Climate Change | OCR A-Level Geography (H481)

Climate Change

323 questions
22 subtopics
Component 03: Geographical debates, two of five
Component 03

Climate Change is examined in Component 03, Geographical debates.

It covers reconstructing past climates from natural archives, icehouse and greenhouse Earth, from Cenozoic cooling to the Holocene, continental drift and volcanic activity as drivers of climate, milankovitch cycles and changes in solar output, the natural greenhouse effect and the atmosphere's greenhouse gases, warming of the surface, atmosphere and oceans since the late 19th century, retreating ice, shrinking snow cover and rising sea level, why greenhouse gas emissions have risen since the pre-industrial era, the changing global balance of emissions, from an AC to an EDC, the enhanced greenhouse effect and the global energy balance, the evolution of the global warming debate, governments, international organisations and the media in the climate debate, climate models, the carbon cycle and feedback, future emission scenarios and projected temperature and sea level rise, impacts on ecosystems, health and extreme weather, the vulnerability of people and environments to climate change, mitigation through energy efficiency, fuel shifts and low-carbon energy, carbon capture and storage, forestry strategies and geoengineering, retreat, accommodation and protection as adaptation, adapted homes, cities, transport and economies, contrasting countries: impacts, opportunities and the challenges of responding and the IPCC, international agreements and policy from global to local.

Sample questions from Climate Change

Answer each one closed book first, then open the answer.

Reconstructing past climates from natural archives

What is a varve, and why is it useful to a climate scientist?

Show the answer
A varve is the pair of sediment layers laid down in a lake in a single year, coarse and pale in summer and fine and dark in winter, so counting varves dates a lake sequence year by year.
Continental drift and volcanic activity as drivers of climate

What is a large igneous province, and why does it matter to climate?

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It is an enormous outpouring of basaltic lava over a geologically short interval, and the CO₂ it releases can drive rapid warming, which is why such events coincide with major mass extinctions.
Warming of the surface, atmosphere and oceans since the late 19th century

Which has risen faster, night-time minimum or daytime maximum temperatures?

Show the answer
Night-time minimum temperatures have risen faster, narrowing the daily temperature range, which is what stronger longwave trapping would be expected to produce.
Why greenhouse gas emissions have risen since the pre-industrial era

By how much has atmospheric methane increased since the pre-industrial era?

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It has more than doubled, rising from around 700 parts per billion to over 1,900 parts per billion.
The evolution of the global warming debate

What happened in 1988 that brought global warming to worldwide public attention?

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A senior NASA scientist testified to the United States Senate during a severe heatwave that warming had begun, and in the same year the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change was founded.
Climate models, the carbon cycle and feedback

Explain the ice-albedo feedback.

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Warming melts bright snow and ice and exposes darker ocean and land, which absorb more solar radiation and cause further warming and further melting.
The vulnerability of people and environments to climate change

Why are low-lying river deltas among the most vulnerable places on Earth?

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They combine dense populations and intensive farming with land barely above sea level, subsiding ground, exposure to tropical storms and increasing intrusion of salt water.
Carbon capture and storage, forestry strategies and geoengineering

Why can planting trees at very high latitudes be counterproductive?

Show the answer
Dark conifers replacing snow-covered ground lower the surface albedo, and the extra solar radiation absorbed can outweigh the warming avoided by the carbon they store.

The 22 subtopics

One subtopic is one session. Work down the list.

