Geo Reading Questions (Biodiversity, Mount Meager)

Millions of sea creatures died along the B.C. coast from the combination of low tide and an extreme heat wave. If they are unable to re-establish in the area, what are some implications of this?

If sea creatures are unable to re-establish, this could lead to shifts in the food chain, altered nutrient cycling, and increased susceptibility to invasive species

What is a cascading hazard?

A cascading hazard is when one initial extreme event triggers secondary hazards. An example is wildfires occurring as a result of a heat wave.

What is the 2030 Nature Compact?

A pledge to conserve at least 30% of land and water by 2030, signed by 50 countries including Canada and the rest of the G7

What is described as the conundrum around motivating people to action from a specific event?

Although scientists record extreme hazard events and incorporate them into future models, public and political attention quickly moves on to the next disaster, reducing motivation for action

What was the faint hope provided in the most recent report of the International Panel on Climate Change?

The faint hope is that only immediate and drastic reductions in greenhouse gas emissions can prevent the worst effects of climate breakdown

What are the three highest profile examples of the interaction of climate change and biodiversity?

The three highest-profile examples of the interaction between climate change and biodiversity are:

• The impacts of sea-ice loss on polar wildlife (such as seals, walruses, polar bears, and penguins)

• displacement and death caused by wildfires and

• Ocean warming that leads to coral reef bleaching and intensifies sea star wasting disease.

What is the biohazard aspect associated with wildfires?

Microbes and fungal spores can survive and be carried in wildfire smoke, increasing the risk of potentially deadly fungal infections such as valley fever, with firefighters being especially vulnerable to the infection due to increased smoke inhalation

When Simon Donner of UBC was asked if this was the new normal, how did he respond?

His response was that things were now changing so fast he didn’t think there was ever going to be anything we could describe as normal again

Why was it suggested that policies for protected areas and species at risk are insufficient for reaching biodiversity goals?

Policies for protected areas and species at risk are insufficient because biodiversity outcomes are context dependent and influenced by land use in surrounding unprotected areas.

In addition, different ecosystems require different levels and types of protection, meaning a uniform protection target (such as conserving 30%) cannot achieve biodiversity goals everywhere.

What has the government realized about implementing protections?

The government has realized that, due to stakeholder pushback, the only marine protected areas it can implement without a fight are offshore waters with little human activity or where fishing isn’t an issue, rather than nearshore areas that are more diverse or where important spawning takes place.

Describe the type of equipment that the cavers needed before they were able to embark on a multi-day expedition

The cavers needed a life-support breathing system that would allow them to breathe safely for longer while they worked in deadly levels of toxic gas (such as sulphur dioxide and hydrogen sulphide), so they could work inside the cave for several hours during a multi-day expedition

What are several different factors that result in Mount Meager being classified as a very high threat?

A very high threat level is given to a volcano deemed likely to harm people or damage property, based on its geology and the exposure risk.

Mount Meager is classified as a very high threat because its geological history shows it is capable of sudden, catastrophic events, and its location near populated areas, farmland, and infrastructure creates a high exposure risk to people and property.

How does a glaciovolcanic cave form? Describe the appearance of these caves.

Glaciovolcanic caves form when heat and gas from a volcano warp the ice of the glacier above, creating tunnels that are continuously morphing.

Inside these caves are “like a cathedral of ice,” with white and blue rooms carved into ice, with curved walls that look like they are made of hundreds of giant white seashells.

Why is the study of the diversity of microbes in water beneath glaciers important?

As glaciers are rapidly lost due to climate change, there is a race to document the diversity of life and the genome of any microbes in these environments. This is where we discover of antibiotics and anti-cancers, and some of these novel natural products that can be very useful to humans

Why is Mount Meager a difficult volcano to study?

Mount Meager was a difficult volcano to study as the glacier and toxic gases emanating from the massif make it incredibly difficult for scientists to access the volcano to test temperature and gas. Adding to the challenge, Canada has not historically monitored for changes at volcanoes. It is expensive to carry out regular monitoring.

How do scientists typically map caves?  Why was that method not possible in this cave?

They usually use lasers to survey beneath glaciers, however, this did not work in the heavy haze of Mount Meager’s recesses.

As a result the team was unable to map the inside of the cave in detail. They did manage to hand sketch an outline of a lopsided horseshoe of a cave system with water and fields of rock.

After Yellowstone experienced wildfires in 2000 and 2016, what did scientists do to help them determine how forests are recovering?

After the 2000 and 2016 Yellowstone wildfires, scientists systematically counted and measured tree seedlings and determined how far they travelled.

This allowed them to determine whether trees were successfully germinating and whether conditions were suitable for them to grow.