Climate change Flashcards
What is climate
Climate is the average weather across a large region measured over a period of time (thirty-five years).
What does climate change mean?
Climate change means a large change in the climate records of temperature, rainfall, wind speeds, etc., lasting decades or longer.
How do we get weather data from before the 1900s?
in order to piece together weather data from before this time, scientists analyse sediment cores taken from ocean and lake floors and from frozen ice cores.
What are ice cores? How are they formed and where do they usually come from today?
Ice cores are cylinders of ice drilled out of an ice sheet or glacier.
As layers of fresh snow fall and sediments become buried, they trap and preserve evidence of the global temperature experienced at that time of the burial. They can tell us of past changes in climate.
most ice core records come from Antarctica and Greenland.
What is known as global warming?
Global temperatures have increased over the past couple of decades. This phenomenon has become known as global warming.
What can climate change be caused by naturally?
Changes in the sun’s intensity (strength).
Slow changes in the earth’s orbit around the sun.
Volcanic eruptions.
How do volcanic eruptions affect the climate?
The gases, ash and dust particles thrown into the atmosphere during volcanic eruptions have an influence on climate in the short term.
Erupting volcanoes emit sulphur dioxide that combines with water to form sulphuric acid. It makes tiny droplets that reflect incoming radiation from the sun, causing cooling of the earth’s surface.
Since what specific time has human activity released large amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere?
Since the start of the industrial revolution, human activity and industry has released large amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.
What is the greenhouse effect? What is it caused by? What are known as greenhouse gases?
The greenhouse effect is the warming of the earth’s surface and the air above it.
It is caused by gases in the air that traps energy from the sun.
The heat-trapping gases are known as greenhouse gases.
Too much greenhouse gas, created by human activities, is contained in the atmosphere, trapping solar energy
Give an example of pollution in the world.
The Great Smog of London, or Great Smog of 1952, was a severe air pollution event that affected London, England, in December 1952. It was caused by a combination of industrial pollution and high-pressure weather conditions.
What three gases make up most of the warming impact? what percentages are they of the warming impact of current human greenhouse gas emissions?
- Carbon dioxide accounts for around 3/4 of the warming impact of current human, greenhouse gas emissions.
Deforestation. - Methane accounts for about 14% of current human greenhouse emissions. Animals create methane during their normal digestion.
- Nitrous oxide accounts for about 8% of the warming impact of current human greenhouse gas emissions.
It is 300 times more effective at trapping heat than carbon dioxide.
Artificial fertilisers increase the release of nitrous oxide into the atmosphere.
How has climate change affected all regions around the world? (4)
- polar ice sheets are melting and the sea is rising.
- Extreme weather events and rainfall are becoming more common.
- Regions are experiencing desertification, with extreme heatwaves and droughts.
- They are having a serious effect on wildlife.
Explain 1. melting ice and rising seas & 2. extreme weather events
- melting ice and rising seas:
When water warms it expands. Global warming causes polar ice sheets and glaciers to melt. The combination of these changes is causing sea levels to rise, resulting in flooding and erosion of coastal areas.
freshwater supplies are being contaminated with seawater too. - extreme weather events:
Extreme weather events, such as droughts, floods and heatwaves are becoming more frequent. These events can have devastating impacts in large areas.
