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Weather
Daily result of changes in temperature, pressure, and precipitation in the environment.
Climate
Long-term average of weather events.
Why do interior states have the climate they do?
Proximity to ocean, wind patterns, latitude influence drastic temperature swings in interior states not close to water, offshore currents affect nearby land areas.
Why do maritime states have the climate they do?
Maritime climate is moderated by the ocean's high specific heat capacity.
CO2 increases due to ________, preventing _______.
fossil fuel growth and deforestation, preventing carbon sequestration.
Reasons for methane level increase
agriculture, melting permafrost, rice production, and landfills.
Increasing average global temperature leads to…
lower pH, ocean acidification, biodiversity loss, and trophic cascades.
Climate change mitigation
Aims to reduce the effects by decreasing sources and increasing sinks of greenhouse gases.
Methods to mitigate climate change
Carbon taxes
Lifestyle changes
Co2 reduction
Reduce chemical fertilizer
Reduce intensive livestock
Fossil fuels alternatives
Increased efficiency in GHG’s usage
Carbon capture (technocentric)
Kyoto Protocol
1997/2005: countries pledged to reduce GHG to 1990 levels within 15 years
No country met the target. Most saw increases in GHGs
US never ratified the treaty → doomed it from the start
Paris Agreement
Pledged at most a 2 degrees Celsius increase in temperatures
Most projections predict a 3.2 degree increase
Most countries have made little progress
US withdrew then came back in 2021
Energy Security
Ensuring affordable, reliable, and sufficient energy supplies for a country.
Energy crisis
Bottleneck in energy supply due to increased demand, decreased supply, or political tensions.
Sustainability
Considering environmental impacts, energy usage, and renewable sources for long-term energy needs.
Fossil fuels
Coal, petroleum, and natural gas are non-renewable energy sources with environmental consequences like CO2 emissions.
Fracking
Oil/gas extraction method using high-pressure fluids to crack rocks underground, with negative impacts on water use and habitat.
Renewable Energy
Includes geothermal, nuclear, hydroelectric, solar, and wind power sources for sustainable energy production.
Energy Efficiency
make tasks require less energy
Energy efficient design
Buildings that absorb sun depending on season to heat
Green roofs
Recycled materials (denim, fly ash, etc.)
Energy efficient devices and appliances (light bulbs)
Energy conservation
decreasing how much energy is used overall
Examples of energy conservation
Gov’t initiatives - taxes on fuels or rebates/tax credits
Change your behavior
Stem from energy efficiency
Factors in energy choice
Availability
Technology
Politics
Economics
Cultural attitudes (ex: love of cars here in the States)
Sustainability
Environmental considerations (is it dangerous?)
20th century energy trends
Coal use dropped by half
Oil increased
Natural gas increased
Nuclear increased
Renewables decreased → LEDCs use biomass most
Energy Generation
Regardless of source, all thermal power plants work in some basic way (combustion)
Water turned to steam
The energy released moves a turbine
Generates electricity
Fossil Fuels
Made of decomposing plants/animals
Coal, petroleum, natural gas (C, H, N, O, S, minerals, except for natural gas)
Swap from biomass/steam to fossil fuels over the last few years
We continue to use them because they’re transportable, in expensive, have infrastructure
However, they lead to CO2 emissions
Coal
Solid fuel formed of tree, fern, and plant remains from 280-360 million years ago
Most abundant
“Dirtiest” fossil fuel → most emissions when used or to obtain
Mining leads to poor working conditions
Types ranked by age: older coal has more coal expunged (more processing required, I think)
Largest reserves in the US, Russia, China, and Australia
Crude oil, petroleum
Widely used fossil fuel occurring in underground deposits
Liquid mixture of hydrocarbons, water, and sulfur
Extracted through ground wells
Mixture injected at high pressure → forces oil up
Not as bad as coal mining
Once extracted, it’s distilled to separate different products, each with different condensing point (Fuel oil, diesel, kerosene, gasoline, gas)
US uses ~816 million gallons of oil/day
Top oil producers are Saudi Arabia, Russia, US, Iran, China, Canada, and Iraq (50% of all oil produced comes from 7 countries)
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
possibility of 378 billion gallons of oil, but may harm habitat
Natural gas
Cleanest of the fossil fuels
Associated w/ petroleum and is found within petroleum on deposits
Mostly used in electricity or industrial processes
Used in fertilizer production, heat homes, dryers/heaters
Liquefied for BBQs
Extracted in same way as oil
How are Egypt and Sudan adapting to climate change similarly?
Building physical infrastructure to cope with the problem
Egypt: building physical barriers to keep flooding at bay
Sudan: building shelter-belts and wind-breaks to protect rangeland from wind that affects drought
How are Egypt and Sudan adapting to climate change differently?
Egypt: taking a legislative approach to the problem. Adopted National Climate Change Plan that brings climate problems to national control, and Law 4/94 that requires EIAs for coastal infrastructure.
Sudan: taking an economic approach with revolving credit funds and monitoring/preventing factors that led to drought in the first place (ex: # of grazing animals and cut trees)
Examples of greenhouse gases
CO2, methane, CFCs, H2O vapor, HCFCs, nitrous oxides, ozone