Lecture 1 Flashcards
What are 4 things we can do to manage dangerous emissions
- Calculate cumulative CO2 emissions for each nation according to consumption of goods (rather than production)
- Define a safe CO2 limit to avoid dangerous climate breakdown (350ppm)
- Calculate a “fair share” of CO2 emissions for each nation to reach that limit
- Attribute responsibility according to emissions overshoot for each country beyond its fair share
What % are western nations responsible for beyond the safe limit
92%
Explain climate justice in relation to industrialisation
UK peaked in fossil energy use, direct emissions have fallen 50% since 1990 -> suffer fewer consequences of climate change
India, per capita of emissions much lower - haven’t reached peak energy use yet in trajectory of industrialisation -> suffer more consequences of climate change
How do ecosystems interact with the climate
Carbon cycle
What % of CO2 emitted from fossil fuel combustion is absorbed by ecosystem sinks
56%
How can we reach a net zero greenhouse gas emissions
Reverse net deforestation
What are the causes of deforestation (5)
- Extraction of timber
- Agriculture
- Pasture creation
- Cash crops e.g soy beans
- Palm oil
How can we offset carbon
Tree planting
What is BECCS
Bio energy with carbon capture and storage -> grow crops, chop down and put in power station that used to burn fuel bud fitted with carbon capture - capture and liquefy CO2 and pump into old oil field in the sea
Why is tree planting necessary
Needed for offsetting carbon to deal with residual greenhouse gas emissions - from planes and concrete
What contributions do tropical forests provide in sink activity and deforestation
Important research in how forests in the global south may amplify/mitigate climate change caused by western countries
Well funded by western funding agencies - led by western scientists
Is there a systematic problem with international science
There is a general power dynamic in international science which has uncomfortable parallels with historical colonial relations
What is an ecosystem?
Unit comprising communities of organisms and their environment
What focus on studying ecosystems
Abiotic and biotic interactions in natural or managed ecosystems
What two components are important for understanding the rate of change
Biosphere and atmosphere
Define ecosystem structure
Defined by the physical features of the ecosystem, including species present and their characteristics e.g biodiversity, plant life forms, biomass, carbon stocks, leaf area, specific adaptations to the environment
Define ecosystem function
This describes what processes operate and how they are controlled e.g biotic interactions , carbon exchanges between plants and the atmosphere, soil and plant nutrient cycles, the hydrological cycle and energy exchange
What are 3 abiotic factors important for controlling ecosystem structure and function
- Climate factors e.g temp and precipitation and their seasonality - limit processes like primary production (function) and species characteristics (structure)
- Solar radiation - varies with latitude e.g tropics = high + little seasonal variation, high latitudes = lower + strong seasonal variation
- Fire frequency and intensity big role in fire-prone ecosystems - modify ecosystem structure directly (burning veg) and indirectly (filtering species present and their adaptations - releasing nutrients stored in plant bio masses and creating open, sunlit conditions
- Soil properties e.g pH and nutrient availability (controls on structure) and function (e.g productivity) of terrestrial ecosystems
What are 3 biotic factors important in controlling the ecosystem structure and function
- Herbivory - controlling energy flow to higher trophic levels and cycling of nutrients (function) but directly limits the plant species that can persist and their biomass (structure)
- Predation (presence or absence) and parasitism (indirectly influences e function and structure)
- Animal-mediated seed dispersal and pollination (e function) may place important limits on plant distributions (e structure)
- Soil microbes including mycorrhizal fungi and rhizosphere bacteria important for nutrient cycling (e function) and carbon storage (e structure)
