November 2012

J. Cloy
EXAM QUESTIONS AND MODEL ANSWERS

ATMOSPHERIC QUALITY AND GLOBAL CHANGE


PART 1 ESSAY QUESTION

Answer ONE of the essay questions below

1. Using examples of existing emission inventories, describe the main purpose of
emission inventories, what they contain and the methodology used to compile
emission inventories. (50 marks)

Model Answer
Introduction, inventories on national, international scale, NAEI, IPCC, EDGAR,
Regulatory and reporting purpose, modelling, trend development
Source sectors and pollutants (air pollutants, greenhouse gases)
Activities and emission factors, bottom-up calculations
Measured vs. calculated
Conclusions

2. Using relevant examples, explain how environmental archives have been used to
reconstruct past climate conditions and atmospheric air quality. Describe
advantages and disadvantages associated with the use of environmental
archives.
(50 marks)
Model Answer
Introduction explaining how ice, moss, bark, peat bogs and lake sediments are
used as archives of environmental change.
Climate change reconstruction e.g. vostok ice core (Ice Age maximums and the
warm interglacials occur within a regular cyclic pattern), tree rings in fossilised
trees, indicators of humification in peat bogs.
Atmospheric air quality e.g. atmospheric metal deposition records in ice, peat,
lake sediments, bark and moss.
Advantages: Ice - virtually no chemical transformation occurs after deposition has
taken place. Moss, bark, tree rings age is known so dont need to use
radiometric dating and also widespread globally (lake sediments also
widespread).
Disadvantages ice and peat limited to certain geographical locations. Chemical
records in environmental archives such as peat and lake sediments can be
disturbed by bioturbation, resuspension, chemical remobilisation. Peat and
sediment cores need to be intact/uncompacted and free from disturbance e.g.
core collection issues (also need undisturbed sampling sites). Ice records need
to be preserved carefully and need to avoid contamination (very low concs).
Conclusions

3. Explain how modelling can be used to predict the impacts of climate change in
terrestrial environments. Your answer should include an assessment of the
strengths and weaknesses of different modelling approaches. (50 marks)

Model Answer
Different modelling approaches should be described including empirical and
process-based models. In-class examples of these were provided which included
that the DNDC model for describing trace gas emissions from soil and carbon
footprinting models is an example of empirical modelling approaches. Other
models of terrestrial systems could be described. The strength of the process-
based model is its ability to predict responses to a range of complex interacting
factors within the environment, however parameterisation of such models can be
difficult and demand large datasets. Empirically-based models tend to be simpler
to parameterise but are often less capable of predicting outcomes in complex
and interactive environments.

PART 2- SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONS

Answer FIVE questions only

1. Describe the process and main air pollutants contributing to acidification and
eutrophication of soils, ecosystems and surface waters. (10 marks)

Model Answer
Gases are removed from the atmosphere by dry and wet deposition,
accumulating in soils and surface waters.
Soil, freshwater and oceanic acidification by protons decreases pH and puts
ecosystems at risk.
High nutrient loading causes eutrophication in soils and surface waters and
affects species composition.
SO2, NOx and NH3 are the main contributors to soil acidification, the nitrogen in
NOx and NH3 causes eutrophication.

2. Describe the radiative balance that is present at the top of Earth's atmosphere
when the planetary temperature is stable. Explain what is meant by "radiative
forcing" and describe the basic mechanisms of radiative forcing by anthropogenic
aerosols in the troposphere. (10 marks)

Model Answer
For the Earth to have a relatively constant, stable temperature there must be no
net heat flow into our out of the climate system*. Sunlight is the dominant heat
input*, amounting to 342 W/m2 on average at the top of the atmosphere*. About
30% of this sunlight, however, is reflected, both by the atmosphere and surface,
back out to space (albedo)*. The emission of infrared (thermal) radiation by Earth
must balance this net input, i.e., must equal on average 0.7x343 W/m2*. [Instead
of numbers, students may refer to equations to obtain the equivalent marks: S(1-
a)=sT^4 is then the radiative balance.] If a factor perturbs this balance, the
amount of imbalance caused, prior to any climate adjustment to the forcing, is the
radiative forcing*. RF is therefore a way of putting all climate perturbations on a
common scale, equivalent to a change in sunlight that changes the radiative
balance by the same amount*. Aerosols reflect sunlight, and therefore increase
albedo, and exert a negative radiative forcing*. (They have a small greenhouse
effect also, but we didn't discuss this in class.) Indirectly, they may brighten
clouds by facilitating smaller droplet sizes, which is an indirect negative RF*.
Particularly the latter indirect effect is the greatest uncertainty in radiative forcing
relative to pre-industrial conditions*.
each * is a mark out of 10 available


3. What is meant by the term global warming potential? If a landscape produces
7,000 000 tonnes/yr of CO2 emissions, 400 000 tonnes/yr of CH4 emissions, and
700 tonnes/yr of N2O emissions, what is its Global Warming Potential in CO
2
e?
(10 marks)

Model Answer
Global warming potential: an index defining the radiative effect over a given time
period of a gas relative to that of CO2

