Carbon cycle EQ3 Flashcards

Question

What does rising temperatures lead to?

Answer 1

The rising temperatures resulting from GHG emissions are increasing both evaporation rates and the amount of water vapour. This, in turn, is impacting on: - Precipitation patterns - River regimes - Drainage basin stores - The cryosphere

Answer 2

The Arctic plays an important role in global climate, as its sea ice regulates evaporation and precipitation. What has happened here over the last few decades serves as a warning to the rest of the planet: - temperatures have risen twice as fast as the global average - there has been a considerable loss of sea ice; the North-west Passage is now open to summer navigation - much melting of the permafrost - carbon uptake by terrestrial plants is increasing because of a lengthening growing season - a loss of albedo as the ice that once covered the land surface gives way to tundra, and tundra gives way to the taiga. Sunlight that was previously reflected back into space by the white surface is now being increasingly absorbed by the ever darkening land surface. In other words, it is encouraging further climate warming.

Answer 3

In terms of human wellbeing, there has been both positives and negatives. The warming climate is opening up previously ice-bound wilderness areas to tourism. the exploitation of mineral resources, particularly Arctic oil and as, is becoming more feasible. However, climate warming is disrupting and perhaps annihilating traditional ways of life, for example the the fishing and hunting of Inuits in North America and the Sami reindeer herders of northern Eurasia. Although scientific understanding of the enhanced greenhouse effect is increasing, there is still much uncertainty. As a consequence, there is a commensurate degree of caution when it comes to making global projections.

Answer 4

The decline in ocean health caused by acidification and bleaching is resulting in changes to marine food webs. In particular, fish and crustacean stocks are both declining and changing their distributions. Such changes are being particularly felt by developing countries. - The FAO estimates that fishing supports 500 million people, 90% of whom live in developing countries - Millions of fishing families depend on seafood for income as well as food. - Seafood is also the dietary preference of some wealthier countries, notably Iceland and Japan. - Aquaculture is on the rise, but its productivity is also being affected by declining pH values and rising temperatures.

Answer 5

Tourism is another activity under threat, particularly in those countries, for example in the Caribbean, where coral reefs, now showing signs of degradation, have traditionally attracted scuba-diving tourists. The rising sea level is yet another consequence of climate change that threatens the very survival of tourism and its coastal infrastructure, as for example the Maldives and Seychelles. The costs of strengthening coastal defences can often exceed the financial resources of poorer coastal countries. The Maldives Government had to ask the Japanese Government to give them $60 million to build the 3m high sea wall that protects Malé, the capital city. The tourism sector has the largest percentage share of 21.4% for 2021.

Answer 6

Role of carbon sinks: if greenhouse gas emissions stopped, it would still take a long time for natural systems to restore pre-industrialisation levels. - About 20% of CO2 remains in the atmosphere for hundreds of years. - Oceans will reach saturation point, and won't absorb any more CO2 from the atmosphere. - Methane storage would take about 100 years to return to normal.

Answer 7

Economic growth: more developing countries have emerged economically in the last 30 years, so use more energy and higher emissions e.g. China. There are still many countries to develop and so global emissions may continue to increase. Economic recessions, however, do reduce emissions Population: more people with high levels of wealth use more energy and cause more missions, especially when the lifestyle uses more machinery and electricity. Education makes people more aware of the issues. Energy sources: Conferences such as Paris 2016 on emissions reductions have made countries review their energy mixes. Renewable technologies are things that are used more, but also unconventional fossil fuel resources are being exploited.

Answer 8

The tipping point is a sudden large-scale change within a few decades probably asked for. In 2014 the IPCC identified seven possible tipping points including: - Long-term droughts - Collapse of the monsoon climate system - Arctic Ocean becoming ice-free. Slower changes may also take place, such as the collapse of the Greenland ice sheet.

Answer 9

Carbon from peatlands and permafrost: boreal and tundra biome and climate areas will shift northward as the temperatures increase. Peatlands and permafrost within these will release methane with drying or melting, which traps more heat, causing further drying/melting. These organic layers are a large carbon store, with faster decomposition in warmer climates that release more CO2 in the atmosphere. Also, carbon is released into rivers. Forest dieback: tropical rainforest areas could become dry and change to less productive grasslands, so absorb less CO2 from the atmosphere – warming will increase, causing more dieback. Drought stress in the boreal forest, with more diseases, pests and wildfires, could change it to grassland and shrubs. Thermohaline circulation: more freshwater, changes seawater density, which changes ocean currents. For example, the North Atlantic may cause a Gulfstream not to flow far north. Such circulation changes could change how the oceans and atmosphere transfer heat, causing greater warming and more ice melt.

