GEOL 109 Exam 3
How much coal do we use?
27% of energy cheap and widely available but high ghg production and pollution
How much oil do we use?
34% high energy content and cheap, but high ghg production and securtiy problems
What do we know about melt?
glacial melt is obvious and will continue, ice sheet melt area is increasing but there is uncertainty about the fate of the Greenland and antarctic ice sheets
What are the options for reducing emissions under kyoto - 4?
can reduce emissions within own borders however they want, joint implementation with other countries, clean development mechanism (CDM) in developing countries, emissions trading
What is the regional greenhouse gas initiative?
cap and trade system in NE US
How does drought affect snowpack?
cause earlier melting, resulting in earlier spring runoff, reducing water availability in summer
How drastic is the loss of biodiversity?
climate has an effect but is not totally responsible, about one species per hour goes extinct
What is the climate impact cascade?
climate>organism>population>ecosystem and they all go back to climate, example with beetles and oak trees, tundra turning into forest (biome shift) ecosystem turns from carbon sink to carbon source
Which fossil fuel had the highest R/P ratio?
coal, followed by oil than natural gas
Where does our energy come from?
coal, oil, natural gas, nuclear power, wind, solar, hydropower, geothermal energy
Why do we expect to see increase in extreme weather events?
due to hydrologic cycle intensification, larger areas of planet in drought conditions, climate change may make hurricanes more likely but would result in fewer hitting ht US
What is a temperature inversion?
during the arctic winter, temps are colder close to the ground than they are aloft
What is the difference btw emissions and concentrations?
emissions can decline a long time before concentraion declines
What are three mitigation strategies focusing on different sectors?
energy sector, transportation and building sector
How will the US adapt to climate change?
farmers grow diff crops, increase reservoir construction, sea level rise, new cooler buildings to combat summer heat waves
What are command and control policies?
government mandates on what types of energy can be produced/consumed ex. renewables portfolio standards have been used by state governments
How is energy consumption distributed in the world?
really unevenly
Which areas are most likely to warm?
the arctic regions
What are some at risk areas from sea level rise?
the mississippi delta, southern louisiana, bangladesh
Who is James Hansen?
the scientist who basically discovered anth climate change who has since turned political activist
Why have actic land areas warmed more than ocean areas?
the snow albedo feedback effect the tundra taiga feedback effect (as arctic warms its easier for plants to grow at higher latitudes, tundra is becoming shrubbier and this lowers albedo, as albedo decreases the earth absorbs more energy and gets warmer)
How is the human modified hyrologic cycle different?
there is irrigational pumping from aquifers to soil and plants and well as rivers
How does the IPCC estimate future emissions?
they create emission scenarios
What do Annex I countries do in Kyoto?
they meet specific targets by 2012, smaller countries required to contribute but weren't given specs most European countries -8% US -7% but not ratified Canada, Hungary, Japan, Poland -6% Russian, New Z, Ukraine 0% Australia 8% Iceland 10%
How is ocean biodiversity affected?
warm waters are less biologically productive since cold water absorbs more oxygen, ocean acidification is a bigger problem, more co2 in atm means more co2 absorbed by ocean which increases carbonic acid concentration coral bleaching happens when coral polyps under stress digest algae they depend on, need this symbiotic relationship
What are the climate change impact categories from the 2007 ipcc report?
water - inc availability in moist tropics and high latitudes, dec water and inc drought in mid latitudes ecosystems - increasing extinction, terrestrial biosphere tends toward net carbon source food - ultimately decreasing coast - loss of coastal wetlands, inc damage from floods and storms health - more malnutrition, disease, drought singular events - ice retreat in greenland
How is arctic sea ice declining?
way faster than our models say it should result: sea ice albedo feedbacks
How has sea ice decline affected polar bears?
as extent decreases, polar bears have more difficulty finding enough food and survive winter hibernation
What is the relationship btw sea ice and inversion strength?
as sea ice concentration declines, mean inversion strength also declines
What are emissions scenarios based on?
assumptions about pop growth, economic growth, energy use, land use changes, resource availability, pace and direction of technological change, types of energy usage favored by changing tech's
What are the projected temp changes?
averages over many models, more warming over land in n hem, no uniform warming, relative prob means more uncertain further into the future
What is the A2 scenario?
business as usual - moderate econ growth, pop increasing, large diff in standards of living btw regions, tech change is relatively slow
What are the most recent estimates for sea level rise by 2100?
.5-1.5m but these are probs too low since they don't account for ice sheets
HOw has air temp in the arctic changed over the last 50 years?
1 deg C increase but large diff btw regions
How has arctic temp increased over the last 100 years?
1.5 deg C
How much hydropower do we use?
2.2% no ghg emissions but dirupts river systems and is limited
How much natural gas to we use?
21% cleaner than coal and oil but difficult to transport
What percent of world energy is from renewable sources?
1-2%, mostly from hydropower
How much nuclear power do we use?
5.8% no ghg emissions but expensive, security issues, waste
What percent of world energy consumption is from fossil fuel sources?
90%, most of the rest is either biomass or nuclear
What are the arctic temperature projections?
B2 and A2 say that it will warm by 4-8 deg C by 2100, more than the 1-4 deg projected for the whole globe
Who are the four major groups that have power in negotations?
European community, China/India, G77 and US
Which sector emits the most methane?
agriculture followed by fossil fuel retrieval
What is the b1 scenario?
a greener world - same econ and pop assumptions as A1B but world rapidly transitions to global service and information economy with increasing efficiency and less intense production of material goods
Which countries are on track to meet their emissions targets by 2012?
