Climate Change Flashcards
What defines the Anthropocene era?
Humans dominate and disrupt natural systems, advancing technology to mass-produce goods while increasing waste and dependence on fossil fuels.
What issue arises from disposable goods?
Disposable goods lead to waste disposal challenges, depletion of natural resources, and sustainability concerns.
How do fossil fuels impact climate change?
Burning fossil fuels releases CO₂ and other greenhouse gases, trapping heat in the atmosphere, leading to global warming and extreme weather patterns.
How is society addressing climate change?
Through recycling, adopting electric vehicles, sustainable food production, and demanding government policies to reduce carbon footprints.
What challenge does the current generation face?
Addressing the environmental and societal consequences of past actions, including nuclear disasters and large-scale pollution.
Why are scientists studying Antarctic ice?
To assess how melting ice affects global sea levels, weather systems, and the Earth’s climate as a whole.
How does melting ice affect Earth’s temperature?
Less reflective ice exposes darker surfaces (land/water), which absorb sunlight, increasing Earth’s temperature and accelerating further ice melt.
What accelerates Antarctic ice melting?
Rising air and ocean temperatures increase water flow, destabilizing ice sheets and melting more ice, creating a feedback loop.
What tools are used to study melting ice?
Advanced computer models and data analysis predict atmosphere-ocean interactions causing ice melt and inform climate change strategies.
What are the four spheres of Earth?
Hydrosphere: All water on Earth
Lithosphere: Earth’s outermost rocky layer
Atmosphere: Layer of gases around Earth
Biosphere: All living things and ecosystems on Earth
How do Earth’s spheres interact?
Earth’s spheres influence and interact with each other, affecting natural processes and systems.
What is the biosphere?
The biosphere is the layer where life exists, including all living organisms (biota) and ecosystems.
What are biomes?
Biomes are regions influenced by environmental factors like latitude, temperature, and rainfall, defined by dominant vegetation.
What is the hydrosphere?
The hydrosphere includes all of Earth’s water, which moves through different states via the water cycle.
What is the lithosphere?
The lithosphere is Earth’s rocky crust and soil, made of igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks.
What are ecosystems?
Ecosystems are smaller regions within biomes where organisms interact in a specific environment.
What are the 5 layers of the atmosphere?
Troposphere
Stratosphere
Mesosphere
Thermosphere
Exosphere
What are in each of the 5 layers of the atmosphere?
(DONT NEED TO KNOW FULL DESCRIPTIONS).
- just get an understanding.
Troposphere: The first atmospheric layer, closest to Earth’s surface, containing 75% of the atmosphere’s mass and tightly packed air particles.
Stratosphere: The second layer, about 55 km above Earth, contains the ozone layer, which absorbs UV radiation and lets visible light through.
Mesosphere: The third atmospheric layer, with temperatures from 0 to -90˚C, where meteors burn up.
Thermosphere: The fourth atmospheric layer (80-500 km) contains the ionosphere, crucial for transmitting radio waves.
Exosphere: The outermost atmospheric layer, 500+ km above Earth, blending into outer space.
In which forms is carbon found in Earth’s spheres?
Hydrosphere: Dissolved carbon dioxide
Lithosphere: Coal, oil, limestone
Atmosphere: Methane, carbon dioxide
Living things: Proteins, carbohydrates, lipids
What is the carbon cycle?
The carbon cycle explains how carbon moves through the biosphere, transferring between non-living (atmosphere) and living things (organisms) via photosynthesis and respiration.
What happens to carbon in photosynthesis?
Plants absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and, with water and sunlight, convert it into glucose and oxygen.
What is the equation for photosynthesis?
Carbon dioxide + water + sunlight → glucose + oxygen
Why is nitrogen important?
Used in DNA and proteins (enzymes, hormones)
Plants need it for chlorophyll (photosynthesis)
Why can’t nitrogen be used directly from the atmosphere?
Atmospheric nitrogen (N₂) must be converted to usable forms, as most organisms cannot directly use it.