The carbon cycle and energy security

Question 1

Action taken to adjust to changing climate conditions e.g. water conservation and flood risk management

Answer 1

Adaptation

Question 2

Planting trees on land that has been without forest for a long time or has never had forest

Answer 2

Afforestation

Question 3

A measure of how much sunlight is reflected away from the Earth’s surface

Answer 3

Albedo

Question 4

Processes and actions associated with human activity

Answer 4

Anthropogenic

Question 5

A name often given to the current geological era because of the profound changes caused by humans

Answer 5

Anthropocene

Question 6

A fuel derived immediately from living matter, such as agricultural crops, forestry or fishery products, and various forms of waste (municipal, food shops, catering, etc.). A distinction is made between primary and secondary biofuels

Answer 6

Biofuel

Question 7

Organic matter used as fuel for the generation of electricity

Answer 7

Biomass

Question 8

The transfer of elements and compounds, such as carbon, between living organisms and the physical environment through chemical processes that create new compounds and elements in the atmosphere, hydrosphere and lithosphere.

Answer 8

Biogeochemical

Question 9

The break of rocks in situ by plant roots or burrowing animals

Answer 9

Biological weathering

Question 10

The constant exchange of carbon stores in the atmosphere, ecosystems and soils

Answer 10

Carbon balance

Question 11

The biogeochemical cycle by which carbon moves from one sphere to another. It acts as a closed system made up of linked subsystems that have inputs, throughputs and outputs.

Answer 11

Carbon cycle

Question 12

The processes operating in oceans to circulate and store carbon

Answer 12

Carbon cycle pumps

Question 13

The movement or transfer of carbon, in different compounds, between stores in atmosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere and lithosphere.

Answer 13

Carbon fluxes

Question 14

A process or activity that results in no net release of carbon into the atmosphere, perhaps through using renewable energy or planting trees.

Answer 14

Carbon-neutral

Question 15

The steps involved in moving carbon to a store where it is fixed.

Answer 15

Carbon pathway

Question 16

As part of the natural carbon cycle carbon accumulates in places within the cycle, often for a very long time period. These stores include vegetation, atmosphere, oceans and rock.

Answer 16

Carbon store or sink

Question 17

The breakdown of rocks by carbonic acid in rain which dissolves carbonate-based rocks

Answer 17

Chemical weathering

Question 18

The causes or drivers of climate change

Answer 18

Climate forcing

Question 19

The process of burning something

Answer 19

Combustion

Question 20

The use, or fixing, of solar energy by plants to increase their biomass (primary productivity) through photosynthesis, which supports the growth of herbivores (secondary productivity) and carnivores (tertiary productivity).

Answer 20

Ecosystem productivity

Question 21

The level of disturbance that ecosystems can cope with while keeping their original state

Answer 21

Ecosystem resilience

Question 22

The range of energy sources used by a country or region, from non-renewable ones such as fossil fuels to renewables such as wind energy.

Answer 22

Energy mix

Question 23

A measure of how efficiently a country is using its energy as units of energy used per unit of GDP

Answer 23

Energy intensity

Question 24

The route by which an energy type is transferred from the production area to the consumption area, such as by pipeline or shipping route.

Answer 24

Energy pathway

Question 25

A situation where there is an uninterrupted and affordable supply of energy to meet the needs of consumers (people and businesses).

Answer 25

Energy security

Question 26

The intensification of the natural greenhouse effect by human activities, primarily through fossil fuel combustion and deforestation, causing global warming.

Answer 26

Enhanced greenhouse effect

Question 27

Movements of carbon; the rate of flow between stores.

Answer 27

Fluxes

Question 28

The process in which sediments compact under pressure, and gradually become solid rock.

Answer 28

Lithification

Question 29

The breakup of rocks in situ by e.g. frost

Answer 29

Mechanical weathering

Question 30

The reduction or prevention of greenhouse gas emissions by new technologies, low carbon energy, energy efficiency and changing behaviours.

Answer 30

Mitigation

Question 31

Stabilising feedbacks that maintain a stable state – changes are cancelled out creating an equilibrium.

Answer 31

Negative feedback

Question 32

The decrease in the pH of the Earth’s oceans caused by the uptake of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

Answer 32

Ocean acidification

Question 33

The release of a gas that was dissolved or stored due to changes in heat or pressure, for example carbon is released by metamorphic activity at plate boundaries or hot spots.

Answer 33

Out-gassing

Question 34

The units used to measure carbon; one petagram (Pg), also known as a gigatonne (Gt), is equal to a trillion kilograms, or 1 billion tonnes.

Answer 34

Petagrams (Pg) or Gigatonnes (Gt)

Question 35

The chemical reaction whereby carbon dioxide and water are converted into glucose and oxygen.

Answer 35

Photosynthesis

Question 36

Minute plants, such as cyanobacteria, found in upper layers of oceans, which fix large amounts of carbon through photosynthesis and form the base of aquatic food webs.

Answer 36

Phytoplankton

Question 37

The idea that whoever generates pollution should pay the costs of cleaning it up, either through taxes or fines or being forced to use technology to prevent its emission in the first place.

Answer 37

Polluter Pays Principle

Question 38

Amplifying feedback which occurs when a small change causes further changes in other components, shifting a system towards a different state.

Answer 38

Positive feedback

Question 39

The main original source of energy before conversion in alternative forms, such as coal and crude oil.

Answer 39

Primary energy

Question 40

Living organisms that produce their own food, using sunlight, carbon dioxide, water and other chemicals in the process of photosynthesis; they are also sometimes referred to as autotrophs.

Answer 40

Primary producers

Question 41

Energy from a source that can be used over and over, but must first go through a process to prepare it for re-use

Answer 41

Recyclable energy

Question 42

Planting trees in places with recently lost tree cover

Answer 42

Reforestation

Question 43

Energy from a source that is not depleted when used, such as wind or solar power.

Answer 43

Renewable energy

Question 44

The rate at which carbon enters and leaves a store measured as mass or carbon divided by exchange flux

Answer 44

Reservoir turnover

Question 45

A process in living organisms involving the production of energy, from the intake of oxygen and the release of carbon dioxide.

Answer 45

Respiration

Question 46

A convenient and more usable energy source, such as electricity, that has been created from a primary energy source.

Answer 46

Secondary energy

Question 47

Processes by which carbon is removed from the atmosphere and stored, for example by plants and soils.

Answer 47

Sequestration

Question 48

The global system of surface and deep water ocean currents driven by salinity and temperature differences.

Answer 48

Thermohaline circulation