L9: The Hydrosphere and Cryosphere
No description yet. This curated deck is ready for daily study.
Card preview (24)
what was agreed by all parties at the Paris agreement?
to hold the increase in global average temperature to 2 degree above pre-industrial levels and perusing an effort to limit increase to 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels
how many degrees of warming above pre-industrial levels will we witness if emissions continue as effort with minimal/no effort to reduce?
4-5 degrees
how can we achieve emissions targeted at less than 2 degrees by 2100?
using negative emissions technology
how many degrees of warming will we experience in a complete mitigation scenario by 2100?
2.1-2.3 degrees
what do negative emissions technologies do?
reduce atmospheric CO2
what is geoengineering?
the deliberate large-scale intervention in the Earth’s natural systems to counteract climate change
what are the 2 main groups of geoengineering interventions?
• solar radiation management (SRM) • carbon dioxide removal (CDR)
what is an example of a key tipping point?
Western Antarctic ice sheet disintegration
why aren’t all tipping point reached at the same time?
as some will have lower thresholds than others in relation to the Earth’s climate
what is an example of two tipping points having different thresholds?
melting of the Western Antarctic ice sheet has a much lower threshold compared to the melting of the East Antarctic ice sheet
what are some examples of solar radiation management?
• space reflectors • stratospheric aerosols • cloud seeding (stratospheric aerosols) • cloud albedo • surface albedo
what are some examples of CO2 removal?
• carbon capture at source • afforestation • CO2 air capture • enhanced weathering • ocean fertilisation • biochar
what are solar radiation management (SRM) technologies designed to do?
not to address the fundamental problems (GHGs) but to sidestep the problem by reducing the amount of insolation they have received. Doesn’t attack the fundamental problem
what are carbon dioxide removal (CDR) technologies designed to do?
to attack the fundamental issue (GHGs) by removing CO2 from the atmosphere or to become carbon capture stores
carbon dioxide removal (CDR) technologies involve both … approaches and … approaches
natural high tech
what is an example of a natural CDR technology?
afforestation
what is an example of a high tech CDR technology?
carbon dioxide air capture
what is an example of a high effectiveness and high affordability geoengineering strategy? (include the safety level)
stratospheric aerosols low safety
what is an example of a low effectiveness and high affordability geoengineering strategy? (include the safety level)
afforestation high safety
what is an example of a low effectiveness and low affordability geoengineering strategy? (include the safety level)
surface albedo (urban) high safety
what is an example of a high effectiveness and low affordability geoengineering strategy? (include the safety level)
space reflector medium safety
what are some associated issues regarding space reflectors?
not yet a ready technology, very expensive and unknown climate impacts. will also have major international implications, making governance a major issue
what are some features of stratospheric aerosols?
effective, low cost, ready technology but unknown climate impacts and governance issues
what are some examples of geoengineering technologies that have unknown climate impacts?
space reflectors, stratospheric aerosols and cloud seeding by atomising seawater