•IB Geography SL

2.1 Causes of Climate Change

KEY CONCEPT - 2.1 Causes of Climate Change

The atmospheric system, including the natural

greenhouse effect and energy balance
(incoming shortwave radiation and outgoing
longwave radiation)
Changes in the global energy balance, and the
role of feedback loops, resulting
from:
How natural and • solar radiation variations, including global
dimming due to volcanic eruptions
human processes • terrestrial albedo changes and feedback
loops
affect the global
• methane gas release and feedback loops
energy balance The enhanced greenhouse effect and
international variations in greenhouse gas
sources and emissions, in relation to
economic development, globalization and
trade.
Synthesis, evaluation and skills opportunities
The complexity of the dynamic climate system
 The Atmospheric System and Climate Variations
The Enhanced Greenhouse Effect and Spatial Interactions

Refer to the following linked page to Chapter 4a-e in the Student

InThinking Textbook for further reading, study notes and revision
quizzes.
Learning Objective
• Understand both the atmospheric system and the long- and short-term factors influencing
climate variation
• Understand the nature of the atmospheric budget and introduce key concepts, such as
radiation, greenhouse effect and albedo.
• Understand the relationship of climate with carbon and develop a critical awareness of the
long-term natural factors that lead to climate variation as well the complex patterns of
different feedback loops that result from changes to terrestrial land use and loss of ice and
permafrost
• To describe the enhanced greenhouse effect
• To describe and explain the spatial variation in greenhouse gas sources and emissions
 • Enquiry Question
• What is the atmospheric system and
what are the causes climate change?

Who is most responsible for the

Enhanced Greenhouse Effect?
 Introduction
The atmospheric system

The atmosphere can be subdivided into four zones, each

with different characteristics and chemical composition.
The Atmospheric System is open, with both inputs and
outputs of energy. The Energy Budget , which is the
balance between these inputs and outputs must be in
equilibrium. A part of this natural atmospheric system is
the Greenhouse Effect that not only adds heat to the
system but makes it hospitable for life to exist.
Syllabus
1. Causes of Global Climate Change
The atmospheric system, including the natural greenhouse effect and energy balance
(incoming shortwave radiation and outgoing longwave radiation)
Changes in the global energy balance, and the role of feedback loops, resulting from:
• solar radiation variations, including global dimming due to volcanic eruptions
• terrestrial albedo changes and feedback loops
• methane gas release and feedback loops
Synthesis, evaluation and skills opportunities
The complexity of the dynamic climate system and the spatial interactions of different
processes and feedback mechanisms
 What’s going on in this picture?

What do you see that makes you say that?

Questioning
What more can you find?

How might this image be connected to

climate change?
 The Answer
• One of dozens of animals to have escaped amid flooding in the main zoo in Tbilisi, Georgia, a hippopotamus was
coaxed away from dangerous waters on Sunday.
• Neil MacFarquhar writes:
• MOSCOW — Residents of Tbilisi, Georgia, were warned to stay off the streets on Sunday lest they encounter one
of the lions, tigers, bears or other beasts set free from the city zoo after floodwaters devastated the center of the
capital.
• At least 12 people died in the floods and 24 were reported missing, according to Davit Narmania, the mayor of
Tbilisi. “Not all the animals that fled from the zoo have been caught yet,” the mayor was quoted as saying by
Russia’s Interfax news agency. “Therefore I would ask the population to avoid moving around the city except in
cases of acute need.”
• It was not immediately clear how many animals remained on the loose and how many had been killed in the
floods. A burbling stream that feeds through a narrow gorge in parts of downtown Tbilisi turned into a raging
torrent and burst its banks after heavy rains on Saturday night, local news reports said.
• Images from the city underscored the anarchy. One showed people herding a hippopotamus along a street choked
with mud, after it had been hit by a tranquilizer dart. Others revealed the corpses of animals amid the debris of
wrecked cars and buildings. And a bear was pictured perched above the roiling waters on an air-conditioning
unit.
• A special police team was sent to the neighborhoods around the zoo to hunt for the roaming animals, according to
local television reports.
 Discuss
What role do you think young
people should play in the
fight against climate change?
Key concepts
(see p. 425 for definitions)
• Adaptation
• Albedo
• Anthropogenic
• Enhanced greenhouse effect
• Global warming
• Greenhouse effect
• Mitigation
• Resilience
• Vulnerability
Climate change
Climate Change- Pair/Group Mind Map
Think
Generate a list of ideas and initial
thoughts that come to mind
when you think about climate
change.
Add the ideas generated above
to your list
Add some of the consequences
of climate change to your list.
Connect your ideas by drawing
connecting lines between ideas
that have something in common.
Explain and write in a short
sentence how the ideas are
connected.
What are the implications from
an:
• Economic perspective
• Social perspective
• Environmental perspective
• Political perspective
• How are they different?
How are the implications of
climate change connected to
your own life?
Climate...
• Climate variations impact people on a
global scale. Why and how?
• It impacts food production, energy
consumption, demand for goods,
tourism, recreation, diseases, flooding.
• The impacts of climate change vary
from place-to-place and person-to-
person. What can be a buffer from the
effects of climate change?
• While there are mitigation strategies,
there are also climate deniers.
 Lightning Round
Debate
• Find a partner and debate
the following questions.
• You must choose
opposing views (even if
you do not believe it)

