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Practise Unit 1 essay questions from world at risk

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Practise Unit 1 essay questions from world at risk

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Mark schemes, resources and examiners reports on student intranet or https://qualifications.pearson.com/en/qualifications/edexcel-a-levels/geography-2008.coursematerials.html#filterQuery=Pearson-UK:Category%2FExam-materials

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Kyoto protocol podcast from the magnificent 

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Kyoto protocol podcast from the magnificent 

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BedZED case study podcast from the glorious trio

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BedZED case study podcast from the glorious trio

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Kirabati case study podcast from three of your own - great summary

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Kirabati case study podcast from three of your own - great summary

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Brief summary of adaptation strategies by The Guardian

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Brief summary of adaptation strategies by The Guardian

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Also there are some Climate Change Questions you can click on - v helpful for this topic

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There are two main policy responses to climate change: mitigation and adaptation. Mitigation addresses the root causes, by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, while adaptation seeks to lower the risks posed by the consequences of climatic changes. Both approaches will be necessary, because even if emissions are dramatically decreased in the next decade, adaptation will still be needed to deal with the global changes that have already been set in motion.

Humans have been adapting to their environments throughout history by developing practices, cultures and livelihoods suited to local conditions - from the Mediterranean siesta to the Vietnamese practice of building homes on stilts to protect against monsoonal rains. However, climate change raises the possibility that existing societies will experience climatic shifts (in temperature, storm frequency, flooding and other factors) that previous experience has not prepared them for.

Adaptation measures may be planned in advance or put in place spontaneously in response to a local pressure. They include large-scale infrastructure changes - such as building defences to protect against sea-level rise or improving the quality of road surfaces to withstand hotter temperatures - as well behavioural shifts such as individuals using less water, farmers planting different crops and more households and businesses buying flood insurance.

The IPCC describes vulnerability to climate change as being determined by three factors: exposure to hazards (such as reduced rainfall), sensitivity to those hazards (such as an economy dominated by rain-fed agriculture), and the capacity to adapt to those hazards (for example, whether farmers have the money or skills to grow more drought-resistant crops). Adaptation measures can help reduce vulnerability - for example by lowering sensitivity or building adaptive capacity - as well as allowing populations to benefit from opportunities of climatic changes, such as growing new crops in areas that were previously unsuitable.

Low-income countries tend to be more vulnerable to climate risks and some adaptation measures - such as increasing access to education and health facilities - will overlap with existing development programmes. But adaptation goes beyond just development to include measures to address additional risks specifically caused by climate change, such as raising the height of sea defences. It is still unclear how expensive these measures will be or who will pay for them, but the World Bank suggests adaptation could cost the same again as the world currently spends on development assistance.

* This article was written by Susannah Fisher of the Grantham Research Institute at LSE in conjunction with the Guardian.

The ultimate climate change FAQ

* This answer last updated: 17.02.2012
* Read about the project and suggest a question
* Report an error in this answer

Related questions
* What is the economic cost of climate change?
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* Which nations are most responsible for climate change?

This editorial is free to reproduce under Creative Commons

This post by The Guardian is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 2.0 UK: England & Wales License.
Based on a work at theguardian.com
Topics

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There are two main policy responses to climate change: mitigation and adaptation. Mitigation addresses the root causes, by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, while adaptation seeks to lower the risks posed by the consequences of climatic changes.

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Climate change mitigation strategies neatly summarised

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Climate change mitigation strategies neatly summarised

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This BBC News article is fabulous for describing a range of mitigation options

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The UN's climate panel has published the third part of its long-awaited report - on strategies for mitigation. The document by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) considers the options for limiting or preventing greenhouse gas emissions and enhancing activities that remove them from the atmosphere.

What is climate change mitigation?

The term mitigation refers to efforts to cut or prevent the emission of greenhouse gases - limiting the magnitude of future warming. It may also encompass attempts to remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere.

It differs from climate change adaptation, which refers to the actions taken to manage the unavoidable impacts of climate change. Adaptation is dealt with in the IPCC's working group 2 report.

Mitigation may require us to use new technologies, clean energy sources, change people's behaviour, or make older technology more energy efficient.

Which energy technologies can help?

