1.a. Water and carbon support life on Earth and move between the land, oceans and atmosphere

Question 1

Why is the water cycle important to life on the planet

Answer 1

• oceans moderate temperatures by aborbing, storing and slowly releasing heat
• clouds refelect 20% of incoming solar radation and lower surface temperatures
• water vapour (greenhouse gas) absorbs long wave radiation from the earth, maintaing global temperatures 15 degrees higher
• water makes up 65-95% of all living organisms- crucial to growth, reproduction
• plants need water for photosynthetsis, respiration, transiraption and transporting minerals from soil for rigid structure
• checical reactions in the body for humans and animals

Question 2

Stores in the water cycle

Answer 2

-atmosphere
-land
-oceans
water moves between these through processes such as precipitation and evaporation

Question 3

Why is carbon important

Answer 3

• carm is a chemical element with stores such as rocks, atmosphere, sea floor sediments and the biopshere
• life is carbon based- built on large molecules of carbon atoms such as proteins, carbohydrates and nucleic acids
• carbon is an economic resource- contained in fossil fuels
• agricultural crops and forest treets store carbon

Question 4

Briefly describe carbon cycle

Answer 4

• time scales vary from days to millions of years
• sedimentary rocks hold 99.9% of all carbon on earth
• most carbon in circulation moves rapidly between the other stores
• most common processes photosynthesis, respiration, oxidation and weathering

Question 5

Are the water/carbon cycle open or closed systems

Answer 5

at a global scale they are closed as only energy crosses the boundaries over time periods. At a smaller scale, these systems are open as matter can cross the boundaries between systems