• Do we take action and

try to limit climate
change?
TOK Connection:
Climate Deniers
• According to the authors of this paper:
Cool Dudes-mccright_2011.pdf
• Conservative white males are significantly
more likely than other Americans to endorse
climate denialist views.
• In fact, the more these men claim to know
about climate change the more likely they are
to deny it exists or is problematic to the extent
we believe it to be.
• Why?
• How does confirmation bias come into play in
this context?
• What role does apathy play in climate change?
 A 2007 Harris poll found the 71% of Americans believed
that the continued burning of fossil fuels would alter the
climate.

By 2009 that figure dropped to 51%.

“Fun” Facts
In June 2011, the number was down to 44%.

Source: “This Changes Everything” Naomi Klein

Layers of the Atmosphere
Earth's Energy Balance- Common
Understanding

• A balance between the incoming short-

wave radiation
(and ultra violet) from the sun and long
wave radiation from the Earth.

• Affects temperature on Earth

Earth's Energy Balance- Common
Understanding

• Watch the following clip produced by

the Met Office in the UK and complete
your worksheet explaining the
atmospheric system.
 1) By how much has the global
temperature increased since 1880?

2) Which region of the world has seen the

greatest increase in temperature?

3) What is the projected increase in

temperature this century?

What do you know already?

Processes
Warmest year on record (2015)

The following graphic shows

the top 16 warmest years on
record excluding 2016 which
beat 2015. It represents all
recorded years since 1880.
Map Interpretation
Processes

Describe the map

Historical Climate
Data
Study the following graph showing
air temperature taken from the
Vostok and EPICA dome ice
cores.

What does the graph suggest

about climate change over the last
40000 years?
When explaining climate change it is
important to make the distinction
between the more recent industrial
age, which only covers the last 200
years or so and the period preceding
the industrial age. Temperature
changes before the industrial age
can only be explained by natural
factors. These include infrequent
events like volcanic eruptions, and
natural cycles influencing the amount
of insolation reaching the Earth’s
atmosphere such as sunspot activity
and both the precession and orbit of
the earth. Other factors such as
tectonic movement, which disturbs the
natural transfers of heat over vast
periods of time as well as atmospheric
phenomena such El Nino, which
creates regular climatic changes also
have an influence on the climate.
Temperature and Isolation
Variation
Processes and Spatial Interactions

The following graph shows the

relationship between temperature
and solar radiation.

Describe how strong you consider

the pattern to be.

