Land Cover management Flashcards
What is adaptation?
alteration or adjustment in response to a changed environment
What is mitigation?
the implementation of strategies that attempt to eliminate or reduce the impacts and severity of the effects of climate change
Provide 3 examples of adaptation
Desalination, GMO and Green Infrastructure
What is desalination and why is it required?
A process that removes salt and other mineral in order to obtain water suitable for drinking or irrigation. This is needed as some areas are experiencing decreased rainfall, water scarcity and diminishing water supplies in aquifers
How does desalination work?
This process moves the water across a selectively permeable membrane to remove all molecules, minerals, salt and other particles- 50% becomes drinking water and the rest is returned to the ocean
Provide an example of desalination (no stats)
Israel experienced frequent drought and high levels of water scarcity, their desalination plant is called the sorek desalination plant and it is the largest in the world. It is located 15 km south of tel aviv and opened up in 2013
Why is desalination required in Israel?
the gap between demand and available natural water supplies reached 1 billion cubic meters
Expand of the example of desalination using statistics
The individual plant provides 20% of its drinking water and recycles 90% of its waste water
and it treats over 600,000m3 of seawater per day
The country Israel produces 20% more water than is required (they have other desalination plants)
What are GMOs and why are they used?
This is when the DNA of a desirable trait is taken and artificially inserted into another organism. This is used to adapt to the changing climate and help them adapt
What are some negatives about GMOs?
- we already produce too much food (however this is unevenly distributed) and the decomposition of this food contribute to greenhouse gas emissions
- some farmers are organic farmers which has concerns with the cross pollination of species
- not a ton of research into the long term side effects
What are some positives of GMOs
- resistant to certain pests
- heat and drought tolerant and able to withstand weather events
- tolerant to the increase in salinity of the soil
Give an example of GMOs
in Bangladesh which has experienced increase in flooding, so there has been the production of the genetically modified species of Rice called Scuba Rice which is able to survive in increased levels of water for up to 2 weeks and the root does not rot like other rices do.
As well as another modification uses a gene from barely in the rice which allows it to produce less methane, decreasing greenhouse gases, and even increases the yield by 10%.
What is cross breeding, give an example.
This is when different breeds of species are crossed to give them the desirable trait, and example of this is when crossbreeding of cows has occured to give the cows a ‘sclick’ coat which reduces heat stress which increases milk yield. The senepol cattle is used in australia, dorper sheep has much thicker skin, bred in south africa, exist in arid or cold condition
What is green infrastructure and why is it needed?
it refers to parks and natural areas, which are used to absorb the rainwater. it is needed as some countries have experience and increase in rainfall, cloud bursts and flooding, green infrastructure can be used to adapt to this increase in stormwater, by absorbing the water and storing it for irrigation or moving it to the ocean.
give an example of green infrastructure
in Copenhagen, Denmark as they have been experiencing an increase in cloud bursts. the green space absorbs the water in combination with underground pipes and water boulevards will store the water, move it to the ocean and prevent it from entering the sewer and becoming contaminated. SOme green areas will be able to store up to 5000m3 of water, around 25% of the urban area is green spaces
