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Quiz yourself on Climate Change and Hazard ResponseGet your flashcardsBuild my revision planTrack my progress💡 Exam Tips for Climate Change
🎯 Common Question Types and Mark Allocations:
- 1–2 mark "state" questions: give one specific statistic as your answer (e.g. "1.45°C above baseline in 2023")
- 4-mark "explain" questions: two explained points, each with a mechanism — use "because" and "this means that"
- 6–8 mark "assess/evaluate" questions: named examples + evidence + judgement + "overall" conclusion
- Comparison questions: always use "whereas" or "in contrast" to link your two examples explicitly
📝 Key Command Words to Watch:
- Describe: What is it? Use data. No need for "because" or "this means".
- Explain: Why does it happen? Always use "because" and trace the mechanism one step further.
- Evaluate/Assess: How effective? Consider positives, limitations, and make a judgement. Never just describe.
- Compare: Do not write two paragraphs in isolation — actively compare using contrast language.
⚠️ Common Mistakes to Avoid:
- Saying "climate change is mainly caused by pollution" — pollution and greenhouse gas emissions overlap but are not the same; be specific about which gases and sources
- Mixing up mitigation and adaptation — know the precise distinction before writing a single word
- Writing about effects without statistics — "sea levels are rising" scores nothing; "sea levels have risen 21–24 cm since 1880 and are currently rising at 3.7 mm/year" scores marks
- Forgetting to include named countries and specific examples for adaptation — "some countries build sea walls" is Level 1; "the Maldives built a $500 million sea wall around Malé and constructed Hulhumalé island at 2 m above sea level" is Level 3
- Treating climate change as purely environmental — examiners want social, economic and political dimensions, especially in higher-mark questions
- Making moral judgements without evidence — "it is wrong that rich countries pollute most and poor countries suffer most" is an opinion; "the IPCC projects 216 million climate migrants by 2050, predominantly from LICs that contributed least historically to emissions" is an evidenced analysis
Quick Check: Write a Level 3 sentence evaluating whether mitigation or adaptation is the more important response to climate change. Include named examples and evidence.
Example Level 3 answer: "Both mitigation and adaptation are necessary, but mitigation is more important in the long term because it addresses the root cause of climate change rather than managing its symptoms. Without deep cuts in emissions — as required by the Paris Agreement's 1.5°C target, signed by 196 countries in 2015 — adaptation will eventually become impossible as sea levels rise beyond what sea walls can hold and temperatures exceed crop tolerance ranges. However, adaptation is more immediately achievable: Bangladesh's flood-tolerant BINA Dhan 11 rice can be distributed to millions of farmers within years, whereas Germany's Energiewende took two decades to reach 59% renewable electricity. Crucially, LICs such as Bangladesh that contributed least to global emissions have the least capacity to fund major mitigation programmes, meaning the ethical burden falls on HICs to lead on mitigation while supporting LIC adaptation. Overall, without sustained mitigation to limit warming below 2°C, adaptation alone cannot protect the most vulnerable nations."
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