AP Environmental Science the Inconvenient Truth

AP Environmental Science “The Inconvenient Truth”

Name______

1. Scientists have measured atmospheric CO2 concentration from 1958 to today. Why does the line go up and down each year? What has been the trend in global atmospheric CO2 concentration over the past 50 years since scientists started directly measuring it? 2. Explain the evidence that suggests that the warming period we are in is not just part of a "natural cyclical phenomenon". 3. Explain the following effects of global warming Pick Four(already occurring and predicted). Be sure to include each of the bulleted items in your explanation of impacts, but please delete the non-bold text before printing your assignment. A. Melting of floating sea ice & impacts * Minimal sea level change * Polar bear populations (and others) * Acceleration of global warming due to changes in sunlight reflection & absorption B. Melting of land-based ice in the Arctic and Greenland and Antarctic & impacts * Sea level change & coastal communities (current evacuation of some low-lying Pacific Islands, future impacts on U.S. coastline) * Describe ocean circulation and what drives it. How might the melting of the Greenland ice shelf affect ocean circulation? Why\ might the slowing or shutdown of the Gulf Stream cause an ice age in Northern Europe? C. Melting and disappearance of mountaintop glaciers and snow & impacts * Aesthetics & tourism (Glacier National Park, other notable snow-capped mountains) * Species dependent upon cold mountaintop habitat * Water supplies for cities & irrigation derived from meltwater D. Melting of permafrost & impacts * Decomposition of organic matter & greenhouse gas release * Collapse of buildings, roads, trees established on permafrost E. Spread of pests & disease * Malaria & other mosquito-spread diseases * Pine borer beetle & northern coniferous forests F. Changes in temperature and precipitation patterns & impacts * More frequent and more severe droughts and floods * More frequent and more severe hurricanes (possibly) * Disruption in agricultural production (due to changes in climate) * Overall impact on biodiversity: Disruption of ecosystems and species adapted to current conditions & unable to adapt to the unusually rapid change in environmental conditions (plants, migratory birds, etc)

4. What is the Montreal Protocol? What global problem was it designed to address? Has it succeeded? 5. What is the Kyoto Protocol and when was it drawn up? When was it signed and by whom? 6. Which industries in the U.S. have lobbied against Kyoto as well as against improved efficiency standards? Why? 7. What does "carbon neutral" mean?