Subtopic	What it covers	Questions
Reconstructing past climates from natural archives	Recall questions on climate proxies, oxygen isotopes and foraminifera in marine sediments, varves and pollen in lake sediments, the temperature and trapped air records of ice cores and their 800,000-year reach, volcanic dating horizons, tree rings and their limits, fossil beetles and corals, and why several proxies are combined.	15
Icehouse and greenhouse Earth, from Cenozoic cooling to the Holocene	Recall questions on greenhouse and icehouse Earth, cooling over the last 100 million years and its causes, silicate weathering, the glaciation of Antarctica and ocean gateways, the Quaternary glacial cycles and their changing rhythm, the Last Glacial Maximum and its ice sheets, the Holocene, the Medieval Warm Period and the Little Ice Age.	17
Continental drift and volcanic activity as drivers of climate	Recall questions on how drifting continents, polar landmasses, mountain building and Pangaea change climate, how stratospheric aerosols from eruptions such as Mount Pinatubo and Tambora cool the planet, volcanic warming over long timescales, large igneous provinces, ocean gateways and the Isthmus of Panama, and the timescales of each driver.	13
Milankovitch cycles and changes in solar output	Recall questions on eccentricity, obliquity and precession and their periods, summer insolation at 65° N and ice sheet growth, why orbital cycles need feedbacks, the sunspot cycle and solar irradiance, the Maunder Minimum, the faint young Sun paradox, and why solar output cannot explain recent warming.	15
The natural greenhouse effect and the atmosphere's greenhouse gases	Recall questions on how the natural greenhouse effect works and the warming it provides, why nitrogen and oxygen are not greenhouse gases, water vapour as a feedback, carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide, pre-industrial and glacial CO₂ levels, residence time, and why the greenhouse effect does not trap heat indefinitely.	13
Warming of the surface, atmosphere and oceans since the late 19th century	Recall questions on the scale and uneven pattern of warming since the 19th century, the instrumental record, faster warming on land, Arctic amplification, night-time temperatures and stratospheric cooling, ocean heat content and profiling floats, rising water vapour, evidence beyond thermometers, and why the urban heat island cannot explain the trend.	15
Retreating ice, shrinking snow cover and rising sea level	Recall questions on retreating valley glaciers and mass balance, the effect of glacier loss on mountain water supply, ice loss from Greenland and Antarctica and how satellites measure it, sea level rise since 1900 and its acceleration, thermal expansion and meltwater, sea ice decline and albedo, falling snow cover, and thawing permafrost.	15
Why greenhouse gas emissions have risen since the pre-industrial era	Recall questions on fossil fuel combustion as the main CO₂ source, today's concentration and the Mauna Loa record, population growth and affluence, deforestation, agricultural methane and nitrous oxide from fertiliser, cement making, the rise in methane, halocarbons, electricity demand, and the acceleration after 1950.	14
The changing global balance of emissions, from an AC to an EDC	Recall questions on ACs and EDCs, the historic dominance of Europe and North America, China as the largest annual emitter, annual, cumulative and per-person emissions, consumption-based accounting, the halving of United Kingdom emissions and its net zero law, the rise of China's emissions and its pledges, and arguments for unequal responsibility.	16
The enhanced greenhouse effect and the global energy balance	Recall questions on the enhanced greenhouse effect, radiative forcing since 1750 and the share from CO₂, climate sensitivity, incoming and reflected solar radiation, Earth's energy imbalance, aerosols masking warming and the effect of cleaning the air, land use change and albedo, black carbon, and the urban heat island.	14
The evolution of the global warming debate	Recall questions on Tyndall, Arrhenius and Keeling, the 1970s expectation of cooling, the 1988 Senate testimony, the shift from whether warming is happening to what to do, the hockey stick graph, the 2009 stolen emails, scientific consensus, uncertainty as an argument for delay, economic interests, extreme weather, and the debate over solutions.	13
Governments, international organisations and the media in the climate debate	Recall questions on the United Nations and Conferences of the Parties, the European Union and its Green Deal, why governments find action hard, the free-rider problem and electoral cycles, false balance and framing in the media, fossil fuel interests, pressure groups, greenwashing, social media, scientific academies, and political polarisation.	15
