South 고등학교 2학년 Climate Change and Environmental Ecology
Chapters: 3
1. Climate and the climate system
Weather versus climate · Feedbacks in the climate system · Effects on ecosystems and life
- Climate Zones of the World – Climate is the average weather of a place over about 30 years. It depends mainly on latitude (how high the Sun climbs), altitude (about 6.5 °C cooler per km up), distance from the sea, winds and ocean currents. Using these, the Köppen system sorts the world into five groups: A tropical, B dry, C temperate, D continental and E polar, plus highland climates on high mountains. Monsoon climates have winds that change direction with the seasons.
- Climate Change and the Greenhouse Effect – Climate is the average weather of a place over about 30 years. Greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane trap some of the heat the Earth gives off. Humans have added a lot more of these gases by burning fossil fuels and cutting forests, so the Earth is warming. This causes melting ice, rising seas and more extreme weather. We can cut emissions (mitigation) and prepare for changes (adaptation).
2. Climate crisis and ecological change
Main causes of the climate crisis · Sea-level rise · Extreme weather · Future scenarios · Changing flowering times · Insect declines and pollinators · Algal blooms · Vector-borne diseases
- Climate Change and the Greenhouse Effect – Climate is the average weather of a place over about 30 years. Greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane trap some of the heat the Earth gives off. Humans have added a lot more of these gases by burning fossil fuels and cutting forests, so the Earth is warming. This causes melting ice, rising seas and more extreme weather. We can cut emissions (mitigation) and prepare for changes (adaptation).
- Extreme Weather – Extreme weather is weather far from the usual: heatwaves, cold waves, heavy rain and floods, droughts, cyclones, thunderstorms, hail, heavy snow and dust storms. A warmer world slides the whole pile of weather, so very hot days and heavy rains become more common.
- Climate Models and Future Scenarios – A climate model is a computer program that cuts Earth into a grid of boxes and repeats the rules of physics for air, sea, ice and land through time. Scientists run it with different "what if" emission stories, called scenarios, to see possible futures. Models are tested on the past, and the spread between runs shows the uncertainty.
- Biodiversity and the Effect of Human Activity on Ecosystems – Biodiversity is the variety of all the different species of organisms on Earth or in one ecosystem. High biodiversity makes an ecosystem stable, because species depend on each other for food, shelter and a steady physical environment, and it gives people food, medicines and clean air and water. A growing human population uses more resources and makes more waste. Pollution of water, land and air, land use for building, farming, quarrying and landfill, peat removal, deforestation and global warming all reduce biodiversity. We can protect it with breeding programmes, restoring habitats, hedgerows and field margins, reducing deforestation and carbon dioxide emissions, and recycling instead of dumping waste.
- Infectious Diseases: How Germs Spread and How We Stop Them – An infectious (communicable) disease is caused by a tiny living thing called a pathogen: a bacterium, virus, fungus or protist. It passes from one person to another through air, water and food, touch, or a vector such as a mosquito. The body fights back with skin, mucus, stomach acid and white blood cells. Vaccines train the immune system in advance. Hand washing, clean water, cooking food well, mosquito nets and staying home when sick all cut the spread.
3. Responding to the climate crisis
Coral bleaching · Desertification · Carbon neutrality · Individual and community action
- Desertification – Desertification is when good land in dry areas slowly loses its plants and soil and becomes like a desert. It is caused by people (overgrazing, cutting trees, over-farming, poor irrigation) and by nature (drought, rising heat). It does not mean deserts "moving". It brings hunger, dust storms and migration. It can be slowed by planting trees and grass, grazing fewer animals, saving water and fixing sand with checkerboards.
- Sustainability – Sustainability means meeting our needs today without taking away the ability of future people to meet theirs. It rests on three pillars — environment, society and economy. A resource is used sustainably when we use it no faster than it renews. Today humanity uses about 1.7 Earths' worth of resources a year, and this use is very unequal. Stewardship, careful planning and spatial tools like GIS help us move towards sustainability.