Unit 9 - Global Change

Question 1

What is the ocean acidification equation?

Answer 1

CO2 + H2O → H2CO3 → CO3-2 + H+

Question 2

What is albedo?

Answer 2

The amount of energy reflected by a surface
- sunlight on a light surface (ice) means more albedo
- sunlight on a dark surface (ocean) means less albedo (more is absorbed)

Question 3

what are the greenhouse gases in order from least to most dangerous?

Answer 3

Water <1
Carbon Dioxide 1
Methane 25
Nitrous Oxide 300
Chlorofluorocarbons 1600-13000

Question 4

What are UVA, UVB, and UVC?

Answer 4

UVA
Causes skin tanning, 1000x less effective than UVB in skin reddening but more reaches the surface

UVB
Causes blistering sunburns and is associated with skin cancer

UVC
Found only in the stratosphere and is largely responsible for the formation of ozone

Question 5

what are chlorofluorocarbons?

Answer 5

Aerosols that damage the ozone layer - least abundant, most dangerous greenhouse gas

Question 6

What are the direct impacts of permafrost melting?

Answer 6

• Releases methane
• Causes landslides

Question 7

What is the most abundant anthropomorphic gas?

Answer 7

Carbon Dioxide

Question 8

What does stratospheric ozone do?

Answer 8

It absorbs UV rays from the sun

Question 9

What does anthropogenic mean?

Answer 9

man-made

Question 10

What are the impacts of terrestrial warming?

Answer 10

• melting of permafrost
• loss of snow and ice
• change in albedo
• change in atmospheric circulation patterns
• heat waves
• change in soils

Question 11

What is the process of ocean acidification?

Answer 11

• Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere dissolves into the ocean, forming carbonic acid (H2CO3)
• it lowers the pH of the water (making it more acidic)
• this impairs shells and skeletons made of calcium carbonate
• hydrogen ions released from the H2CO3 bind with carbonate (CO3^-2)

Question 12

What are halocarbons (halons)?

Answer 12

fluorine, chlorine, bromine, iodine

• pesticides, fire-extinguishers
• burning biomass, volcanoes, marine algae

Question 13

What are the effects of ozone depletion?

Answer 13

• reduction in crop production
• reduction in immune system effectiveness
• reduction in the growth of phytoplankton
• climate change
• cooling of stratosphere
• effects on animals (they don’t wear sunscreen)
• increase in cataracts
• mutations (UV changes DNA)
• skin cancer
• sunburn and skin damage

Question 14

How is aquatic warming impacting sea levels?

Answer 14

• melting glaciers and ice increase the total volume of the water
• increased ocean temperatures lead to thermal expansion

Question 15

What are the impacts of aquatic warming?

Answer 15

• melting of glaciers
• rising sea levels
• change in ocean currents
• coral bleaching
• ocean acidification

Question 16

What causes CO2?

Answer 16

• 1 GWP
  Burning of fossil fuels, burning of wood

Question 17

What causes Methane?

Answer 17

• 25 GWP
  Agriculture, fossil fuels, decomposition of landfill waste

Question 18

What causes Nitrous Oxide?

Answer 18

• 300 GWP
  Treatment of waste water, combustion of fossil fuels, burning biomass

Question 19

What causes Chlorofluorocarbons?

Answer 19

• 1600-13000 GWP
  Air conditioners, refrigerators, insulation, aerosol cans

Question 20

What is the primary cause of stratospheric ozone depletion?

Answer 20

CFCs

Question 21

How does the stratospheric ozone layer benefit life on Earth?

Answer 21

It absorbs 99% of incoming UV-B and UV-C radiation

Question 22

What are the main characteristics of the hole in the ozone layer?

Answer 22

Main chemical:
CFCs
Location of hole:
South Pole
Energy entering Earth due to the hole:
Ultraviolet

Question 23

What was enacted to reduce ozone depletion?

Answer 23

Montreal Protocol - CFCs

Question 23

What best describes the cause of the greenhouse effect?

Answer 23

Gases in the atmosphere absorb infrared radiation and radiate the energy back towards the earth’s surface