Clearly describe a positive feedback loop associated with global warming

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

1. The oceans absorb large quantities of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. However as temperatures increase, temperatures of the oceans increase and the solubility of carbon dioxide in the oceans will decrease. Thus if the oceans heat up, some of their dissolved carbon dioxide could be released into the lower atmosphere. This could amplify global warming.
2. Increased seawater acidity threatens certain photosynthetic plankton. If these plankton were reduced, this would decrease the ability of such plankton to slow global warming by removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Thus the oceans would become increasingly acidic.
3. As global temperatures rise, increasing quantities of mountain glaciers and polar ice caps are melting. The melting of such reflective ice and snow exposes much darker land and water, which absorb more solar energy and accelerates global warming.
4. As global temperatures increase, permafrost melts. The amount of carbon locked up as methane in permafrost soils is 50–60 times the amount emitted as carbon dioxide from burning of fossil fuels each year. A significant release of methane from melting permafrost would greatly exacerbate global warming. This would then lead to increased melting of permafrost.