EQ3 Flashcards
1
Q
Deforestation
A
- Deforestation occurs due to increase in the demand for food.
- 50% global deforestation occurred for space in soy, palm oil, beef & paper.
- An area of trees the same size as 36 football fields is lost every minute.
- Madagascan hardwood is valuable and can retail for $2000 per tonne.
- Biodiversity of Madagascar threatened due to loss of forest, carbon sink decr.
Afforestation:
- Planting trees
- New York Declaration on Forests targets to restore 350m hectares of forest by 2030.
- EU Afforestation Grant Scheme encourages planting of trees.
2
Q
Carbon credits
A
- Carbon Credits aka Kyoto Protocol reduce carbon emissions, 1997 agreement.
- United Nations IPCC developed this.
- 1 Credit = 1 tonne of CO2 to emit
- A country can earn credits by inv in projects that reduce carbon emissions
- Countries can also buy credits & plant trees
3
Q
Converting grassland for farming
A
- From 2007-2015 the demand for biofuel grew in USA
- This made farmers grow corn, soya, canola and sugar cane
- This increased ethanol in petrol and help rural economies, reduce dependence overseas.
Adv natural grassland:
- Trap & hold water
- Maintain healthy soils preventing erosion
- Terrestrial carbon store = carbon sink
Disadv of converting natural grassland:
- Releases CO2 into atmosphere
- Biofuels uses fertilisers & pesticides
- Demand high amount of water for growth
- Erosion, natural habitats damaged
4
Q
Ocean acidification
A
- More CO2 in atmosphere means ocean absorbs it and increases in acidity
- Acidity reduces minerals which makes ecosystem productivity decline
- Affects marine organisms
- Acidity incr means corals can’t absorb calcium carbonate so reefs dissolve
- Coral is colourful due to algae in it but warmer water means algae expels
- This is coral bleaching = white corals
- pH dropping destroys corals and 25% ocean species lose shelter + protection
5
Q
Kuznet’s curve
A
- Environmental degradation on y axis
- GDP per income on x axis
- Upwards curve, optimum then decline
- Pre industrial, industrial and post industrial.
6
Q
Effects to Arctic 🌍
A
Climate effects:
- Temps increasing 3x faster than planet
- Upto 60% more precipitation in future
- Sea ice melting potentially gone by 2037
Loss of Arctic albedo:
- As ice melts in Arctic, less sunlight is reflected & more is absorbed by darker sea water
- Creates a positive feedback loop
- Albedo flip = sunlight reflected by ice is suddenly absorbed
Water cycle effects:
- Warm Atlantic & Pacific waters flowing into Arctic
- Rising air temps, loss of sea ice
- Decr ocean salinity (ratio of salt to water) slowing thermohaline circulation
Carbon cycle effects:
- Emissions from thawing permafrost
- More emissions from forest fires as forests dry out e.g Boreal
Effects to residents:
- Collapse of buildings
- Increase in food insecurity
- Lack of freshwater availability
7
Q
Temps rising & uncertainties
A
Temps rise:
- Existing patterns intensify
- Warmer places increase in rainfall
- Evaporation increases in drier areas
- Wet places wetter, dry places get drier
Uncertainties:
- Research shown in 20th century, rainfall not as affected by climate change as thought
- Climate models based on historical sources, tree ring data showed variation across centuries
Subtropical waters:
- Highly saline as evaporation > rainfall
- Seawater at high latitudes & tropics less saline due to more rainfall
- Atlantic = saltiest ocean basin loses more freshwater through evaporation than it gains from precipitation = saltier
- Pacific = neutral = more freshwater
- Southern ocean = dominated by precipitation = more freshwater
8
Q
Why is future climate change uncertain
A
Physical factors:
- Oceans & forests acts as carbon sinks & store heat & energy
- Oceans take long to respond to atmospheric changes so they’ll still affect the global climate for a long time
- Forest cover increasing = better carbon sink = HIC
Human factors:
- Economic growth not always steady, GFC 2008 reduced emissions
