Question

G5. Choose any three of the following:

-Milankovitch cycle

-Radiative forcing

-Ocean acidification

-Short-term organic carbon cycle

-Chlorine catalytic cycle

-Problem shifting

Food-water-energy nexus

In the context of Engineering Design and the Natural Environment, what do you understand by these terms? Write a concise paragraph explaining the meaning and significance in each case.             

PLEASE CHOOSE THE EAIEST AND THE SHORTEST THREE.

*NOTE: PLEASE TYPE THEM ON COMPUTER

Answer 1

Milankovitch cycles - describes the collective effect of change of earth movement means earth climate, it is a variation in eccentricity, axial tilt, and precission of earth orbit that is result in cyclic varriation in the solar radiation that reaching the earth nad these forces of orbit effect the earth climate strongly.

malankovitch study changes in movement of earth which alter the amount and location of solar radiations. this is solar force or radiative force. milankovitch emphasised the change at 65deg north due to great amount of land at that latitute. land masses changes temp more quicklythan ocean becuase of mixing of surface and deep water.

Radiative forcing is nothing but a solar forcing, or climate forcing. it is diff between sunlight absorbed by the earth and energy radiated back to the space. radiative forcing is quantified at tropopause or at the top of atmosphere in the units of watts/metre2 of earth surface. here +ve force warms the system and -ve force cool it.

the cuases of radiative forcing include changes in insolation and concentration of radiatively active gas is called green house gases and aerosols. so radiative forcing is a measure of influence a factor that altering the incoming and outgoing energy in the earth atmosphere and is an index of factor as potential climate change.

Ocean acidification is the ongoing decrease in the pH value of oceans.which is cause by the uptake of CO₂ from the atmosphere. Seawater having slightly basic pH value greater than 7, and ocean acidification involves a change in pH value to neutral conditions rather than a transition to acidic conditions pH < 7.

Due to heuman activites 30 -40% co2 release in atmoshphare that is disolved in the river ocean and lakes. Increasing acidity is thought to have a range of potentially harmful consequences for marine organisms, such as depressing metabolic rates and immune responses in some organisms, and cause coral bleaching.

Ocean acidification has been compared to anthropogenic climate change and called the evil twin of global warming.

The threat of acidification includes a decline in commercial fisheries and in the Arctic tourism industry (affect the way of life of indigenous peoples) and economy. Commercial fisheries are threatened because acidification harms calcifying organisms which form the base of the Arctic food webs.