climate change (1A), (2A)

Question 1

what are the 3 ways, that climate change can be assed (timescale wise)

Answer 1

• long term ( or geological) - over hundreds of thousands to millions of years.
• medium- term (historical) - within the last few thousand years
• short-term recent) - within the last few decades

Question 2

what is the Holocene period

Answer 2

the period, that we would refer to as the current geographical period, which began at the end of the last glacial period (11,700 years ago)

Question 3

what is the quaternary period?

Answer 3

• the period of time, that spans the last 2.6 million years.
• its main features, are its glacial and interglacial periods.

Question 4

typically, how often to glaciers form?

Answer 4

every 100,000 years

Question 5

what is the largest glacial system on the planet

Answer 5

the Artic

Question 6

why is the Younger Dryas important ?

Answer 6

as it shows the last major abrupt climate change event at the last period of deglaciation.

Question 7

what are the 5 ways we can construct past climates

Answer 7

• marine sediments
• ice cores
• fossils
• dendrochronology
• lake sediments (pollen and beetles)

Question 8

describe how marine sediment is used, to construct past climates

Answer 8

• fossils of tiny sea creatures, are found on the sea floor,
• they can find the chemical compound in the shell of the fossil to estimate past temperatures.

Question 9

describe how ice cores are used, to construct past climates

Answer 9

• contain tiny air bubbles, that are records of different oxygen isotopes (O16 or O18).
• the size of each piece of ice can tell scientist the length of each period
• clear ice equals a period of warming
• opaque ice equals a period of cooling

Question 10

describe how fossils are used, to construct past climates

Answer 10

• plants and animals are adapted to different climates, so scientist can look at the adaptions of animals to predict past climates

Question 11

describe how dendrochronology is used to construct past climates

Answer 11

• scientists, can determine the climate based on the cambium tissue (in a tree)
• the larger the rings the greater the growth (greater growth suggest warmer climate)

Question 12

describe how lake sediments (pollen and beetles are used, to construct past climates)

Answer 12

• scientist, can find remans of beetles and pollen that was produced millions of years ago.
• they can compare the pollen and peoples to know species and see how the climates compared, to get a rough idea of what the past climate may have been like.

Question 13

what is eccentricity (orbit)

Answer 13

• the more elliptical the earth, the colder the climate.
• the greater the ellipse of the earth, the longer time that the earth spends away from the sun, thus explaining why there is a cooler climate.

Question 14

what is obliquity (tilt)

Answer 14

• the smaller the tilt, the less seasonal variation/colder climate.
• tilt varies between 22 degrees and 24.5 degrees, the closer to 22 degrees the cooler the climate.

Question 15

what is precession (wobble)

Answer 15

• affects the point, in the year that the earth is closest to the sun.
• when the earth is further away during the northern hemisphere summer, the climate gets cooler.

Question 16

what is plate tectonics (the effect it has on climate change) an example of?

Answer 16

a positive feedback loop

Question 17

what is the albedo effect

Answer 17

The definition of the albedo effect is the ability of a surface to reflect sunlight.
- white surfaces reflect light (e.g. ice)
- dark surfaces absorb light (e.g. oceans)

Question 18

what is the natural greenhouse effect

Answer 18

The natural greenhouse effect is how the atmosphere works to absorb and reflect radiation to keep the Earth warm. The sun emits short wave radiation towards the Earth. The Earth’s atmosphere absorbs this heat and then radiates long wave (infrared) radiation away from Earth.

Question 19

what are the two types of sun spots

Answer 19

• black (lower solar irradiance - smaller solar output)
• white (higher solar irradiance - greater solar output)

Question 20

what were the immediate and local impacts of the Laki eruption (1783)

Answer 20

• 25% of the Icelandic population died due to either famine or the toxic gases and lava.
• most of the Icelandic population, died due to famine

Question 21

what were the widespread and longer term impacts, of the Laki eruption (1783)

Answer 21

• haze of dust particles, and Sulfur gases, moved over to the northern hemisphere.
• ships where stuck in port due to the dust particles and fog
• caused winter to be unusually harsh
• led to a disruption in the ancient Asian monsoon cycle, promoting famine in Europe.

