Chapter 1- Weather & Climate
Factors affecting temperature
a. Latitude- Beijing China (40°N of equator) has a average temperature
of 12°C, while Singapore (1°N of equator) has a average temperature
of 29°C
b. Altitude- Genting Highlands (1700m above sea level) has a average
temperature of 21°C, while areas at sea level has a average
temperature of 32°C
c. Distance from sea- Anchorage, a coastal city in Alaska, USA, has a
lower annual temperature range of 23°C. Fairbanks, an inland city in
Alaska, USA, has a higher annual temperature range of 40°C
d. Albedo (less priority) Night-time temperatures at Singapore's
Central Business District were found to be 2°C warmer than the area
near Macritchie reservoir, which has very dense vegetation.
e. UHI- A study by the National University of Singapore (NUS) found
that Urban areas across Singapore have resulted in an additional
warming of possibly up to 1.5°C of the island.
Chapter 2- Climate change
Factors affecting climate change (natural)
a. Sunspots- Sunspots have been observed continuously since 1609,
At the peak of the cycle, about 0.1% more Solar energy reaches the
Earth, which can increase global average temperatures by
0.05-0.1℃.
b. Earth Orbit (less priority) When Earth’s orbit is at its most elliptic,
about 23% more incoming solar radiation reaches Earth
c. Earth Tilt (less priority) d. Volcanic eruptions- The volcanic eruption of Mount Pinatubo in
1991 led to a drop in average global temperature of about 0.6°C over
15 months after the eruption.
Factors affecting climate change (human)
a. Deforestation- Globally, tropical deforestation contributes to about
20% of annual greenhouse gas emissions.
b. Agriculture- Contributes to about 30% of global greenhouse gas
emissions, In paddy rice fields, decomposition is rapid due to the high
amount of moisture in the soil, which contributes to 5 to 20% of total
methane emissions.
c. Industries- It is estimated that industries contribute about 43% of
greenhouse gases annually.
d. Urbanisation- Cities consume about 78% of the world's energy and
contribute significantly to the emission of greenhouse gases.
Impacts of climate change on natural systems (natural)
a. Ocean currents (less priority) it has been found that the ocean
current in the Atlantic Ocean has slowed by about 15%.
b. Sea surface temperature- Over the last century, sea surface has
warmed by slightly over 1°C
c. Threats to coral reefs (important) - Coral reefs expected to decline
by up to 90% if ocean temperatures increase by 1.5 °C. The Great
Barrier Reef in Australia was severely affected in 2016 and 2017 due
to the rising sea temperatures. Up to two-thirds of corals died in the
northern section of the reef.
d. Ocean acidification- Average coral cover in the Great Barrier Reef
has dropped to about 30% of what it was in the 1960s, in part due to
ocean acidification.
e. Threats to flora and fauna (important) The droughts in California,
USA between 2012 to 2016 contributed to the death of 102 million
forest trees due to the lack of water and spread of diseases. In
Assam, India, unusually excessive rainfall in 2020 resulted in floods.
More than 200 wild animals were killed, including eight endangered
rhinoceroses.
f. Sea level rise (SINGAPORE) Between 1975 to 2009, the sea level in
the Straits of Singapore rose at the rate of 1.2mm to 1.7mm per year
Impacts of climate change on human systems (1-2 if cannot memorise
all)
a. Heat wave- 2003 heat wave that hit Europe which lasted 2 weeks
resulted in death of atounf 70,000 people The harvest for agricultural
crops such as wheat, a staple crop, was affected as many crops died.
This increased the price of bread significantly and food became less
affordable for people.
b. Droughts (priority) - 2018 - 2019 drought in Afghanistan resulted in
over 10 million people being affected due to a lack of food, and many
were displaced. Impact on crop yields- 2020 drought in Thailand
resulted in dried up reservoirs and barren land, thus farmers were
unable to grow crops, severely affecting Thailand as its agricultural
sector uses 70% of the nation's water supply. Economic livelihoods of
farmers were greatly impacted.
c. Wildfires- 2019-2020 Wildfires in Australia resulted in 34 deaths,
burning down more than 1000 buildings.
d. Floods- In 2020, Bangladesh experienced its worst monsoon
flooding due to intense rainfall, estimated to have caused the deaths
of 260 people with 1.3 billion homes destroyed.
