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GCSE Geography > 🌦️ Physical: Weather + Climate Change > Flashcards

🌦️ Physical: Weather + Climate Change Flashcards

1
Q

What is extreme weather?

A

A weather event that is significantly different from the average or usual weather pattern.

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2
Q

What is the enhanced greenhouse effect?

A

The warming of the Earth’s atmosphere due to human activity increasing the layer of greenhouse gases.

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3
Q

What is a tropical storm?

A

An area of low pressure winds moving in a spiral around a calm central point called the ‘eye’. Winds are powerful + rainfall is high.

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4
Q

What is mitigation?

A

Action taken to reduce or eliminate long term risk to human life + property from natural hazards eg. earthquake proof buildings.

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5
Q

What is adaptation?

A

Actions taken to adjust to natural events to reduce potential damage + cope with consequences.

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6
Q

Describe and explain the climate at the equator.

A
  • The equator receives a higher level of insolation and heats the ground
  • The air then heats up and rises as it is not very dense
  • The air then cools to form clouds which release precipitation
  • Therefore the climate at the equator is warm and rainy
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7
Q

What happens at places of high air pressure?

A
  • Cool air sinks to the ground creating high air pressure
  • Precipitation can’t be released from sinking air
  • Therefore places like deserts experience dry environments
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8
Q

What is the ITCZ, what are its characteristics and why?

A

The Intertropical Convergence Zone, torrential rain because of low pressure around the equator.

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9
Q

Where do tropical storms occur?

A

The Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ)

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10
Q

Which way do tropical storms turn in each hemisphere?

A

Northern: Anti-clockwise
Southern: Clockwise

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11
Q

What conditions do you need for a tropical storm and why?

A
  • Sea temperature above 27°C: providing the heat and moisture that causes the air to rise rapidly
  • Low wind shear: winds that remain constant allowing tropical storms to rise to high levels w/o being torn apart
  • Not along equator: Coriolis effect is not strong enough here for tropical storms to spin
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12
Q

Why do tropical storms start to dissipate when reaching land?

A

There is not an ocean of 27°C below it providing heat so it doesn’t have enough energy.

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13
Q

Describe the formation of a tropical storm.

A
  • The sun’s radiation warms the oceans to a critical 27°C
  • Causing warm moist air to rise through the air in thermals. Giving low pressure at the centre of the storm
  • The air cools as it rises producing clouds and rain
  • Some cooled air sinks back down creating the eye
  • Air from outside high pressure rushes in to lower pressure areas at the centre of the storm creating winds
  • The whole storm then spins due to the Earth’s spin
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14
Q

What are the primary effects of typhoon Haiyan?

A
  • Around 6,300 people killed (mainly drowned from storm surge)
  • 600,000 people displaced + 40,000 homes destroyed
  • 400mm of rain caused widespread flooding
  • Power lines, buildings and crops damaged
  • 30,000 fishing boats destroyed
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15
Q

What are the secondary effects of typhoon Haiyan?

A
  • 14 million people affected, 6 million lost their source of income
  • Flooding caused landslides blocking roads and access to remote communities
  • Power supplies in some areas cut off for a month
  • Ferry services and airline flights disrupted for weeks, slowing down aid efforts
  • Shortages of water, food and shelter affected many people leading to disease
  • Many jobs lost, hospitals damaged, shops and schools destroyed, affecting people’s livelihood and education
  • Looting and violence broke out in Tacloban
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16
Q

What were the immediate responses to typhoon Haiyan?

A
  • International government aid agencies gave food, water and temporary shelter
  • US aircraft + helicopters assisted in search and rescue + delivering aid
  • Over 1,200 evacuation centres were set up to help the homeless
  • UK government sent shelter kits
  • French, Belgian and Israeli field hospitals were set up
  • The Filipino red cross delivered basic food aid
17
Q

What were the long-term responses to typhoon Haiyan?

