C11 Flashcards
What are the 2 ways co2 increases in the atmosphere?
- burning fossil fuels
- deforestation
What are two ways that methane is increasing in the atmosphere
-cattle producing methane
Landfill sites-decay of micro orginisms release methane
Peer-reviewed evidence
Other scientists checking evidence before its published
What are the 4 potential effects of climate change
- Flooding. (Ice caps melt-sea levels rise-flooding(costal habitat loss))
- Extreme weather(more storms-more damage)
-Changes in rainfull (How much it rains) When and where it occurs) Heavy rain damages crops Lack of rain causes drought(affects food production)
-Extinction-when animals and plants can’t adapt to the bew eviroment quick enough-so they die out.
What are the six gasses that could be released into the atmosphere when a fuel is burned
- carbon dioxide
- water vapour
- carbon monoxide
- sulfer dioxide
- nitrogen oxides
- soild particulates/un burned fuel/soot.
What does soluble mean?
It will dissolve given an amount of liquid
Which gas in the atmosphere reacts with sulfurdioxide and the oxides of nitrogen to fo
Water vapour
What is finite?
Something that will run out
What was Earth’s early atmosphere formed by?
Volcanic activity
What did the Earth’s early atmosphere mainly consit of?
Carbon dioxide, (maybe some Nitrogen too)
When did life form?
3.4 billion years ago
What happened to algae abd bacteria 2.7 billion years ago and how did it change Earth’s atmoshere?
They started making their own food from photosythesis(oxygen waste product)
This removed carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and added oxygen over time
(Photosythesis decreased Earth’s CO2 levels)
Word equation for photosytheis?
Carbon dioxide+ water -(energy from sunlught)-glucose and Oxygen
Symbol equation for photosytheis?
6CO2 + 6H2O-(energy from sunlight)-C6H12C6+6O2
Whaat did plants do to the atomohere as they evolved?
-the colonised the Earth’s surface and through photosythesis made the atmosphere rich with oxygen
What made it possible for animals to evolve?
-plants causing an atmosphere rich with Oxygen and animals relying on plants for food
________ decreased the percentage of CO2 in the early atmosphere through photosythesis?
Algae
Explain how Carbon becomes “locked into rocks”?
- Carbon dioxide converts to glucose during photosythesis- it ends up as plant material and then the carbon is transferred animal tissue when animals eat plants(e.g skeletons).
- dead animal skeletons are covered with sediment in the ocean
- lots of pressure forms sedimentary rock such as limestone
What do volcanos produce?
Methane, Carbon dioxide, Nitrogen and Ammonia
What happened to Methane and Ammonia in the early atmosphere?
Ammonia and methane reacted with oxygen (formed by algae) and it removes the elements from the atmosphere
(Nitrogen is very unreactive and has built up in the atmosphere)
What has happened to the levels of CO2 being released over the past century?
It has increased
What are fossil fuels used for?
Electricity and transport
What has deforestation caused?
The amount CO2 removed from the atmosphere by photosythesis has decreased
Evidence of increasing CO2 in the atmosphere?
Analysing trapped air (find out how the composition of gases have changed over time)
What are four consequences of the amount of green house gases in the atmosphere increasing?
- rising sea levels
- increased extreme weather events
- changes in temeperature
- changes in the amount and distribution of rainfall
What do all fossil fuels contain and why is it bad for the enviroment
Some sulfer, this reacts with oxygen when fossil fuels are burnt forming a gas called sulfer dioxide
-it is toxic and causes acid rain which damages trees and attacks limestone and metal buildings
What can we do to sulfer impurities before the fuel is burnt?
Remove them
What happens when there is not enougg oxygen inside an engine?
Incomplete combustion
What is incomplete combustion?
Instead of all the fuel turning into carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide is formed
Why is carbon monoxide dangerous?
It is colourless so you cannot tell if your breathing it in
-red blood cells pick up carbon monoxide and carry it around in your body instead of oxygen
What do high temperatures in an engine cause?
The normally unreative Nitrogen to react with Oxygen
-this makes Nitorgen oxides which can trogger asthma and cause acid rain
What do disel molecules burn?
Hydrocarbons (with bigger molecules than those in petrol engines)
What happens when hudrocarbon fuels are completely burnt in the air?
The carbon and hydogen are oxidised(they produce carbon dioxide)