e. Increase in vector-borne diseases- dengue cases in singapore
Climate risks (vulnerability, exposure, short term VS long term climate
related hazards)
Mitigation strategies to climate change
a. KYOTO PROTOCOL, happened 11th Dec 1997. World leaders met
at a conference in Kyoto, Japan to discuss ways to tackle the
problem of Greenhouse gases emissions and came up with an
Objective: between 2008-2012, participating countries to reduce their
emissions of greenhouse gases by at least 5% below their 1990
levels.
b. Solar energy- By 2030, Singapore wants to increase its solar
capacity to meet about 4% of Singapore's total electricity demand
today which is about the needs of around 350,000 households.
c. Spread across 36 acres of the plateau of les Mees, France, the
photovoltaic park can generate 18.2MW and an annual supply of
26 million kWh that will supply electricity to 8,000 families
d. Reducing food waste- Food waste caused between 8 and 10% of
the emissions of the gases responsible for global warming in the
period 2010-2016.
e. Cut down on plastic waste- More than 90% of plastic today is
produced from chemicals sourced from fossil fuels. This generates
approximately 400 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions per
year globally.
Adaptation strategies to climate change
a. Seawalls- East Coast park, Singapore is surrounded by Seawalls to
protect the coastline from sea level rise.
b. Polder- Netherlands has constructed polders since the 12th century
to help protect communities from river and sea flooding.
c. Water storage tanks- Stamford Detention Tank, Singapore
d. Food security- Singapore's "30 by 30" plan, aims to increase local
food supply to account for 30% of residents' nutritional needs by
2030. 90% of Singapore's food is imported. This means the bulk of
our food supply is dependent on the global food supply, which can be
affected by climate change. Limitations- Due to space constraints,
less than 1% of our land is available for farming. This means
innovative ways have to be adopted to produce more food locally in a
more efficient manner. $40 million has been used for this plan…
Chapter 3- TECTONICS
Oceanic-oceanic plate divergence -The Mid-Atlantic Ridge, formed from
divergence of North American and Eurasian Plates.
Continental- continental plate divergence - Great rift valley, East Africa.
Divergence between Arabian plate and 2 African plates, Nubian and
Somalian plate
Volcanoes: Mount kenya, Mount Kilimanjaro
Oceanic- oceanic plate convergence- Subduction of Pacific Plate
beneath Philippine Plate. Forms Mariana Trench and Mariana Islands.
Guam, located near Mariana Trench, often experiences earthquakes.
Continental- continental plate convergence- Indo-Australian Plate
converges with Eurasian Plate. Forms the Himalayas mountain range.
Many earthquakes occur here, e.g. 2015 Nepal Earthquake
Oceanic- continental plate convergence- Denser oceanic Nazca
Plate subducts under less dense continental. South American Plate,forming
The Peru-Chile trench, The Andes fold mountain range, The Nevado del
Ruiz volcano Earthquakes are common e.g. 2010 Chile earthquake
Transform plate boundary- Pacific Plate sliding past North American
Plate, forming the San Andreas Fault in California, USA. Earthquakes are
common, e.g. 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake in California
Volcanoes from convergent plate boundary- Along subduction zones in
the pacific ring of fire.
Volcanoes from divergent plate boundary- Between North American and
Eurasian plates.
Hotspots- Hawaiian Hotspot
Tectonic Hazards
explain the cause (how divergence and convergence of tectonic
plates results in these tectonic hazards. + what harm it causes +
example to support + further explanation
Tsunami- 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, tsunami waves slammed into the
coasts of 11 Indian Ocean countries, more than 230.000 people were killed
and entire coastlines and habitats were destroyed.
Liquefaction- 2010-2011 CHRISTCHURCH, NEE ZEALAND equaked
triggered severe liquefaction, more than 60,000 residential buildings were
damaged.
Landslides- 2008 Great Sichuan, China Earthquake triggered more than
15,000 landslides, destroying many buildings and infrastructure, causing
nearly 20,000 deaths.
Tephra- 1991 Mount Pinatubo eruption in Philippines, emitted huge
amounts of ash, buried more than 180 km 2 of forests in ash of about 25
cm, destroying 800km2 of rice fields. 7 airports closed.
