climate topic 3 Flashcards
1
Q
What is climate action ?
A
stepped up efforts to combat climate change and its impacts
1. Mitigation strategies
efforts to slow down climate change and prevent impacts from worsening
2. Adaptation strategies
efforts to adjust to impacts of climate change and its effects to reduce harm
2
Q
How is climate change a threat multiplier ?
A
- climate change worsens threats to natural and human systems
eg worsening coral bleaching and poverty in LDCs - contributes to uneven climate related effects
places that are already struggling to manage impacts of climate change will be even more adversely impacted
eg sahel region in africa
already experiencing droughts caused by deforestation
climate change expected to make it even worse
crop production expected to drop by 13% by 2050 -> pushing more people to poverty
3
Q
How does climate change constrain dvlpment paths ?
A
- limits abilities of current and future generations to meet their needs
- erode dvlpment gains by counties eg poverty reduction
- money that could have been put into economic dvlpment and country purposes are instead used to recover from climate change
- esp detrimental to LDCs because their need for dvlpment is the highest and yet is pushed to even more poverty bc of climate change
- limits abilities to make sustainable dvlpment
4
Q
How does climate change affect disadvantaged communities and LDCs more ?
A
- disadvantaged communities
many live without shelter over their head -> more vulnerable for climate risks
many live malnourished and lack food -> unable to to afford rising food prices due to decreasing crop yields
more vulnerable to diseases as they cannot afford medical fees -> weak and less fit for work -> reducing productivity - LDCs
many lack financial ability to put in place measures to go against climate risks
cannot afford sea walls to adapt to rising sea levels and costal flooding
widens gap of inequality btwn LDCs and DCs -> hinders sustainable development dvlpment
5
Q
What are climate risks ?
A
- climate related hazards
shorter term events and longer term events - vulnerability
conditions of people that could increase susceptibility to impacts of hazards - exposure
distance from coastal areas
6
Q
What are some examples of climate related hazards ?
A
- shorter term events (days to weeks)
eg cyclones and floods
more damage to area as it is immediate and people do not have the time to react to them
widespread destruction of property, disruption of human services and loss of lives
eg 2020 cyclones in philippines
Typhoon goni brought strong destructive winds and rainfall that destroyed property and crops - up to 36mil in crop damages
communities had no time to recover before next cyclone - Longer term events
eg droughts, sea level rise (years to form)
people have more time to adapt and prepare for the risk
may remain unnoticed and locals might not take measures to adapt
eg sahel region in africa
although droughts took a long time to form, some risks went unnoticed and people now are suffering from malnourishment and dehydration bc of poverty
poverty expected to increase up too 13% by 2050
7
Q
How do vulnerable conditions influence climate risks ?
A
- poverty
extreme weather events eg floods and droughts may lead to destruction of crops and lower crop yield
lower crop yield leads to increase in food prices which some are unable to afford
food shortages , malnourishment
eg in afghanistan, where poverty is widespread, prolonged and severe drought in 2021 lead to 10 mil people facing a severe food crisis
less healthcare services as unaffordable -> higher susceptibility to diseases
malawi suffering from malaria -> leading cause of death of pregnant women as they are unable to afford healthcare fees - lack of access to piped water
extreme weather events eg cyclones and floods will contaminate water wells
viruses eg cholera will be present
no access to clean water
eg limited access to piped water in das es salaam tanzania
contamination of wells lead to 5000 people being infected with cholera in 2015-2016
8
Q
How does exposure influence climate risks ?
A
- prox to coastal envt
more susceptible to tsunamis, sea level rising
eg in us, island states eg hawaii which are nearer to the sea more likely to be exposed to coastal hazards eg flooding an sea level rise - prox to dry areas
towns located in dry areas more susceptible to droughts
eg Aus the outback is expected to face severe droughts by end of century
9
Q
What are some mitigation strategies for climate risks ?
