Biosphere at Risk Final
Briefly outline what climate resilience is, including what the central goal is and strategies to achieve it.
Climate resilience is human or natural systems that withstand external impacts and stressors and to cope and rebound from them. One way that we can achieve this is through mitigation and adaptation. The ability for humans to deal with the effects of climate change either head on or adapt to them. Also climate reliant infrastructure which can withhold effects of climate change.
Compare and contrast the concepts of decarbonization and net-zero emissions.
Decarbonization focuses on decreasing carbon emissions and increasing efficiency to use less carbon intensive sources. This does not mean no carbon, that is what net zero emissions mean. Either producing no carbon or all of the carbon that is released is sequestered. Both of these however deal decreasing carbon emissions but just in a different way
Use a specific example to explain how climate change is expected to increase the risk due to vector- and water-borne disease (you should chose and example of a vector or water-borne disease and explain the general mechanism by which climate change will increase the incidence).
One example of how vector-borne diseases are affected by climate change is mosquito borne disease like Malaria. Malaria is seen in warmer climates like Africa but because of the increasing temperature Malaria carrying mosquitoes are being found more and more north. One example of a water borne disease is having more concentration of chemical pollutants in water and these contaminated waters are pushed on to lands from hurricanes or floods.
Climate changes is leading to an increased number of hot, humid days/nights which contributes to heat stress and heat-related deaths. The impacts of heat stress specifically in cities is an example of how the effects of climate change are frequently unequally distributed across socio-economic groups and how minorities and other already disadvantaged group frequently carry a disproportionate burden. a. Define the concept of environmental justice. b. Define what an urban heat island is. c. Briefly outline how the process of redlining in the 1930s (illegal since the Fair Housing Act of 1968) has contributed to the observation that people who live in the hottest parts of large cities are also more likely to be poor, live shorter lives, experience higher rates of crime and unemployment and belong to minority groups.
A. A concept that will be looked at is the idea of climate justice. Climate justice is a social movement that looks at the effects of climate change. It looks at the fact that climate change is not created equally. This means that it will not affect people all the same. Many of the effects of climate change like extreme weather, rising sea levels and other effects will have a greater effect on minority communities. The environment should be spread out equally meaning that everyone should benefit the same from the environment and everyone should have the same effects from climate change. B. The idea of an urban heat island is that cities are going to be warmer than rural areas and trap heat a lot more. C. Redlining refers to the concept that maps were drawn in cities to keep minority communities from living in certain areas. They would not accept loans from minorities to keep them out of living in those areas. They would say that they were not worthy of living in these areas and were deemed not worthy of building themselves up. Then the poorer neighborhoods translated to poor health and food deserts.
Increasing GHG concentrations are driving increasing climate change. a. Briefly define what a greenhouse gas is. b. List three important greenhouse gases and contrast them in terms of major sources, atmospheric concentration, rate of increase, atmospheric life time and global warming potential.
A. Greenhouse gases are components of the atmosphere of different gases in the atmosphere that will absorb radiation B. When it comes to climate change there are three gases that are the most influential : carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide. Carbon dioxide is the most prevalent in the atmosphere but it is the gases that have the less severe effect. The potential for global warming is 1 and could stay in the atmosphere for up to 200 years. The next gas methane is found less in the atmosphere but its damage is more severe. It has the global warming potential of methane 21. Then Nitrous Oxide is found in small amounts that has the potential to stay in the atmosphere for 120 years and does the most damage in terms of greenhouse gases with the potential of 310. This is reassessed in agriculture and industry.
The IPAT equation (and variations of it) describe the impact (emissions) as the product of population, affluence, and technology. a. Briefly define each term of the equation and describe how it is measured and what factors go into determining the effect on the equation. b. Mitigation will involve "dialing down" one or more of these terms. Assess the potential of each term to be the key factor in mitigating climate change to argue which you think should be at the center of mitigation. c. Use the IPAT equation to argue the central strategy to mitigation put forth by the degrowth movement. d. Use the IPAT equation to argue the central strategy to mitigation put forth by the technocentrist/green growth/eco-modernist movement.
A. Impact is the product and is C02 emissions, population is the overall number of people more people producing and consuming, affluence the economy so the GDP the productivity of the economy each person is consuming more per capita, technology, product of energy intensity and carbon intensity energy consumed for dollar how much energy do we need to do that. B. Population would be limited. This is unrealistic for ethical and moral reasons and should not be considered Affiliation. We would have to control what people consume and intentionally limit the economy of a country. This is not easy and not possible little incentive to do this will people make this choice. Tell poor countries: Dialing down one of these terms and the one that should be at the center is technology increasing efficiency and making sure we are more energy efficient, dialing down carbon intensity and finding different sources for fuels that are less carbon intensive. C. Degrowth movement talks about shrinking the economy. This relates to the IPAT community because we dial down affluence and reconfigure what it means to have wealth. D. Green movement says we should look for a more green way and more efficient way of doing things
Climate risk for infrastructure is both pervasive and diverse, especially because much existing infrastructure was not designed anticipating the effects of climate change we are now experiencing. a. Define what infrastructure is and describe why it is so important to human well-being. c. Chose two broad categories of infrastructure, describe what infrastructure this category encompasses and describe three ways it will be significantly impacted by climate change and how this will in turn impact human well-being overall.
