Responding to Climate Change

Question 1

What is mitigation to climate change?

Answer 1

Mitigation is reducing the causes of climate change by reducing the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere so as to reduce the effects.

Question 2

What is reducing the causes of climate change by reducing the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere so as to reduce the effects?

Answer 2

This is called a mitigation strategy.

Question 3

What is adaptation to climate change?

Answer 3

Adaptation is coping with the changes that occur as result of climate change.

Question 4

What is coping with the changes that occur as a result of climate change?

Answer 4

Coping with the changes is called adaptation.

Question 5

What happens at Conference of the Parties (COP), what do politicians do about climate change?

Answer 5

The politicians at COP meet and discuss how to combat the problem of climate change.

Question 6

What goals did politicians set about climate change at COP21, and where did COP21 take place?

Answer 6

In 2015, at COP21 in Paris, politicians agreed to set a goal to keep temperatures below 2C above pre-industrial levels and try to limit increase to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels.

Question 7

What did President Trump remove the US from in his first term?

Answer 7

Trump removed the US from the conference of parties (COP).

Question 8

What was agreed at COP26, and when and where did it take place?

Answer 8

In 2021, at COP26 in Glasgow, it was agreed that countries would “ban and reverse deforestation” by 2030.

Question 9

How many countries signed up to the agreement in COP26?

Answer 9

145 out of 197 countries signed up to the agreement to “ban and reverse deforestation” by 2030.

Question 10

What was agreed at COP28, and when and where did it take place?

Answer 10

In December 2023, at COP28 in Dubai (UAE), countries agreed to transition away from fossil fuels in their energy systems, which will require greater investment and development of renewable (alternative) energy production.

Question 11

What does the Noor Power Station do in Morocco?

Answer 11

The Noor Power Station in Morocco generates renewable electricity for more than one million Moroccans.

Question 12

Renewable technologies are more expensive and not as efficient at releasing energy than fossil fuels are, however

Answer 12

This is likely to change with future research and development.

Question 13

What percent of carbon emissions can Carbon Capture and Storage extract from power stations, factories and other industry?

Answer 13

CSS can extract 90% of all carbon emissions from power stations, factories and other industry.

Question 14

Where happens to captured carbon in carbon capture and storage?

Answer 14

Captured carbon is transported to a facility wherein it is then injected and sequestered deep underground, often into aquifers, thus preventing the carbon dioxide entering the atmosphere.

Question 15

Where was the first carbon capture and storage (CSS) facility made, and when?

Answer 15

In 2014, a Power station in Canada became the world’s first carbon capture coal-fired power station.

Question 16

In the UK, plans are underway for the Zero Carbon Humber project, which is?

Answer 16

In the UK, plans are underway for the Zero Carbon Humber Project, a development designed to capture, transport and then store carbon dioxide emissions from the UK’s largest industrial cluster underneath the North Sea.

Question 17

Why is carbon capture and storage not a silver bullet solution?

Answer 17

Carbon capture and storage is not a silver bullet solution as it is extremely expensive and energy-intensive.

Question 18

Unless what can happen, the impact of carbon capture and storage (CSS) is limited?

Answer 18

Unless energy itself can be generated using renewable methods such as wind, solar or tidal, the impact of CCS will be limited.

Question 19

What have been built to do with climate change in the middle-east, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Israel?

Answer 19

In the middle east, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Israel have built some of the world’s largest desalination plants.

Question 20

Where have some of the world’s largest desalination plants been built?

Answer 20

Some of the world’s largest desalination plants have been built in the middle-east, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Israel.

Question 21

What do desalination plants do?

Answer 21

Desalination plants remove salt from the water, making it drinkable and usable for irrigation.

Question 22

How do desalination plants work?

Answer 22

These plants take in saltwater from the seas or oceans and remove the salt molecules from the water.

Question 23

What are the negatives for desalination plants?

Answer 23

Desalination technology is currently expensive, energy-intensive and involve large-scale facilities which take up a lot of land.

Question 24

What are crops dependent on with their surroundings?

Answer 24

Crops are dependent on temperature and rainfall conditions of a place.

Question 25

What has Sudan experienced to do with climate change and where is it located?

Answer 25

Sudan, on the southern edge of the Sahara desert, has experienced decreased rainfall and rising temperatures

Question 26

What does Sudan’s decreased rainfall and rising temperatures resulted in (double development with statistic)?

Answer 26

This has resulted in agriculture being made more difficult, which is a large-scale threat in Sudan, where two-thirds of rural Sudanese are farmers.

Question 27

Who gave Sudanese farmers drought resistant seeds, and give an example of a drought resistant seed?

Answer 27

The United Nations (UN) led a project which gave farmers drought resistant seeds, such as groundnut and sesame which has increased crop yields.

Question 28

What did the UN project in Sudan also build, apart from giving drought resistant seeds to farmers?

Answer 28

To cope with decreased rainfall, the project also built a rainwater harvesting reservoir called a ‘hafir’.

Question 29

What do ‘hafirs’ enable Sudanese farmers to do (with U-turn)?

Answer 29

‘Hafirs’ enable farmers to trap water in the wet season and store it year-round for irrigation. However, scientists predict droughts in the region to become increasingly more severe, so further support will be needed.

Question 30

At current rates, how much are sea levels predicted to rise by 2100?

Answer 30

At current rates, sea levels are predicted to rise by 65cm by 2100.

Question 31

What does sea levels being predicted to rise by 65cm by 2100 result in?

Answer 31

Sea levels being predicted to rise by 65cm by 2100 will result in many low-lying islands such as the Maldives, a group of tiny islands located in the Indian Ocean with a population of 380,000 being flooded.

Question 32

Many developing countries, such as the Maldives, cannot afford what?

Answer 32

Many developing countries like the Maldives cannot afford expensive coastal flood defences, and instead must opt to restore coastal mangrove forests or build houses off the ground on stilts

Question 33

What do the roots of Mangrove trees do to protect from sea level rising due to climate change?

Answer 33

The roots of mangrove trees trap sediment and offer protection from storm waves.

Question 34

Why could all adaptation methods not be effective in the long-term?

Answer 34

It is highly likely that they will not be effective in the long term and residents will have to flee because the highest point on these islands is just 2.4 metres and current climate models suggest the islands may be fully submerged by 2070.