Answer 10

- Water conservation and management - Resilient agricultural systems - Land-use planning - Flood risk management - Solar radiation management

Answer 11

- Renewable switching - Carbon capture and storages - Afforestation - Carbon taxation - Energy efficiency

Answer 12

Water conservation and management encompasses the policies, strategies and activities made to manage water as a sustainable resource, to protect the water environment, and to meet current and future human demand. Benefits: - Fewer resources used, less groundwater abstraction. - Attitudinal change operates on a long-term basis: use more grey (recycled) water. Costs and Risks: - Efficiency and conservation cannot match increased demands for water. - Changing cultural habits of a large water footprint needs promotion and enforcement by governments, e.g. smart meters.

Answer 13

Climate-resilient agriculture (CRA) is an approach that includes sustainably using existing natural resources through crop and livestock production systems to achieve long-term higher productivity and farm incomes under climate variabilities. Benefits: - Higher-tech, drought-tolerant species help resistance to climate change and increase diseases - Low-tech measures and better practices generate healthier soils and may help carbon dioxide sequestration and water storage: selective irrigation, mulching, cover crops, crop rotation, reduced ploughing, and agroforestry. - More 'indoor' intensive farming. Costs and risks: - More expensive technology, seeds and breeds are unavailable to poor subsistence farmers without the aid - High energy costs from indoor and intensive farming - Genetic modification is still debated but frequently used to crease resistant strains, e.g. rice and soya. - Growing food insecurity in many places adds pressure to find 'quick fixes.

Answer 14

Land use zoning protects vulnerable human activity from risky areas such as the coast or floodplains. Usually, this is done to promote more desirable social and environmental outcomes as well as more efficient use of resources. Benefits: - Soft management: land-use zoning, building restrictions in vulnerable flood plains and low-lying coasts. - Enforcing strict runoff controls and soakaways Costs: - Public antipathy. - Abandoning high-risk areas and land-use resettling is often unfeasible, as in megacities such as Dhaka, Bangladesh or Tokyo-Yokohama. - A political 'hot potato. - Needs strong governance, enforcement and compensation.

Answer 15

Mitigating and preparing for flooding disasters, analysing risk, and providing a risk analysis system to mitigate the negative impacts caused by flooding. This involves identifying areas with increased flood risk Benefits: - Hard management traditionally used: localised flood defences, river dredging. - Simple changes can reduce flood risk, e.g. permeable tarmac. - Reduced deforestation and more afforestation upstream to absorb water and reduce downstream flood risk. Costs and Risks: - The debate over funding sources, especially in times of economic austerity. - Costs may be too high even for developed countries. - Constant maintenance is needed in hard management, e.g. dredging; lapses of management can increase risk. - People have to leave their homes.

Answer 16

Involves reducing the amount of heat energy reaching the Earth's surface. Benefits: - The proposal is to use orbiting satellites to reflect some inward radiation back into space, rather like a giant sunshade. - It could cool the Earth within months and be relatively cheap compared with mitigation. Costs and Risks: - Untried and untested. - Would reduce but not eliminate the worst effects of GHGs: for example, it would not alter acidification. - Expensive. - Would need to continue geoengineering for decades or centuries as there would be a rapid adjustment in the climate system if SRM stopped suddenly.

Answer 17

Four of these strategies involve a mix of soft- and hard-engineering actions. Some of those actions are low in technology and upfront costs and so, in theory, are possible options for developing countries. A change in traditional practices and customs is often required here. However, there are also actions requiring high inputs of capital and technology that only developed countries can contemplate. The whole of the solar radiation management strategy clearly falls into this category.

Answer 18

The long-term solution to the global warming crisis lies in rebalancing the carbon cycle, particularly in reducing the concentration of GHGs in the atmosphere. None of the mitigation strategies is straightforward, except possible afforestation. Successful implementation requires a society to change the way it thinks and acts. Some mitigation has a high technological tariff. The UK has the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) which is responsible for mitigation policies.

Answer 19

- The relationship between the big energy producers and the government dictates the amount of switching from fossil fuels to renewables and nuclear power. Renewables provide intermittent electricity, while fossil fuels provide the continuous power essential for our current infrastructure. - The Climate Change Levy, designed in 2001 to encourage renewable energy investment and use, was cut in 2015. - Moving from mostly fossil fuels to using renewables would greatly reduce carbon emissions, especially in electricity generation. Renewable technologies and more widespread in developed an emerging countries but are not always available in developing countries. - The UK policy is to move to a low-carb in future, it will take a long time for any post to be the main source of primary energy.

