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Geography- Coasts + CC > implications of CC > Flashcards

implications of CC Flashcards

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1
Q

what is an ecosystem

A

a community of plants, animals and other organisms that interact with the physical environment and each other through flows of energy and the cycling of nutrients

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2
Q

what does climate do to ecosystems

A

shapes habitats and supports plants and animals

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3
Q

how do species react to CC

A

some species adapt to climate change, others can’t and face decline and extinction

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4
Q

how does climate change affect marine ecosystems?

A

-Global warming raises sea surface temps
-call Reese threatened by bleaching caused by higher SSTs
-Death and bleaching of coral caused by small rise in SSTs (1-2*)

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5
Q

Example of how climate change affects marine ecosystems

A

-in the past 30 to 40 years, Indonesia has lost half of its reefs to bleaching
-caribbean lost 80%

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6
Q

how are marine ecosystems affected in the Arctic by climate change?

A

-Warming of the Arctic Ocean and shrinking of sea ice has decimated ice algae (base of marine food chain)
-Sea ice is crucial to survival of marine mammals such as walrus and seals
-This means a decline of polar bears
-A decline of sea ice projects a 2/3 decline in polar bears by mid century

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7
Q

how do walruses and ring and harp seals use sea ice

A

walrus-uses ice as diving platforms for foraging the sea bed and travelling long distances
-and harp seals use ice to rest, give birth, raise pups and moult

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8
Q

what human group relies on natural ecosystems

A

-indigenous inuit hunters of Arctic

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9
Q

how do the indigenous hunters of Arctic rely on natural ecosystems?

A

Their economy and culture depends on hunting, marine mammals, like walrus and seals

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10
Q

how does cc affect the inuit people

A

The melting and sinning of ice makes hunting dangerous
-More open water means more killer whales
-killer whales are natural predators of bowhead whales, narwhales, and seals
-killer whales are indirect competition with the hunters

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11
Q

how much have SSTs increased since 1980 in the UK

A

1.6*c

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12
Q

what does warming seas limit? and what happens as a result of

A

-Food supplies, growth rates and spawning for many fish
-as a result, indigenous Coldwater species, such as cod, haddock and mackerel have moved northward to Iceland and Faroe Islands
-and warm, more species like Seabass and hake have migrated into UK waters
-This has implications for the UK fishing industry as commercial fishing has to switch to new species and fishing for Coldwater fish shifts northward

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13
Q

what is vulnerability

A

defined by the ipcc as ‘ the extent to which a natural or social system is susceptible to sustaining damage from climate change’

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14
Q

what’s vulnerability a function of

A

the sensitivity of a system to changes in climate, adaptive capacity and the degree of exposure of the system to CC

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15
Q

what does vulnerability of CC depend on

A

-where they live
-their ability to cope

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16
Q

who are the most vulnerable

A

young, elderly and chronically ill are more vulnerable

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17
Q

who will and increase in droughts hit the hardest?

A

farmers in marginal farming environments, where rainfall is only just sufficient to support agriculture

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18
Q

example of somewhere affected by increased drought

A

-Sahel- Northern Africa
-since 1979, crop and grazing land was abandoned due to severe land segregation and desertification as a result of over-cultivation and excessive exploitation of soil, water and pasture resources

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19
Q

what does increased drought cause a decline in

A

cereal yields will could eventually lead to global food shortages

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20
Q

what % of the worlds glaciers are retreating

A

90%

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21
Q

who will experience water shortages as a result of glacier retreat

A

regions that rely on glacial meltwater for irrigation will experience water shortages

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22
Q

what populations are vulnerable to flooding

A

populations in low lying coastal regions in the tropics and subtropics
-floods from rising sea levels and tropical storms

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23
Q

what impact do storm surges have on people and the environment

A

-loss of life
-destroy crops
-kill livestock
-leave a legacy of salanised soils
-contaminated water supply

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24
Q

who are at risk from heatwaves

A

urban population

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25
Q

why are people who live in poverty and greater risk

A

they have the fewest entitlements to protect themselves

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26
Q

what is mitigation

A

IPCC defines as ‘a human intervention to reduce the sources or enhance the sinks of GHG’

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27
Q

what’s adaption

A

a strategy to minimise the impact of CC today
-used when threats to ppl and environment require immediate action

28
Q

how are tundras affected by CC

A

-rising temps melt permafrost
-this disrupts vegetation and creates extensive thaw lakes and wetlands
-this initiates mass movement
-forests will invade southern margins of tundra

29
Q

how are mountainous regions affected by CC

A

-glaciers retreat
-makes slopes less stable = mass movement.
-snowline will recede upslope and winter snowpack will thin
-reduces meltwater into rivers

30
Q

how are hot semi-arid conditions affected by CC

A

-rainfall becomes more erratic
-rainy season will shorten
-droughts will increase in length and frequency
-less vegetation cover and drier conditions increases wind erosion and dust storms

31
Q

how are rainforests affected by CC

A

-as deforestation increases the water cycle weakens
-creates positive feedback and accelerates forest loss
-30-60% of amazon rainforest could become dry savanna grassland by end of the century

32
Q

how are coasts affected by CC

A

-higher sea levels and more powerful storms increase erosion rates in both upland and lowland coasts
-shorelines retreat inland
-dunes, salt marshes and mudflats at increased risk

33
Q

what Increases in frequency and intensity with climate change

A

storms
droughts
heateaves

34
Q

what do rising temps disrupt and what consequences does this have?

