Earth's Atmosphere/Climate Flashcards S2
What is an atmosphere? What makes up an atmosphere?
An atmosphere is a mixture of many gases that surround the Earth’s Oceans and Lands. Some of which are essential to life.
Which gases make up most of the Earth’s atmosphere today?
Nitrogen and Oxygen
What are the correct percentages of gases in the Earth’s atmosphere?
Nitrogen = 78%, Oxygen = 21%, Other = 1%
What are the other gases in the atmosphere?
Argon, Carbon Dioxide, Neon, Methane, Water Vapor, Helium
Why were cyanobacteria important to Earth’s early atmosphere?
Cyanobacteria was very important to the Earth’s early atmosphere, because cyanobacteria was the first organism to make food through photosynthesis and they later released oxygen, which gradually increased the amount of oxygen in the atmosphere.
True or false: Plants developed before cyanobacteria.
False; they developed after the cyanobacteria did.
What was another name for Earth’s early atmosphere?
Earth’s Second Atmosphere
Why couldn’t Earth’s early atmosphere support life as we know it today?
The atmosphere had little to no oxygen to support life.
How did Earth’s early atmosphere originally form?
The Earth’s early atmosphere formed when volcanoes vented gases from the inner core.
How is oxygen a product of photosynthesis? Describe the process.
When the plant’s leaves absorb the CO2, Water, and Sunlight, most of it get turned into Glucose and the remaining bits are ended up to be oxygen.
Why is the Earth’s atmosphere a mixture? Think chemical bonds!
The atmosphere is a mixture because it’s made up of several gases that aren’t chemically bonded.
What is the ozone layer? What does the ozone layer protect life on Earth from?
The ozone layer is a thin part of the Earth’s atmosphere that protects us from almost all of the sun’s harmful ultraviolet light.
Describe the “hole” in the ozone layer that was found in the early 80’s.
a. What happened as a result of this finding?
b. What does the hole look like now?
The hole in the ozone layer was found over the South Pole. The hole was created due to the manufacturing of ozone depleting substances.
a. Many countries banned the production of the ozone depleting substances such as refrigerants and propellants.
b. The hole is the smallest it has been since discovery.
Why is the amount of carbon dioxide in the air increasing?
Give multiple reasons.
Fossil fuel combustion, deforestation, and manufacturing are all causes of the increase in CO2 levels in the atmosphere.
What is it called when huge areas of forest have been cut down? What happens because of this?
That is called deforestation. What happens when forests are deforested is that the CO2 in the trees get released into the atmosphere therefore increasing the CO2 levels.
