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Full geog > Weather and climate (KQ2) > Flashcards

Weather and climate (KQ2) Flashcards

1
Q

What are some natural causes of global warming?

A
  • variations in solar output
  • volcanic eruptions
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2
Q

How do variations in solar output cause global warming?

A
  • sun emits varying amounts of solar radiation due to changes in its magnetic field
  • sunspots are cooler regions on the sun’s surface
  • they appear as dark spots
  • during periods of intense solar magnetic activity, amounts of sunspots increases
  • this results in higher solar radiation as the areas surrounding the sunspot emit more energy
  • this is to compensate for the lower termperatures at sunspots
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3
Q

What is released into the atmosphere when a volcano erupts?

A
  • water vapour
  • sulfur dioxide
  • dust
  • ash
  • carbon dioxide
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4
Q

How do volcanic eruptions cause global warming?

A
  • sulfur dioxide reacts with water to form sulfur-based particles in the atmosphere
  • the sulfur-based particles, ash and dust reflect solar energy back into space
  • this causes global dimming to occur
  • global dimming is a gradual reduction of sunlight reaching the earth’s surface
  • this results in temporary cooling for months, or even years
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5
Q

What is an example of a volcanic eruption that caused global warming

A
  • eruption of Mt. Pinatubo in the Philippines in 1991
  • released 17 million tonnes of sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere
  • caused temperature in the northern hemisphere to be lowered by 0.6 degrees celsius for 2 years
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6
Q

What is the greenhouse effect?

A
  • a natural process in which the gases in the atmosphere trap longwave radiation emitted by the earth’s surface and warm the atmosphere
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7
Q

What is emitted by the sun?

A
  • shortwave radiation
  • in the form of visible light
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8
Q

What is emitted by the earth’s surface

A
  • longwave radiation
  • after shortwave radiation is absorbed by the surface of the earth
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9
Q

What are some examples of greenhouse gases?

A
  • carbon dioxide
  • methane
  • nitrous oxide
  • water vapour
  • chlorofluorcarbons (CFCs)
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10
Q

What is the process of the greenhouse effect?

A
  • incoming shortwave radiation from the sun enters the atmosphere
  • it reaches the earth’s surface (it heats up)
  • the earth’s surface emits it as longwave radiation
  • the longwave radiation is then absorbed by greenhouse gases
  • warms the atmosphere
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11
Q

What is the enhanced greenhouse effect?

A
  • refers to an increase in the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere
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12
Q

What does the enhanced greenhouse effect lead to?

A
  • rise in global temperatures
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13
Q

How does the enhanced greenhouse effect occur?

A
  • when human activity causes greenhouse gases to be released at a far greater rate than that of natural emissions of greenhouse gases
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14
Q

What are some anthropogenic causes of climate change?

A
  • deforestation
  • changing land use (agriculture, industries, urbanization)
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15
Q

What is deforestation?

A
  • the loss of forests due to the removal of trees in forested areas
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16
Q

Why is deforestation carried out?

A
  • obtain wood to make products such as paper and building materials
  • carry out mining activities
  • agricultural activities such as grazing and growing crops
  • developing infrastructure
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17
Q

How does deforestation lead to an increasing carbon dioxide level in the atmosphere? (1 of 2 ways)

A
  • forests have trees
  • trees remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere through photosynthesis
  • thus, when deforestation occurs
  • there are less trees to absorb the carbon dioxide in the air to photosynthesize
  • as such, there is more carbon dioxide in the air
    (not from textbook)
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18
Q

How does deforestation lead to an increasing carbon dioxide level in the atmosphere? (2 of 2 ways)

A
  • soil contains a high amount of carbon
  • due to the accumulation of carbon through the decay of organic matter
  • such as dead leaves and animals
  • deforestation causes the soil to be exposed to the sun
  • this increases soil temperature
  • increases the rate of carbon oxidation in the soil
  • carbon oxidation is when carbon in the soil and oxygen in the atmosphere react to produce carbon dioxide
  • thus, deforestation increases the rate of carbon dioxide emission from the soil into the atmosphere
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19
Q

What are some examples of deforestation?

