Climate Change Y8 Flashcards
Longest timescale
Eons
Second longest timescale
Eras
Third longest timescale
Periods
Shortest timescale
Epochs
How are geological timescales decided?
When a big event occurs, and they leave a mark on the earth
Example of why there was a change in period
Asteroid impact making dinosaurs extinct
What is the Anthropocene?
An epoch
What two things must there be for a new epoch?
Must be evidence of a long-term change to the Earth
-must be a mark of this event 
What was hypothesis one of a new epoch?
-The Colombian exchange
Where Christopher Columbus discovered America, he took lots of European species to America and brought one from America back to Europe. This caused an irreversible change to pollen records. Also new diseases were brought over killing many people. Which caused many farmland to grow new forests, which reduced the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, which caused global cooling.?
What was hypothesis two of a new epoch? (Anthropecene)
Atomic weapons testing :
USA drops lots of atomic bombs at the end of World War II over the next two decades. Lots of nuclear weapons are developed the radio material from these tests and the atmosphere spread around the world then fall back to surface which increases radiation worldwide. This radioactive material accumulates in sediment and even in bones. The golden spike for this would be in 1964. 
What is man-made Climate Change called?
Anthropogenic
What is the greenhouse effect?
Short wave radiation from the Sun passes through the Earth atmosphere
-The Earth surface heats up and emits infrared radiation
-some of this radiation is absorbed by greenhouse gases as states in atmosphere, stopping the earth from getting too cool
-Some of this radiation escapes into space, stopping the earth from overheating
What is the enhanced greenhouse effect?
- shortwave radiation from the Sun passes through the earths atmosphere
-Human activity, e.g. burning fossil fuels, creases, the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere
-The Earth surface heats up and emits long wave infrared radiation
-More of the outgoing infrared radiation is absorbed by greenhouse, gases and trapped in the atmosphere
-Less of the outgoing, infrared radiation, escapes and space
What are the main 4 greenhouse gases?
Carbon dioxide, fluoro gases, methane, nitrous oxide
Sources of carbon dioxide
-Burning fossil fuels for electricity and businesses
-Burning fossil fuels to power transport
-Deforestation
Sources of fluoro gases
-manmade gases used in aerosol cans and refrigerators
Sources of methane
-agriculture
-melting permafrost
-cows farts
Sources of nitrous oxide
-agriculture (fertiliser, manufacture and use)
-burning fossil fuels(car engines)
Put in order of strength :
Carbon dioxide
Fluoro gases
Methane
Nitrous oxide
Fluoro gases
Nitrous oxide
Methane
Carbon dioxide
Why do carbon emissions per capita tend to be higher in wealthier countries?
-There’s more money to spend on transport, cars, buses, heating and electricity
How do you workout the range?
Largest number and subtract the smallest number
How do you work out the mean?
Add all the values together, and divide by the total amount of numbers
How do you work out the mode?
Find the value that occurs the most commonly
How do you find out the median?
Write out all the values in the data set from highest to lowest by the value that lies in the middle of the data set
What percentage of Greenhouse gas emissions is carbon dioxide?
75%
What percentage of Greenhouse gas emissions is fluoro gases?
2%
What percentage of Greenhouse gas emissions is methane?
17%
What percentage of Greenhouse gas emissions is nitrous oxide?
6%
How strong is fluoro gases compared to carbon dioxide?
Approximately 10,000 times stronger
How strong is methane compared to carbon dioxide?
30 times stronger
How strong is nitrous oxide compared to carbon dioxide?
600 times stronger
What country produces the most emissions, how many millions of tonnes per year and what percentage of worldwide emissions?
China producing, 11680 tonnes a year and a percentage of 32% worldwide
What country produces the second highest emissions, how many millions of tonnes and what percentage of worldwide emissions?
USA producing, 4535 tonnes a year and a percentage of 13% worldwide
What country produces the third highest emissions, how many millions of tonnes and what percentage of worldwide emissions?
India producing, 2412 tonnes a year and a percentage of 7% worldwide
What country produces the fourth highest emissions, how many millions of tonnes and what percentage of worldwide emissions?
Russia producing, 1674 tonnes a year and a percentage of 5% worldwide
What country produces the fifth highest emissions, how many millions of tonnes and what percentage of worldwide emissions?
