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climate change Flashcards

1
Q

how long is teh quatershsary and when is it

A
  • last 2.5 million years
  • what were in now
  • many changes have happene dwithin this period
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2
Q

list teh ways we can measure the wasys the cliamte has changed

A
  • marine sediment
  • ice cores
  • fossils
  • dendrochronology
  • lake sediment
  • historical records
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3
Q

what is it called when you examine tree rings to examine past climates

A

dendrochronography

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4
Q

what are teh tiny shells found in sea floor sediment

A

foraminifera

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5
Q

how can we tell past global tempertures from sea floor sediment

A
  • layers of small shells of foraminfera. their chemical composition tells us about teh temperture of the coeans witch tehy formed
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6
Q

how can ice cores tell us about past cliamtes

A
  • layers cut out of ice sheet shave layers of bubbles
  • the gass compossition of teh bubbles tells us about teh composition of teh atmosphere when tehy were trapped.
  • the realaltive frequency of stable hydrogen and carbon isotopes tells us how walm or cold cold it was. the more unstable isotope the wamer it was
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7
Q

how can lake sediemnt in terms of pollen tell us about the pats climate

A
  • pollen and beetles
  • polen granuals in sediemnt saples can tell us about teh type of vegitation tahst was about and thus the paleoclimatic conditions
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8
Q

how can dendrochronography tell us about past climates

A
  • tree ring forms each year
  • thinker tree ring means there was a walmer and wetter cliamate.
  • only goes back thousands of years
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9
Q

how can historical records tell us about past climates

A
  • past drawing and painting for example
  • there are painting of markets and the thames river in the 1800s so we knwo it was colder back then
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10
Q

how do fossils tell us about past consitions

A
  • planst an animals of differnt sepcise require differnt climates to thrive
  • eg coral reifs are highly sentive to temperture, water depth (sea levels) and sunlight
  • if corral fossils are fround in certain regins we know taht that place was one a walm troppical enviroment
  • some dinosours we also know only survied in subtropical climates
  • however aniamls are adaptable
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11
Q

list the ways natural forces have driven cliamte change

A
  • plate tectonics and volcanic activerty
  • Milankovitch cycles
  • solar outputs (sun spots )
  • matural green house gasses
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12
Q

list teh three parts to a milankovitch cycle

A
  • Obliquity
  • exentricity
  • prossesion
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13
Q

what two ways do plate tectonics effect the climate

A
  • volcanic erruptions
  • change to global currenst
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14
Q

on an essay on the most important physical factors envolved in cliamte what shoudl you use

A
  • Milankovitch cycles
  • plate tectonics
  • natural green house gasses
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15
Q

explain milankovitch cycles

A

obliquity
1. the tilt of teh earths axis varries from 22-24 degrees over a period of around 41,000 years
2. seasonal variation decreses when at 22degrees
3. this has teh secondry effect that ice sheets dont melt as much in the summer and therefore there is an incresed albedo cooling the palnet

Eccentricity
* this is how close or far the earth orbits to teh sun
* this varries about evey 100,000 year witch woudl expain teh glacial and inter glacial periods we see along this time frame suh as the holocene intergalcial period we entered 11,700 years ago
* when the earth reaches its greatest exentricity ( furtherst away for longest and ist most elyiptical orbit) it will be colder and there will be more ice coverage and thus albedo triggering an (ice age).

procession
* 26,000 years
* due to the graverty of the moon and jupiter the earth may also wabble on its axix
* this works teh same way obliquity does in altering seasonal changes

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16
Q

wjay was teh glacial peiod before the holocene and when did it end

A
  • The Pleistocene
  • ended 11,700 year ago to teh inter glacial period of the holocene
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17
Q

are we in an ice house or hot house period

A
  • we are in the quaternary period and within that teh holocene.
  • despite the holoceen being n intergalcial there is still ice on the panet so we can still call th elonger 2,5 million years of teh Quaternary an ice house
  • it has invoved a numbre of 100,000 long glacia and interglacial cycles
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18
Q

when th eeath is furthest from the sun with its exentricity what is thsi called vs closes

A
  • aphelion - furthest
  • perihelion - closest
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19
Q

without GHG how mcuh colder would the earth be

A
  • the global averge tempertre would be -20 C’
  • a perpetual ice house earth
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20
Q

what are the natrally occuring GHG

A
  • water vapur
  • CH4
  • CO2
  • nitrous oxides
  • CFC’s
21
Q

whats the opersite to an ice house earth

A

Hot house

22
Q

expain how natural GHG walm the earth ( the natural GHE)

A
  • incoming short wave radistion heats the earth
  • some is refelcted by albedo of the earth surface back to space
  • the earth reradiate terrestrial long wave radistion
  • some if the infared long wave raditio is emmitted to space but most is absorbed and remitted by GHG walming the atmosphere and the earths surface
23
Q

expain how solar outputs change to golbal clime

A
  • 11 year cyles
  • teh more sun spots/solar falirs the walmer the climate
  • minimum activert is 0.1% so would have a minor effect on cliamet
  • this is throught to be the cause of the mini ice age in europe at teh start of teh 1800s
24
Q

expain how plate tectonics have made change to golbal climate

A

ocean current curculation
* the positions of land effect from movement of tecntonic afefcts global currenst.
* where walm water flows walm air does too so teh whoel cliamte is walmer
* the carabene plate making it so north america and south america touch means that walm equatorial currets are redirrected up north to western europe.
* this means areas liek the Uk are significalty walmer
* this is known as teh Gulf stream

