Zusammenfassung der Ressource
GCSE Geography - Climate Change -
Unfinished
- Evidence of climate change
- 2005 - hottest year on record
- In the last 100 years, Earth has warmed by 0.75℃
- Oceans have absorbed 80% of the heat added to the climate
- Since 1900, sea levels have risen globally by 17cm
- Thermal expansion
- As water warms, it expands
- Land ice melting
- Water released flows into the oceans
- Effects of climate change
- Case study: Great barrier reef
- Threatened by ocean acidification
- Caused by excess anthropogenic CO2
- By 2100, ocean pH is predicted to fall
- Falling from a current 8.2 to estimated 7.8
- As CO2 is absorbed, it bonds with water, forming carbonic acid
- Carbon is not available for marine
animals to make calcium exoskeletons
- This leaves exoskeletons weak and brittle and exposes
animals to predation or destruction during storms
- It affects the entire food chain and reef biodiversity
- Extreme weather systems - e.g. floods and cyclones of 2010-11
- Affects tourism, farming etc and so economy
- Also threatened by pesticide runoff
- Anthropogenic CO2 Production
- 3/4 of the UK energy use comes from fossil fuels
- Coal
- Oil
- Natural gas
- The human race produces over
7 gigatonnes of CO2 every year
- Logging and deforestation
- Trees naturally absorb CO2 for
use in respiration/photosynthesis
- However, forests are being cut down