Activity 2.13

Check this example answer using the checklist.

The following tables compare the total value of exports and the amount of CO₂ produced per person for five countries.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

Sample answer:

The data shows that the country with the largest GDP (the USA) also had the highest perperson CO₂ production. However, Japan and China, the countries with the second-largest GDPs, had the lowest per-person CO₂ production.
Throughout the period (2000 to 201O). the USA had the highest GDP, rising steadily from $10 trillion to $14.62 trillion over the period, with only one small dip around 2009. This country also had the highest CO₂ production per person in 2010. In contrast, Japan's GDP fluctuated around $5 trillion, with no major growth over the period, and although Japan's GDP was around 30 to 50 per cent of the USA's, its CO₂ production was less than 10 per cent of the USA's.
The GDPs of Germany and France remained fairly constant over the period, only increasing by about $1 trillion, to $3.30 trillion and $2.55 trillion, respectively. Although their GDPs were similar, Germany's CO₂ production was double that of France.
China's GDP was the same as France's until 2005, when it began to increase rapidly. By 2010, China's GDP was $5.74 trillion, although it still only produced 0.67 tonnes of CO₂ per person.

TIP Another good way to check your answer is to ask a friend to read it and recreate the original diagram.

Activity 2.14

Draw the diagram that this answer is talking about.

The graph shows that CO2 levels increased steadily between 1960 and 2005, while average global temperatures also rose, but not as steeply and with some fluctuation. Despite a slow start at the beginning of the period, by the middle of the period, the temperature anomaly was rising fairly quickly, increasing by nearly 5°C in 20 years.

In 1960, CO2 levels were at around 310 ppmv, but they increased steadily by around 15 ppmv per decade. Halfway through the period, in 1980, they had reached 340 ppmv and by the end of the period, in 2005, they had risen to around 380 ppmv.
Meanwhile, the increase in average global temperature also increased between 1960 and 2005, though not so smoothly. For almost the first 20 years (1960 to 1978) there was no net increase, and the temperature difference remained under 0, with troughs of nearly -2°C in 1965 and 1976 and a small peak, at nearly -1°C, in 1971. From around 1978, the average temperature anomaly began to increase, with small peaks in 1982 (at 1°C). 1989 (at 2°C) and 2000 (at 4°CI. At the end of the period, the average temperature difference was 0.5°C.

Answer

Average global temperature (°C) and CO₂ levels (ppmv).