**volcanic activert **
* tectonic platemeovemtn aslso cause volcanic activerty
* they put huge aount of sulpher dioxide and well as ash into the atmosphere
* ash may cause a cooloing effect in the short term ( this is also thought to be a possible reason for the mini ice age of the start of the 1800s )
* sulpherdioxide causes a coolign effect in the long term as it forms sulphate aerosols witch refelct solar radistion back to space

25
Q

what have been the long long term changes in the earthc climate

A
  • 100 million years ago hot house cretacous perid - hot house 6-8C’ waler than noe and CO2 levels 5 times higher (non one reason for
  • 2.5 million years ago teh start of the Quaternary
  • Paleocene theraml maximum another spike thought to be to do with ocean currents 55 million years ago still hot house
  • Oligocenen 35 million years ago sharp drop - start of ice house - realated to a major reduction in CO2
26
Q

what defines the Quaterary period

A
  • stedy 100,000 year cycles of glaciation
27
Q

what period was before the quaternary

A

Tenerary

28
Q

what are the ways we know the climate has walmed since the 18000s

A
  • rising sea levels
    1. satelight imagersy, average rise was 1.5-2.5 mm per year but is now 3mm - however isostaic rebound makes this harder to measure.
  • incresed atmospheric water vapour
    1. PFL -sattelight
  • meauring glacial retreat-
    1. ground photo sand sattelight from 1960-2005 the av reatreat has been 12m
  • decresed snow coverage and sea ice
    1. sattelight
    2. decrease 8% per decaid
  • global land and ocean tempertures being meaured
    1. there are anomolies but alll the hottest years on record have been in the last decaid
29
Q

what is teh word for human contrabutions to climate change

A

Anthropogenic

30
Q

list teh primary causes of anthropagenic climate emmisions going up

A
  • Land use change
    1. a billion tons a year of CO2 can be attibuted to this
    2. deforrestation and draiing wetalnds
  • population growth and development
    1. more people with rising livinf standards
  • demand for energy
    1. industry, tec manufactoting etc
31
Q

how has CO2 consentration in the atmosphere changed from pre industrial times to now

A
  • 280 ppm
  • now = 400ppm
32
Q

How musch C02 is released per year from burning fossil fulels for energy and indusrtical purposes

A

10 billion tones

33
Q

how has land use change caused anthropogenic cliamte change evidence

A
  • Defrestaion- 1/5 of rainforrests deforrested
  • wetlands drained - 35 of terrestrial carbon was tored in wetlands
  • 1 billion metric tones released from land use change per year ( however 38 billion all together so not as significant)
34
Q

how has population growth caused anthropogenic cliamte change evidence

A
  • 1800 1 billion people
  • now 8 billion
  • rapid development = incresed demand for meat and manufactured goods
35
Q

what % of GHG emmsions are from energy and industry

A
  • 45%
36
Q

what refects Solar radiation back to space

A
  • ablebedo of the surface
  • clouds
  • atmosphere ( sulpher aerosols (smog)
37
Q

how much has Uk carbon emissions fallen + why ?

A
  • 6% in 2016
  • with glabal ecconomic change we are exporting our charbon emmisons to the developing world
38
Q

what % did carbon emmsions in china rise in 2017

A
  • 2%
39
Q

giwv an example that development does not need to cause an increse in emmsions

A
  • 2016 emmisons globally were flat but ecomony grew 3.2%
40
Q

how many tones of CO2 does china release per year rather

A
  • 1.6 billion china
  • 341 million tones
41
Q

what agreements has china signed up to

A
  • rattified paris agreeing to net 0 by 2030
  • however 2005-2020 they compleetly failed to reach their targets t recuding their emissions
  • and they are not on target for 2060
42
Q

what is chinas primry souce of energy and by what ? and why ?

A
  • coal
  • they have a huge indigenous souce of carbon
  • 65%
43
Q

how are china making possitive steps to deal with climate change

A
  • 10 renewables and nucular in 2014
  • rattified glasgow
  • rattified paris
  • agreed to net 0 by 2030
44
Q

what % of emmisions does china produce

A
  • 32%
45
Q

how has chinas emmsions changed over time

A
  • in 2017 emmisons obly rose 2%
  • massive increse at the turn of teh centuarry
  • 2016 over took the US as teh biggest emitter
  • no industry before the 60 esentully
46
Q

how has the the uk’s carbon emissions changed

A
  • CO2 emissions 3 per cent between 2018 and 2019.
  • coal has massively decresed since the 1980s and tehre has been a switch to slightly cleaner natural gass and oil
  • the uk has 7% renewable now becuse we can aforde it vs chinas 1% (peaked in 1916 )
  • 6% renewable vs chinas 9%
47
Q

what future committments has teh uk made for

A
  • kyoto paris and glasgow and eygipt all of them
  • net zero by 2050 and scotland 2045
  • serrious reduction by 2030 although we arnt on track
48
Q

how is the UK failing /being in efficient in its comitment to reducing emissions

A
  • not on target for 2030
  • we have deindrustrialised as wer’re a AC
49
Q

if youre asked about coasts and climate change how can u bring in mine head

A
  • AC being better able to adapt to changing weatehr patterns and increse storm events

debates (4 decks)

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