Glaciated Landscapes - Set 4

Question 1

Carbon cycle

Answer 1

• 14% of earths carbon stored in permafrost - cold climate limits decomposition of organic matter
• Some studies show that as permafrost thaws, stored carbon remains in the soil to be used by new vegetation

Question 2

Water cycle

Answer 2

• Alps known as the water towers of Europe - Must of Europe’s water comes from melting glaciers - In less than 100 years Eastern alps will be ice free
• With glaciers shrinking, eventually meltwater produced will lower making the water cloudy, as it’s filled with sediment

Question 3

Artic amplification

Answer 3

• Arctic region warming twice as fast as the global average
• When ice melts it reveals the darker ocean - lowers earth’s albedo and absorbs more solar energy
• High abundance at tropics transfers heat to the arctic via global wind patterns - also leads to more melting

Question 4

Threats to glaciated landscape - Avalanches

Answer 4

• Slab avalanches = can bring down 700% of the initial volume of snow
• Kill 200 annually
• Jan 2016 - 3 killed at Austrian ski resort
• Managed by deliberately triggering avalanches and reforesting areas

Question 5

Threats to glaciated landscape - Glacial outburst floods

Answer 5

• Caused by overflow of dammed lake or failure of moraine dam
• Nepal’s Tsho Rolpa lake has 30million cubic metres of water - would effect 100,000 people
• Managed by controlled breaching = tunnelling through moraine dam

Question 6

Threats to glaciated landscape - Lahars

Answer 6

• Volcanic mudflow
• Mount Rainer susceptible due to abundance of loose rock and surface water
• Managed through land use management and measuring volcanic activity

Question 7

Threats to glaciated landscape - Leisure and tourism

Answer 7

• 40,000 tourists now visit antarctica annually
• 300 ski resorts in the alps
• Lake district sees 10million annual visitors - 89% come by car
• Managed through renewable energy implementation and shuttle buses in national parks

Question 8

Threats to glaciated landscape - Urbanisation

Answer 8

• average living space in the alps has doubled since the 1950s
• Managed through use of green roofs and increases in public transport to reduce emissions

Question 9

Main problems in Western European Alps

Answer 9

• Degradation of the environment - more factories and other infrastructure e.g. Valley var in France
• Valley d’Aosta has steel mill which has polluted area since 1920s
• Valley Val d’Herens = moraines mined and reiver bed destroyed for sand and gravel mining

Question 10

3 ways floods from glacial lakes are triggered

Answer 10

1 - Ice dams melt
2 - Moraine - dammed lakes - calving causes waves which go over the wall
3 - Bedrock-dammed lakes are easily eroded

Question 11

Management strategy types

Answer 11

• Do nothing
• Business as usual
• sustainable exploitation
• sustainable management
• comprehensive conservation
• Total protection

Question 12

Sustainable management in the Lake district national park - Footpath erosion

Answer 12

• Fix the fells - can cist up to £100 per metre squared
• Uses stone pitching and soil inversion

Question 13

Sustainable management in the Lake district national park -Holiday home ownership

Answer 13

• In Coniston 51% of homes are holiday homes
• Construction of more affordable housing - waiting list is 4000 long
• Local occupancy clauses

Question 14

Sustainable management in the Lake district national park -Traffic congestion

Answer 14

• 89% of Lake district visitors arrive in car
• Go lakes travel programme cost £6.9 million - reduced carbon emissions by 7.8%

Question 15

Key scary facts about glaciers

Answer 15

• 95% of Himalayan glaciers in rapid retreat
• Glacier national park in Montana will be Glacier free by 2030

Question 16

Impacts of climate change on relict glaciated landscapes - Species loss

Answer 16

• Arctic char which have lived in Windermere since ice age are under threat

Question 17

Impacts of climate change on relict glaciated landscapes - Migration upwards

Answer 17

• Environmental lapse rate - trees and other vegetation move upwards to higher elevation

Question 18

Impacts of climate change on relict glaciated landscapes - Invasive species

Answer 18

• e.g. Japanese knotweed which damages infrastructure

Question 19

Impacts of climate change on relict glaciated landscapes - Increase in disease

Answer 19

• Bluetongue disease spread by species of midge seen in Britain in 2007

Question 20

Impacts of climate change on relict glaciated landscapes - Changes to lakes

Answer 20

• Falling lake levels lead to poorer water quality as pollutants become more concentrated - Toxic blue-green algae becomes more common

Question 21

Impacts of climate change on relict glaciated landscapes - Changes to woodland

Answer 21

• Suffer more form storm damage and summer droughts

Question 22

Impacts of climate change on relict glaciated landscapes - Drying out of peat

Answer 22

Increases footpath erosion and releases stored carbon into the environment

Question 23

Impacts of climate change on relict glaciated landscapes - Extreme weather events

Answer 23

Storms, high winds, flooding and forest fires etc could all increase with global warming

Question 24

Impacts of climate change on relict glaciated landscapes - Footpath erosion

Answer 24

Heavy winter rainfall can have devastating effects on footpaths

Question 25

Climate change effects in periglacial landscapes

Answer 25

- Taller shrubs prevent snow from reflecting heat back from sun - leads to more warming - Lowers polar bear numbers due to the longer summers

Question 26

Wider impacts of climate change

Answer 26

- Major current in Atlantic slowed by 15% - cause due to melting of sea ice which lowers the density of the seawater, making it slower to sink

Question 27

Climate change mitigation

Answer 27

Aimed at tackling the causes and minimising the possible impacts of climate change

Question 28

Climate change adaption

Answer 28

Aimed at managing the impacts and reducing the negative effects of climate change

Question 29

The Antarctic treaty

Answer 29

- Passed in 1959 - establishes antarctica as a continent of peace and science - 1964 - measure for conservation of Antarctic flora - 1972 - Conservation of arctic seals - 1982 - Conservation of arctic marine life - 1998 - Protocol on environmental protection - Seen as one of the most successful international treaties

Question 30

Arctic council

Answer 30

- more vegetation and wildlife compared to antarctica - 4 million live in the arctic - 8 countries who have territory in the arctic have signed up tot the council - Issues = melting sea ice has led to greater accessibility to the area

Question 31

Arctic (Alaska)

Answer 31

- 56% of Alaska is protected - ANWR = vast wilderness - 20% of earths polar bears live here - threatened by search for oil - Oil companies hold leases on 80% of the western Arctic

Question 32

National parks in Finland

Answer 32

33% of Finland is protected with a system of national parks

Question 33

CITES

Answer 33

Signed in 1973 - protects individual species such as polar bears - Issues = small number of Wales can be caught for scientific purposes in Japan and Russia etc

Question 34

Svalbard treaty

Answer 34

- Signed 1920 - Establishes Norway's full sovereignty of Svalbard - taxes collected can only benefit Svalbard

Question 35

National scale frameworks

Answer 35

For development of a whole hierarchy of conservation areas of special scientific interest

Question 36

UNESCO

Answer 36

- Sites with ecological or cultural importance - e.g. Wrangel island (Russia) includes 23 endemic species and the Lake district as it was inspired by romantic poets such as William Wordsworth