A. Infrastructure is basic physical structures, resources and facilities needed to operate a nation, society, enterprise, or household. It's important because it is the backbone of local and global economies. C. Water management is one that is directly affected by climate change because of climate change there are a lot of water borne diseases and because of droughts there is lack of water. This will harm the human water supply. Power generation is making power and it can be affected by climate change because of climate change there can be a decrease in power being generated.
Fundamental differences in worldview shape what the root cause of the climate/environmental/societal crises and what the solutions should be to move toward a better future. One of the disagreements focuses on the relationship of natural resources available to humans. a. Explain the difference in how Malthusians and Cornucopians perceive the availability of natural resources and explain how this leads to the environmental philosophies of Ecocentricism and Technocentricism. b. Malthusian/Ecocentric views are fundamental to the Degrowth movement, while Cornucopians/Technocentric views underlie Green Growth/Ecomodernism. For each describe their central approach to dealing with climate change and explain how it is the natural consequence of the underlying worldview. c. Explain why the Degrowth movement has a tendency to overemphasize mitigation while Green Growth/Ecomodernists have a tendency to overemphasize adaptation to combat climate change. d. For each of the two position outline two components that resonate with you along with two dangers if these positions are consequently taken to their extremes.
A. Malthusians theory says that because of the increasing population food production will not be able to keep the growing population. The cornucopian view says that cornucopian value says that technology that there is an abunces of wealth and problems with don't exist in the population. Malthusians lead to ecocentrism finding the inherent value in all of nature. Cornucopia leads to the idea of technocentrism, which means technology and its ability to protect nature. B. The reason that malthusians and ecocentrism match up with the degrowth movement because they realize that they just reduce production and consumption this goes off of the idea that there are limited resources and that humans are taking to much so we have to dial back the economy because human consumption and production are getting to high. This also puts a new idea of what human wellbeing means and redefines the economy. When we look at the cornucopia/ technocentricism view this leads into the idea of ecomodernism that says that technology is the thing that will solve problems with the climate. It also focuses on humans maintaining a high standard of living. All of these theories take a very optimistic view of the environment. They want to maintain the same way of living and want to only rely on technology to do so. C. When it comes to the degrowth movement it is very founded upon the idea of mitigation dealing with the problems. Attacking the economy making sure that humans are not consuming more than they need to in order to fight climate change. When it comes to ecomodernism it talks about how technology will adapt to the changing climate. Humans should not change anything that they are doing, it should be technology that fixes the problem. D. When I think of degrowth what stands out to me is that it will change the way the economy works and focus more on human wellbeing and what that will mean. This will also help reach a more sustainable society that focuses on the environment. There are some problems that would be very hard to implement because this involves changing the whole economic systems and getting countries to be on board with changing their economies. Next is technology. This is a good idea because it means people would have to change their lifestyles too much. Also can help innovation. The problem is that we may not find technology good enough to fix our planet also because we are not being held accountable for their actions.
Climate change will have direct and indirect effects on agriculture production. a. Briefly describe two direct impacts. b. Briefly describe two indirect impacts.
A. One direct impact of climate change on agriculture is water availability, because of the effects of climate change water scarcity is becoming a bigger and bigger problem. Due to the higher temps and sun exposure it is causing massive drought which affects the crops and their ability to grow. Next would be due to changes in temperature it can change the phenology of the plant. Meaning that the growing season of plants can be altered because of weather extremes and overall warmer temperatures B. Two indirect impacts because of climate change are invasive species and changes in dietary habits. When it comes to invasive species because of warmer temperatures, invasive species migrate to different areas where they no longer have natural predators and they could take over that area. Next is dietary habits that can affect humans because they might not be able to get the food that they need because of changes meaning they might not be able to eat the right fruits and vegetables that they need to have a balanced diet.
Reconstructions of past climate conditions are based on proxy data sets. a. Briefly explain what a proxy data set is, including why they are necessary to understand changes in climate on long timescales. b. Choose two examples of a proxy data set and explain how you can use then to reconstruct climate change, be sure to include what the climate archive is (i.e. where you are deriving the climate information from), what type of data you get and how you can "translate" that into climate data, what the resolution the data is, and how far back you reestablish the climate record.
A. Proxy data is a way to look at to calculate the value of temperature. This is used to look at past weather or climate patterns based on different types of data. It is the specific type of data you are getting out of it B. One example of proxy data is tree ring width, using tree rings you can see the temperature for that given time because trees grow during wet seasons and during dry season they do not. So you are able to tell the weather for those years if the growing season was long or short and you are able to get years of data from the trees. Another form of proxy data is Pollen this can be used in ocean sediment to see what types of plants grew that year.
Predictions of future climate impact are based on emission scenarios. a. Briefly describe what representative concentration pathways (RCPs) are and explain how they can be used to assess future climate change and impacts. b. Briefly explain what shared socioeconomic pathways are and how together with RCPs they can be used to understand the role of policy and societal change on future climate change.
A. RCPs are pathways for greenhouse gas emissions and look at what warming will be in 2100. They can help us look at what emissions will look like in the future and what does that mean for temperatures \ B. SSPs look at how each RCP could be achieved by looking at policy assumptions. Set a stage at which emissions will not be achieved. These work together to make a realistic view of what carbon emissions will look like in the future.
