Climate Change Part 2 Flashcards
When and where was CO2 first recorded?
1957 in Mauna Loa Hawaii
Why is there more CO2 in the winter?
Plants are dormant
What is “old sunlight”?
Coal, oil, natural gas (stored underground millions of years ago)
What is “new sunlight”?
Ethanol from corn and sugarcane (stored underground in past few years)
What does black carbon do?
It lowers albedo when it settles
What are 3 sources of black carbon?
Diesel engines, open cook stoves, forest fires
Where is the most black carbon?
LDCs
What is black carbon’s atmospheric lifetime?
One month
What are 3 ways to control the release of black carbon?
Retrofit engines, replacing diesel with natural gas, using more efficient stoves
What happens in thermohaline circulation?
Currents transport warm water from equator to poles and cold water from poles to equator
What are the 2 marine variables that drive thermohaline circulation?
Temperature and salinity
What does AMOC stand for, and what is it?
Atlantic meridional overturning circulation, it’s another word for thermohaline circulation
What are 3 things that are happening to thermohaline circulation?
Tropics are getting more salty, poles are getting less salty, salinity gradient is diminishing
What is a cap and trade?
The government sets a limit on the amount of pollutants an industry can emit, companies can sell permits to emit more or less
What happened at the 2016 Paris climate agreement?
Outlined greenhouse gas emissions, mitigation, and finance starting 2020
What does ENSO stand for?
El Niño southern oscillation
What happens during years that aren’t El Niño years?
Winds push warm water to west pacific (Asia is wet and west americas are dry)
What happens during El Niño years?
Winds smear east and change weather patterns
How often do El Niño years happen?
About every 5 years
What is the effect of climate change on El Niño?
Events are more irregular and stronger
What happens during a La Niña year?
There is unusually cold water in the pacific equator (very rare)
What does IPCC stand for?
Intergovernmental panel on climate change
What does the IPCC do?
Evaluate risks of climate change
By 2100, global temperature will rise by how much?
3-7 degrees F
What are the 4 scenarios of climate change?
1) population
2) use of fossil fuels
3) haves and have nots
4) feedback loops
What are the 10 ways to cool the planet?
1) aerosols (ash/sea spray)
2) sulfate (whitens clouds)
3) cap and trade
4) create emissions tax
5) government regulation
6) change subsidies (make coal expensive and renewable cheap)
7) efficiency/ mileage standards
8) separate politics and science
9) change building design
10) education
What is carbon capture and sequestration, and how does it work?
A way to capture atmospheric carbon at fixed sites, by putting carbon into old mines or using plants to phytoremidiate
What are 2 concerns of CCS?
If the CO2 leaks into water, it makes carbonic acid, the carbon could deteriorate the container its in
What is the stabilization wedge triangle?
A compilation of mitigation strategies that shows ways to decrease the effect of climate change
What are 3 solutions the stabilization wedge suggests?
Mandating vehicle efficiency, improving mass transit networks, building wind farms