Natural Hazards - Climate Change

Question 1

What is the human cause of climate change?

Answer 1

Humans cut down trees, drive cars and eat animals
So more CO2 is produced
so greenhouse gas layer gets thicker
so traps more of the sun’s rays
so the temperature increases

Question 2

Explain how sediment cores our evidence for climate changing.

Answer 2

Sediment (dead fish,coral etc.) falls to the sea floor. Overtime the ocean may be warmer or colder so different animals and plant live there so some diff. sediment drops at the diff. temperatures. This builds up in layers. Scientists can take a core and analyse layers to see the types of sea life and there for change in sea temperature.

Question 3

How does managing water supply help people adapt to climate change?

Answer 3

HOW? use less water in agriculture especialy. By using drip irrigation and hydroponics - plants grow in greenhouses.
FACT Hydraponics use x10 less water to grow plants
ASSESMENT? Drip irrigation is a good way especialy in LIC’s
Hydroponics are expencive and use lots of energy

Question 4

How does wind/solar energy reduce climate change? (Mitigation)

Answer 4

HOW? renewable resources dont produce CO2 so less CO2 in atmosphere- GHG layer wont get thicker.
FACT in 2023 36% of the UK electricity was generated by renewables.
ASSESMENT Fuels are good but more expencive, challenge for LIC
need alternative source if not reliable 24/7 (at night eg.)

Question 5

What are glacial and interglacial?

Answer 5

Glacials= temperature are cooler/colder and amount of ice increases. (Ice age)
Interglacials= warm periods where less ice is covering the earth.

Question 6

Explain how orbit changes affect the climate.

Answer 6

Every 100,000 years earths orbit changes from oval to circular. When oval climate is warmer= interglacial period. When circular climate is colder= glacial period.
Circular Colder

Question 7

Explain how tree rings are evidence for climate changing.

Answer 7

In colder times the tree grows less, in warmer times the tree grows more.This can show you a change in seasons from many years ago.
But it doesnt give data from 400000 years ago.

Question 8

When coping with climate change what is mitigation?

Answer 8

Mitigation aims to reduce the cause of the problem by limiting or preventing GHGs and protecting carbon sink.

Question 9

Explain how pollen samples are evidence for climate changing.

Answer 9

Ancient pollen samples can be collected from peat bogs. A wet environment without any oxygen so living things decompose slowly. Scientists can analyse the type of plant and therefore the temperature. But dont know exact dates of when the pollen sample is from.

Question 10

How does changes in farming help people adapt to climate change?

Answer 10

HOW? multiple ways: Floating gardens that grow crops of floating beds all year around. Seed Fairs, tollerant seedsinvented to grown without water in drought conditions.
ASSESMENT? cheep and easy to build floating gardens. Drough resistant seeds are expencive and may need fertilizer.

Question 11

What is short-term evidence for climate change? (4)

Answer 11

• Photograph evidence or shrinking glaciers
• Recordings of global temp. from weather stations
• Old photographs/ paintings, historical documents
• Recodings of sea levels ( rising 1cm/decade)

Question 12

When coping with climate change what is adaptation?

Answer 12

Adaptation rsponds to the impact of climate change and tries to make people less vaunerable.

Question 13

Explain how solar output affects the climate.

Answer 13

Sunspots are dark spots on the suns surface that radiate out more energy making the earth warmer.
Irregular cycle, lasts about 11 years.

Question 14

Why may natural causes of climate change not be imapcting the increase in temperatures now?

Answer 14

There has not been a sunspot facing the earth for over 55 years.
No recent volcanic erruption has decreased temperatures so much, and this effect would only be for a year.
We are in an oval orbit and have been for a long time.

Question 15

List some of the effects of global warming on the environment.

Answer 15

• sea level rise
• increased coastal flooding and errosion
• increase in sea temperatures
• coral bleaching
• decline in speices
• habitats damaged or destroyed
• sea ice shrinking
• ecosystems move

Question 16

List some of the effects of global warming on the people.

Answer 16

• death
• loss of homes+ possesions
• lack of water
• food insecurity
• political tension/ conflict
• destruption of transport and trade
• predition and protection increase.
• new crops grown in diff areas

Question 17

List the four mitigation strategies and three adaptation strategies to reduce/adapt to the climate.

Answer 17

M wind/solar energy
carbon capture
plant trees
international agreements
A changes in farming
Managing water supply
reduce risk from sea level rise

Question 18

How does reducing risk from sea level rising help people adapt to climate change?

Answer 18

HOW? building large flood barriers or homes on stilts prevents flooding homes and flooding.
FACT Thames barrier closed 200 times to prevent flooding
ASSESMENT? Flood barriers are effective and expencive
homes on stilts are relatively cheep and not fully safe.

Question 19

Explain how ice cores are evidence of climate changing.

Answer 19

Every year a new layer of ice is formed trapping ancient air in bubbles which can be analysed for paste temperatures from the oxygen isotopes forund.

every winter when ice freezes it traps pockets of air bubbles. Overtime theses ice layers are built up. you can take ice cores or these layers that can be analysed for temperature through the types of oxygen isotope trapped in the air.

Question 20

How do international agreements reduce climate change? (Mitigation)

Answer 20

HOW? huge conference all national leaders sign a legaly bindng contract & make pledges to reduce carbon emmisions.
FACT 196 parties@ paris COP21 signerd agreement.
ASSESMENT? global problem needs a global solution hard to get countries to stick to agreement espec. if they have bigger priorities.

Question 21

How does carbon capture reduce climate change? (Mitigation)

Answer 21

HOW? stops carbon coming out of industrial facilities so it doesnt enter the atmosphere. Then its transported & put into rocks+ other..?
FACT in 2021 44 mega-tonnes of CO2 captured globaly by cc (tiny)
ASSESMENT? Expencive and hardly used, possible implications of where its stored. Could be a part of the solution.

Question 22

Explain how volcanic activity affects the climate?

Answer 22

Major volcano erruptions lead to a berief period of global cooling. Vocano releases sulfur dioxide SO4 cloud that blocks out the suns rays = colder.

Question 23

What is climate change?

Answer 23

A change in the climate temperatures are rising so seas are warmer.

Question 24

What are natural causes of climate change? (3)

Answer 24

Orbital changes
Solar Output
Volcanic Activity

Question 25

What is long-term evidence for climate change? (4)

Answer 25

Ice cores
Tree rings
Peet Bogs
Sediment cores

Question 26

How does planting trees reduce climate change? (mitigation)

Answer 26

HOW? trees absorbe CO2, if you plant lots of them there will be less CO2 in the atmosphere.
FACT if additional 25% of all forest area in world was planted then 25% of all CO2 in atmosphere would be absorbed.
ASSESMENT? requires space, some countries dont have.
trees take years of time to grow and then absorbe CO2.