Shifts in patterns of temperature and precipitation alter species distributions leading to geographic range shifts. a. Briefly define what a geographic range shift is and explain why the general pattern of range shifts is poleward or upward in elevation. b. Explain how range shifts contribute to increased number of invasive species and use a specific example to describe the negative impact and invasive species can have on an ecosystem. c. Use a specific example to explain how range shifts can contribute to the overall negative
A. Range shifts are usually defined as changes of the distribution limits of a species, generally along altitudinal or latitudinal gradients. B. This can make more invasive species because many species will be able to live in new areas where they do not have any natural predators. C. This could impact human health because there could be new dangerous species like mosquitoes that carry malaria that before could not have lived there.
a. Reforestation & afforestation. b. Improving the electric grid. c. Building a sea-wall. d. Planting trees and roof gardens in cities. e. Carbon tax f. Subsidizing the construction of high-albedo roof, building, and street surfaces. g. Phasing out coal.
A. Reforestation and Afforestation- could be mindagtion because they ask as carbon sinks. This is also adaptation because of the idea of carbon sinks B. Improving electric grid- mitigation relying on more renewable energy adaptation- if the electric grids can't deal with power outages and the more power that it needs to make C. Sea walls- adaptation made to deal with rising sea levels D. Planting trees and gardens- adaptation to urban heat island E.Carbon tax- mitigation forcing to find new source of energy F.High albedo roofing- adaptation to urban heat island ] G. Phasing out coal- migration is the worst of the carbon emissions
a. List three examples for each category. b. Your given a budget to invest in developing technological approaches. Argue which two technologies you would invest in, consider the level of impact, short vs long-term impact, and additional benefits.
A. Solar- mirror in space to reflect sunlight, spraying aerosol to get more clouds, increasing earth's surface albedo like roofs. Carbon- direct carbon capture from machines as soon as it's being produced, B. The type that I would like to invest in would be increasing surface albedo this seems like a simple solution that does not have a lot big risks like putting mirrors in the atmosphere or aroles this seems like to big of a risk so investing in surface CO2 seems like a safe bet
The vulnerability of an individual to impacts of climate change on human health is a combination of exposure, sensitivity, and the ability to adapt. a. Briefly define exposure and use two examples to illustrate how differences in exposure to climate change impacts can affect the vulnerability of different individuals/groups of people to the impacts of climate change. b. Briefly define sensitivity and use two examples to illustrate how differences in exposure to climate change impacts can affect the vulnerability of different individuals/groups of people to the impacts of climate change. c. Briefly define ability to adapt and use two examples to illustrate how differences in exposure to climate change impacts can affect the vulnerability of different
A.Different jobs will experience more exposure because of climate change like first responders in natural disasters, they are more likely to get water borne diseases in events like floods and hurricanes. Minority community B.Older people and young children pregnant women preexisting health conditions they are more likely to be sensitive to climate effects because of health things C. Adapt people with not a lot of money can't buy their way out of the situations told to evacuate and not have a car and not having money to get an AC and not being able to get solutions. Older people and people with disabilities are physically capable of doing certain things like responding to a situation.
Natural climate forcing mechanisms cannot account for the currently observed rapid increase in global temperatures. a. Use the global energy budget to identify three possible natural drivers, classify each as either internal or external drivers and briefly explain how each would contribute to earth's surface temperature warming (at least one should be external and at least one an internal driver). b. Briefly argue why each one cannot account for the currently observed pattern. c. Use the energy budget to explain why increases in greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere is consistent with the observed pattern of increasing temperatures (make sure to identify the mechanism using the energy budget!).
A. The three potential natural drivers are solar energy, volcanoes, and earth absorbing more at the surface. When it comes to solar energy this is an external force that could contribute because when there are fluctuations in solar energy this could mean adding more or less solar energy to the earth. Next is volcanic eruptions: an internal driver and volcanoes put aerosols into the atmosphere and reflect more solar energy. Last is if the earth is absorbing more energy, this can melt ice which can cause the sun to reflect less B. All of these issues are not the reasons the earth is warming when it comes to solar energy this is something that is on a schedule and is something that is not constantly giving off energy it goes through this schedules. Volcanoes only happen over short periods of time. And when it comes to the earth albedo can't enact that much change. C. When it comes to greenhouse gases a lot of it has to do with how transparent the outgoing longwave radiation is and the amount that is being re-emitted into the atmosphere
Biogeochemical cycles play an important role linking different components of the climate system through the free exchange of mass. a. Use the global water cycle as an example of how biogeochemical cycles link different components of the climate system by giving a brief description of the major reservoirs and processes linking them. In your description include which component of the climate system various reservoirs are a part of and which components are being linked by specific processes. b. Use the carbon cycle as an example of how biogeochemical cycles link different components of the climate system by giving a brief description of the major reservoirs and processes linking them. In your description include which component of the climate system various reservoirs are a part of and which components are being linked by specific processes.
A. The water cycle uses all parts of the atmosphere because there are large oceans where the water is evaporated and it moves to the land where it rains and ends up in rivers and streams which flow to the ocean. B. The carbon cycle uses many different parts of the climate system, first of all carbon is stored in the atmosphere and plants will take in the C02 through photosynthesis. Carbon can also be stored in the ocean because oceans act as carbon sinks.