Volcanic gases- Dieng volcano eruption in indonesia 1979 released
deadly amounts of carbon dioxide killed about 150 people.
Lava flows- 2017 Kilauea eruption in Hawaii cause far reaching lava flows
to destroy more than 600 homes, huge areas of forests, damaged
telephone and power lines.
Pyroclastic flows- 2010 Merapi eruption Indonesia blasted a series of
pyroclastic flows which caused the deaths of 350 people, burning huge
areas of forests.
Lahars- 1985 Nevado Del Ruiz eruption in Colombia, resulted in fast
moving lahars that buried more than 20,000 people within seconds.
Volcanic landslides- 1980 Mt St Helens eruption in USA, caused volcanic
landslides that traveled as far as 23 km from the volcano, destroying huge
areas of lands and kill many wildlife.
Benefits
Fertile soil- Bali contains several volcanoes, e.g. Mount Agung. Soils in
Bali are more fertile than most non-volcanic areas in Indonesia, despite its
continuous use.
Minerals- Miners living on Mount Merapi mine volcanic sand as
construction materials
Geothermal energy- Most of Iceland's electricity is generated from
geothermal power because of the large number of volcanoes in the country.
Geothermal sources account for 66% of Iceland’s energy use.
Tourism- Hawaiian islands are popular tourist locations for its scenic
volcanic landscapes, generated an annual income of about US$88million
Disaster risk management
Land use planning- After a tsunami hit Japan in 1933, residential land use
along the coast was shifted to newly developed areas on higher ground,
including the entire community of Touni-hongo village. When the 2011
Tohoku earthquake and tsunami struck, houses on low-lying ground were
flooded and washed away, but the waves did not reach those on higher
ground.
Reduce vulnerability(warning systems) Earthquake Early Warning (EEW) systems is a type of
warning system that use a network of sensor monitors to forecast
earthquakes. During the 2011 Tohoku earthquake, the monitoring and
warning system saved thousands of passengers in 19 bullet trains which
were running at top speeds. All trains were able to stop before the
earthquake struck.
(harzard resistant buildings) Taipei 101 is a skyscraper built in an
earthquake-prone zone.
It has a weighted damper near the top of the building to balance out ground
shaking from earthquakes. This reduces the sway of the building during an
earthquake and therefore the threat of the building collapsing.
Preparedness- 2011
Tohoku earthquake, nearly all 3,000 students of Kamaishi city survived.
Schools in Kamaishi city have disaster prevention education programmes,
including
evacuation drills, enabling students to respond quickly and evacuate to
higher ground, away from the tsunami.
Disaster management strategies
● What are disaster management strategies?
RESPONSE
Overview on what a response disaster management strategy is +
explaining any (choose greater examples to compare) examples +
further explanation on the importance it brings.
Search and rescue- in the 2020 Aegean Sea, Turkey earthquake (Mw
7.0), more than 8,000 search, rescue and first aid teams were deployed
and over 106 people were rescued.
Timely evacuation- 2011 Tohoku earthquake, in Kamaishi city, nearly all
3,000 students in the city survived. Students were evacuated to higher
grounds immediately after the earthquake struck, saving them from the
tsunami caused by the earthquake.
Social services- 2010 Haiti earthquake seriously disrupted the water
supply in the capital city, Port-au-Prince. Within a week, the International
Committee of the Red Cross set up water supply for 12,000 people by
trucking water into the capital daily.
Psychological services- following the 2018 Palu earthquake, Indonesia
(Mw7.5), volunteer groups focusing on mental health worked with children
to help them deal with the trauma of losing their families and homes
RECOVER
Overview on what a recovery disaster management strategy is +
explaining restoring facilities + examples + further explanation on the
importance it brings.
Restoring facilities- The 2011 Tohoku, Japan earthquake (Mw 9.0)
displaced about 500,000 people. By 2016, a majority was rehoused in
settlements with enhanced tsunami-resistant features. In a port town, the
ground level of sites for new houses was raised by ten metres and two
more sea walls were built.
Engaging relevant stakeholders- Immediately after the 2015 Nepal Mw
7.8 earthquake, the government and opposition parties created a new
public body, the National Reconstruction Authority (NRA), to oversee
rebuilding.