Component 2 - Environmental and Development Issues Flashcards
1
Q
What do we mean by glaicals?
A
Cold periods in the earth’s history when glaciers (Ice) have advanced (got bigger/larger)
2
Q
What are interglacials?
A
Warmer periods in the earth’s history when glaciers have retreated (gone backwards) and ice sheets have decreased in size.
3
Q
What period are we currently in?
A
Interglacial period
4
Q
What has the interglacial period been dominated by?
A
Cold climates and ice shaping the land
5
Q
The warmer and cooler periods experienced on earth according to Milankovic are caused by the combination of two things. What are they?
A
1) Shape of the earth’s orbit around the sun (Circular orbits result in glacials)
2) Tilt of the earth’s axis (The natural wobble of the Earth as it moves around the sun. This affects the tilt of the Earth and the amount of energy it receives by the sun. The greater the angle of the tilt the hotter the summers and the colder the winters are)
6
Q
What is one other natural cause of climate change?
A
Volcanic eruptions
7
Q
Give 2 examples of greenhouse gasses
A
Methane and carbon dioxide
8
Q
What is short wave energy?
A
Light from the sun
9
Q
What is long wave energy?
A
Heat from the sun
10
Q
Carbon is one of the most common elements in the environment. Where do we find it?
A
- All organic substances i.e. all living things,
- Simple compounds such as CO₂ which exists as a gas in the atmosphere and is dissolved in the oceans.
- Complex compounds such for example hydrocarbons found is fossil fuels such as oil, coal and gas.
11
Q
What is a carbon sink?
A
Places where carbon is stored over very long periods of time.
12
Q
Carbon is transferred from one part of the environment to another in a cycle known as what?
A
The carbon cycle
13
Q
What is the keeling curve?
A
Graph that shows the rise of CO₂ in the atmosphere
14
Q
What evidence is there of climate change?
A
- Ice cores
- Tree rings
15
Q
The global circulation is a worldwide system of winds which transports heat from the tropical to polar ______
A
Latitude
16
Q
At the equator ______ heats the Earth which in turn heats up the air above.
A
Insolation
17
Q
Hot air rises, creating ______ pressure.
A
Low pressure
18
Q
When the air reaches the ______ it cannot go any further and travels north and south.
A
Tropopause
19
Q
This air becomes colder and heavier, and at around 30 degrees north and south it falls creating ______ pressure.
A
High pressure
20
Q
Air from the north and south then returns to the equator and meets an area known as ______.
A
ITCZ (Intertropical Convergence Zone)
21
Q
A large circulation of air is thus created, known as the ______ cell.
A
Hadley
22
Q
Air rises again at around 60 degrees north and south and descends again around 90 degrees north and south, creating a further two less distinct cells: The ___(1)___ cell and the ___(2)___ cell.
A
1) Ferrel
2) Polar
23
Q
How is low pressure formed?
A
Air warms and rises, leading to low pressure at the surface
24
Q
When do tropical storms occur in the Northern Hemisphere?
A
Between June and November - it peaks in September
25
When do tropical storms occur in the Southern Hemisphere?
Between November and April
26
What are hurricanes also called?
Typhoons and cyclones
27
What does the sea's temperature have to be for a cyclone to form?
27°C
28
How are towering clouds and torrential rain formed?
The warm sea water heats the air above it, causing it to rise, creating an area of very low pressure in the atmosphere
29
As the air moves towards the centre of the low pressure it spirals upwards into the atmosphere. This is due to the Earth’s rotation - what is this called?
The Coriolis Effect
30
Cyclone Pam hit the island chain of _____(1)______ in ________(2)__________
1) Vanuatu in the South Pacific
| 2) 13th March 2015
31
What category was Cyclone Pam?
5
32
Give 6 impacts of Cyclone Pam
1) 11 people died
2) 90000 people were made homeless
3) 80% of subsistence crops were flattened
4) Coastal areas were flooded due to the storm surge
5) Freshwater wells were contaminated
6) Winds over 250 kmph destroyed schools and hospitals
33
Give 6 responses to Cyclone Pam
1) Emergency aid was sent by Australia, Fiji, France, New Zealand and the UK
2) Repairs provided safe drinking water
3) Blankets distributed to the homeless
4) 153 temporary schools were set up
5) Foreign medical teams sent
6) 19000 children vaccinated against measles
34
The monsoon rains occur each year across South Asia. They are formed as ______
The ITCZ moves northwards across India
35
How does South Africa have its monsoon season?
