Climate Change Revision

Question 1

Physical factors which cause climate change/ global warming

Answer 1

Variations in the amount of Solar energy
Volcanic Eruptions
Changes in Ocean Currents
MilanKovitch Cycle

Question 2

Variations in the amount of solar energy

Answer 2

Variations in the amount of Solar Energy emitted through sunspot activity affects temperature. (1) High sunspot activity can lead to a slight increase in global temperatures. (1)

Question 3

Volcanic Eruptions

Answer 3

Gas,Ash and dust thrown into the atmosphere from volcanic eruptions can block incoming solar insolation and so reduces temperatures. (1) Eg. When Mount Pinatubo erupted in 1991 global temperatures fell in the following years. (1)

Question 4

Changes in Ocean Current

Answer 4

Changes in ocean current can affect temperature. Eg El nino/la nina (1) - El nino is associated with warmer temperatures.

Question 5

Milankovitch Cycle

Answer 5

Milankovitch cycles affect temperature as the shape of the Earth’s Orbit changes between a more circular and a more elliptical orbit, causing variations in temperature as the Earth’s distance from the Sun varies . (1) The changing angle of tilt of Earth’s axis also affects temperature. (1)

Question 6

Human Factors which cause Climate Change/ Global Warming

Answer 6

Enhanced Greenhouse effect
CFC’s
Nitrous Oxides
Methane from animals

Question 7

Enhanced Greenhouse effect

Answer 7

Human activity causes global warming as it leads to an enhanced greenhouse effect. This means excess heat is trapped in the Earth’s Atmosphere which increases global temperatures. (1)

Question 8

Increase in Greenhouse gases

Answer 8

Human activity causes an increase in greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide due to the burning of fossil fuels including coal,oil and natural gas (1). Power stations/plants and road transport are also responsible for emitting CO2 (1) .

Question 9

CFC’s

Answer 9

Humans increase in CFC’s from refrigerators, polystyrene packaging and air conditioning systems (1).

Question 10

Nitrous Oxides

Answer 10

Increase in Nitrous Oxides from car exhausts and power stations also leads to climate change. (1) Fertilisers and pesticides sprayed on crops also add nitrous oxides into the atmosphere, trapping heat. (1)

Question 11

Methane from Animals

Answer 11

Increase in methane from animal dung, belching cows and rice paddies contributes towards global warming (1)
Landfill sites are another source of Methane being released into the atmosphere. (1)

Question 12

Impacts of Climate Change

Answer 12

Rising Sea Levels
Flooding through rivers
Transportation Routes
Mineral Exploitation

Question 13

Rising Sea Levels

Answer 13

Warmer temperatures are causing ice caps and glaciers to melt in places like Greenland and Antarctica, which is causing sea levels to rise.
Low-lying coastal areas, e.g. Bangladesh may be affected by severe flooding with large-scale displacement of people and loss of land for farming and destruction of property.
Many low lying island could be completely submerged. e.g. Tuvalu

Question 14

Flooding Through Rivers

Answer 14

Areas Further inland, such as Yorkshire and Peterborough are also at greater risk of flooding as river levels rise due to rising sea levels.

Question 15

Transportation Routes

Answer 15

Melting of sea ice could open up new transportation routes e.g. NW Passage in the Artcic Ocean allowing trade to take place in previously ice bound coastal settlements

Question 16

Mineral Exploitation

Answer 16

Potential for further mineral exploitation in the Arctic Ocean e.g. Oil extraction. This would be economically beneficial but could lead to environmental problems such as oil spills.

Question 17

Effects of changing rainfall and temperature patterns

Answer 17

Growing seasons
Forest fires
Malaria
Ocean Current

Question 18

Growing Seasons

Answer 18

Longer growing seasons in many areas in Northern Europe including the UK for example, increasing food production and range of crops being grown

Question 19

Forest fires

Answer 19

Increased Risk of forest fires, for example in Australia and California due to an Increase in temperatures and a decrease in rainfall which dries out the land meaning fire spread quicker and burn longer

Question 20

Malaria

Answer 20

Due to increasing temperatures more places and people will be at risk from Malaria. In Africa alone, up to 40 million more people could be exposed to the risk of contracting malaria.

Question 21

Ocean currents

Answer 21

Climate change may make the effects of El Nino and La nina stronger or more widespread affecting global rainfall and temperature patterns e.g. warmer waters off the coast of Peru has a major impact on fishing communities.

Question 22

Strategies to reduce global warming

Answer 22

Households using less energy 
Congestion Charges
Banned the sale of Petrol or Diesel cars
Greener Energy options
International agreements.
Flood Defences
Hose-pipe ban 
Desalination plants

Question 23

Households using less energy

Answer 23

Households encouraged to use less energy by insulating lofts, switching lights off and using more energy efficient appliances.
Recent studies have shown household energy consumption in the UK has decreased in recent years. However two-thirds of UK homes do not meet energy efficiency targets

Question 24

Congestion Charges

Answer 24

Cities like London have introduced a congestion charge to try to reduce vehicle emissions.
Pollution levels have fallen but many people still just pay the congestion charge and continue driving in the city centre.

Question 25

Banned the sale of new petrol or diesel cars

Answer 25

The UK and Scottish government has banned the sale of any new petrol or diesel cars by 2030.
There are concerns that the country will not have enough electric car charging points to cope with the huge increase in electric cars.

Question 26

Greener sources of Energy

Answer 26

Countries should switch from fossil fuels to alternative, greener source of energy, such as wind and solar power. Scotland set a target of producing 100% of its electricity from renewable energy sourced by 2045.
According to the Scottish government, 62% of all electricity generated was from renewables and 88% was from low carbon sources in the years 2019-2020.

Question 27

International Agreements

Answer 27

Countries have come together to make international agreements on reducing their greenhouse gas emissions. E.g. the Paris Agreement (2015) .
In 2020 the USA pulled out of the Paris Agreement and it is one of the World’s Biggest emitters of Greenhouse gases so it is now unlikely the agreement will be a success.

Question 28

Flood defences

Answer 28

Flood defences have been built to manage the local effects of extreme weather. E.g. The Thames barrier has been built to protect central London from flooding. The Thames barrier was very expensive at around half a billion pounds but has successfully protected London from Flooding on numerous occasions.

Question 29

Hose-pipe bans

Answer 29

`In recent years parts of the UK have implemented hose-pipe bans following periods of hot, dry weather. E.g. South England in August.
Hose-pipe bans are very unpopular with the public, very difficult to enforce and not likely to be very successful reducing water use.