Climate Change and GIS Concepts

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Questions and Answers

What fertility rate is considered necessary for a stable population?

2.5 children per woman

2.0 children per woman

1.5 children per woman

2.1 children per woman (correct)

What is the estimated optimal cost to keep global warming below 3.5 °C?

$100 trillion

$125 trillion (correct)

$150 trillion

$75 trillion

Which priority does the public rank higher than climate change spending according to UN surveys?

Military funding

Housing

Education (correct)

Transportation

What is the 'Bull's eye effect' primarily related to?

The expansion of urban areas into risky zones Signup and view all the answers

What challenge does achieving Net Zero present according to environmental organizations?

It is expensive and quite challenging in the short-term Signup and view all the answers

How much is the cost estimated to keep warming to 2.2 °C?

$225 trillion Signup and view all the answers

What does Lomborg's assessment largely ignore in regards to climate change?

Ecological issues like biodiversity loss Signup and view all the answers

Which aspect does Lomborg consider when calculating climate costs?

Mitigation policies Signup and view all the answers

What is the primary focus of Bjorn Lomborg's work regarding climate change?

Climate change has a low cost-benefit ratio compared to other problems. Signup and view all the answers

Which model is currently being used by the IPCC to simulate human population and energy transitions?

SSP Signup and view all the answers

What is the most common method for reducing uncertainty in climate change predictions?

Implementing an ensemble model. Signup and view all the answers

What is the estimated peak human population projected for later this century?

10 billion Signup and view all the answers

What range of radiative forcing is considered unlikely according to the SSP model?

1.9 and 8.5 w/m2 Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following statements is true regarding fertility rates?

Fertility rates have declined, affecting population projections. Signup and view all the answers

What organization develops periodic reports on the state of climate change?

IPCC Signup and view all the answers

What does the acronym GCM stand for in climate modeling?

General Circulation Model Signup and view all the answers

What hypothesis suggests that East North America's flora should resemble that of East Asia?

Gray's hypothesis Signup and view all the answers

What factor is believed to have allowed for commonalities in species between East North America and East Asia during the Earth's history?

Continental drift during a hothouse period Signup and view all the answers

What type of communities arose during the end of the last glacial maximum that differ from today's biomes?

Non-analog communities Signup and view all the answers

Which biogeographic rule states that range sizes increase with latitude?

Rapoport's Rule Signup and view all the answers

According to Bergman’s Rule, how does body size correlate with environmental temperature?

Body size increases in colder environments Signup and view all the answers

What unusual finding does Reid's paradox illustrate about species migration?

Heavier-seeded species migrate faster due to animal dispersal agents Signup and view all the answers

What primarily affects range limits for species in the northern part of their range?

Abiotic factors Signup and view all the answers

Which geographic feature was considered a glacial refugium for species in eastern North America?

Southern Appalachian Mountains Signup and view all the answers

What were the two warm periods in order during the past 1500 years?

Medieval Warm Period and Modern Warming Signup and view all the answers

Which statement best describes Geographical Information Systems (GIS)?

GIS combines hardware and software to organize georeferenced data. Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following describes the relationship between GIS data and coordinates?

Every datapoint must have corresponding 2D or 3D coordinates. Signup and view all the answers

What is the solar constant just outside Earth?

1360 w/m2 Signup and view all the answers

Which factors affect outgoing longwave radiation, but not incoming shortwave radiation?

Greenhouse gases such as CO2 and water vapor Signup and view all the answers

What is true about the greenhouse effect related to CO2 levels?

The effect of longwave radiation diminishes at higher CO2 levels. Signup and view all the answers

What is meant by the term 'energy balance' in the context of Earth's climate?

There is a balance between incoming shortwave radiation and outgoing longwave radiation. Signup and view all the answers

Which GIS data model format represents continuous values?

Raster format Signup and view all the answers

Which concept describes the ecological role or 'need' of a species?

Grinnellian niche Signup and view all the answers

What distinguishes the fundamental niche from the realized niche?

Realized niche is based solely on observed locations of a species. Signup and view all the answers

Niche conservatism refers to which of the following?

The retention of ecological traits over long periods. Signup and view all the answers

What does the BAM Venn diagram represent?

Three dimensions of niche space: Biotic, Abiotic, and Movement. Signup and view all the answers

The Eltonian Noise hypothesis posits what about species and their environments?

Species are at equilibrium with their environments with no movement limitations. Signup and view all the answers

Hutchinson's duality highlights what relationship between environment space and geographic space?

Environment space can exist in multiple geographic spaces. Signup and view all the answers

What is the primary characteristic of a potential niche?

It considers all conditions but excludes biotic factors. Signup and view all the answers

Which niche type accounts for interactions with other species?