Human settlements are traditionally linked to freshwater supply as it is necessary for agriculture, industry, domestic use, transport, recreational use, waster disposal and hydropower. However, 1/3 of the world population currently live in areas of physical or economic water scarcity. a. Define the term water scarcity and describe the different between physical scarcity and economic water scarcity. b. Describe three factors on the supply side that contribute to water scarcity; argue which one you think is the most "fixable" and explain how you would tackle that issue to mitigate water scarcity. c. Describe three factors on the demand side that contribute to water scarcity; argue which one you think is the most "fixable" and explain how you would tackle that issue to mitigate water scarcity.
A. Three non climate stressors that are affecting the coral reefs are invasive species, diseases, and habitat destruction. When it comes to invasive species an example is toxic algae that can come in and kill off a lot of species in the coral reef. The next would be diseases like toxic algae diseases could affect the coral killing them off or effected the photosynthetic algae. Last is habitat destructions humans can play a large role in this when it comes to coral we can put a strain in there ecosystem causing them to die off. B. C02 in the atmosphere directly harms the coral reef, they have a symbiotic relationship with photosynthetic algae. This is what gives coral their color. When the ocean waters start to warm because of climate change it expels the algae and then the coral starts to die if they do not recover fast enough. Coral are very vulnerable that without the algae they are not able to survive for long periods of time on their own. C. When it comes to the impacts that coral reef destruction has on humans three ways that this can impact human life. These include food security, coastal protection, and tourism. When it comes to food security coral reefs supply a lot of food from the coral reefs. This could account for the food loss for 500 million people. Next is protection from coastal regions, coral reefs act as a buffer for large waves and extreme weather. Without them coastal regions will be more at risk. Lastly is the loss of tourism in coral heavy communities. A lot of their economies rely on these tourists and without them it can have a huge effect on the local economies.
Increasing CO2 concentrations have also been linked to changes in climate conditions on long geologic timescales that were not due to human activity. a. List two indicators/patterns that you can use do demonstrate that increasing CO2 concentrations are definitively anthropogenic. b. Explain one of the mechanisms in more detail (Note the difference between "list" and "explain" for part 1 you could just say "carbon isotope ratios differ depending on major source" and "whether increasing CO2 concentrations lead or lag behind temperature increases"; for part two you need to actually "why" of how you can determine if CO2 is anthropogenic or not).
A. Two indicators that this is definitely anthropogenic is increasing sea surface temperature and declining ice sheets. B. The reason that ice sheets is warming is because the warming effect is keeping to much radiation in warming parts of the planet more like ice
One framework to assess the value of biodiversity is a utilitarian or instrumental view. a. Briefly define what the utilitarian value of biodiversity is. b. Briefly contrast the direct and indirect use value of biodiversity.
A. Utilitarian view of biodiversity looks at what they can get from nature, this idea that nature is used to serve us and what we can get from nature B. Direct is using nature itself and indirect is what you get from nature like carbon sequestration and water filtering and this is not using nature directly.
Adaptation will need to play a central role along with mitigation in managing climate change. a. Briefly outline the four most common central arguments used to support the idea that we can rely completely on adaptation as a way to deal with climate change rather than mitigation and the associated cost to the economy due to regulation and other restrictions. b. Develop counterarguments against using adaptation as the sole response to climate change.
A.First is that if we go off of adaptation it is more focused and we can see what problems really need to be solved because of climate change. Next would be that future generations will be richer and have newer technologies, it can benefit society in multiple ways, and finally it is the least intrusive on citizens by the government. B.When it comes to a more focused approach, if we do this then the problems will just keep getting more and more problems. We can't rely on the new generation because who says that they will be able to work together to solve the problems if we can't even work together. When it comes to multiple benefits we can still do the adaptation just also do mitigation with it.
Biomes typically form broad latitudinal bands(ish - distribution of continents, and regional features like mountains will impact this). a. The Alpine biome is primarily defined by altitude. List the other two parameters that are generally used to describe the climate conditions characteristic of a biome and briefly describe what metrics are used to do this (Hint think of the definition of a climate zone). b. List the four major latitudinal climate bands, describe the mechanism(s) that form them, and contrast the prevailing climate conditions in each. c. Use a sketch (the sketch of the "biome pyramid" IS the answer to this question) to organize the major biomes four major latitudinal climate zones (name them), organize the biomes according to the two parameters you have listed above (use arrows to indicate the primary patterns observed). d. Chose two biomes and compare and contrast them in terms of their characteristic climate conditions, primary vegetation, typical animals that inhabit them, and where they are found geographically (i.e. list example locations).
A. When it comes to climate zones the two that are primarily used to talk about climate conditions are annual temperature and variation of temperature and precipitation. When it comes to annual temperature it means what is the average temperature seen throughout the year and that is the same with precipitation. Then variation means if the temperature and precipitation is constant or does it have high variations. B. The four climate bands are tropical; this is the hottest region and has rainforests and deserts. The reason that it exists is because it is the closest to the equador. Next is the temperate which has deciduous forests and chappels. They are a little cooler and are less wet. After that is subpolar this is colder and and the last is polar this is the coldest region and farthest from the equador. C.https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/1Gcia6c_mhD09Ka_SHatq5usaEtEHE_-u6bKJoJmjkE0/edit D. Two biomes that are very different are the Tropical Rainforest and the desert. The rain forest has a pretty constant temperature with high amounts of precipitation. The desert has a high variation of temperature but there is a very low amount of precipitation. When it comes to vegetation the rainforest has high biodiversity and rapid tree growth. The desert has low biodiversity and little to no vegetation.