UK, Sweden and Denmark
Who uses the most fossil fuel per capita?
US, Russia, Germany, Japan, France, Iran
How will human health be affected by cc?
heat waves cause disease spread, more rainfall increases malaria in africa, air pollution
Why do we care about biodiversity?
high biod. ecosystems tend to be more resilient, potential human uses for species, healthy ecosystems act as carbon sinks, moral/aesthetic reasons
What is biodiversity?
how many species live in a defined area
What 2 questions do we need to answer to predict future climates?
how will climate forcings change? how will the climate respond to forcings?
What are four climate change impacts on earth's physical systems?
hydrologic cycle intensification, extreme weather events, melting glaciers and ice sheets, sea level rise warmer>more evap>more precip>more runoff hydrologic rate will increase with temp more evap is uniform but precip increase is not
Why will the arctic warm more in the winter than in the summer?
in summer, temps over arctic ocean are stable bc most solar energy is going into melting snow and sea ice instead of raising air temps when sea ice melts during summer, it regrows next fall but is thinner during winter, ocean water is almost always near freezing, air temp is much colder thinner ice makes it easier for heat to move from the ocean to the atmosphere during winter
Which economic sector emits the most co2?
power stations, followed by industrial processes and transportation fuels
What are the temp projects for the end of the century?
increase by 1.5-6 deg depending on your scenario
What is the co2 fertilization effect?
increase co2 increases the rate of photosynthesis and enhances plant growth but long term reponse will depend on nutrient cycling feedbacks
How can we mitigate with transportation?
increase fuel economy of cars, switch to hybrid/electric, more mass transit, better urban planning, decrease air travel
How does the hydrologic cycle intensification work?
increase in greenhouse gases mean more radiation to earth/inc in temp favors loss of surface heat through evap>increase in evap>increase in precip
Will there be shutdown of global thermohaline circulation?
increased flow from rivers, melting sea ice and glaciers could affect thermohaline circ but shutdown is a long term concern and won't happen soon
Why do temperature inversions matter?
inversion strength is related to negative longwave feedback parameter, which is imp for how much the arctic warms and cools low level atm pollution in arctic is goverened by inversion strength destruction of ozone during polar sunrise related to inversion strength
What do we know about sea level rise since the last glaciation?
it has increased 120m since end of last glaciation but has been relatively constan for the past 7000 years
What will happen to ghg concentration by 2100 in all the scenarios?
it will increase the most in A2 followed by A1B then B2 but all will increase even though we get a decrease in emissions in B2
How much wind power do we use?
less than 1 percent no ghg, economical more expensive than fossil fuels can only operate when wind blows
How much solar power do we use?
less than 1 percent no ghgs, but expensive and doesn't operate at night
What is the american clean energy and security act?
proposes cap and trade system creating carbon market and passed house in june 2009 but didn't pass senate
What are some geoengineering strategies?
pump aerosols into atm, giant mirrors in space to dec albedo of earth, pump iron into ocean to absorb co2 and stimulate algae
How can we mitigate with the building sector?
make existing buildings more efficient, build new ones that have natural heating, cooling and low energy technology
What is the kyoto protocol?
makes a cap and trade system for countries went into effect in 2005 when countries repping 55% of global emissions ratified it
What is the carbon tax?
makes a levy on the purchase of any fuel based on its carbon content British Columbia has done it US has deductions for solar panels on homes
What are the two sources of sea level rise?
melting glaciers/ice sheets and thermal expansion (steric sea level rise) also tectonic movement and changes in groundwater and surface water storage (irrigation, deforestation, urbanization)
What are the three options we have for addressing climate change?
mitigation adaptation and suffering
What are problems with mitigating the energy sector?
natural gas still produces ghg, renewables are expensive, nuclear waste, energy efficiency requires initial investment
Who hasn't ratified kyoto?
only Kazakhstan (in process) and the US
Where will precipitation increase?
over poles, decrease over subtropics wet areas get wetter and dry get drier
What did the UNFCCC do?
reps from many countries negotiated a framework to address cc and agreed to recognize it and take action, leading with developed countries wanted to reduce ghg emissions to 1990 levels by 200 but didn't happen
How do we measure climate change in the arctic?
satellite remote sensing - modis, amsr e, landsat, glas, etc traditional knowledge changing indigenous experiences
What are the two types of solar power?
solar photovoltaic, concentrated solar pwoer
How has sea level changed in the last 100 years?
steady increase of about 20 cm over last 100 years
What is the climate impact cascade of the pine beetles?
survival rate of beetles is controlled by winter temps, increased survival means more beetle reproduction and more stress on pine trees, more trees die and since they absorb carbon from atmosphere when they grow and release it when they die a carbon cycle feedback is created
How can we mitigate with the energy sector?
switch from coal to natural gas, increase share of renewable energy, build more nuclear power plants, increase energy efficiency of building and appliances
What is the A1B scenario?
technological progress - large econ growth, decreasing inequality btw regions, pop grows but then declines, new tech means greater efficiency and new energy sources
What are negative effects of climate change on agriculture?
temp inc means some temps too hot for growth of certain foods, increase in extreme weather is bad for agriculture (drought), decreasing water sources and groundwater pumping
What is an example of a carbon market?
the EU emission trading system
What is the UNFCCC?
the UN framework convention of climate change