AQA · GCSE · Chemistry
Course version: 8462 · Version from Sept 2018
There are several potential effects of global climate change.
Full specification wording
Global climate change: There are several potential effects of global climate change.
Global climate change can affect the environment and people in several ways.
Checked against the AQA 8462 specification (opens in a new tab) on .
- Point 2 of 3
- 4 key terms
Study notes
From the checked teaching notes for this specification point.
The idea
Global climate change can affect the environment and people in several ways. Melting ice sheets and glaciers, plus thermal expansion of seawater, raise sea level and increase flooding of low-lying land. Warmer oceans and air can make some storms and rainfall events more intense, while other regions become drier and face drought. Habitats such as coral reefs and polar ecosystems may be damaged, so species may migrate, decline or become extinct. Agriculture may suffer where rainfall changes or pests spread, affecting food supply. Human health may be affected by heatwaves and changing disease patterns. These effects are potential because their size and location depend on how much warming occurs and how societies respond. A useful method is to group effects into environmental, economic and social categories.
What earns the marks
- Describe sea-level rise from melting ice and thermal expansion, and its effect on coastal flooding.
- Describe changed weather patterns, including more intense rainfall or storms in some regions and drought in others.
- Describe effects on ecosystems, such as coral bleaching, habitat loss and species migration or extinction.
- Describe effects on people, including impacts on agriculture, food supply, water availability and health.
- Explain that effects are potential and depend on the amount of warming and on human responses such as adaptation.
Common mistakes and how to put them right
Listing only one effect.
Put it right by covering environmental, economic and social effects.
Treating every effect as certain and identical everywhere.
Put it right by saying effects vary by region and depend on the scale of warming.
Confusing cause and effect, such as saying sea-level rise causes melting ice.
Put it right by saying melting ice and thermal expansion cause sea-level rise.
Exam tips
- Group your points into categories such as environmental, economic and social to cover the range of effects.
- Use specific named examples, such as low-lying islands or coral reefs, to make each effect concrete.
- Add a sentence explaining that the effects are potential and depend on future warming and adaptation.
Try the lesson
The start of the Global climate change: There are several potential effects of global climate change. lesson, made from checked teaching notes for this specification point.
Have a go first
Which of the following is a recognised potential effect of global climate change?
Listen
Global climate change can affect the environment and people in several ways. Melting ice sheets and glaciers, plus thermal expansion of seawater, raise sea level and increase flooding of low-lying land. Warmer oceans and air can make some storms and rainfall events more intense, while other regions become drier and face drought. Habitats such as coral reefs and polar ecosystems may be damaged, so species may migrate, decline or become extinct. Agriculture may suffer where rainfall changes or pests spread, affecting food supply. Human health may be affected by heatwaves and changing disease patterns. These effects are potential because their size and location depend on how much warming occurs and how societies respond. A useful method is to group effects into environmental, economic and social categories. A strong answer earns marks for these points. Describe sea-level rise from melting ice and thermal expansion, and its effect on coastal flooding. Describe changed weather patterns, including more intense rainfall or storms in some regions and drought in others. Describe effects on ecosystems, such as coral bleaching, habitat loss and species migration or extinction. Describe effects on people, including impacts on agriculture, food supply, water availability and health. A common slip: Listing only one effect. Instead, covering environmental, economic and social effects. Exam tip: Group your points into categories such as environmental, economic and social to cover the range of effects.
See it
Key words
Say what each word means before you turn the card.
Sea-level rise
Try answering aloud or in your head before turning the card.
Extreme weather
Try answering aloud or in your head before turning the card.
Ecosystem damage
Try answering aloud or in your head before turning the card.
Human impacts
Try answering aloud or in your head before turning the card.
See every definition
- Sea-level rise
- Melting ice sheets and glaciers, plus thermal expansion of seawater, raise sea level and increase flooding of low-lying land.
- Extreme weather
- Warmer oceans and air can make some storms and rainfall events more intense, while other regions become drier and face drought.
- Ecosystem damage
- Habitats such as coral reefs and polar ecosystems may be damaged, so species may migrate, decline or become extinct.
- Human impacts
- Agriculture may suffer where rainfall changes or pests spread, affecting food supply, and human health may be affected by heatwaves and changing disease patterns.
Label the diagram
Some boxes have lost their names. Pick the right name for each number.
1Box 1
2Box 2
3Box 3
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