Earth and the Atmosphere - C13 Flashcards
What is our atmosphere made of
78% nitrogen
21% oxygen
0.9% argon
0.04% carbon dioxide
What did Earths early atmosphere consist of
Mainly carbon dioxide
Some nitrogen and water vapour
Traces of methane and ammonia
How did oxygen levels increase overtime
Slowly overtime, organisms carried out photosythesis
This produced oxygen, making the levls slowly rise
Then plants started to grow on land, making the levels of oxygen even higher
Why have levels of carbon dioxide changed
Most of it was used in photosythesis by plants
Some of it dissolved in the water as it reacted with other elements
Why have the levels of methane and ammonia changed
It reacted with the oxygen from the photosythesis
Created water, nitrogen and carbon dioxide
Why have the levels of nitrogen changed
Nitrogen is an unreactive gas
It kept building up from the volcanoes
What are the products of combustion
Carbon dioxide Carbon monoxide Particulates Sulfur dioxide Nitrogen oxides
What is the difference between a complete and incomplete combustion
A complete combustion is when something is burned with plenty of oxygen
An incomplete combustion is when something is burned with limited oxygen
What are the main greenhouse gases
Carbon dioxide
Methane
Water vapour
How do greenhouse gases cause the greenhouse effect
When the Earth releases emits longer wavelength radiation some of it gets trapped in the atmosphere by the greenhouse gases
The radiation gives the gases more energy causing them to heat up
Heating up the earth
Effects of climate change
Rising sea levels
Changing rainfall patterns
More extreme weather
Ways to reduce climate change
Lower the amount of greenhouse gases
What is a carbon footprint
The total amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases emitted because of a service or product
Ways of reducing the carbon footprint
Carbon capture and storage
Eat less meat
Taxing fossil fuel cars
What does sulfur dioxide do
solutions to the problem?
It causes acid rain
Remove sulfur impurities out of fuels
