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41 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
Weather related disasters |
doubled over past 20 years, 400 per year 90 mil people require emergency assistance injury, property loss, exposure to epidemics, disease, shortage of food and water |
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global weirdness |
the contradictory changes like extreme flooding but also extreme drought causes skepticism in common people about global warming erratic weather |
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climate turmoil |
erratic weather CO2 and other greenhouse gases are good but theyhave transformed into threats due totheir increase in quantity |
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Monticello |
plantation that used to grow tobacco microcosm of global climate change § Abundance of plant diseas and pests § New weeds § Lots of bean beetles, leafhoppers,spider mites §Tourble with fruit production§ Amazing/erratic storms§ Forests get destroyed (diseas and pests)· All this because its been really hot |
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El Nino (what is it?) |
a global ocean-atmosphere interactive phenomenon reflecting the important ways in which oceans and the atmosphere around earth interact temperature fluctuations in surface waters of the tropical eastern pacific ocean La nina is cold water la nino is warm happens every 2 to 7 years lasts 9 months to 2 years natural but global warming increases frequency |
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El Nino (consequencs worldwide) |
increased rain in andean states drought in indonesia, leading to forest fires and air pollution more hurricanes increased water borne diseases harms small countries dependent on agriculture and fisheries as a source of food |
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El Nino (consequences USA) |
o Floods and mud slides in western USA o Wet winters/floods in southeastern states o Decreased hurricanes in the gulf o Increased hurricanes in southwestern states o Mild winters in northeastern states o Increased diseases in southern states |
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Glaciers |
made up of fallen snow that compresses into large ice masses store about 75% of world freshwater have the ability to move flow like slow rivers landmass of glaciers is 500k km or 10% of earth can be found globally not just poles Jorge Montt glacier is losing more than half a mile a year |
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ice shelves |
floating ice sheets instead of grounded ice much of antarctica is coverred by these extend into the sea off a land mass worldwide downward trend in ice shelves antarctica has been warming since the 50s does not contribute to ocean rise when melting off, increases glacier flow off the continent increases cause its not impeded Larson B ice shelf = larget ice shelf loss in recent decades |
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warming of Antarctica |
warming was steady for 500 years until now where its warming can only be explained by human induced activities if ice shelf collapse is as severe as last ice age, sea levels would rise 45 feet |
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arctic ice melt |
temperature is higher now than it has been in the past 2000 inevitably will see an ice free arctic during summer months arctic sea ice is important cause is reflects sunlight back out into space where as dark ocean water abosorbs most sunlight opens up more areas to drill for oil which we then burn and melt more ice sea ice melting does not increase sea level but land ice will Greenland is melting 3x faster than in 1990 |
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arctic snow melt |
snow melts faster than ice reflects sunlight back into space hastnes permafrost melt which results in more forest fires and more rapid sea ice melt |
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Permafrost (what is it) |
Any rock or soil material that has remained below freezing for two or more years has nothing to do with percentage of ice stores massice ammounts of carbon underlies 12 to 18% of the exposed lan surface in northern hemisphere seasonally frozen ground covers about 55% |
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drunken forests |
trees planted in permafrost that fall over or bend when permafrost melts |
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Permafrost effects |
Alaska has the fastest landscape change cracks in permafrost release carbon carbon emmissions of permafrost are not included in international energy agency projections sunlight accelerates the conversion of ancient carbon into carbon dioxide gas by 40% threat to infrastructure(stuff on tops gets fooked) melted permafrost areas release large quantities of methane |
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Inuit community of Sach Harbor |
vulnerable to melting sea ice animals they rely on are migrating farther north (seals) melting permafrost affects foundation of homes frequent and severe storms rising sea levels cause displacement |
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rising oceans |
8 inches high in 2012 than 1900 12 inches per century potentially rise over 3 feet by 2100 cause ice sheet melting puts people who live near shore at risk local contamination of well water making aquifers salty increase extreme storms every decade 90 million people live in cities by the water vulnerable to rising sea levels does not affect everywhere evenly (waterbed analogy) |
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cause of rising oceans |
thermal expansion :as sea water increases in volume because of ocean temperature rises, lower density
flows of melt: water from the ice and snow of glaciers, ice sheets and other land ice that is vanishing across the planet from greenland to the himalayas |
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heat dome over greenland |
burst of unusually warm air an anomoly over the long history of earth but has actually happened 7 years in a row |
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The village of Tirana |
poor community in El Salvador tiny rise of sea level completely killed off 1000ft of mangroves making it immpossilble to catch crabs which they rely on to sell projected to lose 10 to 28% of its coastal territories in the next century as a result of rising seas only 2% of El salvador's original forest remain |
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Floods |
3.7 million us residents in 2150 coastal areas could be battered by damaging floods floods are the worst of all natural disasters went from 19 milion deaths per 5 years to 131 million types: flash, river, urban, inundation, storm surge |
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Sinking islands |
marshall islands(salty wells and eroded coastlines tuvalu - accelerated ocean level rise maldives - most vulnerable island nation, lowest country on earth. no more than 5 ft above see level |
