Water & Carbon cycle Flashcards
Key facts about the River Eden drainage basin
- It is located in Cumrbia, north-west England between the mountains of the Lake District(west) the Yorkshire Dales (south) and the Pennines (east)
- It is 145km in length
- Drains in a north-west direction
- Mainly rural catchment area
The source is Black Fell Moss, Mallerstang Valley (670m), Pennine Hills
- It flows through the city of Carlisle
What is the Climate and Rainfall like in the River Eden Drainage basin?
What are the factors affecting flooding in the River Eden Drainage Basin
Land Use:
- Predominately agricultural land of different grading. - most of it is of high Quality,* Grade 2: Very Good Quality Agricultural Land- located alongside the main river channel in the middle and lower course.
- Some is bad though: Grade 5: Very Poor Quality Agricultural Land- High land around the watershed. (think about why it’s high/low quality)
- Beef and dairy farming regions on the Solway Plain near the mouth of the river.
- The Eden valley contains 7,667 ha of woodland (9.5 per cent of the total area)
- 1 % classified as urban: the main urban areas are Carlisle, Penrith and Appleby.
- Between the last two censuses (held in 2011 and 2021*), the population of Eden increased by 4.1%, from just under 52,600 in 2011 to around 54,700 in 2021.
What is the Shape, Relief, Geology and responsiveness to rainfall like at the River Eden Drainage Basin
- The slopes within the drainage basin are steep. reduces lag time, water will reach the river channel faster after precipitation, -> increasing peak discharge. In upper catchment, high rainfall and steep terrain make Eden a ‘fast-responding’ catchment, where high river levels occur soon after heavy rainfall.
- In Kirkby Stephen, the River Eden will respond to rainfall in around 1.5 hours.
- The time taken for rain falling on the top of Helvellyn, the highest point in the Eamont catchment, to reach Ullswater Lake is around 2 hours.
- ## Igneous rocks in the west are impermeable, these are at higher ground (higher surface run-off if high and a v-shaped valley)
What are the factors affecting flooding in the River Eden Drainage Basin (physical)
- Western parts of the UK (like where Cumbria is located) could get up to 38% more winter rainfall by 2080, increasing the chances of flash floods and river flooding. (bc of C.C)
- We have already seen the impact of extreme weather in the drainage basin in 2009 and 2015 with record breaking Storm Desmond. Other named storms since, such as Storm Ciara in 2019 also caused considerable flooding.
- Storm Clara
Aral Sea
Key facts:
- located between Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan
- It is to the east of the Caspian Sea
- It is part of the Turkestan Desert which can reach 60C
History, time and space:
- in 1960s Russians came and used the water for agriculture, pumped all out of Sea to grow cotton
- They diverted the river so that water was accessible in driest regions of Asia for irrigation, this stopped any river flow to the Aral Sea
- From 1960 to 1998, the sea’s surface area shrank by 60%, and its volume by 80%. In 1960, the Aral Sea had been the world’s fourth-largest lake
- Has receded significantly in recent times but the rate is slowing down according to the Chinese Academy of Sciences since 2005
What are the impacts of the shrinkage of the Aral Sea, which are the most significant?
Social effects:
- the increase in the number of dust storms because dry blowing salt, pesticides and herbicides has led to more respiratory illnesses including tuberculosis kidney and liver diseases, respiratory
infections, allergies and cancer
- Average life expectancy in the Kzyl-Orda region of Kazakhstan has declined from 64 to 51 years
- 87% of newborn babies are also anemic
Economic Effects:
- Used to provide jobs to 40,000-60,000 fishermen
- agricultural output has declined by 30-50% due to soil salinity, climate change, water deficiency, and reduced labor productivity due to health
problems
Environmental effects:
- salinity has increased from 1%-10%, this is 3x more saline than sea water
- More than 24 species of fish used to live here, 20 of these were endemic (only found here)
- Sea lost 90% of its volume
(political effects)
Where is water stored?
around 97% in hydrosphere
1. 1.7% in lithosphere and cryosphere (crust and upper mantle and frozen areas)
2. 0.001% in atmosphere (layer of gas surrounding the planet)
Impacts of changes to water stores
- only 0.5% of water on Earth is useable and available fresh water
- 2 billion people worldwide don’t have access to safe drinking water
- > limiting global warming to 1.5-2C would halve proportion of people expected to suffer from water scarcity
- IF GREENLAND ICE SHEET MELTS, WILL RAISE GLOBAL SEA LEVELS BY 6M!!!!!!
How does the water balance vary between the UK and another country? Why is this important to notice?
Key facts about the Amazon Rainforest
Spatial and Temporal
Spatial:
- southern hemisphere and present in 9 South American countries, Brazil = 60%
- 300 billion trees and 15,000 species store 1/5 of world’s carbon in biomass
- Amazon River is 6,600 km long and is an important freshwater source
- largest rainforest in the world, 5.5km2
- Hot wet and humid = avg rainfall is 2300 but can be 6000mm in NW
Impacts of changes in water and carbon cycles on Amazon Rainforest
Over space and time pls
What are the impacts of changes in the carbon cycle, and why are these more significant to changes in the water cycle?
Carbon dioxide is the most anthropogenic greenhouse gas in the atmosphere, contributing to 65% of all radiative forcing by these gases (reflecting infrared radiation)
What are the causes of changes to the magnitude of stores in the carbon cycle, and why are these important to understand?
How does the drainage basin hydrological system work?
use cheat sheet pls.
Changes over time to the Carbon Cycle (human factors pt 1)
HYDROCARBON FUEL EXTRACTION AND BURNING
* Since 1960s, global concentrations of CO2 have risen from 320 ppm to just over 418 ppm (2022) = highest recorded level ever
* Are compounds of hydrogen and carbon and fossil fuels are type of HC which forms from compressed remains of organic material at bottom of oceans over **millions of years ** -> lock up carbon but released when extracted and burned
* 90% of emissions of CO2 come from this
CASE STUDY:
* i.e Canada tar sands project = biggest energy project in world, currently producing 1.9 million barrels of oil/day. Largely located in Alberta, the tar sands deposits are distributed over an area of 140,000 km² – an area larger than England.
* 2024 study revealed that emissions from Canada’s project were underestimated by up to 6,300%, indicating environmental impact is far greater than previously reported
* Industrial activities and wildfires have degraded nearly 2m acres of boreal forest since the early 2000s, threatening vital habitats and the forest’s role as a carbon sink
FARMING PRACTICES
Changes over time to the Carbon Cycle (human factors pt 2)
DEFORESTATION
