Climate - Chp. 3 Climate Change and Biomes

Question 1

What are the four main greenhouse gases

Answer 1

water vapour, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide

Question 2

What is the difference between the natural and enhanced greenhouse effect

Answer 2

Natural:
- absorption and re-radiation of energy by atmospheric gases (mainly water vapour)

Enhanced
- change of earth’s net radiation budget from increase in human-generated greenhouse gases (CO2(g), CH4(g), N2O(g), CFCs, and tropospheric ozone
- absorption of outgoing radiation results in increase in surface temps

Question 3

What are some examples of actions that increase greenhouse gas emissions

Answer 3

• production/consumption of fossil fuels
• use of fertilizers
• raising cattle

Question 4

What is the difference between a carbon source and sink

Answer 4

Source - any process that released carbon into the atmosphere

Sink - reduces carbon from atmosphere

Question 5

What is the IPCC

Answer 5

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

Question 6

What is the difference between anecdotal and scientific evidence for climate change

Answer 6

Anecdotal - longer growing seasons, decreased ice thickness, changing fish populations, changing animals migration patterns

Scientific - ice core sample. tree rings, ocean temperatures, glacier size, rising sea levels

Question 7

What are some impacts of climate change

Answer 7

• Climate affects human population size, economic opportunities, and food sources in a given area.
• Increase in severe weather such as floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, thunderstorms, drought, and wildfire.
• Changing climate may result in changing biomes, affecting the habitats and food sources of living organisms that are adapted to the particular climate that they live in.
• The melting of polar ice is causing sea levels to rise.
• Decreased ice cover reduces the albedo of the Earth’s surface, resulting in further warming.

Question 8

What is the Montreal Protocol

Answer 8

• international agreement to phase out the production and use of CFCs
• first international agreement concerning Earth’s atmosphere
• Signed in 1987 by 182 nations, including Canada.
• CFCs react with the ozone in the atmosphere, converting it to oxygen, resulting in thinning of the ozone layer
• Loss of ozone results in more ultraviolet radiation reaching the surface of Earth, resulting in increased global temperatures and human exposure to ultraviolet radiation.
• The Montreal Protocol specifies that nations ban use of CFCs and replace them with hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) that destroy ozone much more slowly.

Question 9

What is the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)

Answer 9

• agreement by the world’s nations to act to stabilize greenhouse gas emissions caused by human activity
• The UNFCCC marked the first time the world community acknowledged that human activities could cause climate change.
• The nations that signed the UNFCCC also agreed that any actions taken to stabilize greenhouse gas emissions must not threaten global food production or the economic interests of any nation, and must support sustainable development.

Question 10

What is the Kyoto Protocol

Answer 10

• international treaty which extends the 1992 UNFCCC that commits state parties to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, based on the scientific consensus that global warming is occurring and it is extremely likely that human-made CO2 emissions have predominantly caused it.
• There are currently 192 parties to the protocol – Canada withdrew in 2012.
• The Kyoto Protocol involves a process of signing the treaty, followed by ratification or acceptance by the voters of each country.
• Many countries signed the treaty but have yet to ratify it, or have withdrawn from it due to economic reasons.

Question 11

What are Emission-reduction credits (ERC)

Answer 11

• credits given to a country for actions that contribute to the global reduction of greenhouse gas emissions

Given when:
- when a developed country helps a developing country to reduce its emissions;
- when a developed country helps another developed country that has a temporary economic problem to reduce its emissions: for example, developed countries recovering from a major war or natural disaster might qualify;
- when a country engages in practices that help to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, such as planting trees to reforest a logged area.

Question 12

Are biomes open or closed systems

Answer 12

open, both matter and energy are exchanged with the surroundings