Climate Change 🩵 Flashcards
what are 3 recent evidence for climate change?
.glaciers are shrinking and ice is melting because of warmer oceans
.global sea levels has risen between 10-20 cm due to thermal expansion
.timings of seasonal activities- birds migration and plants flowering has started to happen earlier
What historical evidence is there for climate change?
Natural recorders eg. Tree rings, fossils pollen, ice cores and ocean sediments- show us that the climate has changed, but not actual temperatures
What are some natural causes of climate change?
.Orbital changes- the Earth has natural warming and cooling periods caused by Milankovitch cycles or variations in the tilt and orbit of the Earth around the sun
.Solar output-dark patches that appear from time to time in a cycle that can effect global temperatures
.volcanic activity- eruptions can affect temperature in two ways- volcanic ash can block out the sun, sulphur dioxide causes a reflection of the suns radiation
What are some human causes of climate change?
.burning fossil fuels- releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere
.deforestation- trees absorb carbon dioxide during photosynthesis. If they are cut down, there will be higher amounts of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
.agriculture- overbreeding cows for human consumption releases methane into the atmosphere
What is the greenhouse effect?
.heat from the sun shines onto earth
.passes through a blanket of gases in our atmosphere
.some of this heat energy is reflected back into space
.and some heat energy would be absorbed by the blanket of gases
.without the blanket of greenhouse gases, heat would escape back into space and earth would be very cold (-18 degrees)
.greenhouse gases keep earths temperature balanced
.human activities creating more greenhouse gases- makes blanket of gases thicker
.more greenhouse gases= more heat energy absorbed- global warming
What are mitigation strategies?
Limit the cause of the issue
What are adaptation strategies?
Where people respond to the impacts of climate change by adjusting how they live/work
How can we mitigate climate change?
.use alternative energy, eg. Solar, wind and HEP as they don’t emit CO2 so are better for the environment however are expensive and can be unreliable as they are dependant on weather conditions
.carbon capture + storage, enables coal to be used in a less damaging way
.afforestation, planting trees to increase carbon storage
.transport strategies, investment into public transport, development of cycle networks, electric vehicles, stopping using diesel cars and international countries meeting together to fight the climate crisis to reduce CO2 emissions
