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.
What is the nitrogen cycle?
The nitrogen cycle explains how nitrogen is converted and cycled through the biosphere to support DNA, proteins, and chlorophyll production.
What is nitrogen fixation?
Fixation is the process where bacteria convert atmospheric nitrogen (N₂) into ammonium, making it usable by plants.
What is nitrification?
Nitrification is the conversion of ammonium into nitrates by bacteria, which plants can absorb from the soil.
How do plants assimilate nitrogen?
Plants absorb nitrates from the soil through their roots and use nitrogen to produce amino acids, nucleic acids, and chlorophyll.
What is ammonification?
Ammonification occurs when decomposers convert nitrogen from dead plants and animals into ammonium, allowing it to re-enter the nitrogen cycle.
What is denitrification?
Denitrification is when bacteria release extra nitrogen from the soil into the atmosphere.
What does the phosphorus cycle represent?
It shows how phosphorus moves through the lithosphere, hydrosphere, and food chains, supporting plant and crop growth.
Why is phosphorus essential for plants?
Phosphorus promotes healthy roots, early shoots, better flower and seed production, and improved quality of fruits, vegetables, and grains.
Does phosphorus impact climate change?
As phosphorus lacks a primary gaseous form, it has little impact on climate change.
What are some human impacts on Earth’s cycles?
Deforestation
Mining
CFCs destroying the ozone layer
Eutrophication from excess fertilizers
Industrial and factory waste pollution
Increased transport which releases more greenhouse gases
What is climate change?
Climate change refers to significant long-term differences in a region’s average temperature, recorded over many years.
What are the three major influences on Earth’s climate?
- Tilt of Earth’s axis and sunlight reaching the surface
- Land and water absorbing/emitting radiant heat
- Features of the land
How does Earth’s tilt affect climate?
Earth’s tilt spreads solar energy unevenly, creating warmer equatorial and colder polar regions and influencing wind patterns.
Why do polar regions have extreme seasons?
They experience up to six months with little or no sunlight, while the equator receives consistent radiation year-round.
How do land and water differ in heat absorption and emission?
Land absorbs and emits heat faster than water.
Water moderates coastal climates, reducing temperature extremes.
Why are coastal climates milder than inland climates?
Water absorbs and radiates heat slower than land, stabilising temperature changes.
How is climate data collected?
Using weather stations and space satellites to measure temperature and radiant heat differences.
How does altitude affect temperature?
Higher altitudes above sea level experience colder temperatures in the atmosphere.
How do mountain ranges affect climate?
Mountains block wind, forcing air upwards to form clouds as water vapour condenses quickly, often creating unique weather patterns.
What land features affect climate?
Sandy soils reflect more sunlight than fertile soils.
Fresh snow reflects 90% of solar energy.
Vegetated areas absorb more sunlight for photosynthesis.
What drives ocean currents?
Ocean currents are driven by Earth’s rotation and temperature differences between the tropics and poles.