Answer 20

- Few actual geological CCS projects exist globally, despite their potential. Canada's Boundary Dam is the only large-scale working scheme. - In 2015, the UK government cancelled its investment in full-scale projects at the gas- and coal-powered plants in Peterhead in Scotland and Drax in Yorkshire, respectively. - Power stations in large factories that use fossil fuels can be made to capture and store emissions by laws and regulations. However, suitable geologic sites may not be available and the technology involved may be too expensive for developing countries. It also reduces profit for companies and economic priorities may be put fast.

Answer 21

- Tree planting in the UK is increasing, helping carbon sequestration. It involves the Forestry Commission, charities such as the National Trust and the Woodland Trust, landowners and local authorities. - The Big Tree Plant campaign encourages communities to plant 1 million new trees, mostly in urban areas. - Forests are important carbon stores (0.073 tonnes of carbon a year); planting more forests would increase storage and reduce atmospheric concentrations. However, many countries are deforesting for commercial and substance purposes, especially tropical developing or emerging countries.

Answer 22

- The Green Deal scheme encouraged energy-saving improvements to homes, such as efficient boilers and lighting, and improved insulation. It was scrapped in 2015. - Energy suppliers must comply with the Energy Company Obligation scheme to deliver energy-efficient measures to households. - All types of machinery and appliances have become more energy-efficient partly because of government regulations which forced manufacturers to improve efficiency. People can change their lifestyles to use less energy. However, as average global wealth increases more energy is being used, so the biggest savings for these mitigation measures are in developed countries.

Answer 23

- The carbon price floor tax sets the minimum price companies have to pay to emit carbon dioxide. It was unpopular with both industry and environmental groups and had a debatable effect on emissions. In 2015, the policy was 'frozen' - Lower road taxes for low-carbon-emitting cars were scrapped in 2015. - In 2015, oil and gas exploration tax relief was expanded to support fossil fuels, hence the fracking debate. - Governments come to impose taxes on carbon emissions, reducing the profit of businesses and industries and so encouraging them to change to low-carbon alternatives. People may pay for emissions to taxes on vehicle types, based on how much carbon they emit, which encourages people to purchase eco-friendly cars. The Kyoto protocol and Paris agreement but widespread international action on reduction targets and governments introduce regulations in-laws to bring change within their countries.

Answer 24

Business as usual: - Emissions continue rising at current rates. RCP 8.5. - Temperature rise: as likely as not to exceed 4°C -> businesses impacted by climate change. - Sea level rises by half to one metre. - More acidic oceans. Some mitigation: - Emissions rise until 2080, then fall. RCP 6.0. - Temperature rise: likely to exceed 2°C. - More heatwaves, changes in rainfall patterns and monsoon systems. - Carbon dioxide concentrations are three to four times higher than pre-industrial levels. Strong mitigation: - Emissions stabilise at half today's levels by 2080. RCP 4.5. - Temperature rise: more likely than not to exceed 2°C. - Arctic summer sea ice has almost gone. 'Aggressive mitigation': - Emissions halved by 2080. RCP 2.6. - Temperature rise: not likely to exceed 2°C. - Businesses impacted by the policy change. - May require 'negative emissions' (removing CO2 from the air) before 2100. - CO2 concentration fell before the end of the century. - Climate impacts are generally constrained, by not being avoided. - Reduced risk of 'tipping points' and irreversible change. - If mitigation, at whatever level, is to have any chance of success, it not only requires concerted actions at a national level but, more critically, it requires effective international agreements. Global warming is a global problem requiring global action.

Answer 25

The latter point was first accepted by the Kyoto Protocol in 1997, an international agreement which aimed to cut GHG emissions by 5% by 2012. Since then, the reduction targets have been revised upwards and emissions have been reduced. It remains to be seen whether enough is being done or whether the global mitigation strategy should be made even more aggressive. It has to be said that not every country has been enthusiastic about signing up to the succession of agreements tabled since 1997.

Answer 26

(Also Copenhagen meeting 2009; Paris meeting in 2015 (COP21) - agreement in 2016) The most recent of these, the Paris Agreement of 2016, aims to keep the rise in global temperature to less than 2°C above its pre-industrial level. The Agreement now has 140 national signatures. Among the more reluctant signatories are the three largest producers of GHGs: China, India and the USA (withdrew in 2017)

Answer 27

The attitude of a large proportion of the world's population to the threat of global warming is one of indifference. TNCs may express concern but are often found wanting when it comes to taking appropriate action. When it comes to government attitudes, those whose contributions to GHG emissions are relatively small are vociferous in drawing attention to those countries that are large contributors.

Carbon cycle EQ3 Flashcards

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