2.9 Degradation of the carbon cycle

How many tonnes of palm oil are produced every year?

Which country is the world’s largest producer of palm oil?

Indonesia, which has on numerous occasions temporarily overtook the USA in greenhouse gas emissions, mostly from burning forests

What impacts does the production of palm oil have on well-being?

Smallholders and indigenous people are often driven away by the actions of palm oil producers. Since 2016, there have been over 4000 land conflicts linked to the palm oil industry

What impacts have the production of palm oil had on wildlife?

It has caused a loss of biodiversity and habitat, which has endangered species such as the orangutan, Borneo elephant and Sumatran tiger, driving them to extinction

What were the aims of the ‘forest moratorium’ in Indonesia?

To reduce carbon emissions by 29% by 2020 and save thousands of hectares of trees from deforestation, by stopping issuing permits for the clearance of primary forest

What were the failures of the ‘forest moratorium’?

It only saved around 150,000 hectares of forest and helped to reduce carbon emissions by just 4%. Its effectiveness was limited because many of the clearance permits had been issued before the moratorium started, and global demands for biofuels alongside continued illegal logging undermined it.

What does Kuznet’s curve look like? (For learn mode, the answer is ‘this’)

What is stage 1 of Kuznet’s curve?

Rapid economic development and demand for products has an impact on the environment

What is stage 2 of Kuznet’s curve?

Concern over degradation leads to action to protect the environment

What is stage 3 of Kuznet’s curve?

The reinforcement of stage 2, with education programmes and funding for environmental protection

How has the rate of loss of forested areas changed between 1990 and 2020?

It has slowed; between 1990 and 2000, there was a net loss of 7.8 million hectares of forest per year, whereas between 2010 and 2020, there was a net loss of 4.7 million hectares per year

Give an example of a pressure group taking action against palm oil production.

In 2016, Greenpeace activists blockaded a palm oil refinery in Rotterdam, owned by the IOI Group. This was because a report linked the company’s supplies of palm oil to deforestation, forest fires and human rights abuses

Where is Yukon located?

In the far northwest of Canada, with a significant part of it lying within the Arctic Circle

What impacts have the increasing global temperatures had on Yukon?

Snowmelt is beginning earlier, which is altering river regimes. Sea ice is melting faster here than anywhere else and this reduces surface reflectivity leading to an amplified warming effect

What are the two main ways precipitation patterns will change as a result of climate change?

Existing patterns will strengthen, and as atmospheric circulation changes, a shift in storm tracks will move storms further from the Equator towards the poles.

What is some evidence that challenges some climate models?

Drier conditions than those recorded in the twentieth century had been widespread between the twelfth and nineteenth centuries

Give three benefits of mangrove forests.

• they stabilise coastlines against erosion

• they collect nutrient-rich sediments

• they provide protection and shelter against extreme weather

What have been some of the impacts on people who depend on fisheries from climate change?

Climate change is altering the distribution and productivity of species, food webs and biological processes