Climate change directly impact human health. These impacts are often complex, indirect & depend on multiple societal, behavioral, and environmental factors. a. Climate change changes exposure of individuals to factors with direct health outcomes that can be classified using three categories: Medical/Physical, Mental, and Community Health. List three examples in each category. b. Climate impacts directly alter the exposure of individuals leading to adverse health outcomes. Briefly outline how climate change alters the environmental/institutional and social/behavioral context of individuals and how this can either increase or mitigate the impact of climate change on health outcomes.
A. When it comes to exposure of individuals there are three different categories used to classify them : medical and physical, some examples of this are heat related illness, increased exposure to waterborne illness, and allergies. The next category is stress, anxiety and depression, substance abuse, and PTSD. The last category is community health. Some examples of this is violence and crime, interpersonal aggression, and community cohesion. B. More likely to be exposed, where you live and who you are is going to impact how you deal with the situation. Going with the idea that exposure and climate impacts are going to change how much you are exposed form climate, How much will land use change how much will an ecosystem change. Good infuststre means easier evacuation. Environmental context inequality of different countries age and gender poverty and housing education level. Idea of sensitivity and the ability to adapt
Farmer can adopt strategies both to mitigate the impact of agriculture on climate change and the impact of climate change on agriculture. a. Describe one example of a strategy that farmers can adopt to mitigate the impact of agriculture on climate change (it's okay if the example you chose works in both directions - just be sure to emphasize the component of mitigating impact on climate). b. Describe one example of a strategy that farmers can adopt to mitigate the impact of climate change on agriculture (it's okay if the example you chose works in both directions - just be sure to emphasize the component of mitigating impact on agriculture).
A.Changing the equipment through farming equipment also doesn't go through the process of deforestation. Cover crops use as a carbon sink reduces the amount of greenhouse gas emission or make anything that would become a sink. B. Using less water makes it more efficient, more draining when you get water you get too much help drain water and reuse the water.
Market-based solutions for decarbonization are back by empirical and theoretical research in terms of their effectiveness, however, in 2021, 75% of CO2 emissions will not be paid for despite over 78 jurisdictions implementing a form of carbon pricing. a. Compare and contrast conventional "command-and-control" approaches with market-based solutions, list two strategies in each category. b. Outline the central principle behind market-based solutions and explain how they result in lowering emissions (keywords transition & innovation).
A.Command and control has to deal with regulation putting regulation on all emissions requiring all emitters to meet the same requirement, limit total emissions, and enforce standard of emitted GHG units. Market based solutions deal with people having to pay for their emissions. For example a carbon tax. Both of these solutions have a different way of working but they both try to limit carbon emissions. B. Market based solutions deal with people in high income areas who are more likely to use large amounts of carbon. They are the ones that will also disproportionately not feel the effects of climate change. This will help people transition to use low carbon products. This will create new innovations to develop low carbon alternatives.
The idea of whether or not a full decoupling of economic growth from environmental pressures is possible, is at the heart of the disagreement between de-growth and green growth, along with perceptions on how human well-being should be measured, and how environmental sustainability can be achieved. a. Explain how the economy and the environment are coupled and how each position aims to decouple the two. b. Contrast the two positions in terms of decoupling, human well-being, environmental sustainability, and equity/social justice.
A.Decoupling says the environment should count for a more limited amount of resources and use for them we can preserve. Environmental impact on the economy is not titly connected; human wellbeing breaks that connection and uses technology to decouple the environment.instead of using ecosystem services use technology so we are not relying on ecosystem services as much. B. When we look at human well being and environmental sustainability these terms have some contrasting ideas. To be able to reach environmental sustainability there will have to be changes made that will disrupt human well-being. Some changes to what they consume and what the economy works in order to be able to sustain life on the planet.
Green infrastructure can play a central role in mitigation and adaptation to climate change impacts a. Briefly define what green infrastructure is and compare and contrast this term to ecosystem services (specifically supporting and regulating ecosystem services). b. List four ways in which green infrastructure can contribute to climate resiliency (list the goals not the methods/the green infrastructure itself). c. Choose two specific examples of green infrastructure and explain how they increase climate resiliency of infrastructure through mitigation and/or adaptation (remember, "explain" means that you have to describe what the infrastructure is/what it encompasses and how it contributes to mitigation or adaptation). Argue whether this strategy falls in the category of mitigation or adaptation.
A.Green infrastructure is a planned network of natural areas designed to deliver a wide range of ecosystem services. B. Green infrastructure manages flooding, mitigates droughts, reduces urban heat islands and increases effectiveness of water management. C. Two examples of this are urban tree top canopies; these can be used to mitigate urban heat islands, reduce runoff quantities, enable rainfall filtration and store water. This has a cooling effect on heat islands. These are also permeable pavements that cool, reduce runoff volumes and improve water quality.
