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A-Level The Future with Climate Change (Cluster 3)

whether we can respond successfully to climate change, covering the science of contemporary and past climate change, its possible effects, and human responses

What the syllabus expects

• Evidence of past climate variability comes from proxy indicators studied in ice and ocean cores
• Earth went through episodes of warming and cooling during the Quaternary period
• Natural factors drove temperature swings in the Quaternary, including changes in solar output, thermohaline circulation and ice sheets
• These natural factors act on temperature through feedback mechanisms
• The scientific consensus, as expressed through the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), holds that warming across the past two hundred years is unequivocal and very likely caused by human activity
• Human activity affects the global carbon cycle by both raising carbon emissions and reducing carbon sinks
• The enhanced greenhouse effect results from human activity raising the concentration of greenhouse gases
• Human activity can both accelerate warming via positive feedbacks and dampen it via negative feedbacks
• Contemporary climate change brings changes in temperature and precipitation
• Contemporary climate change impacts both aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems
• These changes in aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems go on to affect humans
• Contemporary climate change carries both positive and negative impacts for places
• Negative impacts vary because temperature and precipitation change unevenly across places and because groups differ in their vulnerability
• Uncertainty over present and future impacts stems from incomplete understanding of physical processes, gaps in in-situ data over oceans, deserts and polar regions, inherent errors in climate measurements, and unknown future greenhouse gas emissions
• Mitigation strategies aim to cut greenhouse gas emissions and strengthen carbon sinks
• Adaptation strategies help people adjust to and manage the effects of climate change that is already happening or anticipated
• Key actors in the climate response include firms, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and the state
• Partnerships among firms, NGOs and states are important for responding to climate change
• Climate response strategies achieve varying degrees of success
• Implementing responses is hindered by economic and political challenges and by uncertainty over the future impacts of climate change

More A-Level H2 Geography topics

Environment and Resources (Cluster 1) · Development and the Global Economy (Cluster 1) · Tropical Climates and Drainage Basins (Cluster 2) · Landforms in the Tropics (Cluster 2) · Cities in a Sustainable Future (Cluster 3) · Fieldwork (Cluster 4) · all of A-Level H2 Geography