Climate models, the carbon cycle and feedback	Recall questions on general circulation models and how they are tested, ensembles, clouds and ice sheets as uncertainties, downscaling, the carbon cycle in models, the main carbon stores and sinks, ocean acidification, positive feedbacks such as ice-albedo and permafrost thaw, negative feedbacks including CO₂ fertilisation, and tipping points.	17
Future emission scenarios and projected temperature and sea level rise	Recall questions on emission scenarios and why they give projections, low and high emission pathways and warming by 2100, similar warming to 2040, committed warming, projected sea level rise and why it continues for centuries, carbon budgets, negative emissions, and the uncertainty of regional and sea level projections.	14
Impacts on ecosystems, health and extreme weather	Recall questions on shifting species ranges, mountain and polar species, phenology and mismatch, coral bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef, ocean acidification, vector-borne disease, heatwave health risks and vulnerable groups, food supply, heavier rainfall, stronger tropical cyclones, wildfire risk, attribution science, and compounding future impacts.	16
The vulnerability of people and environments to climate change	Recall questions on vulnerability, exposure and adaptive capacity, the number of highly vulnerable people, river deltas and Bangladesh, small island developing states, how poverty and gender raise vulnerability, Arctic indigenous communities, the most vulnerable ecosystems, habitat fragmentation, and why vulnerability is more than exposure.	13
Mitigation through energy efficiency, fuel shifts and low-carbon energy	Recall questions on mitigation, energy efficiency and conservation, home insulation and LEDs, combined heat and power, the rebound effect, coal-to-gas switching and its limits, wind, solar and nuclear power, falling solar costs, intermittency and grid solutions, objections to nuclear, and the difficulty of decarbonising heat and heavy industry.	15
Carbon capture and storage, forestry strategies and geoengineering	Recall questions on carbon capture and storage, its geological settings, Sleipner and the energy penalty, objections to it, bioenergy with carbon capture, afforestation and reforestation, schemes paying countries to keep forests, the limits of forestry and high-latitude planting, and geoengineering, stratospheric aerosol injection and termination shock.	15
Retreat, accommodation and protection as adaptation	Recall questions on adaptation and how it differs from mitigation, the retreat, accommodate and protect options, managed realignment at Medmerry, raised houses and early warning systems, the Thames Barrier, how advanced and lower-income countries adapt differently, maladaptation, and mangrove restoration.	14
Adapted homes, cities, transport and economies	Recall questions on homes designed for a warmer climate, passive design and heat pumps, green roofs, sustainable drainage and street trees, the 15-minute city, net zero transport and electric cars, the circular economy, green hydrogen, a just transition, and Copenhagen's pursuit of carbon neutrality.	13
Contrasting countries: impacts, opportunities and the challenges of responding	Recall questions on contrasting responses to climate change in the Netherlands and Bangladesh: the Delta Works and Room for the River, Dutch impacts and water expertise, Bangladesh's low emissions and high exposure, cyclone shelters and floating gardens, the technological, socio-economic and political challenges of mitigation, and climate finance.	15
The IPCC, international agreements and policy from global to local	Recall questions on the IPCC, its Summary for Policymakers and confidence language, the 1992 Earth Summit, the Kyoto Protocol and its limits, the Clean Development Mechanism, the Paris Agreement and its temperature goal, cap and trade and the EU Emissions Trading System, carbon credits and offsetting, the UK Climate Change Act, and sub-national action.	16

Climate Change is 323 of the 3,740 questions in the guide.Get the guide, £7

How the guide is worked

Answering a question from memory stores it far better than reading the answer again. The guide runs that as a fixed procedure on one subtopic at a time, about twenty minutes a session.

Step 1 · Closed book
Cover the answers. Work through one subtopic and write down what you can. Leave blanks where you have nothing.
Step 2 · Open book
Go back to the top. Read each printed answer and write it out in full, including the ones you had right.
Step 3 · Closed book again
Same questions, same order, from memory. The gap between pass one and pass three is the session result.

Read the full method, the return schedule and the research behind it.