The impact of climate change on agriculture will differ depending on differences in geographic regions and the crop affected. a. Compare and contrast possible benefits and drawbacks of climate change on agriculture. b. Argue in which geographic regions you expect to see more negative or more positive impacts. c. Argue whether you think that overall, climate change will have a net positive or a net negative impact on agriculture (i.e. if you sum up all the positive and all the negative impacts which is larger).
A.One benefit for climate change that can be seen from climate change is the potential increase of growing seasons in certain areas. For example some areas because of increased temperatures could have the potential to have increased growing seasons. This can also be a negative effect on certain regions because it could shorten their growing seasons if temperatures get too warm. Increased CO2 concentration can also have planets grow at a faster rate because they can take in C02 B.Areas in the global south because their growing season will get much smaller because they are unable to grow with the increase of temperatures. Areas will get too hot and desertification will take over and they will no longer beagle to grow at all. C. Overall it is a negative because there will be more droughts and more pest and diseases direct heat stress on crops and this will only benefit plants on a short term scale because when there is an increase in carbon there can be too much of a good thing and on a long term scale this is harmful.
The term urban heat island describes the phenomenon of cities being hotter than surrounding (rural areas). Additionally, within cities we observe distinct differences in areas when it comes to temperature. a. List three characteristics that contribute to the urban heat island effect and briefly explain why they lead to increased temperatures in cities. b. Briefly describe three major strategies to reducing heat islands in cities.
A.One example would be lack of tree covers, there is little to no shade in the neighborhoods this means that they get more heat because there is nothing to absorb the incoming energy. Next would be the high levels of pavement, cities have a lot of roads and not a lot of green space. The pavement heats up and makes the cities. Last is the lack of air, because of the number of buildings there is not good air flow meaning the hot air gets stuck and there is a lack of wind. B. Some of the solutions that could be used to combat urban heat islands is planting more trees on sidewalks. This is simple but extremely effective. It can create shade and cover on sidewalks and reduce heat. Next would be to use light colored concrete and white roofs this makes it so there is higher albedo and the sun is reflected rather than absorbed. Last is green roofing. This refers to planting trees or gardens on the roofs of buildings that can reduce the amount of energy hitting the cities.
Climate change impacts a genetic, population, and species level may result in community/ecosystem-level responses a. Use a specific example to explain what a regime shift is (note these means you have to define the term and use an example to illustrate that definition, this includes specifically point out how those two are connected). b. Briefly compare and contrast the terms regime shift and a tipping point and argue whether your example is also an example of a tipping point.
A.Regime shifts are large, abrupt, persistent changes in the structure and function of ecosystems, the climate, financial systems or other complex systems. A regime is a characteristic behaviour of a system which is maintained by mutually reinforced processes or feedbacks B. When a tipping point happens there is no returning, it is too far gone there is the point of no return. In a regime shift all hope is not lost yet.
The atmospheric energy budget accounts for all the energy that enters and leaves the Earth system and serves as a simple model to understand how internal and external forcing mechanisms can result in changes in global temperature. a. List the main source of incoming energy (radiation) and describe which components create balance as outgoing radiation. b. Energy is either absorbed, emitted or reflected. Use earth's surface to briefly contrast these three processes. c. Describe the energy balance of incoming/outgoing radiation from the atmosphere and explain why the atmosphere is frequently described as a "warm blanket" surrounding the planet. d. Describe the energy balance at earth's surface and explain why earth emits more energy than it absorbs from the sun. e. Briefly explain the relative role of atmospheric gases in radiation and energy exchanges in the climate system. Note: Consider differences in incoming solar radiation (shortwave) and outgoing longwave radiation. f. Use the atmospheric energy budget to explain why an increase in cloud coverage can have a cooling effect. g. Use the atmospheric energy budget to explain why changes in the coverage of earth's surface can alter the energy budget and argue whether you think these changes would have a cooling or a heating effect. Note: Keyword here is albedo, i.e. the reflectivity of the earth. h. Argue how changes in the sunspot number (increase number of sunspot means the sun "outputs" more energy) can contribute to changing temperatures using the energy budget.
A.The main sources for incoming radiation is solar energy and energy emitted from the atmosphere. In terms of the main sources for outgoing radiation is energy emitted from earth's surface and water vapor from changing ice. B. When it comes to absorption, emitted, reflecting. When it comes to absorption this means that it is taken in by earth's surface and earth absorbs the most amount of energy that is coming in. The earth surface also emits energy this is done by taking energy and putting it back into the atmosphere. The last is reflectivity. This is the process when energy is reflected off earth's surface. This can happen in the albedo effect when solar radiation is reflected off of the ice. C. Energy will be absorbed into the atmosphere the more that is emitted into the atmosphere the more protection the planet will get. Solar energy passes through a clear atmosphere. Infrared radiation is passes through radiation some is passed back through and some is emitted into the atmosphere and creates the warming effect D.The reason that earth is able to emit more energy than it absorbs from the sun is because it is able to get energy from the atmosphere. E. When it comes to gases in the atmosphere they act differently in regards to long and short wave radiation. Greenhouse gases are able to absorb long wave radiation better and not absorb it back into space . F.When it comes to short wave radiation it does not do as good at absorbing radiation; it allows 50% of the solar radiation to pass through to earth's surface. Increased cloud coverage has a cooling effect because more clouds mean that more of the solar radiation will be reflected off of the clouds. G. Changes in the earth's surface could have a warming or cooling effect. This all depends on the amount of snow and ice coverage on earth's surface. If there is more snow, more will be reflected, having a cooling effect. If there is less ice more will be absorbed. H. Sunspots mean that there are fluctuations in how much solar energy the earth is putting out. This changes the amount of solar radiation the sun is putting out.
