Climate change 2 Flashcards
What is evidence for climate change?(long term)
Ice cores showing oxygen isotopes what temperature the earth would be and ocean sediments with different organisms buried in show the conditions for the organisms to survive in and also oxygen isotopes yet again
What is a glacial period?
When ice is growing in our world
What is an interglacial period?
When ice is retreating
What is short term evidence for climate change?
Direct instrument readings, Glacial retreat, Arctic sea ice, Rising sea ice and tree flowering and bird migration advancing
Natural causes for climate change?
Milankovitch cycle, Solar output and Volcanic activity
What is the Milankovitch cycle?
The earth’s eccentricity and the orbit changing over time and the earth becoming closer and further away from the sun. The axis of the earth can also change and the greater the angle the greater the difference between the summer and the winter.
What is Volcanic activity?
Volcanoes erupting, Sulphur dioxide going into the atmosphere and mixing with water vapour to create an aerosol going into the earths atmosphere acting as a shield for the ultra-violet radiation so the earth gets cooler.
What is solar output?
Sunspots can make the earth less hot because less solar radiation is being emitted.
How do humans cause climate change?
Fossil fuels, agriculture and deforestation
Fossil fuels
50% of emissions, burning them release carbon dioxide
Agriculture
Methane due to cows burping, paddy fields
Deforestation
Clearing forests on a huge sale destroy a carbon sink so by burning them we release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
How can we do mitigation?(4)
Aforestation, Renewable energy, Carbon capture storage-removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, turning it into a liquid, building a well under the ocean and storing it there, international agreements
How can we do adaptation?(4)
Change agricultural production by using drought resistant species, Desalination from sea water and removing salt out of it, reduce water consumption by retro fitting (designing things that use less water) and adapting to rising sea levels by building barriers e.g. Themes Barrier