...UNIT 1 EDEXCEL GEOGRAPHY MAY 2010 QUESTION 8 a) Suggest why some groups and communities view the melting of Greenland’s ice sheet as an opportunity rather than a threat. (10) Some groups and communities view the melting of Greenland’s ice sheet as an opportunity rather than a threat because the melting ice creates some commercial advantages for the Arctic region; the Northern Sea Route, North of Canada, is the quickest way of travelling from Europe to the Pacific and Asia. This also increases the tourism opportunities because 30% of Inuit earn income from sculpture and printmaking for tourists, as the tourist ships are able to transport to the northern Canada. As the rapidly melting ice offers commercial opportunities in shipping, tourism and oil and gas extraction, the world’s largest economies are struggling but as well as trying to achieve and get hold of the region within the Arctic. A region in the Arctic thought to be contain 30% of the world’s undiscovered gas and 13%% of undiscovered oil. In addition, more oil can be used by groups of Inuit for essentials like the uses of fossil fuels. In Alaska, due to the new drilling activity, it creates new job opportunities and incomes for the local economy, which means more Inuit, get the job opportunities like this. Furthermore, there are currently four more mining operation being setting up and soon, it will provide jobs for natives in Greenland. In 2007, the Northwest Passage between Canada and Arctic melted enough to...
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...cause of the thawing of permafrost in Alaska. However, this loss of frozen ground is also reason for more warming to come. Permafrost is ground that remains frozen throughout the year, even in the relatively warmer summer months. It forms when the depth of winter freezing exceeds the depth of summer thawing. It is found to some extent under 85% of Alaska. At the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute, scientists have been observing temperatures and depth of permafrost since 1976. The study results show that much of the frozen ground south of the Yukon River has warmed significantly and some of it is thawing. When permafrost thaws, it destroys the infrastructure, causing land to slump when ice loses volume as it turns to water. In Bethel, a city in Alaska where average temperatures have risen 4 degrees fahrenheit since the mid-20th century, there are many movements and cracks in building foundations. Some roads, airport runways and parking areas have to be reinforced with liquid-filled pipes that transfer heat out of the permafrost to keep the ground from slumping. The...
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...Northern Hemisphere, north of the taiga belt. The word "tundra" usually refers only to the areas where the subsoil is permafrost, or permanently frozen soil. (It may also refer to the treeless plain in general, so that northern Sápmi would be included.) Permafrost tundra includes vast areas of northern Russia and Canada.[2] The polar tundra is home to several peoples who are mostly nomadic reindeer herders, such as the Nganasan and Nenets in the permafrost area (and the Sami in Sápmi). Tundra in Siberia Arctic tundra contains areas of stark landscape and is frozen for much of the year. The soil there is frozen from 25–90 cm (10–35 in) down, and it is impossible for trees to grow. Instead, bare and sometimes rocky land can only support low growing plants such as moss, heath (Ericaceae varieties such as crowberry and black bearberry), and lichen. There are two main seasons, winter and summer, in the polar tundra areas. During the winter it is very cold and dark, with the average temperature around −28 °C (−18 °F), sometimes dipping as low as −50 °C (−58 °F). However, extreme cold temperatures on the tundra do not drop as low as those experienced in taiga areas further south (for example, Russia's and Canada's lowest temperatures were recorded in locations south of the tree line). During the summer, temperatures rise somewhat, and the top layer of the permafrost melts, leaving the ground very soggy. The tundra is covered in marshes, lakes, bogs and streams during the warm months...
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...their heat-trapping capacity. This re-absorption process is naturally good; the Earth’s average surface temperature would be very cold if not for the greenhouse gases. The problem begins when the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere were artificially raised by humankind at an ever-increasing rate since the past 250 years. As of 2004, over 8 billion tons of carbon dioxide was pumped out per year; natural carbon sinks such as forests and the ocean absorbed some of this, while the rest accumulated in the atmosphere. Millions of pounds of methane are produced in landfills and agricultural decomposition of biomass and animal manure. Nitrous oxide is released into the atmosphere by nitrogen-based fertilizers and other soil management practices. Once released, these greenhouse gases stay in the atmosphere for decades or longer. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), carbon dioxide and methane levels have increased by 35 and 148 percent since the 1750 industrial revolution. Paleoclimate readings taken from ice cores and fossil records dating back to 650 000 years show that both gases are at their highest levels. Thermal radiation is...
