Human Influences On The Environment

Question 0

What is the greenhouse effect

Answer 0

The sun’s heat energy enters the atmosphere and reflects back but hits a layer of greenhouse gases

Question 1

What’s deforestation

Answer 1

The burning of trees

Question 2

What causes co2 levels to increase

Answer 2

Burning of fossil fuels
Cars
Power stations

Question 3

How does deforestation increase the amount of co2

Answer 3

Trees can’t photosynthesis and remove co2

Question 4

Increased temperature means

Answer 4

Polar ice caps melt
Sea levels rise
Change in ocean currents
Warmer water where once it was cooler
Changes in weather patterns (droughts/floods)

Question 5

Name 3 greenhouse gases

Answer 5

Methane
Carbon dioxide
Water vapour

Question 6

Heat energy from the Earth’s surface is radiated into __________ but some of it is absorbed by _______ in the atmosphere. This ________ the atmosphere

Answer 6

Space
Gases
Warms

Question 7

Holes in the ozone layer are thought to have been caused by chlorine from long-lived _______

Answer 7

CFCs

Question 8

Name 3 things that CFCs are used in

Answer 8

Aerosols
Refrigerator coolants
Expanded plastics

Question 9

CO2
Comes from:
Effect:

Answer 9

Comes from combustion of fossil fuels

Effect: Traps heat in the atmosphere (greenhouse effect)

Question 11

Carbon monoxide
Comes from:
Effect:

Answer 11

Comes from: Burning fossil fuels in limited oxygen (cars)

Effect: Poisonous. Cells don’t get enough O2. CO binds with haemoglobin instead of O2

Question 12

Sulfur dioxide So2
Comes from:
Effect:

Answer 12

Comes from: Burning fossil fuels (factories)

Effect: Acid rain

Question 13

Nitrogen oxides
Comes from:
Effect:

Answer 13

Comes from: Petrol and diesel burned in engines

Effect: Acid rain

Question 14

Methane
Comes from:
Effect:

Answer 14

Comes from: Cow flatulance, paddy fields, decomposing waste in landfill
Effect: Greenhouse effect

Question 15

Ph of normal rain:

Answer 15

5.5 (slightly acidic because co2 is dissolved in it (carbonic acid))

Question 16

How is acid rain formed

Answer 16

Nitrogen oxides released from burning fossil fuels + rainwater —-> nitric acid which is very acidic

Question 17

What 3 effects does acid rain have

Answer 17

Soil becomes acidic which damages root hairs
Damage to leaves + trees
Death of fish in rivers + lakes

Question 18

5 things that pollute water

Answer 18

Sewage
Industrial waste
Oil
Pesticides
Fertilizers

Question 19

Explain the process of eutrophication

Answer 19

Rain washes fertilizers out of the soil and washes nitrates into rivers/ponds
The nitrates make the algae in the water grow really fast
The algae grows quickest forming an algal bloom
This covers the surface meaning that the plants at the in the water can’t receive light or photosynthesise leading to death.
Then decomposers break down the dead plants carrying out respiration and using up oxygen up in the water. Fish die due to lack of oxygen.
Eventually the pond runs out of oxygen and the only organisms that can survive are anaerobic bacteria

Question 20

Rain washes fertilizers out of the soil and washes ___________ inter rivers/ponds
The nitrates make the ________ in the water grow really fast
The algae grows quickest forming an _______ ________
This covers the surface meaning that the plants at the in the water can’t receive _________ so they can’t __________________ leading to death.
Then decomposers break down the dead plants carrying out ____________ and using up _________up in the water. Fish die due to lack of oxygen.
Eventually the pond runs out of oxygen and the only organisms that can survive are ___________ bacteria
This process is called ____________________

Answer 20

Nitrates
Algae
Algal bloom
Light
Photosynthesise
Decomposers
Respiration
Oxygen
Anaerobic
Eutrophication

Question 21

Most organic waste matter is biodegradable. It is broken down by ________________ in the water

Answer 21

Micro-organisms

Question 22

If there is too much organic waste then the number of micro-organisms ______________

Answer 22

Increases

Question 23

As micro-organisms break down organic waste they also ___________ using up __________. The water becomes _________ causing fish to die due to a lack of oxygen

Answer 23

Respire
Oxygen
Anoxic

Question 24

One of the most accurate ways of testing for pollution is to look at animal life present in a _______ sample. Certain creatures particularly insects die at different levels of pollution. The presence of these indicator species can be used to show how badly a waterway is polluted

Answer 24

Water sample

Question 25

Where could large amounts of nitrates and phosphates in a pond/river come from

Answer 25

Fertilizers via leaching

Question 26

What is the term for ‘cutting down large areas of trees’

Answer 26

Deforestation

Question 27

What is overgrazing

Answer 27

Allowing cattle to spend too long on an enclosed portion of land

Question 28

What does anoxic mean

Answer 28

Without oxygen

Question 29

What is overfishing

Answer 29

Fishing too much, killing too many fish

Question 30

What is trawling

Answer 30

Dragging a net along a sea bed killing all sorts of species

Question 31

What is desertification

Answer 31

The process in which fertile land becomes desert

Question 32

3 causes of desertification

Answer 32

Overgrazing
Deforestation
Poor irrigation (watering) not enough water

Question 33

How to prevent desertification by overgrazing

Answer 33

Fertilise the land so that plants can continue to grow

Question 34

How to prevent desertification by deforestation

Answer 34

Plant trees (reforestation)

Question 35

2 ways of preventing desertification

Answer 35

Fertilise the land so that plants can grow
Plant trees (reforestation)
Reduce the effect of the wind by making barriers and stabilising sand dunes with plants