Climate Change Final Flashcards
What are the three threats to oceans that make up the deadly trio?
Warming
Acidification
Eutrophication
How does ocean warming impact corals?
If temperature increases algae are expelled.
Leads to coral bleaching.
What is responsible for ocean acidification?
Higher levels of CO2 in water.
Less Carbonate ions.
Higher level of free hydrogen atoms (leads to acidification).
Which solution has more hydrogen ions? A solution with a pH of 5 or a pH of 6?
5.
Why does acidification appear to be happening faster in waters near the poles?
Colder water more readily absorbs CO2 –> leads to higher rates of acidification.
What are the two causes of rising oceans?
Thermal expansion (water expands as it warms).
Melting ice and snow on land (glaciers and ice sheets).
Which ice sheet is losing mass more quickly? Greenland or Antarctic?
Greenland.
Which part of the Antarctic ice sheet is most vulnerable to global warming?
West Antarctic Ice Sheet
Which Canadian coast is particularly vulnerable to sea-level rise?
East Coast
Why are SIDS particularly vulnerable to climate change?
Small populations.
Limited resources.
Remoteness.
Susceptibility to natural disasters.
Fragile environments.
What variables are most often manipulated in climate change experiments?
Temperature.
Precipitation.
CO2 concentration.
Ocean acidity.
What are FACE experiments?
Free Air CO2 Enhancement.
Large buildings in middle of forest that would supply CO2 to areas of the forest.
Very expensive and large quantities of CO2 requires.
What are some limitations associated with chamber experiments?
Lacks external validity.
Limited space.
Requires a lot of CO2
Expensive
Few replicates.
What type of plant (C3 or C4) is more responsive to increasing CO2 levels?
C3.
It is predicted that, in the long term, forestry and agriculture will benefit greatly from increasing CO2 levels.
False.
What options do organisms have in the face of a changing climate?
Move.
Adapt.
Die.
What are range shifts?
Species moving as a result of changing climates.
Give an example of phenotypic plasticity.
Red squirrels changing the time that they breed at.
Plants changing the timing of transition between vegetative and reproductive growth stages.
Give a specific example of observed microevolutionary change in response to climate change.
Climate driven habitat causes evolution in Threespine Stickleback.
Anole Lizard responding to extreme weather events.
Give an example of a synchronization issue related to climate change?
Wood warbler becoming uncoupled from food resources driven by temperature.
Columbian ground squirrel hibernates for longer. Shorter forage season and cannot get enough food for next hibernation.
Increased temperature leads to abundance of mosquitoes that impact birds breeding times
In a recent study, two groups of animals were found to have possibly benefitted from climate change. What are the two groups and what makes them so resilient?
Rodents and Insect-eaters.
Fast breeding rates.
Tend to not be specialists suited to a particular habitat.
Often live in burrows which provide insulation against changes in weather.
Species extinctions in tropical areas are projected to be (more or less) widespread than in temperate areas?
More
What animal is considered to be the first animal to go extinct due to climate change?
Bramble Cay melomys
What extreme events can be most “easily” attributed to climate change?
Weather events.
Tropical cyclones and hurricanes are expected to become (wetter or drier)?
Wetter.
Globally, the frequency of the most intense cyclones/ hurricanes is expected to (increase or decrease).
Increase
Give a few examples of how climate change can affect mental health.
Depression after disaster.
PTSD
Anxiety about warming planet.
Substance use to cope.
What regions of the world are most at risk of water stress?
Middle east and North Africa and South Asia.
2 Billion suffering from water stress.
Give two examples of how climate change can impact water quality.
Increased sediment and pollutants from heavy rainfall.
Saltwater intrusion.
Increased pathogens.
increased water temperature.
A NASA study found that global yields of what crop might increase up to 2050?
Wheat
Climate change will likely have a (more or less) detrimental impact on fisheries in temperature regions than in the tropics.
Less
What are some of the determinants of human vulnerability to heat extremes?
Where you live.
Socio-economic status.
Age.
Health status.
Occupation.
Which sector will potentially lose the most labour hours due to heat extremes?
Agriculture.
What does HDI stand for?
Human Development Index
Name the three elements required for a vector-borne disease.
Pathogen.
Vector.
Host.
How is/ might climate change impact transportation?
Affect roads and railways in a negative way due to extreme temperatures.
Air travel effected (harder to achieve lift due to heat).
How is/ might climate change impact tourism?
Snow tourism (lack of snow).
Forest and lake tourism (droughts, pests, fire).
Beach and coastal tourism (sea-level rise, extreme storms).
What are “zombie fires”.
Fires that survive underground in winter months and then pop up again in spring.
What are the two climate changes that are affecting the spread of the mountain pine beetle?
Summer droughts lead to weakened trees.
Warmer winters does not kill enough beetles.
How is/ might climate change impact Canadian wild salmon?
Warmer waters make salmon burn energy faster.
Increase bacterial/ fungal infections.
Die on route due to exhaustion and infection.
Reach spawning grounds but fail to spawn.
What are the impacts of melting permafrost?
Impacts to buildings and transportation built on permafrost.
Releases GHGs.
Describe two positive feedbacks associated with the melting cryosphere.
Global warming –> melts snow and ice –> more sunlight absorbed by ice free land –> more warming
Global warming –> melts permafrost –> releases GHGs –> more warming
Describe a human intervention strategy that might help natural ecosystems (or organisms) adapt to climate change.
Migration corridors.
Refugias.
Riparian woodlands to shade streams.
Assisted migration of plants and animals.
Albatross artificial nests.
Describe some strategies to mitigate heat waves.
Cool roofs (white).
Green roofs.
Cooling centres.
Describe a strategy that might help agriculture adapts to climate change.
GM crops
Water use efficiency (rainwater harvesting, drip irrigation).
Better forecasting methods.
What are two broad strategies associated with demand-side climate change mitigation?
Improve energy efficiency.
Energy conservation.
Explain the energy efficiency dilemma.
As energy increases efficiency there is a tendency to use more frequently leading to higher usage.
Is counting food miles an effective way to reduce GHG emissions? Why or why not?
No they are a partial indicator of environmental impacts.
Ignore how food is transported (ship vs. air).
Give two ways we can reduce GHG emissions from food.
Limiting food waste.
Purchasing local food.
Agricultural improvements.
Eating less meat.
When you electrify energy supplies, what are the two reasons demand goes down?
No need for mining, processing and transporting fossil fuels.
Much less heat loss with electricity compared to combustion.
What is a main challenge associated with electrification of energy supplies?
Regions of production are not near areas of requirement. Need large infrastructure to bring energy to areas of demand.
Give some examples of supply side mitigation.
Renewable energies.
Solar, wind, hydroelectric, etc.
What are the three types of solar energy?
Solar electric (photovoltaics)
Solar thermal (hot water)
Passive solar (solar heat).
What are the two types of geothermal energy?
Geothermal power station.
Geothermal heat pump.
What are some of the challenges associated with low carbon energy sources?
Cost/ infrastructure
Variable output (wind and solar)
Potential environmental impacts.
Conflict over land use.
Nimbyism
What are two co-benefits of low carbon energy sources?
Less polluting.
Safer.
