Climate Change

Question 1

What are the last 2.6 million years called?

Answer 1

The Quaternary Period

Question 2

What happened to the temperature during the Quaternary Period?

Answer 2

It fluctuated

Question 3

What was the glacial period?

Answer 3

When temperatures were low and when ice covered parts of Europe and North America

Question 4

What was the interglacial period?

Answer 4

The warmer periods between the glacial period

Question 5

What is global warming?

Answer 5

The increasing global temperature of the world in the last few decades

Question 6

How much has the temperature risen since 1880?

Answer 6

0.85°C

Question 7

What are global effects of climate change?

Answer 7

• Glaciers and ice caps are shrinking - means more water flows into the sea causing sea levels to rise
• Arctic sea ice is decreasing - This affects wildlife such as polar bearswho have adapted to live in that environment
• Sea levels rising - low lying isalnds are at threat from flooding. Sea levels rising by 1m can lead to the flooding of agricultural land in Bangladesh and India. This will lead to food shortages and loss of income

Question 8

What is evidence for climate change?

Answer 8

• Thermometers - reliable measurements using thermometers go back only 100 years or so
• Fossils found in deep ocean sediments - when sediment becomes buried they trap and preserve evidence of the global temperature at that time
• Ice cores - studying oxygen in water molecules to calclate temperature
• Shrinking glaciers and melting ice - Glaciers are shrinking and retreating. Arctic sea ice has thinned by 65% since 1975
• Rising sea level (by 10-20cm in the past 100 years) - Freshwater ice caps melt and more water flows to the seas. The ocean water warms and expands in volume which is called thermal expansion
• Seasonal changes - Timings of natural seasonal activities such as tree flowering and bird migration is advancing.

Question 9

What are the natural causes of climate change?

Answer 9

1. Orbital changes
2. Solar activity
3. Volcanic activity

Question 10

Explain how orbital changes can cause climate change

Question 11

Explain how solar activity can cause climate change

Question 12

Explain how volcanic activity can cause climate change

Question 13

Why has global warming occured?

Answer 13

Due to the greenhouse effect

Question 14

What is the greenhouse effect?

Answer 14

1. The Earth’s atmosphere allows short wave radiation (heat) from the Sun to enter.
2. When the Earth gives off heat (long wave radiation) it gets absorbed by greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane.
3. These gases do not allow some of the long wave radiation to escape the Earth’s atmosphere.
4. This blanketing effect keeps the Earth warm
5. As we are releasing more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, more heat is becoming trapped and less is being put back out into space
6. This leads to the earth warming up.

Question 15

What are three greenhouse gases?

Answer 15

• Carbon dioxide
• Methane
• Nitrous oxide

Question 16

How do humans release carbon dioxide into the air?

Answer 16

• Burning fossil fuels for electricity
• Car exhaust
• Deforestation and burning wood

Question 17

How do humans release methane into the air?

Answer 17

• Rice farming
• Decaying organic matter (landfill and compost)
• Burning biomass
• Farm livestock

Question 18

How do humans release nitrous oxide into the air?

Answer 18

• Agricultural fertilisers
• Sewage treatment
• Power stations producing electricity
• Car exhausts

Question 19

How much of the greenhouse effect does carbon dioxide account for?

Answer 19

Carbon dioxide accounts for 60% of the greenhouse effect

Question 20

How much of the greenhouse effect does methane account for?

Answer 20

Methane accounts for 20% of the greenhouse effect

Question 21

How can climate change be managed?

Answer 21

• Carbon capture
• Afforestaion
• International agreements
• Alternative sources

Question 22

How do alternative sources help to manage climate change?

Answer 22

As we are using more sustainable energy sources that don’t emit fossil fuels

Question 23

Why are renewable sources of electricity better than non-renewable sources?

Answer 23

They don’t emit CO2 and will last in the future

Question 24

How does afforestation manage climate change?

Answer 24

Trees act as a carbon sink as they absorb carbon dioxide

Question 25

How does carbon capture manage climate change?

Answer 25

By capturing CO2 before it enters the atmosphere. This is done by compressing it and transporting it along a pipeline into the ground

Question 26

How do international agreements manage climate change?

Answer 26

Agreements between countries to reach global solutions

Question 27

What are the global impacts of climate change?

Answer 27

• Stronger tropical storms - due to an increase in ocean temperatures, tropical storms will become more intense
• Desertification - people can’t grow crops for food/income and will be forced to move
• Wildlife at risk - habitats and ecosystem will start to change. Especially as lakes and rivers start to dry
• Rising sea levels - threatens coastal area of flooding
• Heat related illness - such as malaria will increase death rates especially in LICs

Question 28

How can we adapt to climate change?

Answer 28

• Managing water supply: educating farmers and drought resistant crops
• Agriculture adaption; New cropping patterns and new irrigation systems
• Reducing risk from rising sea levels: construction of sea walls and stilts

Question 29

Where is the Maldives?

Answer 29

A country in Asia nestled southwest of Sri Lanka and India

Question 30

What management schemes have the Maldives put into place?

Answer 30

• Construction of sea walls - building a 3m sea wall around the capital Male. Using sandbags elsewhere to hold the sea water back
• Building houses on stilts - this means the houses are not on the ground so if the area was to flood, the water will flow through the stilts
• Constructing artificial islands - built 3m high so people at most risk can be relocated
• Relocation - Ultimately the entire population could be relocated in Sri Lanka or India
• Restoring coastal mangroves and forests - mangroves are trees in shallow water and the roots trap sediment and offer protection from storm waves -