Managing Our Envoirnment Flashcards
What is the green house effect?
A Natural process whereby heat from the sun is trapped in our atmosphere by “greenhouse gasses”. Without it the earth would be 33 degrees cooler and would never be able to sustain life
What is climate change?
Changes in the long term temperature. Precipitation patterns which increasing evidence suggests is caused by human activities
What causes climate change
The release of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere that traps more heat in the earths atmosphere
Definition of carbon footprint
A measure of the amount of carbon dioxide produced by a person, organization or a country in a given time
Advantage and disadvantages of calculating carbon footprint
Consumers can easily grasp the impacts of what they are doing
It is difficult to calculate, especially when goods are imported from other countries
Sunspot activity
Darker patches on the sun, these form at the areas where the magnetic field is particularly strong. The energy is so strong that it can keep some of the energy within the dun from reaching the surface
The earths orbit
The earths orbit changes slightly between nearly circular and more elongated 100,000 years
Volcanoes
Large volumes of sulphuric oxide, water vapor dust and ash into the atmosphere. These gases and dust particles particularly block the incoming rays of the sun, leading to cooling.
Cars/human greenhouse effects
The exhaust of cars and lorries emit polluting gases, such as nitrogen dioxide which adds to green house emissions.
Coal/human greenhouse effects
When coal, oil or gas is being burned in power stations to generate electricity it releases carbon dioxide which adds to the greenhouse effects
Methane
Methane production from large number of cattle’s is increasing very quickly and so is nitrogen dioxide. This adds to the greenhouse effect
Consequences of climate change
Sea levels rising - by up to 2m - due to thermal expansion. Could result in sea levels rising
Precipitation changes-rainfall will be more unreliable, could result in some places being wetter and some being drier. Could result in a change of climate in certain places
Tourism - snow in the alps may be less resulting in the reduction of conditions for skiers and having a negative effect on economy
Agriculture
Types of crops, grown and their yields will be effected by the increasing of temps
Health
Higher temps lead to greater risk of heat stroke and death
Economy
Expensive flood protection. Schemes to protect coastal cities. Defend low lying cities and safeguard ports and hrbours
What is a resource
A resource is anything that is useful to us
What is waste management
Waste management is what we do with the waste society generates
Waste hierarchy
Reduce
Reuse
Recycle
Dispose
The waste hierarchy shows how reducing, reusing and recycling materials can help prevent waste, increased reusing and recycling are good for the environment
Ways to reduce waste
Turn off the tap when brushing your teeth
Read the newspaper online
Choose products with less packaging
What is renewable energy
Energy from a source that is not depleted when used
Examples of renewable energy
Solar energy
Wind energy
Hydro power
Ocean energy
Bio energy
How is wind power captured
Turbines use blades to collect the winds kinetic energy
Benefits of wind power
Good for the environment, doesn’t produce any carbon emissions
The wind farms use inexhaustible energy
Helps the uk be less dependent on non-renewable energy sources
Will produce energy relatively cheaply
Disadvantages to wind farms
Can hard wildlife as wind turbines create their own electrical fields
Some people find wind turbines ugly and could potentially deter tourists as the do not want to see these from the coast line
Turbines take a lot of money to set up, walney wind farm cost over 10000000 to set up. However, it should give a constant return for over 20 years after with minimal maintenance
There has to be backup systems in case there is too little wind or the wind is too strong to operate safely