Realized niche Signup and view all the answers

Study Notes

Climate over the Past 1500 Years

The last 1500 years experienced two cool periods (Dark Ages & Little Ice Age) and two warm periods (Medieval Warm Period & Modern Warming).
The Modern Warming period is characterized by a significant increase in temperatures since the end of the Little Ice Age, which is marked by the Industrial Revolution.

Geographical Information Systems

GIS refers to a system of hardware and software used to organize, manage, and analyze geographical data.
Georeferenced data has a defined location (defined by x, y coordinates), scale (geographic extent), and type (presentation of the information).
GIS data models can be vector or raster formats. Vector data encompasses points, lines, and polygons representing discrete features. Raster data represents continuous data values defined in a grid format.

Earth's Energy Balance

The Earth's energy balance involves the interaction between incoming shortwave radiation from the sun and outgoing longwave radiation, with clouds significantly impacting both.
Greenhouse gases like CO2 and water vapor primarily affect outgoing longwave radiation.
Bjorn Lomborg, a Danish human resource economist, argues that climate change is a complex problem with high costs and limited effectiveness of remedial actions, ranking it low in priority compared to issues like education, health, war, and disease.

Future Climate Change & Implications

GCMs (General Circulation Models) and RCMs (Regional Climate Models) are used for simulating and predicting climate change.
The IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), a UN working group, develops periodic reports on climate change and potential mitigation strategies.
SSPs (Shared Socioeconomic Pathways) are standardized frameworks used by the IPCC to simulate various climate change scenarios, incorporating population growth, energy transitions, and geopolitical factors.
SSPs are categorized by the level of radiative forcing (warming) in units of w/m2, with scenarios ranging from 1.9 (low warming) to 8.5 (high warming).
Ensemble models, averaging results from multiple GCMs, are employed to reduce uncertainty in climate change predictions.
A key limitation of SSPs is accurately predicting long-term human population growth and energy transitions.
Net Zero emissions is a goal for many environmental organizations and increasingly government policies, but achieving it in the short term is challenging.
Lomborg's analysis of climate change costs shows that keeping global warming below 3.5 °C could cost approximately $125 trillion, while limiting warming to 2.2 °C would require an estimated $225 trillion.
The “Bull’s eye effect” describes the increasing vulnerability of concentrated urban areas to natural disasters due to their expansion into historically risky areas.

Temperature Deciduous Forest Biome

Temperature Deciduous forests exhibit disjunct species between East North America and East Asia, which is supported by Gray's hypothesis suggesting that East North America's flora is more similar to East Asia than Western North America.
During periods of continental proximity in Earth's history, like the hothouse period (66 Ma), the evolution of these biomes led to shared features.
Glacial refugia during the last glacial maximum influenced biome shifts, resulting in unique plant communities with non-analog species compositions.
Post-glacial vegetation changes included differential migration of species, with "Reid's Paradox" highlighting the faster migration of larger-seeded trees due to dispersal agents like animals, contrary to initial expectations.

Biogeographic Rules

Rapoport's Rule: species' range sizes increase with latitude, potentially due to more variable climates.
Bergman's Rule: animal body sizes increase in colder environments, likely to improve efficiency in handling cold temperatures.
Range Limits: Abiotic factors primarily affect range limits at the northern end of a species' range, while biotic factors (e.g., competition) are more influential at the southern end.

Niche Concepts

Grinnellian Niche: emphasizes the species' ecological role, habitat, or environmental needs.
Eltonian Niche: focuses on the species' position within the biotic environment, often considered its trophic level.
Hutchinsonian Niche: recognizes the multidimensional nature of the environment where a species persists.
Fundamental Niche: encompasses all potential conditions where a species could exist, including conditions not observed on Earth.
Potential Niche: describes the space a species would occupy in the absence of biotic factors and dispersal limitations.
Realized Niche: represents the actual niche occupied by a species, considering interactions with other species.
Niche Conservatism: refers to the preservation of ecological traits over time, a crucial assumption in climate change risk assessment models.
BAM Venn Diagram Approach: divides niches into Biotic, Abiotic, and Movement factors (BAM) under equilibrium (no movement limitations) and non-equilibrium conditions (migration limitations).
Eltonian Noise Hypothesis: assumes A = B in BAM, suggesting species are at equilibrium with the environment, with no dispersal limitations.
Hutchinson's Duality: acknowledges that environmental space (E-space) and geographic space (G-space) do not correspond linearly.

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Description

Explore the intricate relationship between climate variations over the past 1500 years and the role of Geographical Information Systems in managing geographical data. This quiz covers significant climatic periods along with foundational GIS concepts, data models, and their applications in environmental analysis.