Fossil Fuel combustion and Carbon Pathways Flashcards
If the sources are equal what is the carbon cycle said to be in?
The carbon cycle is said to be in equilibrium or balanced
What has the process of fossil fuel combustion altered the balance of?
It has altered the balance of carbon pathways
What does IPCC modelling suggest regarding carbon pathways?
.Increased fluxes to the biological store
.Increased soil storage in high latitudes, only limited by nitrogen availability
.Loss of storage in unfreezing permafrost and in the Southern Ocean and North Atlantic because of warming
How could global warming affect the termohaline current ?
By slowing of reversing the North Atlantic drift also called the gulf stream.
-This once happened 20,000 years ago where temperatures dropped
Regarding ecosystems and species what is there now evidence of due to climate change impacts?
Increasing evidence of changes in the distribution and geographical ranges of species, their population size and timings of reproduction and migration
What are Marine organisms threatened by?
They are threatened with progressively lower oxygen levels and high rates and magnitudes of oxygen acidification as well as rising temperatures
What are the two biomes most at risk?
Arctic and Coral ecosystems
How will a shift of subtropical high pressure areas affect water availability?
It will cause a 20 to 30 percent decrease in water available in Mediterranean climate zones
What is predicted with annual precipitation in Northern and Southern Europe?
Annual precipitation projected to increase in Northern Europe and decrease in Southern Europe
What has increased thawing led to regarding Carbon Pathways?
It has accelerated the process of Carbon release and a faster pathway is now emerging