A
- use of low carbon technologies
- international agreements and cooperations
- use of clean energy sources
- changes in consumption patterns
10
Q
Elaborate on how international agreements and cooperation is a mitigation strategy ?
A
- Developed countries and industries are the main source of greenhouse gas emissions, hence expected to cut down the most
- DCs agreed to support LDCs with funds and technology for climate action
- Countries required to regularly report climate change actions and greenhouse gas emissions
eg in 2015, COP made a legally binding intl treaty that was adopted by 191 parties in paris, france
parties req to set their own targets and measures
11
Q
What are some limitations to international agreements and cooperation ?
A
- institutional
dependent on commitment of parties -> diff priorities of diff countries
eg President donald trump announce din 2017 that USA is withdrawing from Paris agreement as he believes it will undermine USA’s economic dvlpment
not legally biding, refusal to commit cannot be punished by legal actions
12
Q
How is using low carbon technologies a mitigation strategy ?
A
- carbon capture (CC)
carbon is captured and store from power plants and other industrial sources of emission - utilisation and storage (US)
after co2 is captured, co2 is stored for long period of time to prevent it from reaching atmosphere
use of co2 as raw material to produce useful materials which can be sold for profits eg cement
13
Q
What are some limitations of CCUS ?
A
- economic
expensive and requires public funding and subsidies for private research and dvlpment
eg in sg, gvnt announced that 49mil will be set aside to fund the CCUS and test its effectiveness - technological
concerns that carbon might leak out over time
14
Q
How is use of clean energy sources a mitigation strategy ?
A
- solar energy
energy from sun converted to thermal / electrical energy
eg sg wants to increase solar capacity to meet 4% of sg’s total electricity demand by 2030 - hydro electric power
captures energy of moving water in rivers to generate electricity - geothermal energy
energy derived from heat on earth’s crust
hot rocks heat up groundwater into steam
steam harnessed to generate electricity - nuclear
most stable in terms of supply
derived from splitting up of radioactive atoms -> process generates heat
15
Q
What are some limitations of using clean energy sources as a mitigation strategy ?
A
- economic
dvlpment and construction of renewable energy technologies are expensive
depends heavily on gvnt financial support to make renewable energy cost competitive (more people will use it)
eg in indonesia, a solar panel costs arnd 900 usd to make
solar energy only accounts for 1.7% of country’s total electricity in 2019
16
Q
How is changing consumption patterns a mitigation strategy ?
A
- food choices
more veggies reduces agriculture emissions
buy local produce as uses less transportation and less co2 - food waste
dont overbuy
food waste in landfills rot and produce methane, a greenhouse gas
3.use of plastic
refusing single use plastics and opting for reusable daily plastic products - fashion
repair and upcycle old clothing
donate second hand items
fast fashion eg shein, chinese online clothing brand that cells cheap clothes made with poor quality materials for limited time wear so consumers will buy from them more
17
Q
What are some limitations of changing consumption patterns ?
A
- social
takes long time to change people’s mindset and consumption patterns
eg despite availability of drinkable tap water in sg, sgeans consumed more than 467mil bottled water in 2018
bc most people still associate tap water with being unclean
bottled water has become a convenient and cheap option for them - economic
commitment of companies to change materials and resources used in production of goods
however, some companies reluctant to change as it might reduce their proftis
18
Q
What are the mitigation strategies that enhance carbon sinks ?
A
- protection of oceans and forests by managing land use change
- protection of forests through forest regeneration
19
Q
How is protection of forests and oceans through land use change a mitigation strategy ?
A
- land use change account for 10% of global emissions -> deforestation and methane emitted when rearing livestock and cultivating rice
- reduce deforestation by
encourage customers to only buy wood that is certified as sustainable
banning illegal deforestation through stricter laws - restoring mangroves
mangroves are able to absorb four times as much as other tropical forests
filters pollutants in rivers and prevent them from reaching oceans
planting mangrove seedlings along coastal areas
creating optimum conditions for mangrove to grow
20
Q
What are the limitations of protection of forests and oceans through land use planning ?