Japan producing, 1062 tonnes a year and a percentage of 3% worldwide
What is a carbon dioxide levels is measured in?
Parts per million (ppm)
What does ppm tell you?
Tells you for every 1 million molecules of air, how many are carbon dioxide
Where is a good place to measure global carbon dioxide levels?
On a small island away from pollution
What were the carbon dioxide levels in 1800(pre-industrial)?
280ppm
What year did scientists start measuring carbon dioxide levels? 
1958
What were the carbon dioxide levels in 1958?
310ppm
What were the carbon dioxide levels in 2020?
410
How many parts per million have carbon dioxide levels increased since 1800? And what percentage is this?
130ppm or 50%
Drought
Climate change has seen rainfall become work extreme- the wet events are getting wetter but many of the dry places are also getting drier. Periods of drought have become more frequent and more intense.
Extreme Heat
Record-breaking temperatures have been seen on the regular basis the century. 2022 was the U.K.’s hottest year ever and saw the first day in which the temperature of 40° was recorded in the country.. worldwide the 10 warmest years have all occurred since 2000
Positive feedback loop
When something happens and in doing so causes itself to happen again more intense sometimes called a vicious cycle or snowball effect.
Ice
Polar ice caps and sea ice is shrinking and thinning-the Greenland ice sheet has shrunk for 25 consecutive years. in the Alps and other mountainous regions glaciers are in retreat as ice melts at a faster rate than it can be replaced. 
Oceans
Sea level has risen by 10 cm since 1993 due to melting ice caps and thermal expansion of water molecules(warm water occupies a greater volume and cold water). Sea levels rise low communities such as the car Carteret Islands are threatened with submergence.
Storms
Climate change has seen an increase in the frequency and intensity of storm events leading to record breaking flooding in Germany 2021 and Pakistan 2022. There have been a number of intense tropical cyclone seasons in recent years as warmer.
Wildlife and Ecosystems
Warmer ocean temperatures can kill coral leading the bleaching of reef ecosystems. Polar plants are declining in number because the sea on which they hunt is disappearing.. in the UK warmer waters are causing a decline in the number of cold loving white dolphins and wet springs are decreasing survival chances of capercaillie chicks. As some species migrate polewards they bring people into contact with new diseases. Extreme heat has caused an increase in the frequency and intensity of forest fires.
Example of a positive feedback loop
Melting permafrost in the Arctic tundra is releasing huge quantities of methane. As this is a powerful greenhouse gas it is causing even more warming which results in more permafrost melting and more methane release.. as Arctic snow and I melt and why surfaces are replaced the dark ones the albedo (the percentage of sunlight reflected into space) decreases. With more solar energy absorbed the earth warms up even more 
What is a footprint?
The total impact something has
Carbon footprint definition
The best estimate we can get of the full climate change impact of something.
Carbon Footprint (CO2e) definition
Total climate change impact of all the greenhouse gases caused by an item organisation person or activity(expressed in terms of the amount of carbon dioxide that would have the equivalent impact over 100 years)
How to reduce carbon footprint-food
Don’t eat meat and every meal as meat increases your carbon footprint
How to reduce carbon footprint-travel
Try not to use car as much-walk to shops closer to home or use public transport
How to reduce carbon footprint-home
Lower heating in the winter and instead wear more layers
How to reduce carbon footprint-stuff
Buy secondhand or longer lasting clothes do not buy fast fashion
What is net zero emissions?
Means when a country reduces emissions and takes as many greenhouse gases out of the atmosphere as it puts in.
Where is the government? Are trying to help the climate change?
-The government wants 52% of cars to be electric.
-The government plans to reduce emissions from industry by 2/3rds by 2035 enabling by a switch to hydrogen but the technology is development
- the government has an idea to install 60000000 heat pumps a year by 2028 to replace gas boilers.
-in 2021 the government set a target for all of U.K.’s electricity to come from clean sources by 2035
- The government have said no new petrol and diesel cars will be sold from 2030
What is permafrost and what are the effects of it melting?
Melton permafrost in the Arctic tundra is releasing huge quantities of methane. As this is a powerful greenhouse gas it is causing even more warming which results in more power frost melting and more meat being released.