- Renewable energy starting to make more of the energy mix
- Countries embracing green technology
9
Q
Peatland & permafrost
A
Peatlands:
- Peat stored in wetlands (decayed vegetation)
- Stores lots of carbon due to slow breakdown of waterlogged soil
- Warming makes 40% carbon 86% deep peat
- Methane’s emitted
- Takes 1000years for 1m for peat
Permafrost:
- Permafrost layer melts
- CO2 released in air as CO2 + methane
- Increased GHG concentrations
- Increased temps and melting
10
Q
Positive & negative feedback loops
A
Positive feedback loops:
- Temps warm, sea ice cover melts
- Reflective ice disappears
- Ocean waves absorb more solar radiation & heat
- Temps warm, global warming increases
Negative feedback loops:
- Global warming
- Ice melts, more trees planted,
- CO2 absorbed, stops global warming
- Reduces co2 concentrations in atmosphere
- Increase cloud cover due to higher evaporation reflecting more solar energy
- Higher amount of dust in the atmosphere reducing solar radiation
11
Q
Adaptation strategies to cope with a changing climate
A
Water conservation and management (WCM):
- Strategies to manage water as a sustainable resource
- Prevents untreated sewage contamination of freshwater supplies due to less use and pressure on water systems & sewers
- WCM causes issues for agriculture as they compete for limited water supplies
Land use planning & flood management risk:
- Promotes sustainable use of land whilst considering social, eco & env priorities
- Retreating from low lying coasts
- Evacuation routes from flood zones
- Community shelters
- E.g Netherlands 1990s flood risk led to 240k people evacuating
- Netherlands 2006 protected parks, increased storage capacity of lakes
Resilient agricultural systems:
- Uses crop production systems to increase productivity in long term
- Develops drought tolerant species with the use of technology e.g pigeon pea in Maharashtra
- Adv: Increases food security & efficiency
- Disadv: Expensive tech
Solar radiation management:
- Reflection some incoming solar energy back into space so it doesn’t get trapped by gases that produce G.H.E
- Genetic engineering of crops to make leaves shinier
- Could change weather patterns
- High costs
12
Q
Mitigation to rebalance the carbon cycle
A
- Mitigation is the reduction of G.H.G emissions by new tech & efficiency
Carbon taxation:
- Tax encourages people and firms to reduce carbon emissions
- E.g Congestion Charge, ULEZ, Carbon Price Floor in 2013
- Farmers have taxes on fertilisers esp Nitrogen
- Construction sector can be charged carbon taxes to use env friendly materials
Renewable switching:
- Abandons use of fossil fuels in favour of low carbon energy sources
- E.g UK 2020 target was to have 15% energy come from renewable sources
- Achieved in 2024 40.6% renewable energy
Energy Efficiency:
- Tech innovation allows cars to be more energy efficient EV Tesla
- E.g UK expanding Energy Company Obligation to £1bn per year from 2024-2026 helping 133k low income households
- Germany buildings had to reduce consumption of energy by 25%
Carbon Capture Storage:
- CCS captures carbon and stores it underground using tech
- Prevents carbon reaching atmosphere
- E.g Boundary Dam in Canada is the 1 CCS plant aiming to cut emissions by 90%
- Canada expects to reduce GGE by 1mill tonnes per year
Afforestation & Reforestation:
- Afforestation is creating a new forest
- Reforestation replants trees on deforested land
- E.g Green Belt Movement planted 51million trees in Kenya
- Pakistan pledged to plant 600k hectares of forest by 2030
- Adv: restores env, prevents soil erosion & increases carbon sink
13
Q
Global agreements
A
- Kyoto Protocol 1997 agreement to reduce carbon emissions carbon credits
Paris Treaty:
- Paris agreement in 2015 achieve greener env by 2050 195 countries agreed
- Paris agreement keeps global temps below 2.0 degrees celsius and limit GHG emissions
- Checks each countries contribution every 5 years
- Rich countries help poorer countries by climate finance $100bn a year beyond 2020
