climate change UK and Bangladesh case study

Question 1

how much money did the thames barrier cost

Answer 1

20 billion

Question 2

how long did it take to construct the thames barrier

Answer 2

8 years

Question 3

how much is the UK climate expected to rise in the next 50 years

Answer 3

2-4*C

Question 4

why is london vulnerable to extreme heat and flooding

Answer 4

the urban heat island effect
- tarmac being a darker surface so absorbs more heat - + more combustion due to denser population

Question 5

the flood risk of bangladesh

Answer 5

60% of the country lies 10m above sea level
+ based in the trops so more frequency of cyclones

Question 6

how many homes have been constructed along the thames

Answer 6

100,000 homes

Question 7

how much carbon does the average UK person emit

Answer 7

10 tonnes of C per hectare

Question 8

why is the thames barrier adaptation stratagey innefective in the long term

Answer 8

shifts storm surges to bridge water so doesnt avoid impacts on country - just city
sea levels will continue to rise and will soon overcome the barrier - too costly to repair it or build a new one

Question 9

when was the thames barrier constructed

Answer 9

1981

Question 10

what is NIMBYS’m

Answer 10

not in my back yard syndrome
1/3 UK citazens reject having a small scale wind farm in their back yard to increase uses of renewable energy.

Question 11

when did london experience its heatwave

Answer 11

2003

Question 12

what does the IPCC predict about temp rise by the end of the century in bangladesh

Answer 12

4C rise in temp - needs to keep to 2C or lower

Question 13

how much does the average indian citazen emit

Answer 13

0.96 tonnes of C per hectare

Question 14

why does bangladesh only adapt and not mitigate

Answer 14

they do not have enough money
adaptation stratagies are not effective enough to reducd the impacts of climate change:
salt tollerent rice crops
residing on boats to avoud floods
pump rain water into aquifers

Question 15

what are the two major climate change funds directed at mitigation in bangladesh

Answer 15

by the world bank - half a million £

Question 16

how much has the UK recieved in funding for mitigation and when

Answer 16

£4 billion from the EU bank after the ckimate change act of 2008

Question 17

what are the limitations to success of international agreements?

Answer 17

• diffucult to establish if not every gov is stable and strong
• expensive
• liklihood of economic recession if the price of fossil feuls rise (cost of living)
• COP meeting are considered clever PR and creative advertising

Question 18

what were the failures of the kyoto protocol

Answer 18

1997 - many countries failed to ratify the agreement
becuase of economic interdependecny of each country
some emmissions rose rather than fell

Question 19

what were the failures of the copenhagen 2009 meeting

Answer 19

did not address concerns of erosion of sovreignty if agreed to the act
no quantative target for emissions reduction
no implications from developed world helping the developing world financially

Question 20

failures of the paris agreement 2015

Answer 20

global banks invested £1.9 billion into fossil feuls
too expensive for some countries
a consequential recession may cause CC to slip down the econ. agenda
attempting to rplace fossil feuls with renewable enrgy is too optimistic

Question 21

failures of cop26 in glasgow

Answer 21

some countries infer that they wont be reducing carbon emissions by 2040 or later
no progress in CC finance for developing world
developing countries need £70 billion per year for adaptation alone - and this will double by 2030

Question 22

failures of cop27 in egypt - sharm el sheikh

Answer 22

• not take seriously
• suspected human rights violation
• rate of CC is exceeding rates of action taken to ammend it