Lecture 33 - Anthropocene

Question 1

Mitigation

Answer 1

Human interventions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental pollutants, with an aim of slowing and ultimately halting the root causes of anthropogenic climate change

Question 2

The carbon footprint of ____ is far less than that of fossil fuels

Answer 2

renewable energy

Question 3

Fabrication of cement releases ___ of carbon per year

Answer 3

4 Gigatons (GtC)

Question 4

How to reduce carbon footprint in infrastructure

Answer 4

using timber instead of cement

Question 5

3 sectors to make transportation more sustainable

Answer 5

cleaner fuels (biofuels, hydrogen, electricity), greener vehicles (efficient engine, hybrid, plug-in, and fuel cell), smarter transportation (smart cities, intelligent highways…)

Question 6

Carbon Capture Storage

Answer 6

could ultimately capture 50% of anthropogenic carbon by 2050

Question 7

Adaptation

Answer 7

a set of actions we can take to handle the coming impacts of global climate change.

Question 8

Due to sea-level rise, some countries _____

Answer 8

may disappear

Question 9

Examples of adaptations

Answer 9

Building sea-walls, better water management

Question 10

Examples of better water management

Answer 10

more efficient water treatment facilities, irrigation methods that minimize evaporation, reduced use in commercial and domestic applications, and changes in the food supply that emphasize less water-intensive crops.

Question 11

The range of tropical disease will ____ as the climate warms

Answer 11

increase

Question 12

The yellow mosquito may reach ____ new people by 2080 as the climate warms

Answer 12

1 billion

Question 13

Adaptation strategies to tropical disease

Answer 13

educating the public, making vaccinations and medical supplies available, and medical research

Question 14

Reasons for large-scale human migration

Answer 14

fertile lands become infertile, sea level rises and consumes agricultural and urban lands, and the climate becomes more extreme

Question 15

Adaptation to planning mass-migration

Answer 15

immigration, housing, food, and employment

Question 16

Geo-engineering

Answer 16

Various engineered solutions are being proposed or piloted to mitigate climate change

Question 17

Practical geo-engineering solutions

Answer 17

direct extraction of CO2 from the atmosphere (and burial), and the pyrolysis of agricultural waste to make biochar

Question 18

Anthropocene

Answer 18

• denote the modern age where many major geologic and climatic processes have been profoundly altered by human activities
• a proposed new geological unit within the Geologic Time Scale, and is considered a potential geological epoch within the quaternary period

Question 19

Which human activity caused an increase in CO2 gases 8,000 years ago

Answer 19

Clearing of forests for agriculture

Question 20

Which human activity caused an increase in CO2 gases 5,000 years ago

Answer 20

The creation of bogs in China for to grow rice (bogs emit a lot of methane)

Question 21

Early human activity averted the onset of a ____

Answer 21

glaciation

Question 22

Industrial revolution

Answer 22

Begining in 1750, it resulted in increased GHGs emission and pollution, a marked acceleration was only observed at the onset of globalization in the 20th century

Question 23

The great acceleration

Answer 23

The greatest changes in climate have occurred since 1950, and so places the start of the Anthropocene

Question 24

In the face of uncertainty, the _______ is applicable

Answer 24

uncertainty principle

Question 25

Uncertainty principle

Answer 25

If the potential consequences of an anticipated event are unacceptably severe, we have a responsibility to take action to avoid or mitigate those consequences