1) The ground is strongly heated by solar energy
2) The air rises, creating a zone of low pressure
3) The moist air from above the Indian Ocean is drawn into the area of low pressure
4) The moisture condenses, forming towering clouds
36
Give 4 impacts of the 2015 flash floods in South Asia caused by the monsoon season.
1) Impermeable tarmac and concrete fast runoff causing flash floods
2) Storm drains cannot cope so sewage and rainwater floods the streets
3) More than 120 people drowned in India
4) People lost their homes, people temporarily lost their homes
37
What is the definition for a 'heatwave'?
An extended period of hot weather relative to the expected conditions at that time of year.
38
What is the definition for 'drought'?
A lack of precipitation in an area for a long period of time, often several months or years.
39
What is high pressure?
When cool air sinks
40
What are droughts the result of?
- A lack of rainfall
- An environment that is poor at storing and retaining water
- Hot weather which increases evaporation of water
41
What caused the drought in California?
1) 3 Years of significantly less rainfall
2) Lower winter rainfall due to the position of the jet stream (strong ribbon of wind that circles the globe they seperate cold polar air masses to the north and the warmer tropical air masses to the south)
3) Dry air to the west of California that didn’t move or break up
4) Low air pressure and cold air from Canada was dragged down into the central and eastern areas of the USA missing California.
42
What were the social, environmental and economic impacts of the drought in California?
1) 17,000 agricultural (farming) jobs were lost
2) Crop failure therefore food prices rose by 6%, Salmon and Trout died as the water had less oxygen in it due to the heat and falling levels of water
3) Most Hydroelectric Power (HEP) dams stopped producing electricity
4) Groundwater supplies were not recharged
5) Wildfires increased by 36%
43
How did California respond to the drought?
1) Water restrictions (no watering of gardens and washing cars)
2) Low water technologies
3) Reduction in amount of electricity produced via HEP
4) Investment in desalination plants that remove salt from seawater
5) Farmers began to grow crops that do not need so much water
44
What is the definition of 'precipitation'?
Any form of water falling from the sky
45
What type of climate does the UK have?
Temperate maritime climate
46
What are the characteristics of the climate type that the UK has?
- Absence of extreme climate conditions
- Mild winter temperatures
- Warm summers
- Frequent but not extreme rainfall
47
What direction is the prevailing wind of the UK?
South West
48
What 4 factors affect the climate in the UK?
Latitude
Altitude
Aspect
Ocean currents
49
What are maritime air masses?
Air masses that have come across the sea
50
What are continental air masses?
Air masses that have come across land
51
Polar maritime air mass comes from the North West of the UK - what weather does it bring?
Cool and showery
52
Tropical maritime air mass comes from the South West of the UK - what weather does it bring?
Mild and wet weather
53
Tropical continental air mass comes from the South East of the UK - what weather does it bring?
Hot and dry weather
54
Polar continental air mass comes from the east of the UK - what weather does it bring?
Hot in summer and cold in winter
55
Arctic maritime comes from the North East of the UK - what weather does it bring?
Very cold conditions and snow
56
What is the North Atlantic Drift/The Gulf Stream?
An ocean current which stretches from the Gulf of Mexico to NW Europe
57
What are air masses?
Large volumes of air with the same temperature and humidity throughout
58
What is a front?
The boundary where two air masses meet
59
What does ITCZ stand for?
Intertropical Convergence Zone
60
Is the ITCZ position on earth lower or higher in July?
Higher
61
Does low pressure or high pressure create cyclones?
Low pressure
62
What temperature does the sea need to be to allow the formation of a cyclone?
27°C
63
What does the Coriolis force do to winds?
Makes them rotate
64
Cyclone Pam hit what country?
Vanuatu
65
Does low pressure or high pressure create monsoons?
Low pressure
66
What country is our named example for monsoons?
India
67
Does low pressure or high pressure create droughts?
High pressure
68
What is the difference between the word heatwave and drought?
- Heatwave is unusual weather for that time of year
| - Drought is a long period of time that has had little precipitation.
69
What are the two key impacts of heatwaves and drought in California
- Lack of water
| - Wildfires
70
What do we mean by maritime?
Conditions of land close to the sea
71
What five factors affect the UK climate?
1) Latitude
2) Aspect
3) Altitude
4) Ocean currents
5) Jet stream
72
What is a depression?
Low pressure air system
73
What is an anticyclone?
High pressure system
74
What is the term used to explain why it is hotter in urban areas than it is in rural areas?
