Houghton Ch6 Flashcards
What are SRES scenarios?
Special report on emission scenerios.
They are based on four different ‘storylines’.
They include estimates of greenhouse gas emissions resulting from all sources including land use change.
What are the four different SRES ‘storylines’?
A1 - future world of very rapid economic growth
A2- heterogenous world of self reliance and preservation of local identities- emphasis on family and community life, fertility rates decline relatively slowly, which makes the A2 population the largest among the storylines
B1- high level of environmental and social consciousness combined with a globally coherent approach to a more sustainable development.
B2- emphasis on local solutions to sustainability- continuous population growth, intermediate economic development.
What is required to allow for regional patterns of climate change?
Spatial detail- global average conveys very little information.
What does much natural climate variability occur because of?
Changes in, or oscillations between, persistent climatic patterns or regimes.
What will changes to to hydrological cycle mean?
More frequent droughts and floods.
How will climate change alter teh ocean thermohaline ccultation?
Warmer surface water and additional freshwater input intro oceans.
Cold dense salty water in North Atlantic (source region for THC) will become less cold and salty and so less dense.
THC will weaker and less heat will flow north from tropical regions to north Atlantic.
What are the climatic changes most likely to ave the biggest impact?
Changes in the frequencies, intensities and locations of climate extremes, especially droughts and floods.