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...planet is getting warmer. Due to increased carbon dioxide (CO2) levels in our atmosphere, we are retaining excess heat that usually is radiated into space. This excess heat that is being captured by our CO2 enriched atmosphere is now causing a rise in temperature that could affect nearly every aspect of life. If we do not stop our excessive carbon dioxide output, major changes could happen to our environment and our economic well being. You emit CO2 emissions almost everywhere you go, every time you drive your car, have a fire in your fireplace, and even when you use your gas stove to cook a meal, you are producing green house gases that spread into our atmosphere. When you are using these items they release green house gases such as carbon dioxide, steam (H2O), and methane (Broder). These gases trap the heat in our atmosphere that is usually dispersed into outer space. This is causing our global temperature to rise. But unlike the other green house gases, CO2 stays in the atmosphere for “thousands of years” instead of the “weeks or years” that the other green house gases make residency in our atmosphere. This labels CO2 as the main contributor to global warming (Broder). Initially, for some people the idea of global warming isn’t such a bad idea. But the suspected outcomes of global warming far outweigh the pro’s that some may see. There is evidence that global warming has been wreaking havoc environmentally and economically. The rising temperatures are setting off a domino...
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...Change in the North Summary of Event and Background Canadian North is the forefront of the climate change and its effect can be seen very evidently on the daily basis. Warmer temperatures have led to changes in shifting tree line, major impact on several species especially caribou population; other wildlife species foreign to this area moving further north from the south like cougar and whitetail deer. North is also facing problems with territory’s winter road network for example due to the reduced thickness of ice roads, Diavik Diamond Mine in Northern Canada were forced to fly in fuel rather than try to transporting it – costed extra $11.25 million. Melting of permafrost is another concern as it’s affecting the buildings and housing, leading to changes in building techniques. It also causes methane to release which is another greenhouse gas that adds to the mix of warming agents heating our planet. Climate change is also effecting water world as certain fish species are disappearing. Even though, it is very small contributor to CO2 emission, the territory is dependent on international and national actions to and is at mercy from outside to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. According to briefing document prepared for Prime Minister Trudeau, it states that average temperature has increased 1.6 degree Celsius which is almost twice as much since 1948. If we look at Canadian North, the temperature has risen by about 3 times the global average – by about 2.2 degree Celsius. Politicians...
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...AS GEOGRAPHY UNIT 1 WORLD AT RISK WORLD AT RISK GLOBAL HAZARDS Hazard – Potential threat to human life or property Natural Hazards – Caused by natural processes e.g. lava flow from volcanic eruption Hydro-meteorological Hazards – Caused by climatic processes (droughts, floods, tropical cyclones and storms Geophysical Hazards – Caused by land processes (volcanic eruptions, earthquakes) Disaster – When a hazard seriously affects humans Risk – Likelihood that humans will be seriously affected by a hazard Vulnerability – How susceptible a population is to the damage caused by a hazard. Disaster Risk Equation Risk (R) – Hazards (H) * Vulnerability (V) / Capacity to Cope (C) Risk increases if: * Frequency or severity of hazards increase * People vulnerability increase * Capacity to cope decreases (Capacity to cope is the ability to deal with the consequences of a hazard) e.g. people in remote areas are further from help in central areas, so have lower capacity to cope) * Global Warming – greatest global hazard * Recent increase in average global temp – climate change * Causes other types of climate change * Context hazard – global in scale (affects all parts of environment) – potential to trigger other hazards or make them worse * Chronic Hazard (Long term) * People who aren’t causing the problem are mostly affected * Difficult to find solutions * Hydro-meteorological hazards becoming more frequent ...
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...The Greenhouse Effect Ashley 24/1/2013 The Greenhouse effect is a process that is naturally occurring on our planet. The reason it is a concern is many scientists believe the process is being changed because of our use of energy in the last 100 years or so. Most greenhouses look like a small glass house. Greenhouses are used to grow plants, especially in the winter. Greenhouses work by trapping heat from the sun. The glass panels of the greenhouse let in light but keep heat from escaping. This causes the greenhouse to heat up, much like the inside of a car parked in sunlight, and keeps the plants warm enough to live in the winter. The earth's atmosphere is all around us. It is the air that we breathe. Greenhouse gases in the atmosphere behave much like the glass panes in a greenhouse. Sunlight enters the earth's atmosphere, passing through the blanket of greenhouse gases. The greenhouse effect works in the following manner (i) Energy from the sun passes though the earth's atmosphere in the form of visible light (sun light). (ii) Some of the sun's energy turns to heat and warms the earth's air and land. (iii) The rest of the sun's energy becomes infrared radiation and is re-emitted into the atmosphere. (iv) Greenhouse gases in the atmosphere trap some of this infrared radiation and bounce it back to the earth again, warming the planet even more. Greenhouse Gases Carbon dioxide It is considered the most predominant anthropogenic greenhouse gas, as 60% of the anthropogenic...