The Keeling Curve describes changes in atmospheric concentrations from 1958 onward. a. The monitoring station is located at Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii. Briefly argue why this is a good location a monitoring station. b. Briefly describe the general pattern of atmospheric CO2 concentrations since monitoring started at Mauna Loa. c. Briefly outline how you could extend the record on long timescales to before the monitoring station was established.
A.This is a good location because it is in the middle of the ocean and there are not a lot of co2 emissions and it is more remote than other places. B. The general trend has kept increasing shows consistent record of it going up c. If you want to extend the record back to ice cores because it traps air bubbles and the air is still there and the longer it is the further it can go back.
The effects of climate change frequently exacerbate the occurrence and severity of existing chronic conditions. a. Briefly explain one mechanism by which climate change exacerbates chronic respiratory diseases. b. Briefly explain one mechanism by which climate change exacerbates allergies.
A.When it comes to chronic conditions that are brought on by climate change things like ground level ozone is a key component of smog; it is formed from many different chemicals like methane, sunlight and heat. This can cause lung problems, asthma and premature death. The same thing can happen with wildfire because the smoke carries particles. B. When it comes to allergies the mechanism that can make them worse is rising temperatures because it means that it will increase the pollen season and growing season which has an effect on allergies.
Use an example to explain how interactions between climate and vegetation lead to large scale shifts that are frequently accelerated by positive feedback loops and can result in tipping points. Make sure your explanation includes
Biomes are experiencing shifts and are being accelerated by positive feedback loops. One example of this biome shift is from the Amazon rainforest to deforested land. One example of what is causing this is people cutting down the forests for agriculture use. More and more of the forest is being cut down due to more land being used for farming. Another cause is forest fires. Fires in the amazon rainforest are increasing when there are increased temperatures fires will start and will be more frequent. When looking at positive feedback loops one example of this would be albedo. When forests are cut down that means less solar energy is being absorbed by the vegetation and more is being reflected. This means that there is more albedo that is increasing the temperature. Another positive feedback loop is when the temperature gets warmer the vegetation will start to die creating more dead vegetation on the forest grounds causing an increase of wildfires.
The two most common carbon pricing schemes are carbon tax and cap-and-trade. Contrast these two methods in terms of the price, level of emissions, and mode of control/how CO2 is paid for (remember, contrasting two ideas should include a definition of each).
Cap and trade set a max level of emissions and manufacturers will need a license to emit C02 as emissions get close to a cap price licence that increases. Carbon tax is something that is applied to all goods and services which emit C02 during production to specific emission levels.
Briefly describe how climate change not only increase the risk of injury and death during natural disasters but can also delayed and long-lasting indirect effects.
Climate change can have a lot of dangerous effects because of natural disasters. Some of the effects that natural disasters have is in the case of wildfires there are problems with people who have asthma and could cause breathing problems. When it comes rising sea levels there are more floods and some island countries are experiencing massive floods which can carry disease and cause death.
Climate change is expected to impact food availability, food accessibility, food utilization & food stability. Use this as an example to illustrate the connection between climate change and environmental justice (your answer just include a definition of environmental justice and a description of how this specific case relates to that issue).
Climate change will impact food availability meaning that food prices will go up meaning that people will have less food and food will not have the same amount of food. Climate justice refers to people who should have equal access to the environment and the good and the bad parts of the environment should be evenly distributed through the environment. In this case areas that have issues with droughts and political unrest will be developing countries in the global south. The impacts are disproportionality which is detrimental to agriculture.
Altered climate conditions can lead to local extirpations or species' extinction. List the three responses that allow a species to persist under an altered set of parameters.
Limited physiological tolerance to changing temperatures can lead to extinction. Water leads to loss of prey and increased competition. Habitat loss as temperatures increase there is coral bleaching.
More than 130 countries have set or are considering net-zero emissions. Outline two-ways that you would assess plans for reaching net-zero.
Many countries want to make net zero emissions two ways that I would do this is rely on renewable energy and nuclear power. These two can help us get rid of emissions. Also use carbon sequestration to get rid of the carbon that is currently in the atmosphere.
Policy strategies to respond to climate change can be categorized as mitigation, adaptation, and geoengineering. Compare and contrast these three approaches in terms of their central strategy and list three examples of approaches in for each category (Remember, for this type of prompt you should clearly define each term and then identify components that two or more of these approaches have in common and also point out how they differ).
Mitigation refers to developing strategies that reduce climate change and make sure that it does not become a bigger problem. It's all about attacking at the root of the cause. Adaptation refers to modifying our decisions during a risk. This is all about making changes after something has already happened and making changes based off of it. They are similar because they both have to do with making changes; it's just when should these changes be made. Three examples of mitigation are sustainable transport, clean energy, and energy efficiency. Three examples of Adaptation are disaster management, flood protection and infrastructure upgrades
Compare and contrast the concepts of adaptation and mitigation in the context of strategies to deal with the impacts of climate change. List at least three specific examples for each category and discuss whether strategies necessarily fall distinctly into one or the other category.
