geog book 3 chap 3

Question 1

what is climate action?

Answer 1

stepped up efforts to combat climate change and its impact

Question 2

what are mitigation strategies?

Answer 2

efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and enhance carbon sinks, involving changing how societies to produce and use energy and land

place and context specific and thus there is no one size fits all approach

effectiveness vary across places, and may be limited by country’s technological, social, economic and instituitional challenges

Question 3

what are adaptation strategies

Answer 3

efforts to adjust to climate change and its efforts in order to minimise harm to people properties and the environment

place and context specific and thus there is no one size fits all approach

effectiveness vary across places, and may be limited by country’s technological, social, economic and instituitional challenges

Question 4

what does climate action do?

Answer 4

helps build community resilience and achieve sustainable development
when implemented well, communities are better able to resist, absorb, adapt to and recover from the impacts of climate change

Question 5

what are the 4 mitigation strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions?

Answer 5

international agreements and cooperation

use of low carbon technologies

use of clean energy sources

changes in consumption patterns

Question 6

how effective are international agreements and cooperation in reducing greenhouse gas emissions

Answer 6

the UN framework convention on climate change is an international environment treaty addressing climate change

key objective is to stabilise gge by preventing irreversible anthropogenic impacts and provide sufficient time for ecosystems to adapt naturally to climate change

it puts greater responsibilities on develiped countries to lead as they a4e the main source if most past and current greenhouse gas emissions and are expected to cut out the most gge

its funds and technologies are for climate action in developing countries, developed countries are required to provide financial support to them for CA and share technology to m&a to CC

it monitors the progress of CC policies by requiring countries to report their CC policies and gge regularly

Question 7

how may the effectiveness of international agreements and cooperation in reducing greenhouse gas emissions be limited

Answer 7

institutional limitations

implementation of the Convention is dependent on the commitment of the parties to act and countries have different priorities, thus varying commitment

contributions to reduce gge are not legally binding and thus any country that refuses to take action will not have legal action taken against them

Question 8

give an example of the effectiveness of international agreements and cooperation in reducing greenhouse gas emissiond may have institutional limitations

Answer 8

President Donald Trump announced the withdrawal of USA from the Paris Agreement in 2017 as he believes that it will undermine USA’s economy

Question 9

how effective are use of low carbon technologies in reducing greenhouse gas emissions

Answer 9

low carbon technologies emit low levels of greenhouse gases

these are such as carbon capture and utilisation and storage of carbon

Question 10

what is carbon capture

Answer 10

process of separating and capturing CO2 from power plants and other industrial sources of emissions

Question 11

what is the utilisation and storage of carbon

Answer 11

after CO2 is captured it is stored for a long period of time to prevent it from reaching the atmosphere

it is stored in oceans

co2 is used as a raw material to produce useful materials
products created can be sold for profit
cement can be made from stored co2

Question 12

what are the limitations of using low carbon technologies

Answer 12

economic:
expensive and requires public funding and subsidies for private research and development

technological:
there are concerns that stored carbon may leak out overtime

Question 13

give an example od an economic limitation of using low carbon technologies

Answer 13

in 2020 the sg govt announced that $49m will be set aside to fund low carbon energy research and to test the effectiveness ot carbon capture and the utilisation and storage of carbon

Question 14

how effective is the use of clean energy sources in reducing greenhouse gas emissions

Answer 14

clean energy sources come from renewable sources which dont emit greenhouse gases or pollute the atmosphere when used

examples
solar energy
hydroelectric power
geothermal energy
nuclear energy

Question 15

what is solar energy? and give an example of its usage

Answer 15

energy from the Sun converted into thermal and electrical energy

cleanest and most abundant renewable energy source available

by 2030 sg wants to increase its solar capacity to meet around 4% of its total electricity demand

Question 16

what is hydro-electric power?

Answer 16

hydropower plants capture the energy of moving water such as rivers to generate energy

Question 17

what is geothermal energy?

