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GCSE AQA Geography > Climate Change > Flashcards

Climate Change Flashcards

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1
Q

What are the last 2.6 million years called?

A

The Quaternary Period

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2
Q

What happened to the temperature during the Quaternary Period?

A

It fluctuated

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3
Q

What was the glacial period?

A

When temperatures were low and when ice covered parts of Europe and North America

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4
Q

What was the interglacial period?

A

The warmer periods between the glacial period

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5
Q

What is global warming?

A

The increasing global temperature of the world in the last few decades

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6
Q

How much has the temperature risen since 1880?

A

0.85°C

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7
Q

What are global effects of climate change?

A
  • Glaciers and ice caps are shrinking - means more water flows into the sea causing sea levels to rise
  • Arctic sea ice is decreasing - This affects wildlife such as polar bearswho have adapted to live in that environment
  • Sea levels rising - low lying isalnds are at threat from flooding. Sea levels rising by 1m can lead to the flooding of agricultural land in Bangladesh and India. This will lead to food shortages and loss of income
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8
Q

What is evidence for climate change?

A
  • Thermometers - reliable measurements using thermometers go back only 100 years or so
  • Fossils found in deep ocean sediments - when sediment becomes buried they trap and preserve evidence of the global temperature at that time
  • Ice cores - studying oxygen in water molecules to calclate temperature
  • Shrinking glaciers and melting ice - Glaciers are shrinking and retreating. Arctic sea ice has thinned by 65% since 1975
  • Rising sea level (by 10-20cm in the past 100 years) - Freshwater ice caps melt and more water flows to the seas. The ocean water warms and expands in volume which is called thermal expansion
  • Seasonal changes - Timings of natural seasonal activities such as tree flowering and bird migration is advancing.
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9
Q

What are the natural causes of climate change?

A
  1. Orbital changes
  2. Solar activity
  3. Volcanic activity
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10
Q

Explain how orbital changes can cause climate change

A
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11
Q

Explain how solar activity can cause climate change

A
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12
Q

Explain how volcanic activity can cause climate change

A
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13
Q

Why has global warming occured?

A

Due to the greenhouse effect

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14
Q

What is the greenhouse effect?

A
  1. The Earth’s atmosphere allows short wave radiation (heat) from the Sun to enter.
  2. When the Earth gives off heat (long wave radiation) it gets absorbed by greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane.
  3. These gases do not allow some of the long wave radiation to escape the Earth’s atmosphere.
  4. This blanketing effect keeps the Earth warm
  5. As we are releasing more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, more heat is becoming trapped and less is being put back out into space
  6. This leads to the earth warming up.
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15
Q

What are three greenhouse gases?

A
  • Carbon dioxide
  • Methane
  • Nitrous oxide
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16
Q

How do humans release carbon dioxide into the air?

A
  • Burning fossil fuels for electricity
  • Car exhaust
  • Deforestation and burning wood
17
Q

How do humans release methane into the air?

A
  • Rice farming
  • Decaying organic matter (landfill and compost)
  • Burning biomass
  • Farm livestock
18
Q

How do humans release nitrous oxide into the air?

A
  • Agricultural fertilisers
  • Sewage treatment
  • Power stations producing electricity
  • Car exhausts
19
Q

How much of the greenhouse effect does carbon dioxide account for?

A

Carbon dioxide accounts for 60% of the greenhouse effect

20
Q

How much of the greenhouse effect does methane account for?

A

Methane accounts for 20% of the greenhouse effect

21
Q

How can climate change be managed?

A
  • Carbon capture
  • Afforestaion
  • International agreements
  • Alternative sources
22
Q

How do alternative sources help to manage climate change?

A

As we are using more sustainable energy sources that don’t emit fossil fuels

23
Q

Why are renewable sources of electricity better than non-renewable sources?

A

They don’t emit CO2 and will last in the future

24
Q

How does afforestation manage climate change?

A

Trees act as a carbon sink as they absorb carbon dioxide

25
Q

How does carbon capture manage climate change?

A

By capturing CO2 before it enters the atmosphere. This is done by compressing it and transporting it along a pipeline into the ground

26
Q

How do international agreements manage climate change?

A

Agreements between countries to reach global solutions

27
Q

What are the global impacts of climate change?

A
  • Stronger tropical storms - due to an increase in ocean temperatures, tropical storms will become more intense
  • Desertification - people can’t grow crops for food/income and will be forced to move
  • Wildlife at risk - habitats and ecosystem will start to change. Especially as lakes and rivers start to dry
  • Rising sea levels - threatens coastal area of flooding
  • Heat related illness - such as malaria will increase death rates especially in LICs
28
Q

How can we adapt to climate change?

A
  • Managing water supply: educating farmers and drought resistant crops
  • Agriculture adaption; New cropping patterns and new irrigation systems
  • Reducing risk from rising sea levels: construction of sea walls and stilts
29
Q

Where is the Maldives?

A

A country in Asia nestled southwest of Sri Lanka and India

30
Q

What management schemes have the Maldives put into place?

A
  • Construction of sea walls - building a 3m sea wall around the capital Male. Using sandbags elsewhere to hold the sea water back
  • Building houses on stilts - this means the houses are not on the ground so if the area was to flood, the water will flow through the stilts
  • Constructing artificial islands - built 3m high so people at most risk can be relocated
  • Relocation - Ultimately the entire population could be relocated in Sri Lanka or India
  • Restoring coastal mangroves and forests - mangroves are trees in shallow water and the roots trap sediment and offer protection from storm waves -

GCSE AQA Geography (7 decks)

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