Water and carbon cycle 6 - Water, carbon and climate

Question 1

What is at the base of most food chains

Answer 1

Plants

Question 2

What happens when photosynthesis occurs

Answer 2

They use energy from the sun to convert CO2 and H2O into biomass that gets passed up the food chain

Question 3

What inputs are both required for photosynthesis

Answer 3

Water and carbon

Question 4

How is water present in the atmosphere

Answer 4

Water vapour

Question 5

How is carbon present in the atmosphere

Answer 5

CO2 and methane

Question 6

What kind of gases are these

Answer 6

Greenhouse gases

Question 7

Why are they greenhouse gases

Answer 7

They cause a natural greenhouse effect that prevents energy escaping into space and reflects it back to earth

Question 8

What does this cause

Answer 8

Temperature on earth to be higher than they otherwise would be

Question 9

What would happen without the natural greenhouse effect

Answer 9

The earth would be frozen and inhabitable

Question 10

What else is increasing the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere

Answer 10

Human activities

Question 11

What do most scientists agree this is causing

Answer 11

An enhanced greenhouse effect

Question 12

What’s the enhanced greenhouse effect

Answer 12

This is where the additional greenhouse gases reflect more energy back to the earth in the natural greenhouse effect, so temperature increases further

Question 13

What is this said to be causing

Answer 13

Global warming and other changes to the climate

Question 14

What are the effects of a change to a system

Answer 14

Maybe affected by positive or negative feedback

Question 15

How does positive feedback work in the water cycle

Answer 15

1) Temperature rises
2) Evaporation increases
3) Amount of water vapour in atmosphere increases
4) Greenhouse effect increases

Question 16

How does negative feedback work in the water cycle

Answer 16

1) Temperature rises
2) Evaporation increases
3) Amount of water vapour in atmosphere increases, causing more clouds to form
4) Increased cloud cover reflects more of the sun’s energy back to space
5) Temperature fall

Question 17

How does positive feedback work in the carbon cycle

Answer 17

1) Temperature rises
2) plant respiration rate increases
3) Amount of CO2 in atmosphere increases
4) Greenhouse effect increases

Question 18

How does negative feedback work in the carbon cycle

Answer 18

1) CO2 in atmosphere increases
2) Extra CO2 causes plants to increase growth
3) Plants remove and store more CO2 from atmosphere
4) Amount of CO2 in atmosphere reduces

Question 19

What is happening in these positive feedback examples

Answer 19

Increasing global warming / climate change because of the amplifying temperature rise

Question 20

What is happening in these negative feedback examples

Answer 20

Cancel out the temperature increase, so global warming wouldn’t increase

Question 21

What 3 ways do the carbon and water cycle depend on each other

Answer 21

1) Carbon combines with water in the atmosphere. Allowing for chemical weathering, removing carbon from the atmosphere
2) Water is needed for photosynthesis, which removes carbon from the atmosphere
3) The amount of CO2 in the atmosphere effects global temperatures, which affect the amount of evaporation that takes place, which affects the amount of precipitation

Question 22

What is climate change predicted to do

Answer 22

Have major impacts on plants, animals and people

Question 23

How will climate change affect precipitation

Answer 23

Wet areas are expected to get wetter and dry areas are expected to get drier. Thus can cause water shortages in some areas, leading to conflicts in the future

Question 24

How will climate change affect extreme weather events

Answer 24

They’ll be more frequent. Less developed countries will probably be worst affected as they’re less able to deal with these issues

Question 25

How will climate change affect agriculture

Answer 25

Agricultural productivity will decrease in some areas, leading to food shortage

Question 26

How will climate change affect sea levels

Answer 26

They’re expected to rise further . This will cause flooding in coastal and low - lying areas

Question 27

How will climate change affect the geographical range of some species

Answer 27

The arrival of new species in an area may damage eco systems and some species may become extinct

Question 28

How will climate change affect plankton

Answer 28

Their numbers may decline if temperature increase, this will have a knock on effect on marine food chains.

Question 29

How have humans influenced the carbon cycle

Answer 29

Extracting and burning fossil fuels

Question 30

How much more CO2 is in the atmosphere now compared to 1750

Answer 30

40% more

Question 31

How are the UN tackling these issues

Answer 31

They set up the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) - an international organisation

Question 32

what does the IPCC do

Answer 32

States that countries need to reduce CO2 emitted by human activities in order ti prevent larger temperature rises

Question 33

How are people trying to mitigate the impacts of climate change

Answer 33

On an individual, regional and national and global scale

Question 34

What 2 things can be done on an individual scale

Answer 34

• People choose to use their cars less and buy fuel efficient cars
• They make their homes energy efficient like having double glazing windows

Question 35

What 4 things can be done on a regional and national scale

Answer 35

• Governments reduce reliance on fossil fuels for heating and powering homes by increasing the availability and reducing the cost of renewable sources
• Afforestation and restoring degraded forests can increase carbon uptake by the biosphere
• Planners can increase the sustainability of developments by improving public transport and creating more green space
• Governments invest in carbon capture and storage. CO2 emitted from burning fossil fuels is captured and stored underground such as depleted oil

Question 36

What 2 things can be done on a global scale

Answer 36

• Countries work together to reduce emissions. For example the Paris agreement in 2015 and COP26 in Glasgow in 2021
• There’s international carbon trading schemes. Countries and businesses are given a limit on the emissions they can produce - if they produce less, they can sell the extra credits, if they produce more they need to buy more credits