Paper 3

• What was the significance of 2015 in terms of global temperature rise?

  2015 was the warmest year for mean global land and ocean temperatures since records began in 1880
• 2015 was the 39th consecutive year of an increase in annual global temperature rise above average
• The 10 warmest years in record have occurred since 2000
• What is the prediction on the melting of the alps?


  Valley glaciers in the alps may shrink by 80-96% by the end of the century
• How many glaciers were observed in Montana in 1850 compared with 2010?

  In 1850, 150 glaciers were observed in Glacier National Park but in 2010 only 25 glaciers were observed
• How much does global ice melt contribute to sea level rise?

  1mm of sea level rise every year
• How much of the incoming solar radiation does snow reflect?

  70-80%
• How does less sea ice result in positive feedback loops?

  Means that more solar energy is absorbed by the sea surface which raises air temperatures and causes further melting
• What is the significance of water vapour?

  Its heat-amplifying effect in the atmosphere is potent enough to double the climate warming caused by CO2 being emitted into the atmosphere
• What is the positive feedback loop associated with water vapour?

  Increased water vapour enhances the natural greenhouse effect, which leads to increased temperatures, so increased levels of evaporation ,which leads to even more water vapour in the atmosphere
• What were the costs of extreme weather events between 2011-2013 in the US?


  The 32 weather events cost at least $1 billion in damages
• What extreme weather events are associated with warming?

  More intense and frequent heat waves, less frequent intense cold waves, regional changes in floods, droughts and wildfires.
• What percentage of incoming radiation reaches the Earth’s surface?

  Only 45% because of reflection from snow/ice, reflection from clouds and absortion from GHGs
• Was percentage of outgoing long-wave radiation is lost to space?

  2/3 lost to space
• What was the main energy source in the UK for much of the 20th century?

  Coal
• When did consumption of coal decline in the UK?

  1921- miners strike, 1980s- decline due to economic recession, 2009- global financial crisis
• Why have UK emissions fallen by a third since 1971?

  Shift away from coal as the primary fuel towards cheaper natural gases, Nuclear power station development and renewables since 1990s, improvement in energy conservation through more energy efficient homes and infrastructure, international obligations and legally binding reductions in carbon emissions.
• In 2020, the UK’s total GHG emissions were 49.7% below those of 1990 levels.
• In 2014 UK’s emissions fell by a record 9% from the previous year- could be argued that this was down to the fall in demand due to mild winter and spring.
• What percentage of electricity generation came from renewables in 2019 in the UK?

  40%
• What are the organisation ’Carbon Briefs‘ estimates on CO2 emissions in the UK?

  That over the past decade, consumption based CO2 emissions have fell by around 21% and total emissions by 29%
• What is being built in North Kent?

  The largest solar farm which will supply 91,000 homes
• How much do China contribute to global emissions?

  They emit 27% of global carbon dioxide and a third of the world’s greenhouse gases.
• How much coal do China consume?

  As much as the rest of the world (50.5%)
• Migration from rural China to urban China in the past 40 years is the largest population movement in history
• What assisted China’s economic development and industrialisation?

  Massive energy consumption- most coming from the huge indigenous reservoirs of coal which inevitably produces large increases in emissions
• Unhampered by international protocols, carbon emissions rose two and a half times in the period 2000 to 2014
• How much coal did China consume in 2020?

  Over 4 billion tonnes which is more than half of the total global consumption
• When do China aim to hit carbon neutrality?

  By 2060
• What is China’s goal for 2030?


  They want their emissions to pick before this but at the very latest in 2030 but critics say that this wont put them on the rapid path to reach carbon neutrality
• UK’s coal consumption peaked at around 114,000 kilo tonnes. China hit 2,490,000 kilo tonnes in 2013.
• What percentage of climate Scientists believe that climate change is happening?

  97%
• What is the debate?


  On the causes of climate change
• Dissenters argue that warming in the early 20th century was down to increased solar output and exceptional volcanic activity. However, this argument has been underpinned by the continued rise of temperatures since 1950 despite reductions in both solar and volcanic activity.
• What is the ‘tipping point?’

  The point of irreversible effects- ’runaway climate change.’
• When will the tipping point be reached?

  Once global temperatures reach 2 degrees above pre-industrial levels
• 73% of the US population now accept the linkage between global warming and anthropogenic CO2 emissions
• A long running debate in the 1970s between scientists who argued climate change is a reality and those who favoured global cooling and a new imminent glacial period.
• What helped swing the climate change argument in the 1970s?

  Satellite imaging and computer modelling revealing that human activity was the main force of warming.
• What does the hockey stick graph reveal?

  Published in 1998- reveals a significant temperature increase since the industrial revolution.