Question 22

how are glaciers measured, so that they can indicate the rate of global climate change

Answer 22

• they can be measured, using GPS technology as well as observing satellite images.
• scientist can then work out the rate at which the glacier is retreating per year (e.g. evidence form 1950 and 1980) and compare it to more modern data (e.g. 1990-2020) and they can then see if the rate at which glaciers has increased, decrease or not changed at all (likely to have increased)

Question 23

note some key facts about global sea - level rise and why it is good evidence of warming

Answer 23

• since 1900, the average rise in sea level will be 1.0 - 2.5 mm/year.

Question 24

what is thermal expansion

Answer 24

the increase in volume of water due to the rise in temperature.

Question 25

what will the rise in sea level, be if glacier were to melt.

Answer 25

there would be a rise in sea level by 60-70m

Question 26

why are glaciers a good measure of global warming

Answer 26

due to glaciers being sensitive to change, thus meaning that small rises in sea level rise, will led to visible changes in glaciers and ice sheets.

Question 27

what are the impacts of a reduction in the size and number of the worlds glaciers?

Answer 27

• glacier park had 110 more glaciers, 150 years ago, with there only being 37 remaining today.
• glaciers are a key water supply in areas of the world such as Pakistan
• reduction in Albedo effect, could lead to further warming

Question 28

outline how shrinking glaciers can provide evidence of global warming? (6)

Question 29

why is water vapor concentration in the atmosphere evidence of warming

Answer 29

• due to increased temperatures, resulting in more water vapour, due to evaporation causing more water to end up in the atmosphere.
• 1 degree rise in temperature equates to a increase storage capacity of water in the atmosphere by 7%.

Question 30

what is global dimming

Answer 30

the reduction in the amount of solar energy, received from the sun, as a result of more particles (water vapour) suspended in the atmosphere.

Question 31

what are GHG emissions

Answer 31

Green house gas emissions.

Question 32

how has land use change, resulted in a rise in GHG emissions

Answer 32

• around 113 GHG emissions come from land use changes, and the emissions of carbon from deforestation.
• 40% of the global land use surface, is taken up by agriculture.
• 255 of the worlds forests, have been lost since 1700.

Question 33

how has a huge surge in globalisation impacted GHG emissions

Answer 33

• average household, is responsible for producing 50 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year.
• globalisation has resulted in long haul flights, were planes have a carbon footprint that is x29 greater than that of a train.

Question 34

how has manafacturing impacted global GHG emissions

Answer 34

• fossil fuels, are responsible for 87% of the worlds energy production.
• Manufacture, is responsible for 3/4 of the worlds atmospheric carbon emissions since 1700.

Question 35

how has rapid population growth impact global GHG emissions

Answer 35

• growth of the worlds population from 1 billion in 1800 to the current figure of 7.4 billion (2015).
• more people, means an increase in the number of people who are contributing to a global rise in GHG emissions.

Question 36

when methane is included alongside carbon dioxide, Brazil and Indonesia rank as the third and fourth biggest emitters. Why is this?

Answer 36

• due to paddy fields being burned, in order to clear them after the rain seasons, thus meaning that when burnt it leads to a significant release of carbon dioxide and methane.
• cattle ranching leads to carbon dioxide being released when the forest is defrosted, and methane is released when the cattle farts.
• the amazon is one of the biggest carbon sinks in the world, so deforestation of this rainforest is leading to a significant rise in global atmospheric carbon dioxide levels, due to less carbon dioxide being absorbed from the atmosphere, via respiration.

Question 37

how much of the worlds carbon dioxide emissions, does the USA account for

Answer 37

14%

Question 38

how much of the worlds carbon dioxide emissions, does China account for

Answer 38

28%

Question 39

how much of the worlds carbon dioxide emissions, does India account for

Answer 39

7%

Question 40

what % GDP is as a result of the service sector, in the UK

Answer 40

80%