BIOLOGY, TOPIC FIVE,5, CLIMATE CHANGE

Question 1

EVIDENCE, FOR CLIMATE CHANGE.

Answer 1

SCIENTISTS CANNOT GO BACK IN TIME, TO DIRECTLY MEASURE CLIMATIC VARIBALES, SUCH AS AVERAGE TEMPERATURE AND PRECIPITATION, THEY MUST INSTEAD INDIRECTLY MEASURE TEMPERATURE.

Question 2

EVIDENCE FOR CLIMATE CHANGE, ANTARTIC ICE CORES.

Answer 2

ANTARTIC ICE CORES, HAVE BEEN COLLECTED AND ANALYSED, TO INDIRECTLY ESTIMATE THE TEMPERATURE, OF EARTH OVER THE PAST 400,000 YEARS.

BY MEASURING THE AMOUNT OF CARBON DIOXIDE, CO2, TRAPPED IN THE ICE, SCIENTISTS HAVE DETERMINED, PAST ATMOSPHERIC CARBON DIOXIDE, CO2, CONCENTRATIONS.

THE ATMOSPHERIC CONCENTRATION OF CARBON DIOXIDE, CO2, HAS RISEN STEADILY SINCE THE BEGINING OF INDUSTRIALISATION.

Question 3

DENDOCHRONOLOGY.

Answer 3

DENDOCHRONOLOGY, TREE RINGS, IS A METHOD TO ASCERTAIN THE RISE IN TEMPERATURE OF EARTH.

IT IS THE STUDY OF THE RINGS FORMED WITHIN THE TRUNKS.

EACH YEAR, A NEW RING IS FORMED WITHIN THE TRUNK.

THE NUMBER OF RINGS, EQUALS THE AGE OF THE TREE.

RECENT STUDIES SHOW, THAT THE THICKNESS OF THE RINGS FORMED IN THE 20TH CENTURY, ARE MORE THAN THOSE FORMED EARLIER.

THIS IS A CLEAR INDICATION OF A WARMER CLIMATE.

Question 4

WHAT IS A PEAT BOG?

Answer 4

A PEAT BOG, IS A TYPE OF ACIDIC WETLAND, WHICH PRESERVES THE POLLEN LAYER-BY-LAYER AS TIME PASSES.

Question 5

POLLEN IN A PEAT BOG.

Answer 5

POLLEN IN A PEAT BOG, IS ANOTHER METHOD FOR DETERMINING CLIMATE CHANGE.

POLLENS ARE OFTEN TRAPPED IN PEAT BOGS.

COLLECTING POLLEN GIVES INSIGHT INTO THE CLIMATE THAT WAS PREVELANT, WHEN THE POLLEN WAS TRAPPED.

CLIMATE CHNAGE, IMPACTS THE NATURE OF POLLEN, AND THE GRADUAL INCREASE IN THE TYPE OF POLLEN THAT THRIVE BETTER IN A WARMER CLIMATE, SHOWS A TREND OF INCREASING TEMPERATURE.

Question 6

CLIMATE CHANGE, DUE TO HUMAN ACTIVITY.

Answer 6

HUMAN ACTIVITY RELEASES CARBON DIOXIDE, CO2, AND METHANE, CH4, TWO OF THE MOST SIGNIFICANT GREENHOUSE GASES, INTO THE ATMOSPHERE.

THE PRIMART MECHANISM THAT RELEASES CARBON DIOXIDE, CO2, IS THE BURNING OF FOSSIL FUELS, SUCH AS GASOLINE, COAL, AND NATUAL GAS.

Question 7

THE EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE, THE MELTING OF POLAR ICE CAPS.

Answer 7

MELTING OF POLAR ICE CAPS, REDUCES SPECIES BIODIVERSITY, DESTROYS HABITATS AND SOME SPECOIES BECOME EXTINCT.

RISING SEA LEVELS FROM MELTING ICE CAPS, AND THERMAL EXPANSION OF OCEANS COULD FLOOD LOW-LYING LANDS, REDUCING TERRESTRIAL HABITATS, AND REDUCING FRESHWATER HABITATS AS SEAWATER MOVES UP RIVERS.

Question 8

EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE, HIGH TEMPERATURES AND LESS RAINFALL.

Answer 8

HIGH TEMPERATURES AND LESS RAINFALL, XEROPHYTIC PLANTS WILL BECOME DOMINANT OTHER SPECIES WILL BE LOST ALONG WITH ANIMAL SPECIES THAT RELY ON THOSE PLANTS AS A FOOD SOURCE.

Question 9

EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE, WARMER CLIMATES.

Answer 9

INSECTS ARE ADAPTED TO CERTAIN WARMER CLIMATES, BUT IF THERE IS A GLOBAL TEMPERATURE RISE, THE INSECTS CAN LIVE ANYWHERE, CARYY NEW PATHOGENS TOWARDS THE POLES, REDUCING SPECIES BIODIVERSITY, AS THEY CANOT FIGHT THE NEW DISEASESE.