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...The Earth system consists of the geosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere and biosphere, and can be regarded as a large-scale example of Le Chatelier's Principle where systemic perturbations are mitigated through complex feedbacks to eventually establish an amended equilibrium. The geosphere impacts the other spheres as it regulates uniformitarianism through volcanism, while also providing the physical interface between the lithosphere and organic subaerial constituents of the earth system in the form of regolith; thereby facilitating biotic subsistence and terrestrial feedback. Considering spatiotemporal impacts of volcanism are inherently interconnected concerning volcanism, a temporal scale will be implemented to define such feedbacks between parameters of the earth system, as the Gaia Hypothesis postulates. It is evident that short-term impacts (<1 year) deriving from major eruptions are interrelated and therefore impact the Earth systems’ spheres in a variety of complex ways. For instance, ejecta that fails to penetrate the stratosphere exacerbates tropospheric meteorological activity in the succeeding weeks as tephra acts as a nuclei for water vapour, which is subsequently precipitated out (10). This rain encompasses particulate sulphide matter that impacts the biosphere (via regolith) by acidifying soil pH levels, that in turn kills enzymes and insects while intensifying leaching of essential nutrients (Mg, Ca) through clay degradation (12). Phreatic hydromagmatic eruptions...
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...Global Warming Global Warming is a very important ecological issue, and it has many negative effects on our environment. Global warming is also known as the greenhouse effects. Scientists have been aware of the greenhouse effect since 1824, when Joseph Fourier calculated that the Earth would be much colder if it had no atmosphere. The greenhouse effect is the absorption of energy radiated from the earth's surface by carbon dioxide and other gases in the atmosphere causing the atmosphere to become warmer. Global warming has affects on the entire ecosystems and climates. It has been a big issue that has affected the environment, people, and even the whole world. If Global Warming is not stopped now the results could be catastrophic. Global warming is increasing the frequency and intensity of tropical storms all over the world. People believe in these statements, but there are many people around the world who refuse to believe that human contributions are the main causes of global warming. Many believe that the increase is part of the natural climatic change of earth. Global warming includes the natural climatic change, and the grounds of human causes. Because of those wrong attitudes and lifestyles of human, the problem which are caused by global warming are more serious. There are changes in weather patterns causing more hurricanes, tsunamis, floods, and other types of storms within the past few years, and these changes definitely affect human health. "Global warming is bringing...
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...Table of content: Abstract 3 I. INTRODUCTION 4 II. Theory 1: GLOBAL WARMING IN THE PAST 5 • Article 1: Volcanism • Article 2: Orbital variation • Article 3: Solar output • Article 4: Plate tectonic • Article 5: Solar radiation III. Theory2: THE GREENHOUSE EFFECT 7 • Article1: Carbon Dioxide • Article2: Methane • Article Ni trous Oxide • Article Ozone • Article4: Synthetic Chemicals • Article 5: Aerosols IV. Theory3: EFFECTS OF GLOBAL WARMING 13 • Article 1: Weather • Article 2: Ice Sheets and Glaciers • Article 3: Sea Level • Article 4: Agriculture • Article 5: Plants and Animals V. Theory4: The impact of global warming on humanity 22 • Article 1: Extreme storm affects health and infrastructure • Article 2: Heat wave increase death and illness • Article 3: Water and food supplies threatened • Article 4: Drinkable water become increasingly contaminated • Article 5: Large numbers of environmental refugee VI. Theory5: EFFORTS TO CONTROL GLOBAL WARMING 23 • Article 1: Carbone Capture • Article 2: Energie Sources • Article 3: koyoto • Article 4: Programs in the United States • Article 5: Montreal protocol CONCLUSION 27 Bibliography 28 Abstract: Throughout its long history, earth has warmed and cooled time, and again. Climate has changed...
