Carbon EQ1

Question 1

carbon cycle

Answer 1

exchange of carbon between its four main reservoirs

Question 2

atmophere

Answer 2

CO2/Methane (CH4) - gaseous carbon

Question 3

hydrosphere

Answer 3

dissolved CO2 - can be gaseous, inorganic or organic

Question 4

lithosphere

Answer 4

fossil fuels and limestones/ calcium carbonates - inorganic carbon

Question 5

biosphere

Answer 5

living and dead organisms - organic carbon

Question 6

flux

Answer 6

connect reservoirs together to create cycles and feedbacks

Question 7

closed system

Answer 7

nothing can leave or enter the cycle, total amount in the cycle stays the same

Question 8

biogeochemical cycle

Answer 8

a system of natural processes that recycle nutrients in various forms from the environment to the organisms and then back to the environment

Question 9

quantifying stores and fluxes

Answer 9

scientists measure amount of carbon on earth in gigatons or petagrams

Question 10

CO2 fluxes are higher in the northern hemisphere

Answer 10

greater landmass
spring/summer - smaller concentration, absorbed
autumn/winter - larger concentration, released when leaves decay

Question 11

sequester

Answer 11

act of removing, separating, or seizing something

Question 12

oceanic biological pump

Answer 12

phytoplankton are responsible for most of transfers of carbon from the atmosphere to the ocean

Question 13

thermohaline circulation

Answer 13

1 - main current begins in polar oceans where the water gets cold, sea ice forms, surrounding seawater gets saltier, increases in density and sinks
2 - current is recharged as it passes Antarctica by extra cold salty, dense water
3 - division of main current northward into the indian ocean and into the western pacific
4 - two branches warm and rise as they travel northward, then loop back southward and westward
5 - now warmed surface waters continue circulating around the globe, on their eventual return to the north atlantic they cool and the cycle begins again

Question 14

when can carbon fluxes happen

Answer 14

diurnally - during the day fluxes are positive, at night the fluxes are negative (loss from ecosystem to atmosphere)
seasonally - northern hemisphere winter atmospheric CO2 concentration rise and during the spring atmospheric concentrations drop

Question 15

terrestial store - mangroves and soil

Answer 15

where in the world - along tropical and sub tropical tidal coasts in Africa, Australia, Asia and America
how do they store carbon - biological carbon stored in form of dead organic matter
what will happen if store damaged - mangroves cleared for tourism and agriculture, carbon released back into the atmosphere

Question 16

terrestial store - tundra

Answer 16

where they found - north and south poles
how do they store carbon - soil frozen, contains ancient carbon, decayed organic matter frozen
what happens if damaged - melting due to climate change, released into atmosphere

Question 17

terrestrial store - tropical rainforests

Answer 17

where they found - below or above equator between tropics
how do they store carbon - stored in trees, plant litter and dead wood, absorb more atmospheric CO2 than any terrestrial biome
what happens if destroyed - nutrients released are rapidly consumer by vegetation

Question 18

photosynthesis

Answer 18

carbon dioxide + water = glucose + oxygen

Question 19

espiration

Answer 19

glucose + oxygen = carbon dioxide + water

Question 20

decomposition

Answer 20

break down organic matter and release CO2 into atmosphere

Question 21

combustion

Answer 21

burning of fossil fuels and release CO2

Question 22

geological cycle

Answer 22

cycle which moves carbon between land, ocean and atmosphere

Question 23

outgassing

Answer 23

carbon held in mantle released into atmosphere when volcanoes erupt

Question 24

carbon sink

Answer 24

carbon reservoir that takes in and stores more carbon than it releases, partially offset greenhouse gas emissions

Question 25

thermohaline circulation

Answer 25

flow of ocean water caused by changes in density

Question 26

shortwave radiation

Answer 26

solar radiation from sun in form of visible light and ultraviolet radiation

Question 27

longwave radiation

Answer 27

radiation returning from earth in form of infrared radiation or heat

Question 28

natural greenhouse effect

Answer 28

1 - solar radiation passes through clear atmosphere
2 - solar energy absorbed by earth’s surface and warms it, converted into heat causing emission of longwave radiation back into atmosphere
3 - some solar radiation is reflected by the atmosphere and earth’s surface back into space
4 - some of the infrared radiation is absorbed and re-emitted by greenhouse gas molecules, direct effect is the warming of earth’s surface and troposhere
5 - some of the infrared radiation passes through the atmosphere and is lost in space
6 - surface gains more heat and infrared radiation is emitted again

Question 29

radiative forcing

Answer 29

what happens when the amount of energy that enters the earth’s atmosphere from the sun is different from the amount of energy that leaves it

Question 30

what anthropogenic interference occurs in the enhanced greenhouse effect?