IB HL Geography
By Anisha Dhungana
"Describe the functioning of the atmospheric system in terms of the energy balance between solar and longwave radiation"
"Explain the changes in this balance due to external forcings (changes in solar radiation, changes in the albedo of the atmosphere and changes in the longwave radiation returned to space)"
"Discuss the causes and environmental consequences of global climate change"
Atmosphere and Change Terminology
In order to understand the topic better, I have defined some terminology about the atmosphere and how it is changing.
Click on the picture above to find the definitions.
Video and Article Critiques
This video points out the main source of global warming and why there has been such an increase in the amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere over the year, fossil fuels. The video encourages people to instead of doing small things like not using your car or changing your lights, we should be attacking the fossil fuel industry and criticising it. The video points out three important numbers; 2 degrees, the threshold for dangerous climate change, 565 gigatons, the amount of carbon dioxide that can be released into the air while still not reaching the threshold of 2 degrees, and finally, 2795 gigatons, the amount of carbon dioxide that would be released if all of the fossil fuel reserves that we know of were dug up and burned.
I enjoyed this video because I thought that it was a very effective way of expressing the the situation that we are in and how greatly it will effect us. The pictures were very powerful and the repetition of the numbers made it more influential and helped the audience remember them. However, even though the main problem is the fossil fuel industry, I believe that doing small things like changing the lightbulb and not using your car/oil will help get the message across because if there is no demand for the fossil fuels, there should not be more supply (more burning) of it. I also don’t understand whether or not all the fossil fuels that are being burned are being used at the moment, and I think that is something that the video should have informed us about. If they are not being used then I do not see the reason behind why there should be so many reserves burning them at the same time. Also, fossil fuel is something that takes millions of years to create and we should not be using it so freely. I think that it would be good for the population as well as the planet if we stopped burning fossil fuels for a while and keeping it in the ground as the video says.
I found this article very interesting because it really puts into perspective the various problems that will arise/have risen because of global warming, and seeing that humans are all selfish by nature and want the best for themselves, revealing the risks that global warming has on the health of us will really emphasise the importance of stopping global warming. It was also informative since I did not know a lot about the effects that global warming had on health, especially how it effects infectious diseases. The article highlights how children in developing countries are most affected by the effects of climate change on health, which is an awful thought to have, that these children who have nothing will be the first to die because of the fault of the people that are older than them.
Impact of Climate Change on...
 EcosystemsImpact of Climate Change on Ecosystems (Jason, JD, Ben) |  Freshwater ResourcesImpact of Climate Change on Freshwater Resources (Molly and Shevanti) |
|---|---|
 HealthImpact of Climate Change on Health (Alyaa and Wulan) |  Food and ForestsImpact of Climate Change on Food and Forests (Clare and Tisca) |
 Impact of Climate Change on CoastalImpact of Climate Change on Coastal Areas (Ann-Maj and Anisha) |
For this activity we had to create an infopic on the impact of climate change on ecosystems, freshwater resources, health, food and forests, industries and coastal areas. If you click on the infopics above, you can find more information on each topic.
Solutions for Climate Change
There are four possible solutions/treaties for climate change, the Kyoto Protocol, Cop 21, individual behaviour and geo-engineering. For the activity we got together in groups and focused on one of the possible solution to combat climate change.
