in the more recent past
Old photographs, drawings and paintings Written records (diaries, books and newspapers) Recorded dates of harvest, migrating birds and tree blossom
What are the three theories of natural climate change and how do they affect it?
The eruption theory, the sunspot theory, the orbital theory. These 3 theories alter the amount of sunlight the Earth receives and where it falls on its surface
What is the eruption theory?
With a big volcanic eruption, if the ash and gas rise high enough they can create a blanket reflecting the suns rays and stopping them from reaching Earth
What is the sunspot theory?
Dark spots on the sun tell us that it is more active than usual. Lots of spots mean that more solar energy is being directed at the Earth
What is the orbital (Milankovitch cycles) theory?
The Earth’s orbit is sometimes circular and sometimes more of an oval
- the Earth’s axis tilts
- the Earth’s axis wobbles
What did the Medieval warm period mean for Viking Greenland?
By 1100, Greenland had
- over 200 farms
- a population of 3000 - 4000 Vikings
- trade links with Iceland + Norway
- summer hunting north of Arctic circle
What were the effects of the Little Ice Age?
Frost fairs held on River Thames from 1608 to 1814
Cold and rain lashed Europe in spring and summer of 1315
Wheat and oats did not ripen and harvest failed
The Great Famine from 1317 to 1325
10-20% of peasant farmers died of hunger
How did people adapt to the Little Ice Age?
People learned to farm new crops
Abandoned farms high on hillsides
What are Megafauna?
Big animals mostly weighing over 40kg than included the woolly mammoth
What happened to the Megafauna?
They migrated and tried to find new areas to live in, where the climate suited them
However finding the right plants to eat in new areas would have been difficult
This would have disrupted food chains
What is the radiation coming from the sun called?
Short-wave radiation
What is the radiation that is reflected off the land called?
Long-wave radiation
Does all the long wave radiation get back through?
No - some long-wave radiation is reflected by greenhouse gases, heating the earth up
What is causing the enhanced greenhouse effect?
The enhanced greenhouse effect has caused the earth’s temperature to rise more quickly than it otherwise would do naturally due to humans polluting the atmosphere with carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases
Give 3 examples of extreme UK weather
Heatwaves like summer 2003 when temperatures reached 38 degrees
Flooding like summer 2007 in the Midlands
Storms like the great gales in 1987 and 1990
What is the Kyoto Agreement?
The 1997 Kyoto Protocol is an international agreement to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Some countries like the UK and Germany have reduced their emissions, others like China and the USA have not
How will global warming impact Egypt?
The River Nile is a very important water supply and Egypt’s only reliable source
If sea levels rise by 50cm over a third of the city of Alexandria will be under water and 7 million people would have to ind somewhere else to live
Loss of land would hit farming so less food could be produced, leading to famine
