Climate Change & Water Resources

1. Based on the lecture slides, textbook Chapter 7, Climate Change; and the article by Treut, et al.

a) In order to measure climate change, it is necessary for scientists to understand what the earth’s climate was like before accurate measuring devices existed. Explain several different methods that scientists have used to reconstruct historical climates. (5 marks).

b) What are the scientific explanations for climate change provided by the IPCC? (5 marks).

c) Explain the impacts of climate change that are evident in Canada’s arctic ecosystems. (5 marks).

d) How can you, on a personal level, help to reduce Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions? (5 marks).

2. Based on the lecture slides, textbook Chapter 11, Water; and the article by Taikan and Kanae.

a) Discuss the cyclical and finite nature of the hydrological cycle. (5 marks). b) Examine the crisis and implications of the experience with drinking contaminated water in Walkerton, Ontario. (5 marks).

c) Explain the distinctions among supply management, demand management and soft path approaches. (10 marks).

3. Based on the lecture slides, textbook Chapter 12, Minerals and Energy and the article by Panchuk.

a) What are the three main environmental issues for the mining and energy sectors? Briefly describe each one. (5 marks).

b) What is kimberlite, why is it found in Canada’s north, and why is it associated with diamonds? (5 marks).

c) What is fracking and what are the main arguments for and against fracking? (5 marks).

d) Earthquake is one of the deadliest natural hazards. What are the geological processes at work to induce an earthquake? (5 marks).

Three Articles:

1. Le Treut, H., R. Somerville, U. Cubasch, Y. Ding, C. Mauritzen, A. Mokssit, T. Peterson and M. Prather, 2007: Historical Overview of Climate Change. In: Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Solomon, S., D. Qin, M. Manning, Z. Chen, M. Marquis, K.B. Averyt, M. Tignor and H.L. Miller (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA.
2. Taikan Oki and Shinjiro Kanae. 2006, Global Hydrological Cycles and World Water Resources. Science, New Series, Vol. 313, No. 5790, Freshwater Resources (Aug. 25, 2006), pp. 1068-1072.
3. Panchuk, Karla, Physical Geography, Chapter 12, Earthquakes. 1st USask Edition, 2019