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...nothing to concern ourselves about. In this report, we will read some thoughts of some FOX News fans and see their opposing thoughts and comments. We will also read the debate between 2 Doctors who have very different views about Global Warming. Global Warming Global Warming is the rise in the world’s stratosphere and oceans since the latter part of the nineteenth century. [1] From before the 1900’s, the worlds mean surfaced stratosphere has increased by about 0.8 °C (1.4 °F), increasing by 2/3 since 1980.[2] Global temperatures increase causing sea levels to rise drastically bringing changes to the amount and the pattern of our precipitation which then expands subtropical deserts.[3] In the Arctic, it is believed that Glaciers, permafrost and sea ice is believed to be caused by the warming. Some different types of heat waves could be droughts, heavy rain and changes in crop yields. From all around the world we continually see the degree in which warming varies.[4] If the word “global” means temperatures increasing to 4 °C (7.2 °F)”, then limitations for adapting to our physical bodies is most likely exceeding in most areas of the world. It is not likely that the services that our lives would be preserved.[5] (unknown, nd) | ...
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...Global Warming, A Battle to Be Won Rebecca O’Connell SCI 207 Dependence of Man on The Environment Prof. Houtan Noushmehr May 28, 2012 Global Warming, Who is to Blame? The choices we make on a daily on basis not only affect ourselves but the planet we live on. Global warming has become more serious every day, more and more pullulates are put into the air killing the ozone layer causing the Earths temperatures to rise in places that are not normal. Humans play a role in rapid speed that global warming is taking place, not all of this is Mother Nature alone. With the increase of deforestation, more factories, chemicals used the list goes on and on of the pullulates we all use on a daily basis. The rapid changes in climate affect the species that live in the area, causing species to die or migrate, intense storms destroying land and taking lives. We will face several intense affects if global warming is not brought under control. Are the choices humans have made to blame for global warming, is there time to heal the damage that has been done. Is global warming a battle that can be won? Global warming has taken place for many years it has not been until just recently that it has become more known to scientist of just how severe things really are. Scientist is discovering from the temperature changes of the Earth that this not a natural change, the “greenhouse effect” is real “the global warming of our atmosphere caused by the presence of carbon dioxide and other...
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...1. Cast Iron Plant (Aspidistra elatior) Earned its name by growing under the worst of conditions, even outdoors in deep shade. Prefers low lights. Grows in a clump. Leaves are sword-like, pointed, about 4" wide & 2' long. Occasionally flowers indoors. A variegated version is available with white stripes. (USDA Zones 7 - 9) 2. Christmas Cactus (Zygocactus or Schlumbergera) A trailing member of the cactus family that produces deep pink / red flowers in early winter. Seems to do its best when ignored. Can handle low light, but you’ll get more flowers in bright light. Pruning after blooming with keep the plant bushy. You can force your Christmas cactus to bloom in December by keeping it in complete darkness for 12 hours a night, beginning in about mid-October, until buds appear. An even easier method is to subject it to cool temperatures (50 - 55 degrees F.) starting in November. Just leave it on a windowsill at home while the heat is off, because you’re at work. (USDA Zones 9 - 11) 3. Dragon tree (Dracaena marginata) & Lucky Bamboo (Dracaena sanderian) Dracaena have long been the centerpiece of container plantings. Street plantings in towns across America feature 1 spiky dracaena stuck in the center of red blooming geraniums in a half whisky barrel. But there is actually a good amount of variety in dracaena and most make excellent, easy care houseplants. In particular, Dragon Tree (Dracaena marginata) which resembles a small palm tree and can reach heights of 10...
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...Global Issues | Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Gender equality is a human right,1 but our world faces a persistent gap in access to opportunities and decision-making power for women and men.2 Globally, women have fewer opportunities for economic participation than men, less access to basic and higher education, greater health and safety risks, and less political representation.2 Guaranteeing the rights of women and giving them opportunities to reach their full potential is critical not only for attaining gender equality, but also for meeting a wide range of international development goals. Empowered women and girls contribute to the health and productivity of their families, communities, and countries, creating a ripple effect that benefits everyone. The word gender describes the socially-constructed roles and responsibilities that societies consider appropriate for men and women.17 Gender equality means that men and women have equal power and equal opportunities for financial independence, education, and personal development 3 . Women's empowerment is a critical aspect of achieving gender equality. It includes increasing a woman's sense of self-worth, her decision-making power, her access to opportunities and resources, her power and control over her own life inside and outside the home, and her ability to effect change.4 Yet gender issues are not focused on women alone, but on the relationship between men and women in society.5 The actions and attitudes of men and...
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