Links between water and carbon cycles
- Created by: MrAltaf
- Created on: 07-04-18 15:51
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- Links between the water and carbon cycles
- Increasing atmospheric carbon storage
- 10 of the last 13 years were warmest on record
- Natural: Orbital variation
- In 2015, Global Mean Surface Temperatures (GMST) reached a new record high of +0.87'C
- Technological advances led to increased consumption of natural resources
- Released more GHGs
- Since 1750, Europe's Industrial Revolution
- CO2 emissions: 280ppm to 406ppm in 2017
- Deforestation, population growth, economic development, burning of fossil fuels, cement manufacturing and enhanced methane emissions from livestock
- Impacts of rising GHG emissions on the water cycle
- Ocean acidification
- Definition: Rise in ocean's acidity as a direct result of CO2 reacting with salt water
- Calcifying species e.g. oysters, clams, coral are at risk
- Affects ecosystems
- Affects the 1 billion people relying on oceans as source of protein
- Impact metabolic rates, reproduction and immune systems
- Shellfish have thinner and weaker shellls
- Affects ecosystems
- Causes rising sea levels
- Thermal expansion
- Melting land ice
- Flooding of coastal regions
- Approx 1/3 of all CO2 from human activities has dissolved into the oceans
- CO2 in the water creates carbonic acid
- Since 1750, the pH of the ocean's surface has dropped by 0.1 (a 30% change in acidity)
- Changes to weather patterns
- A warmer climate means greater rates of evaporation
- Disturbs rain patterns e.g. El Nino
- Causes droughts in SE Asia, E.Aus, Central America
- Greater rainfall across East-central and Easter Pacific Ocean
- Disturbs rain patterns e.g. El Nino
- UK winter rainfall has fallen in heavier events than usual
- Extreme high intensity rainfall in the UK
- e.g. Ramsbottom Boxing Day 2015
- e.g. Worcestershire recorded 252mm of rain (588% above the average)
- A warmer climate means greater rates of evaporation
- River discharge
- Since 1980, flooding has increased in size and duration during winter
- Lower river discharge levels may become more common in southern England as a result of less frontal rainfall in summer
- High intensity convectional rainfall can be expected in summer seasons
- May lead to infiltration-excess overland flow
- Soil and ground water stores are not recharged
- Reduces total water available
- Soil and ground water stores are not recharged
- May lead to infiltration-excess overland flow
- Sea level rise
- In the future, a warmer climate is predicted to bring a positive eustastic sea level change
- Thermal expansion
- Melting land ice
- Global sea level rise = 3mm per year
- Total sea level rise has risen by 200mm since 1900
- IPCC projection of world sea level rise of 260 - 820mm by 2100
- Significant glacial and permafrost meltwater run off will produce another metre of sea level rise by 2200
- Loss of Greenland and Antarctica will result in 70m eustatic rise
- In the future, a warmer climate is predicted to bring a positive eustastic sea level change
- Ocean acidification
- Climate change definition: Lon term change in Earth's overall temperature with permanent ramifications
- Increasing carbon emissions and the energy budget
- Definition: Energy budget is the state of balance between incoming solar radiation and the re-radiated heat or reflected energy
- Earth's climate is driven by incoming shortwave solar radiation
- The energy budget is changing as more heat is being retained resulting in warmer, more energetic blankets
- Water and carbon - Local scale
- Interaction when carbon is transported in solution by river water
- Ecosystems function as stores of both water and carbon
- Influence carbon and water flows which occur
- Deforestation
- Increased overland flow
- Increasing atmospheric carbon concentrations are changing global climate and water cycle flows and stores
- Increasing atmospheric carbon storage
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