Climate change

This topic deals with its causes, symptoms and consequences for nature and people

Opening questions

The word „climate“ comes from the Greek. What was its original meaning?
Correct answer: Incline
The original Greek word "klíma" means incline. One of the most important factors that influences the climate is the sun. Depending on whether it is closer to the poles or closer to the equator, the sun hits the ground at different angles. The steeper the angle, the hotter region. Since this angle is of central importance, the phenomenon was named after it.
Sources
Omphalius, Ruth/ Azakli, Monika (2008): Klimawandel. Würzburg: Arena Verlag GmbH
Ocean currents influence our climate. Which event showed how widespread and mighty the power of ocean currents is?
Correct answer: A shipwreck
In 1992, a cargo ship lost part of its cargo during a violent storm in the mid-Pacific. When the containers fell off the ship and shattered, several thousand small plastic swimming animals poured into the sea. Without their own power source they were transported by sea currents around the globe. Up to this time people had greatly underestimated the strength and range of ocean currents.
Sources
Omphalius, Ruth/ Azakli, Monika (2008): Klimawandel. Würzburg: Arena Verlag GmbH
What is given the title "El Nino“ (the Christ child)?
Correct answer: the absence of the trade winds
El Niño is an unusual climate phenomenon, also called a climate anomaly. It is the term for the absence of the trade winds, which usually blow from East to West at the equator. The phenomenon occurs in varying cycles and can have devastating consequences. Because the wind and the water do not move, no cool, nutrient-rich water rises off the coast of South Africa, for example, so the fish have to look elsewhere for food in the ocean, which in turn has a negative impact on the fishing industry. In addition, the warming of seawater leads to heavier rainfall, while Indonesia and other parts of Asia suffer from draught due to the failure of the monsoon. The term "El Niño" was coined Peruvian fishermen, because it always occurs just before Christmas.
Sources
www.wikipedia.org
Omphalius, Ruth/ Azakli, Monika (2008): Klimawandel. Würzburg: Arena Verlag GmbH
One of the most important greenhouse gases, along with carbon dioxide (CO2) is methane. Who or what are the biggest producers of this gas?
Correct answer: Cattle
The digestive process of cattle produces large amounts of methane, which has a climate-damaging effect. As there are 1.4 billion cattle on the Earth, this represents an output of over 80 million tons of methane per year.
Sources
Omphalius, Ruth/ Azakli, Monika (2008): Klimawandel. Würzburg: Arena Verlag GmbH
Road traffic is responsible for nearly 80% of all transport related greenhouse gas emissions. By 2050 the number of cars will have…
Correct answer: tripled
Currently in Europe there are 500 private road vehicles per 1000 residents. In China there are 40 per 1000 inhabitants. However, the number of cars in China is climbing rapidly. At present every fourth car is sold in China.
Sources
Immel, Karl-Albrecht/ Tränkle, Klaus (2011): Aktenzeichen Armut. Globalisierung in Texten und Grafiken. Wuppertal: Peter Hammer Verlag
How many times more CO2 emissions are created through transport by lorry than by train?
Correct answer: 27-times as much
Transport by lorry produces 27-times more CO2 than transport by train.
Sources
Rainer, Gerhard (2012): Klimawerkstatt 1. Aktionsideen und kreative Vorlagen, Wien: Klimabündnis Österreich
The average yearly CO2 emissions from a refrigerator amount to 100kg. How many kilos of CO2 are produced per passenger by a single flight from Munich to New York?
Correct answer: 4200kg
Precisely 4240kg of CO2 per passenger are emitted by a single flight from Munich to New York. That is 120kg more than a person could emit in a year and still be environmentally friendly. In comparison to this: the annual emissions of a middle-sized car driven 12,000km are around 2000kg.
Sources
Carstensen, Regina/ Hoffer, Michael (2007): Einfach das Klima verändern. 50 kleine Ideen mit großer Wirkung. München: Pendo Verlag.
What is „Nomad 7“?
Correct answer: A Mini solar power plant
The Nomad 7 is a 43x23cm transportable solar collector which charges electronic equipment via a USB port.
Sources
Ökostandard Juni 2013
derstandard.at
How has the Arctic ice sheet changed since the 1970s?
Correct answer: It has shrunk by a third
The Arctic ice sheet has shrunk by a third since the 1970s. Researchers assume that the climate in the Arctic will warm up more quickly in the future than in other regions of the world. Connected to this are both an increase in sea level and the destruction of polar bears’ habitat.
Sources
Carstensen, Regina/ Hoffer, Michael (2007): Einfach das Klima verändern. 50 kleine Ideen mit großer Wirkung. München: Pendo Verlag.
Even rubbish produces CO2. For every tonne of rubbish burnt, a tonne of CO2 is produced. How much rubbish does an average EU citizen produce in one year?
Correct answer: 500kg
On average an EU citizen produces 500kg of rubbish per year.
Sources
Carstensen, Regina/ Hoffer, Michael (2007): Einfach das Klima verändern. 50 kleine Ideen mit großer Wirkung. Munich: Pendo Verlag.
Carbon dioxide (CO2) is held primarily responsible for climate change. What would happen if there were no more CO2 in the atmosphere?
Correct answer: The average temperature of the Earth would fall by 30 degrees Celsius.
Carbon dioxide partially prevents the sun's rays that reach the Earth escaping back into space. CO2 acts like a blanket that has settled on the ground to keep it warm. If carbon dioxide was entirely absent, the average temperature on Earth would fall by about 30 degrees Celsius. Carbon dioxide also occurs naturally, for example through volcanic eruptions into the atmosphere, but the additional CO2 emissions caused by people mean that the Earth is warming more.
Sources
Omphalius, Ruth/ Azakli, Monika (2008): Klimawandel. Würzburg: Arena Verlag GmbH
How high was the average temperature on the Earth over the last 10,000 years?
Correct answer: 14 degrees Celsius
Over the last 10,000 years, the average temperature on Earth was 14 degrees Celsius.
Sources
Omphalius, Ruth/ Azakli, Monika (2008): Klimawandel. Würzburg: Arena Verlag GmbH
What event led to a massive increase in CO2 emissions by people?
Correct answer: The industrial revolution
With the beginning of industrialization in the 19th Century, masses of fossil fuels such as coal and later oil and gas were consumed, which released large amounts of CO2 during combustion.
Sources
Omphalius, Ruth/ Azakli, Monika (2008): Klimawandel. Würzburg: Arena Verlag GmbH
Which film dealing with the topic of climate change won an Oscar?
Correct answer: An inconvenient truth
The documentary "An Inconvenient Truth" by Davis Guggenheim, together with former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, was honoured in 2007 with an Oscar.