Urban Heat Island Effect
75
What are the four reasons why it is hotter in urban areas than in rural areas?
1) Dark surfaces (eg. tarmac) absorb solar energy
2) Pollutants hold onto heat
3) Lack of evapouration - less plants
4) Large buildings stopping / reducing / changing the flow of wind, therefore heat is not dispersed
76
What is the definition for 'ecosystem'?
The links between plants, animal and non-living things around them such as rocks, soil, water and climate
77
What is a biome?
A large-scale ecosystem where climate, vegetation and soil are broadly the same within the area
78
Why is rainfall significant in the distribution of all biomes?
Different biomes have different patterns and amounts of rainfall therefore it creates their differences. E.g. a place that has less than 25 cm of rain per year is described as a desert
79
Why is temperature significant in the distribution of all biomes?
Latitude (How far north or south you are on the earth) and Altitude (How high) if rainfall is reliable can create distinctive ecosysteme e.g. Mountains have very distinctive ecosystems as they temperature falls by 1 degrees C for every 200m of altitude.
80
What other three factors are important in the distribution of biomes?
1) Relief
2) Geology
3) Soils
81
What are the living parts of an ecosystem called?
Biotic
82
What are the non-living parts of an ecosystem called?
Abiotic
83
What is the definition for 'succession'?
The development of ecosystem over time
84
What is a food chain?
The connections between different plants and animals that rely on each other as their source of food
85
What is a food web?
The linking of lots of food chains together
86
Ecosystems are carbon stores. Where is this carbon stored?
- Trees
- Plants
- Animals
- Leaf litter
- Fallen trees
- Decaying wood
- Insects
87
The amount of carbon stored and where is influenced by the climate - why?
Climate affects the rates at which plants grow
88
What are nutrient flows?
The movement of minerals from one store to another
89
Why does the number of living organisms decrease at each stage of the food chain?
Energy is lost - it's used up in transpiration, movement and breathing
90
What is the definition of 'key services'?
The way in which ecosystems provide benefits for people
91
Give 5 key services that ecosystems provide
1) Maintaining a steady supply of clean water to rivers
2) Prevents soil erosion
3) Reduces the risk of river floods
4) Providing natural materials
5) Providing natural materials for building or for medicine
6) Providing foodstuffs, like honey fruit and nuts
7) Huge stores of carbon dioxide, helping to regulate the greenhouse effect
92
Where are tropical rainforests found?
Along the equator
93
80% of the rainforests nutrients come from trees and plants, only 20% of the nutrients are stored in soil. Why is this?
Rapid decomposition due to heat this is easily absorbed by plants, The nutrients are in high demand from the fast-growing plants so they stay near the soils surface, Consumers eat plants when the consumer dies the nutrients are returned to the soil by decomposers so are recycled quickly
94
Where is most of the rainfall intercepted in the rainforest?
Canopy
95
How does convectional rainfall happen in the rainforest?
Hot rainforest temperatures causes water to evaporate into the atmosphere and together with transpiration mix to form clouds
96
What is the rainforest a good source of?
Water
97
GIve a named example of a river in a tropical rainforest
The Amazon rainforest
98
If the rainforest water cycle were to be broken, why would water supply to people be at risk?
Water flowing into the rivers would be more uneven ad convectional rainfall would be reduced
99
Do rainforests store more or less carbon than other ecosystems?
More
100
Are the soils of the rainforests important stores of carbon?
Yes
101
When rainforests are cleared what happens to the carbon?
It is lost in the atmosphere
102
Give 5 reasons why the rainforest is being destroyed in the Amazon
1) Monoculture (large-scale farming)
2) Subsistence farmers using 'slash and burn' and then moving on once nutrients have gone
3) Iron ore mining
4) Roads and railways
5) Logging
6) Hydroelectric dams
103
Give 3 positive impacts of deforestation in the Amazon
1) Brazil has become richer
2) Long-term jobs in farming and logging
3) Multiplier effect as other industries have moved to the area
104
Give 3 negative impacts of deforestation in the Amazon
1) Native Indians have lost their homes
2) Habitat loss and extinction
3) Changes in climate - interception and transpiration are reduced and more evaporation means a dryer climate
4) Broken nutrient cycle causing soil to be washed away and never recovers, so plants and wildlife are reduced
105
What does the word sustainable mean?
Meeting the needs of the current generation without compromising the need of the future generations
106
Give 5 ways the rainforest can be managed sustainably
1) Slash and burn of the Savannah trees and bushes to make space for farming reduced evapotranspiration