*Insolation refers to the

amount of solar radiation
received by the Earth's
atmosphere or surface within a
given area over a specific
period*
Explaining Variations in
Isolation
Processes and Spatial Interactions
Read the passage, which explains
how insolation to the Earth's
atmosphere varies over different time
scales.
Paraphrase the text to another
student.
The Milankovitch Theory explains the 3 cyclical changes in
Earth’s orbit and tilt that cause the climate fluctuations that
occur over tens of thousands of years to hundreds of
thousands of years. These fluctuations include changes in
the shape (eccentricity) of Earth’s orbit every 100,000
years, the tilt of Earth’s axis every 41,000 years, and the
wobbling (precession) of Earth’s axis about 23,000 years.
Milankovitch proposed that glacial periods began when
the three cycles align to favour an extended period of
more solar radiation in the winter and less solar
radiation in the summer at a latitude of 65°N. These
conditions for the northern latitudes favour somewhat
higher temperatures, but also more water vapor in the air
– causing more snowfall. A relatively cool summer for the
northern latitudes favours less melting of winter snow and
glacier formation.
 Explaining Variations in
Isolation
Processes and Spatial Interactions

Visual representation in the link as

well.

Eccentricity:

Definition: Eccentricity refers to the degree of deviation of

Earth's orbit from a perfect circle. The Earth's orbit around
the Sun is not perfectly circular but slightly elliptical.
Eccentricity measures how much this elliptical orbit
deviates from a perfect circle.

Obliquity:

Definition: Obliquity refers to the tilt of the Earth's axis

relative to its orbital plane around the Sun. This tilt is
responsible for the Earth's seasons as different parts of the
Earth receive varying amounts of sunlight throughout the
year.
 Examining Relationships
Processes and Spatial Interactions

Read the following statement and graph and

discuss the relationship between
temperature and carbon dioxide.

The relationship between carbon dioxide and

temperature is a two-way relationship. The Vostok
graph below showing temperature and carbon dioxide
suggests that in some time periods a rise in
temperature proceeds a rise in carbon dioxide and in
other time periods the opposite can be observed.
In some places there is as much as an 800-year lag
between the two. Nonetheless the relationship is
clear. Sometime an increase in carbon dioxide can
lead to an increase in temperature and other times
an increase in temperature can lead to an
increase in carbon dioxide.
Helpful Video on Greenhouse Effect
The Greenhouse Effect
The Enhanced Greenhouse Effect
The GHE and Carbon Cycles
Processes and Spatial Interaction

Watch the following two videos on the

greenhouse effect and the carbon cycle and
write notes under the following headings.
1.Carbon Cycle
2.Greenhouse Effect
3.The Enhanced Greenhouse Effect
This video shows the
animation explaining the
greenhouse effect from Al
Gore's Inconvenient Truth film
and is very entertaining.

Video 1
Video 2
Task- Teach the concepts

• Global Dimming (p. 430-431): Nini,

Charles, Edward
• Feedback Loops (p. 431-432): Abby,
Justin
• Albedo Effect (431-432): Kent, Daisy

Move to different corners of the room to

prepare.
Task Description
You are going to read the pages in the book and in this presentation and in the online
textbook on your concept, as well as watch the videos.

You will put together a presentation that includes a list of "must know" facts for your
topic.

You will select the three most important facts and justify why these are the most
important.

Prepare a 5 question Kahoot on your topic.

You will then teach each other.

Global dimming

• Global dimming is the decrease in

the amount of solar radiation
reaching the surface of the Earth.
• Particulate matter in the
atmosphere directly absorbs solar
radiation and reflects it back into
space before it reaches the surface
of the Earth.
• So, the question is: are we slowing
climate change?
Feedback loops
Feedback loops
Feedback loops *Interconnectedness*

Positive loop
Feedback Loo
ps
and Climate
Change
 The definition of the albedo effect is the ability of a surface to reflect
sunlight. Light-colored surfaces (high albedo) reflect more sunlight than dark-
colored surfaces (low albedo). Albedo can also be known as surface albedo

The higher the albedo of a surface, or the more light that gets reflected by
earth’s surface, the cooler the air will be near that surface. The lower the
albedo of a surface, the hotter the same air will be.