Calculation
Total CO2-eq = tonnes CO2(GWP[CO2])
+ tonnes CH4(GWP[CH4])
+ tonnes N2O(GWP[N2O])
= 7,000,000 (1) + 400,000 (25) + 700 (298)
= 17,208,600 metric tonnes CO2-eq

[GWPs CO2 = 1, N2O=298, CH4=25]

4. Solar energy arrives at the earth from the sun at 15,000 times the rate we use it.
Discuss how latitude, season, time of day and atmospheric factors affect our
ability to capture solar energy and use it to meet the energy demands of
mankind. (10 marks)

Model Answer
Solar energy is not always available where we need it and when we need it. It is
a very diffuse source of energy and must be captured and concentrated. The
intensity of solar radiation at any point on the planet depends on the distance
from the equator, the time of year and the time of day. When the sun is low in the
sky the radiation arriving from the sun is spread over a larger area. It also has
further to travel through the atmosphere before arriving on the earths surface. A
collector of a given size will therefore collect less energy than when the sun is
directly overhead. The intensity of solar radiation arriving at a collector also
depends upon the amount absorbed by cloud cover, atmospheric pollution and
physical obstructions and on the amount reflected by surrounding land/sea and
clouds.



5. Describe the layers of the earths atmosphere and include in your answer a brief
description of the physical properties of each layer. (10 marks)

Model Answer
The troposphere extends from the earth's surface to an average of 12 km.
The pressure ranges from 1000 to 200 millibars
The temperature generally decreases with increasing height up to the tropopause
(top of the troposphere).
The layer ends at the point where temperature no longer varies with height. This
area, known as the tropopause, marks the transition to the stratosphere.
The stratosphere extends from 12 km 46
The air is much drier above the tropopause, in the stratosphere.



6. Explain why the Kyoto protocol was adopted and what it aims to achieve in terms
of greenhouse gas emissions from industrialized countries in the reporting period
between 2008-2012?
(5 marks)

and

Describe the three market-based Kyoto mechanisms. (5 marks)

Model Answer
Part 1.
The Kyoto Protocol was adopted at the third Conference of the Parties to the
UNFCCC (COP 3) in Kyoto, Japan, on 11 December 1997. The Protocol shares
the objective and institutions of the Convention. The major distinction between the
two, however, is that while the Convention encouraged industrialized countries to
stabilize GHG emissions, the Protocol commits them to do so. The near-term
challenge for industrialized countries is to achieve the Kyoto targets, i.e., a
reduction in overall emissions of six greenhouse gases (or families of gases) by an
average of 5.2 per cent below 1990 levels in 2008 2012.

Part 2.
Countries with commitments under the Kyoto Protocol to limit or reduce
greenhouse gas emissions must meet their targets primarily through national
measures. As an additional means of meeting these targets, the Kyoto Protocol
introduced three market-based mechanisms, thereby creating what is now known
as the carbon market. The three Kyoto mechanisms are: Emissions Trading
(known as .the carbon market), the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and
Joint Implementation (JI). The carbon market spawned by these mechanisms is a
key tool in reducing emissions worldwide. It was worth 30 billion USD in 2006
which increased to 176 billion USD in 2011.

7. Explain the importance of the oceanic carbon sink relative to other carbon sinks
in the Global carbon cycle? (5 marks)

and

What processes are responsible for driving the ocean carbon cycle? (5 marks)

Model Answer
Part 1.
The carbon cycle can be viewed as a set of reservoirs (four main reservoirs in
the global carbon cycle atmosphere, oceans, reserves of fossil fuels, terrestrial
ecosystems (vegetation and soils), each of which holds a form of carbon (such
as calcium carbonate in rocks or CO2 in the atmosphere), with carbon moving at
various natural rates of transfer between these reservoirs. The total amount of
carbon in the system is fixed by very long-term geophysical processes such as
the weathering of rock. Human actions that affect the carbon cycle, such as fossil
fuel combustion and deforestation, change the rate at which carbon moves
between important reservoirs. C sinks are found both on land and in the oceans,
and evidence suggests that the land based sink is strengthening. Oceans
dominate the global carbon cycle over time scales of decades to millennia.
Oceans are continuing to sequester C but could eventually reach saturation
point.

Part 2.
Ocean sink driven by the solubility pump (dissolution of CO2, increases with
increasing atmospheric CO2 concentration) and biological pump (most active in
warmer productive waters). Solubility pump - CO2 is taken up in the cold waters
of high latitudes and transported towards the equator, and the biological pump,
whereby phytoplankton remove carbon from the upper ocean and transport a
significant fraction of this to the deeper ocean. Higher concentrations of CO
2

enhance the solubility pump although higher temperatures may partially offset
this and may also increase ocean stratification which, in turn, slows the transfer
of carbon to the deep ocean. The biological pump is also sensitive to nutrient
transport from terrestrial systems, thus the ocean and terrestrial carbon cycles
are intimately linked. The overall controlling mechanisms probably involve
physical and chemical reorganization of the ocean and changes in nutrient
inventories.

See diagram on J.Cloy Week 2 lecture slide 17.