Answer 17

derived from heat in the earth’s crust
beneath the earth’s surface, hot rocks heat up groundwater forming steam used to generate electricity

Question 18

what is nuclear energy? and give an example of its usage

Answer 18

derived from the splitting up of radioactive atoms that generate heat

this produces steam harnessed to generate electricity

more stable in terms of its supply

Question 19

what are the limitations of using clean energy sources

Answer 19

economic
development and construction of renewable energy technologies are expensive
it depends heavily on government policies and financial support to make renewable energy cost competitive

Question 20

give an example of the economic limitations of the use of clean energy sources

Answer 20

in indonesia, installing a solar system may cost around USD900 to USD1300 per kW
and thus solar energy only accounts for 1.7% of the country’s total electricity in 2019

Question 21

how effective are changes in consumption patterns in reducing greenhouse gas emissions

Answer 21

household consumption of good contributes to our carbon footprint as gge are released during production and transportation of these goods

food choices
food waste
use of plastics
production of fashion

Question 22

how do food choices increase greenhouse gas emissions and how to reduce it

Answer 22

food choices are responsible for more than 25% of all gge
types of food you can eat emit different amounts of greenhouse gas emissions and have varied environmental impacts

eating less meat and increasing vegetables as shitfing to plant based diet will reduce agricultural emissions
buying local produce uses less transportatiom reducing carbon emissions

Question 23

how does food waste increase gge and how to reduce it

Answer 23

when food waste enters the landfills and rots it produces methane contributing to climate change

buying only what we need to avoid overbuying and repurposing food waste are ways to reduce food waste and gge

Question 24

how does the usage of plastics increase gge and how to reduce it

Answer 24

greenhouse hases are produced when

chemicals sourced from fossil fuels are used to make plastic
plastics are recycled and incinerated
plastics biodegrade over hundreds of years

refusing single use plastics and using reusable daily plastic products and
being informed about the right way to recycle different plastic products reduce the amount of plastic waste incinerated

Question 25

how does the production of plastics increase gge and how to reduce it

Answer 25

production of apparel contributes to gge as increased levels of energy and water are consumed in the process
when consumers demand more frequent change in designs, production increases leading to increase in gge

inquiring if manufacturers use sustainable criteria to make the clothing,
upcycling old clothing,
donating what isnt in use,
buying only what is needed,
opt for second hand clothing if possible

are ways to reduce gge from production of fashion

Question 26

what are the limitations of changing consumption patterns

Answer 26

social
takes a long time to change ppls mindset and consumption patterns

economic
companies may be reluctant to change consumption patterns as it will reduce profits

Question 27

give an example of limitations of changing consumption patterns

Answer 27

despite the availability of drinkable tap water in singapore, singaporeans consumed more than 467 millions of bottled water in 2018
as people thought tap water was unclean and bottled water is more convenient

Question 28

why are carbon sinks important?

Answer 28

more than 50% of emitted carbon is reabsorbed by forests and oceans decreasing the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere

forests absorb co2 through photosynthesis
oceans reabsorb co2 through planktons, coral, fish and algae

Question 29

why is land use change important to protect environments?

Answer 29

land use change accounts for around 1% of global emissions
co2 is emitted during deforestation
ch4 is emitted by rearing livestocj and cultivating rice

Question 30

how is reducing deforestation effective in protecting environments through managing land use change?

Answer 30

deforestation increases the concentration of greenhouse gases as lesser trees absorb co2

deforestation causes soil erosion as soil particles are no longer anchored by roots of trees
when soil enter rivers and oceans, it covers and suffocates corals and aquatic plants

reducing deforestation ensures the natural system’s capacity in absorbing co2 is not reduced

Question 31

how can deforestation be reduced?

Answer 31

encouraging consumers to only buy wood that is certified as sustainable

banning illegal deforestation through stricter laws

Question 32

how effective are restoring mangroves in protecting environments through land use change

Answer 32

mangroves are important to coastal ecosystems as they are able to

absorb and store greenhouse gas emissions in their soils up to 4 times as much as other tropical forests

filter pollutants in rivers and prevent them from reaching the oceans and harming corals and aquatic species

Question 33

what are some methods to restore mangroves

Answer 33

planting mangrove seedlings along coastal areas
creating the optimal conditions for mangroves to grow
correcting the problems that caused mangrove loss

Question 34

what are the limitations of restoring mangroves

Answer 34

economic
difficult to reduce deforestation in growing economies as there is competing land use for industries, agriculture and urban spaces

Question 35

give an example of an economic limitation of mangrove restoration

Answer 35

in indonesia
there is more than 100,000 hectares of forest cover in 2020
despite tightening government regulations, forests are still being cleared for resources
without deforestation, 3 million jobs are taken away

Question 36

how effective is protection of forests through forest regeneration effective in enhancing carbon sinks

Answer 36

when trees grow, they absorb and store co2
afforestation and reforestation should be encouraged as it allows for different species to be grown effectively on a piece of land

Question 37

what is afforestation and deforesation

Answer 37

afforesation: planting trees in a new area which previously did not have trees

reforestation: re-planting trees in an area that had trees in the past