climate change Flashcards
what is climate change
climate change is the average weather of the region over a period of time
evidence for climate change
-tree rings
-ice and sediment cores
-shrinking glaciers and melting ice
-rising sea levels
-pollen analysis
temperature records
seasonal changes
tree rings
-as a tree grows it forms a new ring each year
-scientist take cores of trees and count the rings to see age of tree
-wider widths of rings the hotter it is
ice and sediment cores
-ice sheets are made of layers of ice, 1 layer is formed each year
-scientists drill into ice sheets to get long cores of ice
-trapped gases can tell what the temperature was each year
shrinking glaciers and melting ice
-rapid melting of ice globally
-sea ice has thinned by 70% since 1970
-if glaciers start to melt then by 2050 they’ll be gone
-scientists measure the size of the ice sheet
rising sea levels
-increase in ocean surface
-process of thermal expansion
-numerous low lying coastal locations have been affected
-albedo affect is reduced when ice is melting
seasonal changes
-seasonal events such as tree blossoming are starting earlier
pollen analysis
-pollen from plants get preserved in sediment
-scientists can identify and date the preserved pollen to see which species were present at the time
what are the natural causes of climate change?
-orbital theory
-sunspots
-volcanic eruption
-astroid collisions
orbital theory
-every 100,000 years the earths orbit changes from circular to elliptical
-during this cycle the earths closer to the sun and this leads to global warming
volcanic eruption
GLOBAL WARMING
-when they erupt large amounts of ash is emitted into atmosphere
-thick barrier to prevent sun
sunspots
GLOBAL WARMING
-sun goes through a cycle of giving more heat
-sun has black spots on its surface which gives out more heat
-every 12 years
astroid collisions
GLOBAL COOLING
-once every 500,000 years an astroid of 1km hits Earth
-millions of dust is blasted into earth and blocks sunlight and is reflected back into space
-cools the planet and lowers averages temperature
what Are the human causes of climate change
-agriculture and farming
-transportation
-industries
-fossil fuels
-deforestation
local impacts of climate change:
UK
-extreme rainfall
-flash floods
-heat waves
-average length of heatwave increased from 5 to 15 days
global impacts of climate change:
Bangladesh
-one of vulnerable countries at risk
-rising sea levels flooded a quarter of it
-people displaced as homes flooded
-loss of farmland
-LIC
2 ways of managing climate change
-mitigation
-adaptation
what is mitigation
stopping climate change from happening by stopping greenhouse gases from being released
what is adaptation
adjusting to the effects of climate change
3 ways of mitigating climate change
-renewable energy
-carbon capture and storage
-planting trees
how does renewable energy help reduce rate of climate change?
creates no direct greenhouse gas emissions
no air pollution emissions
how does carbon capture and storage work
capture co2 molecules and bury dar down where they can’t escape
how does carbon capture help reduce rate of climate change
doesn’t contribute to human enhanced greenhouse effect
how does afforestation (planting trees) help reduce rate of climate change
trees act as carbon sinks and absorb the co2
what is extreme weather
weather out of the ordinary
examples of extreme weather in the UK
-strong winds
-heatwaves
-thunder +lightning storms
-snowstorms
-heavy rain
-drought
-floods
where are the Somerset levels?
South West of England in the northern hemisphere. Atlantic Ocean to the west. East of the Bristol Channel
why did Somerset levels flood
-low lying land= rising sea levels, heavy rainfall
-flat lands
-river parret bursts its banks=overflode
causes of the Somerset levels
-rain
-high tides
-dredging
effects of the Somerset levels
-600 homes flooded
-power supplies cut off
-people stranded
-£10 million costs
-1000 livestock had to be evacuated
-railway line closed=jobs disrupted
-ecosystems destroyed
how to manage Somerset floods?
-temporary flood defences
-pumping flood water from land to rivers
-sending alerts and warnings
*dredging
*drain enhancements