A
- economic
difficult for LDCs due to competing land use for UDAI
eg in indonesia, despite tightening gvnt regulations
indonesian forests are still being cleared for palm oil, logging and mining
lost more than 100000 hectare of forest covers in 2020
21
Q
How is protection of forests through forest regeneration a mitigation strategy ?
A
- afforestation
planting trees in a new area that prev did not have trees - reforestation
replanting trees in an area that had trees in the past - afforestation should be encouraged as it allows for different species of trees to be grown effectively on the piece of land
22
Q
What are some limitations of regeneration of forests ?
A
- social
large scale reforestation can lead to competing land use for agriculture
less agriculture leads to an increase in food prices which some might be unable to afford -> threatens food security - technological
estimated that large scale tree planting programme could take up to 50-100 years for it to take effect by removing 200bil tonnes of co2 from atmosphere
23
Q
What are some adaptation strategies to build community resilience to climate change ?
A
- structural approaches
- technological approaches
- social approaches
- institutional approaches
24
Q
What are some structural adaptation strategies ?
A
- sea wall
wall constructed along coastal areas to prevent rising sea levels
protects envt and properties from flooding
eg east coast park in singapore -> sea walls to protect coastal line from sea level rise - polders
low lying lands protected by barriers known as dykes
excess water pumped out from polder
protects evnt and people from sea level rise - water storage tanks
infrastructure to store excess storm water during periods of excessive rainfall to slow rate of water rushing into drains
prevents flooding
25
What are some limitations of structural adaptation strategies ?
1. economic
expensive to build these structures strong enough to protect community esp for LDCs
have to be monitored and enhanced regularly to protect community from even higher flood levels due to climate change
eg sea walls are costly to be build in fiji even when local materials are used together with materials from envt
requires alot of manpower -> adds to cost of building
2. social
construction of these structures may involve eviction of informal communities
may resist against eviction as they have nowhere to go
26
How are technological approaches an effective adaptation strategy ?
1. Tech can help produce food to help communities maintain food security despite changing climate conditions
eg singapore’s 30 by 30 plan
aims to increase local food supply to account for 30% of residents’ nutritional needs by 2030
currently, 90% of our food is imported. hence, bulk of food supply is dependent on global food supply, which may be suddenly impacted by climate change
due to constraints in land, gvnt funds high tech farms
2. high tech veg farms -> veg harvested in shorter time as optimum conditions are given
3. high tech egg farms -> can be automated, eggs undergo checks faster
4. high tech fish farms water tanks used to detect any harmful diseases that can be eradicated quickly
27
What are some limitations of technological approaches ?
1. economic
very cosly and may not be possible for LDCs with limited funding
eg sg 40mil used to fund 9 high tech farms that use automaton and Ai to increase food production
28
How are social approaches an effective adaptation strategy ?
1. social strategies -> increasing awareness and educating communities on how to respond to impacts of climate change
2. allows communities to be aware of warning signs of potential climatic hazards and take appropriate steps to protect themselves -> increases community resilience
eg
in sg
public is educated on what to do when flash flood occurs or how to prevent heat stress injuries in high weather
reduces injuries and economic loss
29
How are institutional approaches an effective adaptation strategy ?
1. organising strategies on a national or regional scale
2. allows for larger scale measures to be put into place which might otherwise be impossible if communities acted on their own due to lack of resources
1. national policies
singapore has established organisations and agencies to coordinate climate action
ministry of sustainability and the environment oversees how singapore can be more climate resilient
2. regional policies
asean has put out various adaptation strategies which allows countries to collaboratively develop climate outlooks for the region
countries can make decisions to adapt to climate change
30
What are some limitations of institutional approaches as an adaptation strategy ?
1. Institutional / economic
countries have competing national priorities eg urgent dvlpment projects
may not have the capacity to draw on national budget to finance adaptation projects
