Geog final

How do we organize the biosphere

Biosphere → Biomes → Ecosystems → Communities → Populations → Organisms

What is a community

All interacting populations of different species in a given area

What is a biome

Large region defined by climate and dominant vegetation

Relationship between biomes, temperature, and precipitation

Biomes are determined mainly by temperature (x axis) and precipitation (y axis)

What is the Köppen climate classification

A system classifying climates based on temperature and precipitation patterns

What is the Köppen climate system based on

Monthly/annual temperature + precipitation + vegetation patterns

Six main Köppen categories

A=Tropical, B=Dry, C=Temperate, D=Continental, E=Polar, H=Highland

Which Köppen climate covers most land

Dry climates - deserts and steppes

What vegetation is in A climates?

Dense forests due to warm temps & heavy rainfall year round

Tropical rainforest characteristics

Hot, wet, high biodiversity, nutrient-poor soils, constant growth

Marine west coast vs Mediterranean

MWC = wet year round ; Mediterranean = dry summers, wet winters

Severe midlatitude climates?

Humid continental & subarctic; differ by winter severity and season length

What is the crysosphere

All frozen water on earth (ice, snow, glaciers, permafrost)

What is permafrost

Ground frozen for >2 years

Why is permafrost important

Stores ~2x more carbon than atmosphere

Where is permafrost found

Arctic regions (Alaska, Siberia, canada)

Glacier/firn/glacial ice

Firn= compacted snow; glacier ice= dense, flowing ice mass

Glacier mass balance

Difference between accumulation and melting

What are ice sheets

Massive glaciers covering land

Two ice sheets?

Greenland ice sheet ad Antarctic ice sheet

Icebergs vs ice shelves

Icebergs float after breaking off; ice shelves float but are attached to land ice

What is sea ice

Frozen ocean water floats on the surface

What is air pollution

Harmful substances in the atmosphere affecting health/environment

Why do we care about air pollution

Causes disease, premature death, environmental damage

Primary pollutants

Emitted directly

Secondary pollutants

Formed in the atmosphere

Examples of primary pollutants

CO, NO, SO2, PM, VOCs

Examples of secondary pollutants

Ozone (O3), secondary PM

What is PM

Particulate matter (tiny airbone particles)

PM sources

Cars, factories, wildfires, dust, cooking, smoking

PM2.5

Fine. more dangerous

PM10

larger particles

Indoor pollution sources

Cooking, smoke

Health effects of PM

Lung disease, heart disease, stroke, premature death

Weather effect on Pm

Wind disperses; stagnant air taps pollitoon

Temperature inversion

Warm air traps cold air + pollution near ground

Why UK clean air act happened

Deadly London smog events

Early US air regulations

Clean air act (1963, expanded 1970, 1990)

What does the clean air act do

Sets pollution limits and regulates emissions

What does EPA do

Sets standards, monitors air quality, enforces rules

State role in air quality

States implement EPA rules and enforce compliance

Current PM2.5 standard (US EPA)?

9 µg/m³ annual average

What is AQI

Air quality index measuring pollution levels

AQI levels

Green: good → Yellow → orange → red → purple: hazardous

Worst seasons for air quality in new castle county

Summer (ozone) + Winter (inversions/PM)

Better air quality seasons

Spring and fall (more atmospheric mixing)

Has air pollution changed over time?

Decreased overall due to regulation

Climate change

Broader system shifts

Global warming

temperature rise

Climate change

Broader system shifts

Is warming human caused

Yes - mostly due to greenhouse gases

Radiative forcing

Energy imbalance in Earths system

Positive forcing

Warming

Negative forcing

cooling

GHG forcing

warm

aerosols

mostly cool (reflect sunlight)

IPCC

UN body assessing climate science

Feedbacks

Processes that amplify or reduce climate change

Ice albedo feedback

Less ice → less reflection → more warming

Evidence of warming

rising temps, melting ice, sea level rise, extreme heat

Detection

identifying change

Attribution

Identifying cause

Climate models

computer simulations of earths sysrems

What do models include

atmosphere, oceans, land, ice, radiation, chemistry

Why trust models

They accurately reproduce past and current climate

Main cause of recent warming

Greenhouse gases

SSPs

Shared Socioeconomic pathways (future emissions scenarios)

SSP1

Sustainability/low emissions

SSP5

fossil-fuel/high emissions

Critical warming threshold

~1.5-2 degrees celsius above preindustrial

Have we reached critical warming threshold

approacing ~1.3-1.3 degrees celsius so far

Where is warming the greatest

Arctic

Why Arctic warms faster

Ice-albedo feedback

Ice sheet changes

Greenland and antarctica losing mass

Sea ice change

Declining, especially arctic summer ice

Why does Arctic ice loss matter

Amplifies warming and disrupts ecosystems

GRACE satellites

Measure gravity changes to track ice/water loss

Are heat extremes increasing

Yes- more frequent and intense heatwaves

Wet bulb temperature

Heat + humidity limit for human cooling

Dangerous wet bulb limit

~35 degrees celsius

Mitigation

reduce emissions

adaptation

adjusts to impacts

net zero

emissions balanced by removal

zero emissions

none emitted

Kyoto protocol

Early emissions treaty; limited success due to weak participation

Paris Agreement goal

keep warming well below 2 degrees celsius

Are countries legally required to cut emissions

No binding enforcement, only reporting commitments

Carbon pricing

Charging for emissions via tax or trading system

Carbon Taxrs

fixed price

ETS

cap on emissions with trading

Greenwashing

Misleading enviornmental claims

fossil vs renewable investment

Still more fossil fuel investment globally

Renewable costs trend

Decreasing overtime

Geoengineering

Large scale climate manipulation (solar + carbon removal methods)

Consensus on geoengineering

High risk, uncertain, not a substitute for emissions cuts