Syllabus concepts to know

• 6.2.1 Climate describes the typical conditions that result from physical processes in the atmosphere.
• 6.2.2 Anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions have caused concentrations of atmospheric carbon dioxide to rise significantly.
• 6.2.3 Analysis of ice cores, tree rings and deposited sediments provide data that indicates a positive correlation between the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and global temperatures.
• 6.2.4 The greenhouse effect has been enhanced by anthropogenic emissions of GHGs.
• 6.2.5 Climate change impacts ecosystems at a variety of scales, from local to global and affects the resilience of ecosystems and leads to biome shifts.
• 6.2.6 Climate change has an impact on (human) societies at a variety of scales and socio-economic conditions.
• 6.2.7 Systems diagrams and models can be used to represent cause and effect of climate change with feedback loops, either positive or negative, and changes in the global energy balance.
• 6.2.8 Evidence suggests that the Earth has already passed the planetary boundary for climate change.
• 6.2.9 Perspectives on climate change for both individuals and societies are influenced by many factors.
• 6.2.10 Data collected over time by weather stations, observatories, radar and satellites provides opportunity for the study of climate change and land-use change.
• 6.2.11 Global climate models manipulate inputs to climate systems to predict possible outputs or outcomes using equations to represent the processes and interactions that drive the Earth’s climate.
• 6.2.12 Climate models use different scenarios to predict possible impacts of climate change.
• 6.2.13 Climate models show the Earth may approach a critical threshold with changes to a new equilibrium.
• 6.2.14 Individual tipping points of the climate system may interact to create tipping cascades.
• 6.2.15 Countries vary in their responsibility for climate change and also in vulnerability, with the least responsible often being the most vulnerable.