Year 10 Climate Change 1A Flashcards
Climate change
Long-term change in climate patterns, e.g. temperature and precipitation
Quaternary period
Period of geological time from 2.6 million years ago to the present day
Mitigation
Reducing the causes of climate change
Adaptation
Learning to live with the effects of climate change
Glacial
A period of time with cooler global temperatures e.g. and ice age
Interglacial
A period of time with warmer global temperatures
Ice core
Ice tube drilled out of the ground with trapped gases from an ancient atmosphere frozen in the ice and we can measure the carbon dioxide and methane level levels from the past
Fossil fuels
Coal, oil and gas were formed in the past from the fossils of living organisms
Greenhouse gases
Methane is released from cattle during the digestive system, carbon dioxide is released from burning fossil fuels to create electricity
What is the greenhouse effect?
When some incoming solar radiation is reflected back to space by the Earth atmosphere and some outgoing radiation is absorbed by the greenhouse gases which warms the planet and maintains temperature for life to survive
What is the enhanced greenhouse effect?
Incoming solar radiation is more so trapped and less of that radiation is reflected back to space and as more is absorbed by greenhouse gases it warms the planet more and so the temperature rises and has negative effects
What is the evidence for climate change in the past?
Ice course show there have been glacial and Interglacial periods in the past, ocean fossils give evidence about ancient ocean temperatures, historical artefacts like art e.g. from 1684 shows ice-skating on the River Thames
What is the evidence for climate change in the present?
Earth’s average temperature has increased by 1°C over the last 100 years, sea levels have risen by 19 cm since the 1900s, ocean temperatures are the warmest they have been since 1850, glaciers and ice sheets are melting, since 2002 134 billion tons of ice was lost from Antarctica per year
How does volcanic activity cause climate change and is it a natural or human factor?
Natural, volcanic ash and sulphur dioxide can reflect sunlight which reduces temperatures e.g. the Mount Tambora eruption of 1815 caused average global temperatures to fall by 0.4°C to 0.7°C and it was called ‘The year without a summer’
How does orbital changes cause climate change and is it a natural or human factor?
Natural, the orbit of the Earth changes and is called the Milankovitch cycles which includes three orbital cycles which change the earths climate and seasons over thousands of years
How does solar output cause climate change and is it a natural or human factor?
Natural, more dark spots on the Sun means it is admitting more energy which heats the Earth, fewer dark spots on the Sun means it is admitting less energy which causes the Earth, the sunspot cycle includes sun spots increasing and decreasing in amount every 11 years
How does fossil fuels cause climate change and is it a natural or human factor?
Human, burning fossil fuels releases carbon dioxide which causes the temperature to rise and over 50% of greenhouse gas emissions are from burning fossil fuels
How does agriculture cause climate change and is it a natural human factor?
Human, Rice farming and cattle farming releases methane which causes the temperature to rise, 20% of greenhouse gas emissions are from agriculture
How does deforestation cause climate change? And is it a natural or human factor?
Human, when trees are cut down fewer trees are left to absorb carbon dioxide during photosynthesis so more carbon dioxide stays in the atmosphere causing an enhanced greenhouse effect which causes the temperature to rise, when trees are burnt to clear area of the land the carbon dioxide stored inside the tree is released into the atmosphere
What are the predicted effects of climate change?
Ocean a certification which causes coral reef bleaching and then biodiversity is lost
warmer means more wildfires so there are more deaths and destruction
more intense tropical storms leading to infrastructure damage
increased ice melting leads to sea levels rising and coastal erosion and more homes are lost
droughts cause lower crop yields so there is less food and famine
unreliable rainfall causes desertification so there’s mass migration
when it’s warmer there is a wider distribution of tropical diseases like malaria
How can alternative energy mitigate climate change?
Use renewable energy like solar or wind and less greenhouse gases will be released into the atmosphere
How can carbon capture mitigate climate change?
Storing carbon dioxide in rocks means there’s less of it in the atmosphere
How can planting trees mitigate climate change?
Trees absorb carbon dioxide, so it’s not in the atmosphere
How can international agreements mitigate climate change?
The Paris agreement of 2015 was an international agreement to stop global temperature increase rising above 2°C
How can managing water supply be an adaption to climate change?
1) reduced demand by having a shorter showers and using rainwater to flush toilets
2) increase the supply by creating new reservoirs, desalination and water transfers
How can changing agricultural systems be an adaptation to climate change?
As the climate changes it becomes difficult to grow crops so you may need to grow crops differently like in new locations or in different seasons e.g. in Peru project to grow potatoes at higher altitudes where it is cooler
How can reducing risk from rising sea levels being an adaptation to climate change?
May need to build more coastal defences to protect from flooding, e.g. Thames barrier protects London from coastal flooding