A
  • South America experiences the greatest overall loss
  • followed by Southeast Asia
  • Australia and Africa also suffer losses in forests
  • deforestation in these places in carried out for agricultural and commercial purposes
  • cattle ranching, soybean production, commercial logging, mining
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20
Q

What does changing land use refer to?

A
  • the demand for agricultural and industrial land imcreases as population increases
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21
Q

How does changing land use contribute to climate change?

A
  • more fossil fuels are burnt to meet energy demands
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22
Q

What are some examples of changing land use?

A
  • agriculture
  • industries
  • urbanization
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23
Q

How does agriculture contribute to climate change?

A
  • tractors used run on fossil fuels which release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere
  • use of inorganic fertilizers increases the amount of nitrous oxide
  • nitrous oxide is released when soil is ploughed or when water (rain) flows through the soil
  • decomposition of organic matter such as dead leaves and manure release methane
    -decomposition is rapid due to the presence of moisture in soil
  • cattle waste gas contains methane
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24
Q

What do industries refer to?

A
  • the production of goods and services within a country
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25
Q

How do industries contribute to climate change?

A
  • economic activities, such as manufacturing involve the burning of fossil fuels
  • they release greenhouse gases
  • some processes produce more carbon dioxide than others (refer to tb pg 179)
26
Q

What does urbanization refer to?

A
  • process in which an increasing number of people live in urban areas such as cities and towns
27
Q

How does urbanization contribute to climate change?

A
  • large amounts of fossil fuels are burnt for household activities
  • activities such as heating, cooling, cooking and lighting
  • high concentration of cars, buses and other forms of transportation also contribute to the high amount of carbon dioxide produced
28
Q

What are some impacts of climate change?

A
  • sea level rising
  • more frequent extreme weather events
  • spread of infectious diseases
  • lengthens growing seasons in certain regions
29
Q

How does climate change lead to sea level rising?

A
  • higher temperatures cause the melting of glaciers in greenland and antarctica
  • meltwater causes a rise in sea level
  • high temperatures also cause water in seas to expand, increasing sea level
30
Q

What are the impacts of rising sea levels?

A
  • over 600 million people live in areas less than 10 metres above sea level
  • rising sea levels threaten low-lying areas and islands
  • coastal cities such as Miami and Venice are in danger of losing land due to rising sea level
31
Q

What is an example of rising sea level?

A
  • Majuro Atoll in the Pacific Coean is in danger of losing 80% of its land if sea levels rise by half a metre
32
Q

Why is the increasing incidence of extreme weather events a serious impact of climate change?

A
  • it can result in loss of life
  • significant economic losses
33
Q

Why are heatwaves known as “silent killers”?

A
  • they are neither visibly destructive nor violent
34
Q

Why do heatwaves result in loss of life?

A
  • when people are subjected to extreme heat
  • vital organs are at risk
  • death results when the body cant cool itself down sufficiently
  • young children and the elderly are especially at risk
35
Q

Why does climate change cause the spread of infectious insect-borne diseases?

A
  • climate change results in increased temperature and rainfall
  • these are favourable conditions for insects to thrive in
36
Q

What are some examples of insect-borne diseases?

A
  • malaria
  • spread by a mosquito parasite
  • causes high fever, chills anf flu-like symptoms
  • dengue
  • transmitted to humans by the bite of an infected mosquito
  • causes fever, headaches and sever bleeding
37
Q

How does climate change lengthen the growing season in certain regions?

A
  • higher temperatures result in longer growing seasons
  • growing seasons refer to the period during which crops can be grown
38
Q

What are the advantages of longer growing seasons?

A
  • an increase in the types of crops that can be grown in the UK
  • new crops such as blackberries and maize can be grown
  • the production of fruit, soya beans, potatoes are projected to increase in Canada
39
Q

What are the disadvantages of longer growing seasons?

