Climate Change Flashcards
What are the 2 causes of change?
Subsistence
Water volume
What is subsistence?
Coastal areas sinking. Often this is due to excess ground water extraction. Has the effect of making the sea level (relatively) higher
How is water volume a cause of change?
Changes due to either thermal expansion (gets larger when hot) or addition of extra water from land stores (ice melt)
If all the ice sheets melted on earth, what would be the total rise of sea level?
72m (65m from Antarctica, and 7m from Greenland)
What is an effect of climate change to do with rail and roads?
Major rail and road links near the coast are also at risk and several power stations are situated on low-lying ground
What is an effect of climate change to do with localised subsidence?
In certain points of the uk, notably the southeast, the rise in sea relative to the land may be greater than average,owing to localised subsidence
What is an effect of climate change to do with the coast?
Increased coastal flooding and erosion, unless action is taken to mitigate it
What is an effect of climate change to do with areas around the British coastline?
A number of areas around the British coastline are potentially at risk from rising sea levels. These include major conurbations such as London, hull and Middlesbrough and high grade agriculture land
What is an effect of climate change to do with water/irrigation?
Another effect can occur between fresh water contained in rocks under the land and salt water beneath the land. This would adversely affect some points along the lower reaches of rivers, where water is abstracted for domestic and irrigation purposes
What is an effect of climate change to do with underground water resources?
As well as direct effects such as coastal erosion or flooding, higher mean sea levels could have an impact on underground water resources. The zone where sea water mixes with fresh water in rivers is dynamic and a rise in sea levels can cause it to move upstream
