2.5 Climate Change Flashcards
(20 cards)
What is the effect if human activity on global systems
Increased human activity causes more fossil fuels to be burnt. The major cause of the enhanced greenhouse effect is an
increase in carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide
concentration in the atmosphere
What is the cause of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere
Caused by extracting and
burning coal and gas as a
primary energy source
Describe Methane
Methane (CH4) is able to trap more than 20 times the heat of carbon dioxide
Formed from the breakdown of organic matter
Methane is produced:
in the stomach of cows and sheep as bacteria digest the grass they eat
In rice paddies, garbage tips, coal mines and natural gas fields
Explain Nitrous Oxide
Nitrous oxide is capable of trapping 300 times
more heat than carbon dioxide
Nitrous oxide is produced in car exhausts,
through many industrial processes, burning of
forests and the use of nitrogen-based fertilisers
3 major factors causing sea levels to rise
Melting of glaciers and polar ice caps
Melting of the massive ice sheets that cover Greenland and
Antarctica
Expansion of ocean water as it warms
WHat are the three impacts of rising sea levels
Low-lying countries like the Maldives (only 1.3 m
above sea level) will be overwhelmed by water and
could disappear altogether
Coastal regions will be threatened by high tides and
storm surges. 85% of Australia’s population lives in
the coastal region and flooding will be common
Sea water pushing inland will flood wetlands, cause
erosion and water contamination – water to be salty
What has the effect of climate change had on biodiversity
decrease in biodiversity.
Rising temperatures lead to different behaviour patterns.
Some adapt to temperature changes, while others migrate toward the poles or new areas. Other
species disappear e.g. certain corals bleached and died
Ocean acidification has a direct impact on the marine organisms with calcareous skeletons
or shells
Extreme climatic events deplete natural environments e.g. erosion and flood. Marine
habitat has been disturbed and feeding and breeding are affected.
WHat is biodiversity
Biodiversity is the number of species on earth and the genetic diversity within these species.
It is also the number and variety of ecosystems in the biosphere
Explain Permafrost
Permafrost are areas of the lithosphere where the temperature of the layers of soil and
rock beneath the surface never rises above freezing point: e.g. Arctic
Permafrost halts the action of decomposer organisms and traps methane.
Estimates suggest that the Arctic lithosphere stores billions of tonnes of methane.
How does permasfrost impact climate change
Rising temperatures in the Arctic cause the frozen soil to melt and
release the trapped methane and allow further decomposition of
wastes by microorganisms
Melting of the permafrost is a major concern because of the potential
for a positive feedback loop to occur:
increase methane emissions 🡪 cause the temperature to rise further 🡪
melting more ice 🡪 releasing more methane 🡪
and causing more warming
WHat is global warming
Refers to the increase in the average surface temperature of the Earth caused by the
greenhouse effect
What is climate change
Refers to the changes in long-term weather patterns, especially in:
Precipitation
Temperature
Humidity
Winds
Air pressure
Difference between climate modeling and climate models
Climate Model - Long-term changes in climate over many years based on
climate modelling
CLimate Modelling - is the process of combining scientific principles and known
data into equations and feeding these into powerful
computers to predict long-term climate changes
Current model predictions:
The oceans will not warm as much as
the land
The greatest increase in temperature
will be in the northern parts of the
northern hemisphere
Areas near the Antarctic and in the
far north of the Atlantic Ocean will
have the smallest temperatureThe area of land covered in snow will
continue to decrease and the amount
of sea ice at both poles will be further
reduced.
According to the satellite data, the
Artic sea ice has decreased by 2.7%
each decade since 1978.
WHat is the Kyoto Protocol
is an international treaty that recognises that global warming is
occurring and that this is due to an increase in greenhouse gases, esp. CO2.
The treaty was signed in 1997 by 189 members states of the UN, including Australia.
Member states were committed to reducing carbon dioxide emissions
In 2015, 195 countries participated in the UN Paris Climate Conference and agreed
to the first ever global climate action plan.
The plan aims to keep global temperature rise to less than 2℃. It was recognised
that increases below 1.5℃ would significantly reduce the impact and risk of
climate change events
What is the environmental footprints
is a method that
determines how dependent humans
are on natural resources.
It is a measure that indicates how
much resources from the
environment are required to support a
specific way of life or business. The ecological footprint is generally
expressed in global hectares (gha),
and allows professionals to determine
the land area required by each human
to sufficiently meet their needs.
It allows analysts to determine the
rate at which humans consume
resources, generate waste as well as
calculate sustainability
What is carbon capture and storage
Carbon capture and storage (CCS) involves
capturing, transporting and storing greenhouse
gas emissions from fossil fuel power stations,
energy intensive industries, and gas fields by
injecting the captured greenhouse gases back
into the ground.
- Claims that it can be used to reduce the
impact of emissions-intensive industries like
cement, steel and chemical production
Disadvantages of CCS
Extremely expensive
Use a lot of energy to build and run
Needs to operate on a large scale to be
effective
Encourage an increase in the use of fossil
fuels as there will be less urgency to reduce
CO2 emission
Possible leakage in the event of earthquakes
Aboriginal use of prescribed burns
These have been purposefully designed to burn at low
intensity in the early dry season and only burn carefully
selected patches of bushland.
This practice results in a landscape that consists of a
‘mosaic’ of patches in different stages of regrowth. Recently burned patches act as effective fire breaks
against the spread of large-scale and high-intensity fires.
Since the beginning of European colonisation, this
carefully designed fire management regime has been
disrupted leading to more frequent out-of-control
wildfires that are extremely destructive, highly polluting
and emitting significantly larger quantities of greenhouse
gases.
Aboriginal rangers restorartive group
first funded in 2007
It supports Indigenous people to combine traditional
knowledge with conservation training to protect and manage
their land, sea and culture.
Includes activities such as:
Rescue efforts for threatened plants & animals
Reintroduction of locally extinct species
Prevention of saltwater entrance into wetlands
Eradication of invasive weeds
Control of feral predators
Habitat protection