Question 10

INVESTIGATING THE EFFECT OF TEMPERATURE ON ENZYME ACTIVITY.

Answer 10

INCREASE IN TEMPERATURE, INCREASES KINETIC ENERGY.

SO MOR ENZYME SUBSTRATE COMPLEXES FORM.

HIGH TEMPERATURES CAUSE DENATURATION, DUE TO THE BREAKING OF BONDS HOLDING THE TERTIARY STRUCTURE TOGETHER, H-BONDS, DISULPHIDE BRIDGES, IONIC BONDS,

ACTIVE SITE ALTERED, CHANGES SHAPE, SUBSTRATE CANNOT BIND, NO ENZYME SUBSTRATE COMPLEXES FOREM.

Question 11

CARBON DIOXIDE, CO2.

Answer 11

INCREASED LEVELS OF CARBON DIOXIDE, CO2, IN THE ATMOSPHERE ARE BELIEVED TO CONTRIBUTE TOWARDS CLIMATE CHNAGE, AS CARBON DIOXIDE, CO2, IS A GREENHOUSE GAS, AND IS INVOLVED IN THE GREENHOUSE EFFECT.

Question 12

TEMPERATURE RECORDS.

Answer 12

ENABLE ANALYSIS, OF CHANGES IN TEMPERATURE.

Question 13

EXTRAPOLATED DATA.

Answer 13

THE DATA CAN BE EXTRAPOLATED, TO MAKE PREDICTIONS WHICH CAN THEN BE USED IN MODELS OF FUTURE CLIMATE CHANGE.

SCUH MODELS HAVE LIMITATIONS, AS THEY DO NOT INCLUDE FACTORS INCLUDING HUMAN EFFORTS FOR THE REDUCTINO IN EMISSON OF GREENHOUSE GASES.

Question 14

THE GREENHOUSE EFFECT.

Answer 14

THE GREENHOUSE EFFECT IS THE PROCESS IN WHICH:

SHORT-WAVELENGTH UV RADIATION PASSES THROUGH EARTH’S ATMOSPHERE AND IS REFLECTED FROM EARTH’S SURFACE.

THE REFLECTED RAYS ARE OF A LONGER WAVELENGTH, INFARED RADIATION, AND ARE TRAPPED BY GASES SUCH AS CARBON DIOXIDE, CO2, AND METHANE, CH4, THUS LEADING TO AN INCREASE IN THE TEMPERATURE OF THE EARTH’S SURFACE AND ATMOSPHERE.

Question 15

CLIMATE CHANGE EFFECT, CHANGES IN DISTRIBUTION OF SPECIES.

Answer 15

CHANGES IN DISTRIBUSTION OF SPECIES, SPECIES WOULD MOVE TO COOILER AREAS, FOR EXAMPLE NORTHWARDS.

THIS COULD POTENTIALLT LEAD TO EXTINCTION OF SOME SPECIES DUE TO COMPETITION.

Question 16

CLIMATE CHANGE EFFECTS, CHANGES TO DEVELOPMENT.

Answer 16

CHANGES TO DEVELOPMENT, SEX OF MANY REPTILES IS DETERMINED BY TEMPERATURE THEREFORE AN INCREASE IN TEMPERATURE WOULD HAVE AN EFFECT ON THE SEX RATIO OF CERTAIN SPECIES, THUS POTENTIALLY LEADING TO EXTINCTION.

Question 17

CLIMATE CHANGE EFFECT, DISRUPTED LIFE CYCLES.

Answer 17

AN INCREASE IN TEMPERATURE WILL ALSO AFFECT ENZYME ACTIVITY.

INITIALLY, AS TEMPERATURE INCREASES, THE RATE OF REACTION ALSO INCREASES.

THE RATE OF FORMATION OF ENZYME-SUBSTRATE COMPLEXES INCREASES AS THE KINETIC ENERGY OF MOLECULES INCREASES, THUS LEADING TO MORE FREQUENT COLLISIONS.

HOWEVER, THE RATE OF REACTION DECREASES ABOVE THE OPTIMUM TEMPERATURE AS ENZYMES BECOME DENATURED.

Question 18

REDUCING THE LEVELS OF CARBON DIOXIDE, CO2, IN THE ATMOSPHERE.

Answer 18

ONE OF THE WAYS OF REDUCING GLOBAL WARMING IS THE REDUCTION OF CARBON DIOXIDE, CO2, LEVELS IM THE ATMOSPHERE.

Question 19

GROWING PLANTS.

Answer 19

GROWING PLANTS TO USE AS A FUEL AS BIOFUELS WHCIH ARE CARBON NEUTRAL.

CARBON DIOXIDE, CO2, RELEASED BY BURNING THE FUEL IS REMOVED FROM THE PLANTS IT IS MADE FROM.

Question 20

REFORESTATION.

Answer 20

REFORESTATION, TO INCREASE THE RATE AT WHICH CARBON DIOXIDE, CO2, IS REMOVED FROM THE ATMOSPHERE BY PLANTS WHICH NEED IT FOR PHOTOSYNTHESIS.