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Dessertification and land degredation |
15 billion acres of land in the world are dryland of which 2.5 billion acres oare naturally hyperarid desert human land use practices + climate change caused by drought and reduced freshwater availability heavy rains can even contribute by weakening soils ties in with rise of sea level and salt-water intrusion dryland soils contain over a quarter of all otf the organic carbon stores in the world as well as nearly all inorganic carbon 4% of total global emissions are generated in drylands encroachment of deserts can displace millions of people sahel has become prone to drought and desertification due to overgrazing and rising temps |
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Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) |
review program created to assess consequences of ecosystem change for human well-being and what actions need to be taken most alarming process targeted by MA is desertification or land degredation |
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Food production |
europe 2003: heat waves killed 50k peopl and decreased harvests of wheat, animal fodder and fruit by 33% high temperatures can cause some plants to grow faster but reduce fertility 6 degrees raise will lower crop yields by 20 to 40% 25mil more children will be malnourished in 2050 because of climate change agricultural output will decline worldwide |
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insects and pests |
thrive in the heat and will see population growth pests that damage crop (soybean in japan) are reproducing more rapidly farmers use more pesticides which is bad more breeding cycles in a year for insects and pests (volinism) 200 species of moths have added an extra generation during summer pests migrating faster, not enough time for farmers to adapt plant diseases thrive in the warmer temperatures and increased rainfall |
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gender climate change and food |
availability on food will affect women more heavily women suffer more from poverty hunger and malnutrition division of labor becomes re-enforced due to additional work and changes in environment brought on by a disaster |
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heat waves |
10 degrees or more above average heat waves kill more americans than any other type of natural disaster 1000 people per year warm nights don't let the body cool off 2003 was the hottest summer in europe in 500 years topsoil becomes eroded dust bowl in 1936 and 2012 were two hot years |
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Fire |
2012 was one of the worst on record for forest fires 9 million acres of forest burned in the us in 2012 fire season lasts 75 days longer than it did 40 years ago new places are burning that never have before because of earlier snow melt |
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heat island effect |
describes built up areas that are hotter than nearby rural areas evaporating water carries away heat city building warms the climate cities heat up faster than non cities surface temperature vary more than air termp during the day but are pretty similar at night water maintains a fairly constant temp day and night due to its high heat capacity |
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low income inner city vulnerabilities |
•1) poorer quality housing stocks; 2)heightened population densities and residential crowding 3)income disparities that limit access to protective resources 4)elevated prevalence of preexisting and chronic diseases 5)concentrations of vulnerable groups 6)limited access to health care and adaptive information8^4 |
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air conditioning |
greatly reduces chance of death on hot days yet contributes to the warming of the planet by using electricity |
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Lousiville Heat Island |
Warming twice the rate of Earth generally increasing temp .5 degree per decade excessive heat days expected to triple dark materials in the city contribute to the heat increase cooling vegetation is being replaces by buildings roads and parking lots planting more trees would produce a biological air conditioning effect |
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Ocean acidification |
CO2 dissolves in the ocean to make carbonic acid which has increased over the past 150 years can disrupt the entire marine food web |
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Tatoosh Island |
off of the coast of Washington State disturbing population decline across species related to declines in the water's ph, which changes when excess carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere and the water absorbs it small organisms are finding it more difficult to survive which casuses a chain reaction |
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Shifting/Falling seafood sources |
oceans are in danger of becoming oxygen depleted and hostile to fish and shellfish with increased temp, overturning circulation in the deep ocean decreased new england cod and founder depletion is due to overfishing AND changing ocean fish are migrating towards deeper waters |
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biodiversity and why its important |
genetic diversity, species diversity, ecosystem diversity greater species diversity ensure natural sustainability for all life forms and healthy ecosystems medical discovery, economic development, and adaptive responses to things like climate change governments protecting one speices can lead to rise and decline of other species |
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how global climate change negatively impacts biodiversity |
loss and destruction of habitat disruptions of ecosystem composition introduction of non-native species over-exploitation pollution and contamination ocean rise and loss of wetland species drought warmer temperatures promote infectious diseases ocean acidification and shellfish corals some species thrive in warmer conditions putting pressure on host species |
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Ethics |
Doesmowing the lawn or driving a fuel-inefficient car in Storrs, CT, have ethicalimplications for the people living in low-lying areas of Bangladesh? ؓ\ requires the most complicated and intrusive global agreement ever negotiated people avoid climate change cause they are focused on the now |
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false skepticism arguments |
the planet cant be warming when there is several feer of snow global warming has stopped and the earth has begun to cool changes on the sun are to blame for global warming, the sunis getting hotter CO2 is not a pollutant its a big conspiracy It's not even that harmful, the warmth is good antarctica is gaining ice climate models are unreliable and full of assumptions not everyone agrees (97% do actually) |
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5 key concepts |
Vulnerability Ecocrisis/pluralea interactions Adaptibility Ecosyndemic Resiliency |