A
  • In the Yunnan province, China, the production of fruits such as apples and cherries and nuts, such as almonds and walnuts is reduced as they require cool weather conditions
  • in Canada, the average wheat grain yield has decreased
40
Q

What are international agreements?

A
  • they are contracts signed by two or more countries
41
Q

What are national responses?

A
  • when individual countries implement policies to achieve international goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions
42
Q

What is an example of an international agreement?

A
  • Kyoto Protocol
43
Q

What is the Kyoto Protocol?

A
  • an agreement linked to the United Nations Framework Convention on climate change (UNFCC)
  • to reduce levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere by anthropogenic causes
44
Q

How did the Kyoto Protocol intend to reduce carbon emissions?

A
  • countries were required to monitor and report their greenhouse gas emissions
45
Q

What were key dates in the Kyoto Protocol?

A
  • drawn up on 11 dec 1997
  • came into action on 16 feb 2005
46
Q

What were the successes of the Kyoto Protocol?

A
  • many countries met/exceeded the target set
  • included countries such as Finland, Greece and Ireland
47
Q

What were the successes of the Kyoto Protocol?

A
  • many countries met/exceeded the target set
  • included countries such as Finland, Greece and Ireland
48
Q

What were the successes of the Kyoto Protocol?

A
  • many countries met/exceeded the target set
  • included countries such as Finland, Greece and Ireland
49
Q

What were the limitations of the Kyoto Protocol?

A
  • countries such as Denmark, Austria and Spain did not meet their targets
  • it was not made compulsory for countries with low greenhouse gas emissions to provide support to countries with high greenhouse gas emissions
  • thus, countries with high greenhouse gas emissions may not be able to meet their targets as easily
  • it had limited impacts on global greenhouse gas emissions
  • countries that did not sign continued to contribute significantly to global emissions
50
Q

What are some national responses created in Singapore?

A
  • Singapore green plan 2012
  • Green mark scheme
  • Plant-a-tree programme
51
Q

How did the Singapore green plan aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions?

A
  • use natural gas rather than coal
  • its a cleaner form of energy as compared to coal as it does not produce as much smoke
52
Q

What are some key details about the Singapore green plan?

A
  • launched by ministry of environment in 2002
  • plan aimed to generate 60% of Singapore’s energy needs using natural gas by 2012
53
Q

What were some successes of the Singapore green plan?

A
  • as early as 2010, 79% of Singapore’s electricity was generated by natural gas
  • exceeded the ministry’s target ahead of time
54
Q

What were some limitations to the Singapore green plan?

A
  • natural gas requires complex treatment plants to process and pipelines to transport
  • high maintenance cost as they need to be laid underground and have to be regularly checked for leakage
55
Q

How did the green mark scheme aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions?

A
  • encourages more energy-efficient buildings
  • they use less energy to provide the same services, thus promoting energy conservation
    (please check tb idk im summarising)
56
Q

What were some successes of the green mark scheme?

A
  • existing green buildings such as Plaza By The Parl, Standard Chartered @ Changi etc reported energy savings of 15 to 35% compared to convectional buildings
  • it cuts down greenhouse gas emissions by reducing the use of fossil fuels to generate electricity
57
Q

What were some limitations in the green mark scheme?

A
  • construction companies tend to be conservative about adopting new ideas
  • green buildings use green materials that are more expensive
58
Q

What was the purpose of the Plant-A-Tree programme?

A
  • started in 1971 as tree planting day
  • aimed to maintain Singapore’s status as a garden city
59
Q

How did the Plant-A-Tree programme aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions?

A
  • residents were encouraged to donate money to buy a tree or take part in tree planting events monthly throughout Singapore
60
Q

What were some successes of the Plant-A-Tree programme?

A
  • programme has contributed an estimated 60000 trees planted yearly by NParks
  • trees remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere (green lungs of the environment)
61
Q

What were some limitations of the Plant-A-Tree programme?

A
  • trees take many years to mature
  • the positive effects of tree planting will take time to materialise
  • even fast growing trees, such as angsanas, raintrees and yellow flames that were planted by NParks took 25 years to reach their full height

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