The Carbon Cycle Flashcards
Introduce the carbon cycle/why is it important?
All living things contain carbon.
Your body Is made up of 20% carbon by mass. Your body is constantly burning compounds of carbon to keep you alive in a process called respiration.
You exhale Carbon dioxide.
Plants also depend on carbon to stay alive.
They can take in carbon dioxide and make food and oxygen from it.
Explain Carbon and the atmosphere
How is carbon dioxide added to the atmosphere?
Carbon is present in the atmosphere as carbon dioxide. Less than 1% of the atmosphere is made up of carbon dioxide.
Carbon dioxide is added to the atmosphere by respiration by living organisms, burning of fossil fuels, industrial processes and natural processes
How is carbon dioxide removed from the atmosphere
Carbon dioxide is removed from the atmosphere by:
plants: which convert carbon dioxide into food and oxygen in a process called photosynthesis. Rain: rain falls through the atmosphere and reacts with carbon dioxide to make a weak acid called carbonic acid.
Lakes and seas. A large amount of carbon dioxide dissolves in the oceans and Lakes removing it from the atmosphere.
How is carbon stored underground and in what form
Carbon is stored underground in Rock such as limestone.
It is stored in oil and gas. they were formed when the bodies of plants and animals settled on the seabed and over millions of years, due to the pressure and temperature the remains of these plants and animals were converted into Oil and Gas.
coal: it was formed from plants that lived hundreds of millions of years ago in swampy areas. They formed layers at the bottom of the swamps and under the pressure of the water and layers above, the plants were converted to coal.
turf: it was made from plants that grew in wet areas. when they died they were prevented from decaying fully by the wet acidic soil. overtime these plants built up to form a thick layer and eventually over millions of years the turf turned into coal.
What is the problem with the carbon cycle today
Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere insulates the Earth and keeps heat in.
Carbon dioxide acts like a blanket around the earth and keeps the temperature approximately 30 degrees Celsius warmer than if there was no carbon dioxide in the air.
This is called the greenhouse effect. This is an entirely natural occurrence.
Over the past 200 years the concentration of carbon dioxide has increased.
The average temperature of the world is increasing.
The increase in world temperatures due to a rise in carbon dioxide concentrations is called the enhanced greenhouse effect.
The extra warming caused by the enhanced greenhouse effect is called global warming.
What is the main cause of global warming and what are the two main factors of this cause?
The major cause of global warming is the increase in concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide. This is caused by two main factors.
- The huge increase in the Burning of carbon stores in the earth such as fossil fuels.
- Deforestation. The removal of trees from tropical areas of the world means that there is less plant material available to take carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere.
What is the problem with global warming
Rising sea level and climate change as this will cause for more violent storms and they will become more frequent.
Why don’t more countries agree to reduce the emissions of carbon dioxide
Fossil fuels are relatively cheap and reliable source of energy. It is expensive to change over from fossil fuels to renewable sources of energy. This would make the cost of energy more expensive for Citizens and for industry. As countries get more industrialized they need more energy.
What is the government doing to reduce our emissions of carbon dioxide
They are improving the building standards of houses so they can use less energy heat.
giving Grant aid to householders to insulate their houses and install more efficient heating systems and solar panels.
Placing large taxes on cars that consume a lot of fuel and release a lot of carbon dioxide.
Placing a carbon tax on fuels.
Introducing schemes that encourage private companies to build renewable sources of electricity.
Introducing the cycle to work scheme.
Giving a subsidy to companies that provide public transport.