Mitigation refers to developing strategies that reduce climate change and make sure that it does not become a bigger problem. It's all about attacking at the root of the cause. Adaptation refers to modifying our decisions during a risk. This is all about making changes after something has already happened and making changes based off of it. They are similar because they both have to do with making changes; it's just when should these changes be made. Three examples of mitigation are sustainable transport, clean energy, and energy efficiency. Three examples of Adaptation are disaster management, flood protection and infrastructure upgrades. Some things could go in either category for example water conservation could be used to preserve what water we have left or to preserve water after a natural disaster. Also an example would be education.
Use a specific example to outline how climate change will directly & indirectly impact livestock production (make sure to point out which are direct and which are indirect effects!).
Some direct impacts on the livestock changes in precipitation impact the livestock heat stress is one and they will produce less meat value of cows. Indirect impact farmers have less water for the livestock and food grazing grasses decrease in feed intake.
Define what sustainable use of resources is.
Sustainability use of resources is the management of resources at a rate only as fast as the rate at which they are replaced rather than using them to exhaustion. Exploiting ecosystems can put a lot of pressures on the ecosystems.
List the five major categories of anthropogenic drivers of biodiversity loss.
The five types of anthropogenic drivers of biodiversity loss are habitat loss, invasive species, pollution, overexploitation, and climate change.
The climate system consists of five interacting components that are acted upon by internal and external forces. List all five components and give a brief description for each.
There are five main components when it comes to climate systems. First is the atmosphere, this is the air that surrounds earth's surface and has different layers, next is the hydrosphere or all of the water along the same lines is the cryosphere or all of earth's ice. After that is the lithosphere or all of the land. All of the components of the atmosphere exchange mass heat and momentum.
Ecosystem services are generally placed in four distinct categories. Name all four categories, briefly define each, and list at least four examples of an ecosystem service in each category.
There are four main types of ecosystem services those are provisioning, regulating, culture, and supporting. Provisioning products that are gotten from the ecosystem. Some examples of these categories are food, water, raw materials, and medicines. The next is regulating these benefits from regulation of ecosystem processes. Some examples are air and water purification, pollination, soil fertility, and natural disaster migration. Then there is culture; these are non material benefits gotten from the ecosystem. These can range from ecotourism, spiritual and religion, Cultural heritage, and health and wellbeing. The last category supporting these are ecological processes that control the functioning of ecosystems and productions of all other services.
Climate change is the result of radiative forcing, i.e. an imbalance in earth's energy budget. Use the energy budget to contrast the fundamental approaches of geoengineering (climate engineering) and mitigation.
We need to respond to the impacts geoengineering says climate change is happening because the earth is heating up. The energy budget there are two components of energy that is absorbed at earth's surface mitigation the problem is there is two much greenhouse gases planet heats up more and more so mitigation says we draw down greenhouse gas emission essential for us to having a growing economy so why not lower incoming radiation lower the radiation the imbalance tips in other direction. Geoengineering say how much is being reflected by the clouds artificially engineering the climate by changing the absorption of the atmosphere. Trying to engineer where the solar energy comes into the atmosphere.
Compare and contrast the concepts of weather, climate variability, and climate change.
Weather is a snapshot of the atmospheric conditions, this is a short term condition that is happening in a specific place and time. Weather is something like rain, snow or hurricanes. It can last a couple of days or weeks at most but for the most part it is fast moving. Climate is looking at statistical long term portraits of a specific area or region, looking at behavior of the planet as a whole. When it comes to climate variation it looks at climate conditions on a decadal time scale. One example of this is el nino.
Briefly outline the relationships between biodiversity, ecosystem functioning, ecosystem services, and human well-being.
When it comes to human wellbeing there is a direct relationship between biodiversity, ecosystem services, and ecosystem functions. Biodiversity influences ecosystem functions
Agriculture is not only impacted by climate change but also contributes to climate change. Briefly describe two ways in which climate change does this (this should include describing the comparative magnitude of the impact).
When it comes to impacts that agriculture has on climate change there are two main ways that they have an impact. First is the level of CO2 agriculture makes up around 24% of greenhouse gas emissions. This is because of the machines they use to clear the land and the different farming machinery. Also livestock produces large amounts of emissions. Another way that agriculture harms the environment is through deforestation. Farms take up large amounts of land and for them to meet these demands they must clear large areas like forests. This leads to massive amounts of deforestation. Which means less carbon sinks. Agriculture is also struggling because of the effects of climate change first is lack of quality crops. Because of the effects of climate change there are a lot less quality crops which leads into the second problem of food insecurity. Due to droughts and extreme weather
Central strategies for mitigation can be classified into two major categories according to how they effect lower GHG concentrations. List the two categories and list at least two central strategies in each category.
When it comes to mitigation there are two main strategies to deal with climate change: the first is to limit greenhouse gas emissions, the other is to decrease C02 concentrations. Two examples of each first switching to renewable energy and electrification of vehicles. Then there is enhancing carbon sinks and carbon capture/ carbon sequestration.
