Climate Change

Question 1

What is climate change?

Answer 1

Is any significant change in the Earth’s climate over a long period.
climate constantly flunctuates.

Question 2

What is global warming?

Answer 2

The term used to describe a sharp rise in global temperatures over the last century.

Question 3

What are ice cores?

Answer 3

Measuring the oxygen: Layers of sediment of fresh falls of now become buried - they trap and preserve evidence of the global temperature at the time. The more c02 bubbles indicates warmer temp.

Question 4

Rising sea levels.

Answer 4

Between 1901-2010 global sea levels rose by 0.19m
Water runs off the land into the sea causing sea level rise. - temp rises and more water flows to seas from glaciers and ice caps.
ocean water warm and expands in volume - thermal expansion

Question 5

Tree rings

Answer 5

measure the tree rings as a proxy for temp - wide tree rings indicate warmer conditions.
Dendrochology.

Question 6

Shrinking glaciers.

Answer 6

Glaciers shrinking and retreating. some ay disappear by 2035.
Artic sea thinned by 65%
Photographic evidence - compare
no more drinking water.

Question 7

Natural causes

Answer 7

Milankovitch cycles
Solar activity
volcanic activity

Question 8

orbital changes

Answer 8

1. Aerial tilt - over a period of 41000 years the tilt of the axis changed between 21.5 and 24.5 - sun is sometimes closer to the earth- rising temps.
2. eccentricity - Path of Earth as it orbits the sun - changes from circular to eliptical - colder temp
   3.Wobble - procession : Earth has a natural wobble

Question 9

solar activity

Answer 9

A sunspot is a dark patch that appears on the surface of the sun - increases and decreases over an 11 year period.
Solar cycle
When sunspot activity is at maximum the sun gives off more heat/ energy.
“little ice age”

Question 10

Volcanic actvity

Answer 10

Violent volcanic eruptions blast huge amounts of ash, sulphur and gases into the atmosphere.
block out the sun reducing temps
small droplets reflect the radiation from the sun.
“Volcanic winter”
“mount tambora” 0.4 to -0.7

Question 11

What does the enhanced greenhouse gases emit?

Answer 11

1.Carbon dioxide - burning fossil fuels - deforestation, car exhausts
2. methane - rice farming, farm livestock, agriculture fertilisers
3.nitrous oxides. power stations producing electricity, sewage treatment

Question 12

mitigation and strategies

Answer 12

To reduce or prevent the effects of something from happening
- alternative energy - hydro-electricity, nuclear power, solar wind and tidal energy
- carbon capture and storage - capture co2 and compress, transport it by pipeline and inject underground as liquid.
- planting trees - removes co2 from photosynthesis and release moisture - producing more cloud - cooling
international agreements - legal contracts e.g 2015 paris agreement.

Question 13

Adaptation

Answer 13

accepting and changing ways.
1.adapting farming methods - moving production to another location UN food and agriculture states that it needs to be ‘climate smart’ if it needs to feed the world
2.Managing water supplies - moving water to satisfy areas of deficit.
3.reducing risk from rising sea levels