A
  • The UN and other nations donated financial aid, supplies and support
  • Rebuilding roads, airports + bridges
  • ‘Cash for work’ programmes set up to pay people if they helped clear debris + rebuild the city
  • Foreign donors supported new livelihood opportunities
  • Aid agencies supported the replacement of fishing boats
  • Homes rebuilt away from the vulnerable coastline
  • More typhoon shelters built for future storms
18
Q

How do we know climate change has happened in the past and is happening now?

A
  • We have areas with glacial features but no ice
  • Rapidly melting ice all around the world
  • Sea level rise
  • Increased flooding + drought
  • Decline in some species
  • Temperature increase
19
Q

What are two techniques of finding evidence for long-term climate change and how do they work?

A
  • Ice cores: Taking cores of ice from ice sheets which reveal different layers of snow and carbon dioxide levels
  • Pollen analysis: Taking pollen samples extracted from sediment cores in peat bogs and lake beds which show that ecosystems have changed in the past
20
Q

What are two techniques of finding evidence for medium- term climate change and how do they work?

A
  • Historical records: Looking at pieces of history such as books and art to identify any changes in climate
  • Tree rings: The thickness of a tree ring is a useful indicator as in higher temperatures with more sunlight and abundant precipitation trees grow well increasing tree size
21
Q

What are two techniques of finding evidence for short-term climate change and how do they work?

A
  • The instrumental record: Looking at changes in temperature throughout the years
  • Sea level rise: Identifying how much or little the sea level has risen
22
Q

What are the three natural causes for climate change?

A
  • Orbital changes
  • Volcanic activity
  • Solar output
23
Q

How does solar output affect the climate?

A

Storms on the sun send superheated flares of gas, called sun spots, and when there are lots of sun spots the climate on Earth is warmer

24
Q

What are the three orbital causes of climate change called?

A
  • Axial tilt
  • Precession
  • Eccentricity
25
Q

How does axial tilt affect the climate?

A

Th Earth spins on an axis and over a long period the angle changes, when the angle increases the summers become warmer and winters colder

26
Q

How does precession affect the climate?

A

Precession is the ‘wobble’ of the Earth, which can give places like Norway long days and nights at certain times of the year. Overall it makes seasonal contrasts more extreme in one hemisphere and less extreme in the other

27
Q

How does eccentricity affect the climate?

A

This describes the Earth’s path around the sun and it changes how close we are to the sun, the closer the hotter

28
Q

How does volcanic activity affect the climate?

A
  • Volcanic ash can block out the sun, reducing the temperature on Earth ~ short term impact
  • Fine droplets form as a result of the conversion of sulphur dioxide to sulphuric acid. This acid acts like tiny mirrors reflecting radiation from the sun.
29
Q

What are the three human causes for climate change?

A
  • Burning fossil fuels
  • Deforestation
  • Agriculture (methane)
30
Q

How does burning fossil fuels affect the climate?

A

Burning fossil fuels releases CO₂ into the atmosphere and produces 50% of greenhouse gases which leads to the enhanced greenhouse gas effect, trapping in more heat.

31
Q

How does agriculture affect the climate?

A

Cattle produce methane which adds to the enhanced greenhouse effect, trapping heat in the atmosphere.

32
Q

How does deforestation affect the climate?

A

Clearing forests on a wide scale destroys one of the main ways to remove CO₂ from the atmosphere as they’re unable to sequester the CO₂.

33
Q

What are the effects of climate change on people and the environment?

A
  • Crop yields could increase by up to 20% in East and South East Asia, but in central and South Asia the yields may decrease by 30%
  • In Southern Europe there will be increased pressure on water resources for drinking and farming
  • In many African regions, crop production is likely to fall as temperature rises and water decreases
  • Due to increases in drought and fires it is estimated that agriculture will decline in Southern and Eastern Australia
  • As the climate gets warmer, diseases such as malaria will spread, putting up to 60% of Africa at risk
  • Erosion of beaches and the bleaching of coral reefs as a result of sea level rise and temperatures rising will affect the lives of Pacific communities

GCSE Geography (9 decks)

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