A

rising temps r known to disrupt the mid latitude and sub tropical jet streams
-increases evaporation and humidity and modifies pressure patterns both in the atmosphere and at the surface

35
Q

example of how weather patterns have changed since 1970s

A

2005 hurricane season in North Atlantic Caribbean area produces a record breaking number of storms including category 5 hurricanes

36
Q

what has happened to the frequency of hurricanes

A

hasn’t changed
stayed at around 90/yr

37
Q

where r tropical cyclones found

A

tropics
sub tropics
mainly north atlantic and pacific oceans
western pacific

38
Q

where r mid latitude depressions found

A

mid latitudes
between 35-70*

39
Q

where r tornadoes found

A

continental areas in mid latitudes
eg/ midwest USA

40
Q

where’s heavy rainfall found

A

widespread
most extreme in climates with wet and dry seasons

41
Q

where r blizzards found

A

high latitudes and mountainous regions

42
Q

where r severe cold spells found

A

mid-high latitudes
continental locations not oceanic

43
Q

where r heatwaves found

A

mid latitudes in summer

44
Q

where r droughts found

A

widespread but most common in sub-tropics (eg/ Sahel)
and continental interiors (midwest USA)
mediterranean

45
Q

example of severe floods

A

somerset levels 2014

46
Q

what r responses to flooding

A

hard engineering flood defences
managed land use changes to delay run off

47
Q

what do tropical cyclones create and what do they threaten

A

create huge storm surges which threaten populations in low lying coastal areas

48
Q

example of a place affected by a cyclone

A

bangladesh suffered a super cyclone in may 2020
-220000 homes destroyed
-left 500000 homeless
-damage estimated at US$ 1.5 billion

49
Q

what do more frequent and powerful depressions cause

A

accelerated rates of coastal erosion in mid latitudes which will need more defences
-expensive

50
Q

what threats do increased heatwaves pose to people

A

threat to human health, especially elderly in urban areas where HEAT ISLAND EFFECT is more intense
-greening urban areas promotes evaporation and cooling

51
Q

what threats do droughts pose to people

A

leads to water shortages
-affects activities such as crop growing, ranching, river transport and power supplies
-failure of asian monsoon could lead to severe regional and global food shortages

52
Q

what ecosystem are temperatures rising fastest

A

tundra

53
Q

what happens as the permafrost thaws?

A

The wetland areas expand which attract migratory birds like wild foul and waders

54
Q

whata happening to the breeding season as temperatures increase

A

The breeding season becomes longer and higher temperatures ensure an abundance of insects

55
Q

how are terrestrial ecosystems affected by climate change?

A

-Southern fringes of tundra will lose open aspect as tree line advances north
-Forest replaces tundra, change in habitat will affect indigenous plant and animal species
-Migration patterns among Caribou will be disrupted
-as habitats shrink, predators which rely on lemming population will be forced Northward

56
Q

what does a 1° C rise and temperatures require an uphill movement of

A

200-275m to maintain the same habitat

57
Q

What is phenology?

A

The study of changes in the timing of spring and other natural seasonal events
is an indicator of global warming

58
Q

how much has the IPCC predicted that spring has moved?

A

2.3-5.2 days earlier per decade

59
Q

what does spring moving earlier cause?

A

A loss of synchronisation between species as animals awaken from hibernation or start to breed before the emergence of foods resources like leaves, insects, lavae and caterpillars

60
Q

how many more deaths worldwide are they gonna be that linked to climate change between 2030 and 2050

A

250,000 deaths per year
linked to climate change and the spread of infectious disease, malnutrition and diarrhoea

61
Q

what will climate change stimulate in relation to human health?

A

The transmission of vector-bourne diseases and their geographic range

62
Q

An example of a disease spread by vectorborne have migrated

A

dengue fever is spread by the aedes mosquito and formally confined to the tropics and subtropics, but is today found in 28 US states
-temperatures and rising rainfall favoured the spread of mosquitoes, carrying the disease

63
Q

what is climate change responsible for the spread of?

A

lymes disease in the USA
-Transmitted by ticks which thrive in warmer conditions, so expanding northwards
-They will eventually colonise Canada

64
Q

What do increased floods do to human health?

A

pollute water supplies by human waste
-Bacteria in the water will multiply the risk of diarrhoea, which is a major cause of deaths in LIDCs

65
Q

What does a reduction in crops yields and food production by increased droughts and flooding threaten

A

food security in human health with widespread malnutrition and under nutrition in LIDCs
-IPCC suggest significant reductions in staple cereal crops by 2030

Geography- Coasts + CC (15 decks)

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