Albedo Effect Over the earth’s history, our planet has generally had a stable global climate
when having a stable global albedo. However, if either the global climate or
the global albedo were to change, it would affect the other. This relationship
can become a feedback loop, which we will discuss later.

The earth’s global average albedo is 0.3, which means about 30% of the
sunlight is reflected back from the earth’s surface back towards space. That
means about 70% of the sun’s radiation is absorbed by the planet.
 Albedo Effect
• The albedo of water is about 0.06 in the open
ocean. But the albedo of sea ice, on the other
hand, can vary greatly. Sea ice that has dark
ponds tends to have an albedo of 0.1, while sea
ice that has white ice can have an albedo of 0.7.
• • Forest: 0.15
• • Grass: 0.25
• • Desert sand: 0.4
• • Ocean ice: 0.6
• • Fresh snow: 0.8
• • Aged snow: 0.7
 Unfortunately, the earth’s albedo has
been lowering for decades, contributing
to global warming. Since the early 1980’s,
the average albedo of the arctic has
reduced by about 1.5% per decade. While
that might not seem like much, even
Albedo Effect slight changes in albedo can have
significant effects on global temperatures.
and Global
Warming
If the earth’s albedo decreases, it will
create warmer climates. Warmer climates
melt sea ice and lower the average
seasonal snowfall, lowering the earth’s
albedo. This is precisely a positive
feedback loop.
You may be asking why the albedo has
been decreasing over decades. As it turns
out, a changing albedo or a change in
global temperatures can create a
feedback loop between the two.
The albedo effect is an important tool for
understanding global warming. While it is
only one of many factors contributing to
climate change, tracking the earth’s
albedo over time can give us a sense of
how much heat the earth is reflecting or
absorbing, informing prediction models
for future temperature changes.
Albedo Effect
Albedo Effect
Case Study: Greenland
Case Study: Greenland
Graph it out

Look at the image on the next slide and complete the following:

What do you notice?

What do you wonder?

What impact does this have on you and your community?

What’s going on in this graph? Write a catchy headline that captures the map’s main
idea.
Enhanced Greenhouse Effect
Processes and Spatial Interaction

The enhanced greenhouse effect is the impact

on the climate from the additional heat retained
due to the increased amounts of carbon dioxide
and other greenhouse gases that humans have
released into the Earth’s atmosphere since the
industrial revolution.
1. Look at the diagram handout and spot the
difference to add annotation to the diagram to
explain the human Enhanced Greenhouse Effect
2. Attempt to identify the main
anthropogenic factors
leading to Enhanced
Greenhouse Effect
*human activity is sometimes referred to
anthropogenic causes of climate change
Enhanced Greenhouse Effect

• Using the video can you list 5

of the human activities that are
increasing the levels of
greenhouse gases?
• For each activity explain one
cause and at least three
environmental effects.
Enhanced Greenhouse Effect Matters
Task: Key Words

Resilience – ability of a Vulnerability – the degree

Adaptation – initiatives and
population or a human or to which a human or
measures to reduce the
natural system to absorb natural system is
vulnerability of human and
change without having to susceptible to, and unable
natural systems to climate
make a fundamental to cope with, the adverse
change
change. impacts of climate change.
 To what extent are humans adaptable, resilient and
vulnerable in the face of climate change?

Task: Are Humans

Adaptable, For each (adaptable, resilient and vulnerable) write a
PEEL paragraph that supports your point of view.
Resilient and
Vulnerable in the
Face of Climate You must include specific examples and evidence.

Change?
You will be graded as per the Paper 2 Essay question
rubric.
The blue box...
 • Adaptation
• Albedo
Key concepts-
• Anthropogenic
Two Truths and a • Enhanced greenhouse effect
Lie • Global warming
• Greenhouse effect
(see p. 425 for • Mitigation
definitions) • Resilience
• Vulnerability
Exam Questions

(a) State two naturally occurring greenhouse gases other than

carbon dioxide. [1]

Explain two positive feedback loops that contribute to

climate change. [3 + 3]
Thank you!