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LEC.101 > Lecture 2 - Global Risks and Planetary Boundaries > Flashcards

Lecture 2 - Global Risks and Planetary Boundaries Flashcards

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1
Q

Planet definition

A

an astronomical body orbiting a star or stellar remnant that is massive enough to be rounded by its own gravity

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2
Q

What are the two external threats to our planet?

A

The sun engulfing the earth

Meteors

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3
Q

Why is it unlikely that a meteor poses significant danger to the Earth?

A

They’re not very frequent anymore, and impact energy would have to be greater than gravity to stop earth re-accreting

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4
Q

What does the biosphere encompass?

A

All living creatures and the relationships between all those living creatures and relationships between those living creatures and non-living parts of the Earth

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5
Q

External threats to the biosphere?

A

Meteorite impacts

Gamma-ray bursts

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6
Q

What is the biggest threat to the biosphere?

A

Meteorite

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7
Q

Internal threats to the biosphere?

A

Core/mantle convection
Rapid climate change
Biosphere imbalance

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8
Q

What is biosphere imbalance?

A

Something happening within the biosphere that threatens itself - e.g. one species over-evolving

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9
Q

What is the current biosphere threat?

A

Humans

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10
Q

How many animals would go extinct if there was an 8-10 degree temperature rise?

A

more than 80%

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11
Q

External threats to human society?

A

Planetary threats

Biosphere threats

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12
Q

Internal threats to human society

A

Ones of our own making

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13
Q

How has the rate of change of population and increase in urban population changed and what has this caused?

A

increased significantly since the 1950s, causing a consecutive massive increase in our use of resources.

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14
Q

What other effects does a rapidly increasing population have?

A

massive increases in other things, such as GDP, FDI, energy use, water use and paper production

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15
Q

What was the change in CO2 levels like since the industrial revolution?

A

Steady increase

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16
Q

How has CO2 and nitrous oxides levels changed since the 1950s?

A

Increased rapidly

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17
Q

What have humans always had?

A

An impact on the environment

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18
Q

What is the problem with advancements in medicine?

A

There is lower death rates, but birth rate doesn’t decrease. Therefore, the population explodes

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19
Q

When was the peak of population growth and what was it?

A

1962 - 2.2% per year

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20
Q

What is the next challenge for the human race?

A

dealing with our population growth without ruining our planet

21
Q

How do we believe population growth will change in the next century?

A

We believe that population growth will continuously decline to 0 over the next century

22
Q

What are planetary boundaries?

A

A science-based analysis of the risks that things that we are doing would destabilize the earth system at a planetary level. Not just local, but changes that will affect all of us

23
Q

What are the two biggest planetary based boundaries?

A

biochemical flows and genetic diversity

24
Q

What are the two main biochemical flows, and what is the problem?

A

Nitrogen and phosphorous are used in fertilizers, which results in them leaking into oceans and waterways and causing major problems such as algal blooms

25
Q

Do we know how serious all planetary boundaries are?

A

No

26
Q

What was the CO2 ppm before the industrial revolution?

A

About 280 ppm

27
Q

What is the CO2 ppm now?

A

410 ppm

28
Q

How is the rate of change of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere changing?

A

It’s increasing

29
Q

Why is it difficult for us to stop using fossil fuels?

A

They have always benefitted us in the past (almost every advancement has come from using an abundance of fossil fuels).

30
Q

What must we accept about fossil fuels now?

A

we are now in a position where using fossil fuels results in more harm than good

31
Q

What is genetic diversity quantified by?

A

extinction rate

32
Q

What is a mass extinction?

A

an event where 75% or more of species are lost over a relatively short period of time

33
Q

What % of risk experts said that economic confrontations and domestic political polarization would be a problem in 2020?

A

78%

34
Q

What category were the top five global risks in terms of likelihood in 2020?

A

Environmental

35
Q

What % of wild mammals are extinct because of humans?

A

83%

36
Q

What % of plant are extinct because of humans?

A

50%

37
Q

What were the major predicted environmental disasters in 2020?

A

Climate action failure, extreme weather, biodiversity loss and natural/human made disasters

38
Q

What type of problem are global pandemics?

A

can be classified as an environmental problem (human impact on the environment results in the spread of the disease

39
Q

What does the ozone do?

A

Filters out UV radiation from the sun

40
Q

What is the problem if we lose/break the ozone?

A

If it decreases, more UV radiation reaches the ground, causing cancer and damage to terrestrial and marine biological systems

41
Q

How has changes to ecosystems changed in the last 50 years?

A

They have been more rapid than ever before

42
Q

What are the main drivers for biospheric change?

A

food, water, and natural resources

43
Q

What happens to CO2 in oceans?

A

Dissolves, creating carbonic acid

44
Q

Why is excessive CO2 in the oceans bad?

A

Carbonic acid reduces the pH of surface water, changing habitat conditions

45
Q

What is the problem with our water consumption right now?

A

We take more water out of the ground than is put in

46
Q

What have forests, grasslands, wetlands and other vegetation types been converted into?

A

Agricultural land

47
Q

What is the problem with us having excessive agricultural land?

A

reduces biodiversity, water resources, and the earth’s ability to absorb carbon dioxide that we emit

48
Q

What does atmospheric aerosol loading affect?

A

climate via the hydrological cycle, and how much solar radiation is reflected/absorbed

49
Q

How many people does highly polluted air kill yearly?

A

roughly 800,000 people

LEC.101 (5 decks)

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