Switching to low-carbon energy sources such as wind power, solar, geothermal, hydroelectric or nuclear represents one of the major strategies for lowering the emissions of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

The take-up of renewable energy - from sources that do not deplete over time - is growing. Figures from the UN show that renewable energy raised its share of total energy generation last year from 7.8% to 8.5%. But they also reveal that investment fell by 14%.

These technologies still face barriers related to capital costs (the upfront costs of building the plant and maintaining it), financing, public perception and a longstanding dependence of markets and institutions on fossil fuels.

But the IPCC's third report says many renewable energy technologies have made progress in both performance and cost and that their role in reducing air pollution and providing energy security outweighs possible disadvantages.

The scale of the challenge is daunting - fossil fuels make up about 80% of all energy. But technologies such as carbon capture and storage (CCS) could help reduce their impact. One form of CCS involves chemically capturing the carbon dioxide from a power station flue, and then piping it underground so that the invisible gas is contained in rock formations without leaking.

Existing oil fields, un-mineable coal seams and underground salty aquifers are all among the geological sites that are considered suitable for CO2 storage. But while CCS could, in theory, limit the amount of carbon going into the atmosphere, it doesn't do much for the CO2 already there.

How else can we help curb climate change?

Greening urban areas can also make a difference. Cities are home to half the planet's population, and are responsible for three-quarters of energy consumption and 80% of carbon emissions. Retro-fitting buildings to make them more energy efficient and cutting the impact of transport emissions represent some of the strategies for doing this.

Tackling waste is also an issue. About 11.2 billion metric tonnes of solid waste is currently being collected around the world every year, and the organic portion that decays is contributing around 5% to global greenhouse gas emissions.

Experts would like to reduce its impact primarily by producing less but also recycling more and treating waste in a way that is less harmful to the environment or even using it as a sustainable energy fuel source.

Mitigation also extends to the protection of natural carbon "sinks" like the forests or oceans. New sinks can be created through, for example, forest regeneration.

What other options are there?

Geo-engineering is one controversial area that has gathered momentum in recent years. It requires the deliberate intervention in the climate system with the aim of curbing global warming.

One example is Solar Radiation Management (SRM), which involves reflecting more of the Sun's rays away from the planet back into space. This could be done by pumping sulphur aerosols into the high reaches of the atmosphere, where they would have similar reflective properties to the ash released naturally by volcanoes.

The IPCC's third report also considers a little-known technique called Bio-Energy Carbon Capture and Storage (Beccs). As the name suggests, this would combine the burning of biomass, such as wood, for energy and then piping the CO2 into rocks. In theory, you could begin to remove emissions that have already been accumulated in the atmosphere.

But critics of this approach warn that the technology is unproven and could give reluctant countries an excuse not to cut emissions.

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The UN's climate panel has published the third part of its long-awaited report - on strategies for mitigation. The document by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) considers the options for limiting or preventing greenhouse gas emissions and enhancing activities that remove them from the atmosphere.

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This S American city has a BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) system that is far more sustainable than the original car-choked culture. Note DO NOT BULLSHIT this case study, as it's probably the most commonly used one in existence.

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BedZED - sustainable housing project in SE London to mitigate climate change

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BedZED - sustainable housing project in SE London to mitigate climate change

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1of 6: BedZED - The need for sustainable communities

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Bioregional and the BedZED partners discuss the need for sustainable communities, such as the BedZED eco-village in south London, and look at other projects being developed around the world through the One Planet Communities network.

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Sea Level Rise impacts

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United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

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Mitigation of climate change (ie trying to 'reduce' it)

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Mitigation of climate change (ie trying to 'reduce' it)

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This is the case study you use if the question asks for strategies to cope with climate change - this is the MITIGATION (as opposed to adaptation) strategy. It is also an example of a LOCAL strategy

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This is the case study you use if the question asks for strategies to cope with climate change - this is the ADAPTATION (as opposed to mitigation) strategy. This is also an example of a REGIONAL or WHOLE NATION strategy

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This is a COMPULSORY case study

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Africa impacts of climate change case study

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Africa impacts of climate change case study

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This is a COMPULSORY case study

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Climate change revision guide - start at p26

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Climate change revision guide - start at p26

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A very neat summary of World at Risk in general by Natalie Garthwaite (August 2010)