IB ESS Topic 7- Climate Change and Energy Production

Energy consumption LEDCs<MEDCs because...

technology availability and nonreliance on natural resources

climate variables

temperature, rainfall, winds, humidity, cloud cover and pressure

The Kyoto Protocol

Agreement that called for the stabilization of greenhouse gas emissions at safe levels that would avoid serious climate change

Global dimming

Air pollution's cooling effect

advantages and disadvantages in fossil fuels

A: cheap, plentiful, technology already adapted for it D: contribution to climate change, unsustainability, difficult to extract and extraction is dangerous

Advantages and Disadvantages to renewables

A: do not release pollutants and they won't run out D: more $, cultures are leaned more towards non-renewable resources, limited location acces

advantages and disadvantages to nuclear power

A: technology is readily available, does not emit CO2, large amounts of electrical energy is generated in a single plant D: wastes are extremely dangerous and remain forever, energy source is uranium

factors that influence the choice of energy generation

the availability and sustainability of resources, scientific and technological developments, cultural attitudes, and political, economic and environmental factors

ocean circulatory system

transfers heat from the tropics to colder regions

Pressure Variation

-Measured in millibars (mb) and is represented by isobars, lines of equal pressure -decline in pressure indicates wetter weather

UN-REDD Programme

-Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation

Increase of greenhouse gases creates:

-an increase in the mean global temperature -increased frequency and intensity of extreme weather events -the potential for long-term change in climate and weather patterns -rise in sea level

The Stern Report

-climate change is fundamentally altering the planet -the risks incurred by inaction are high -rime is running out

Fossil fuels

-contribute to the majority of humankind's energy supply -vary widely in the impacts of their production and their emissions -expected to increase to meet global energy demand

National and international methods

-controlling the amount of atmospheric pollution -stopping forest clearance

Non-human related factors that add to global warming

-greenhouse gases produced by volcanic activity, methane released by animals, sunspot activity -volcanic ash and dust blocking out solar radiation -changes in albedo due to position and extent of ice sheet

Individual methods

-grow your own food -turn off lights

nuclear power

-is a low-carbon, low-emission, non-renewable resource that is controversial due to radioactive waste and potential scale of any accident

Solar Energy

-limited to northern countries in the winter

Wastes

-organic waster decomposers and gives off methane gas which can then be burned -readily available and its use does not deplete natural capital adds to global warming gases

Biofuel

-produced by burning plant matter into ethanol which is then used as fuel -produces emissions and requires large amounts of land to grow biofuel crop

Tidal Power

-produces energy by using the ebbing or flooding tide to turn turbines -good tidal range is required and the right shape of coastline to channel water through turbines

Mitigation strategies

-reduction of energy consumption -reduction of emissions of nitrogen oxides and methane from agriculture -use of alternatives to fossil fuels -geo-engineering

Hydro-electric power

-uses turbines which can be switched on whenever energy is needed -leads to habitat loss and displacement of people and restriction in the flow of sediments

Geothermal energy

-water is pumped into pipes beneath the ground and the geothermal heat from the ground heats the water -low impact, doesn't release any form of pollution, can be rearranges in various formations

Wind Power

-wind turns the rotor blades which rotate a metal shaft which transfers the rotational energy into a generator -no wind=no energy, placement is critical

Mean sea level pressure

1013mb and ranges from 940-1060 mb

GWP

A measure of how much more a greenhouse gas contributes to global warming other than carbon dioxide

The Paris Agreement

An agreement to promise reduction of climate change

Bjorn Lomborg

Argues that many global problems (global warming, biodiversity, etc.) are unsupported by statistical analysis

Feedback and global warming

Both negative and positive feedback mechanisms are associated with climate change and may involve very long time lags

Policy changes

Carbon taxes, carbon trading and carbon offset schemes

Atmospheric circulatory systems - Air motion

Caused by the unequal heating of Earth's surface

The effects of global warming:

Changes in water availability, distribution of biomes, and crop-growing areas, loss of biodiversity, and ecosystem services, coastal inundation, ocean acidification and damage to human health

Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CSS)

Collect where gas is produced or in the atmosphere

Global climate models

Complex and there is a degree of uncertainty regarding the accuracy of their predictions

Al Gore

Efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counter act such change

Hadley cell model

Explains the atmospheric circulation to suggest that direct heating of low latitudes forces air to rise by convection, the air then travels towards the poles but sinks at the subtropical anticyclone

Adaption examples

Food defenses, vaccination programmes, desalinization plants, and planting of crops in previously unsuitable plants

Politics of CO2 mitigation and adaption

International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), National Adaption Programmes of Action (NAPA's), United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)

IPCC

International body assessing the science related to climate change

Pollution management strategies

Involve mitigation and adaption

Mitigation

Involves reduction and/or stabilization of greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions and their removal from the atmosphere

The quantity of greenhouse gases emitted by an individual country depends on:

Its economy, level of development, and societal expectations

Geo-engineering

Radical and some are unworkable ideas -place giant mirrors in space in order to deflect some incoming solar radiation

Decarbonization

Refers to a large reduction of carbon dioxide per value of gross world product

CO2 removal techniques

UN-REDD Programme, biomass, carbon capture and sequestration (CSS) and enhancing CO2 absorption

specific heat capacity

amount of energy it takes to raise the temp of 1 g of substance to 1 degree Celsius

climate and weather are affected by

atmospheric circulation, ocean circulation, latitude, altitude, distance from the sea, prevailing winds and human activities

surface ocean currents

caused by the influence of prevailing winds blowing across the sea

climate and weather

climate describes how the atmosphere behaves over relatively long periods of time whereas weather describes the conditions in the atmosphere over a short period of time

nuclear power process

fissionable material is brought together and the process initiated, a chain reaction that splits atoms releasing a tremendous amount of energy

non-renewable

fossil fuels

disadvantages of shales

hydraulic fracturing may pollute groundwater and soil, release methane and trigger earthquakes

renewable example

hydro-electric and solar

energy conservation

improvements in energy efficiencies and energy conservation can limit growth in energy demand and contribute to energy security

radioactivity

nuclear changes in which unstable isotopes emit particles and energy continuously until the original isotope is changes into a stable one -causes mutations, cancers, miscarriages and burns

energy security

refers to a country's ability to secure all its energy needs

energy insecurity

refers to a lack of security over energy sources

Adaption

refers to the efforts to live with the consequences of climate change

Range of energy resources

renewable ad non-renewable

What are sources of energy with lower carbon dioxide emission than fossil fuels?

renewable sources and nuclear power

Shale gas

shales are one of the most common forms of sedimentary rocks on Earth and has the potential to change domestic economies

How are fossil fuels formed?

when dead animals and plants decompose in anoxic (no oxygen) conditions, covered in silt and mud, subject to heat and pressure over a long period of time