Carbon (Key Terms)

Question 1

What are hydrogen fuel cells?

Answer 1

• Produces almost no pollution
• Combines hydrogen and oxygen to create electricity, heat and water

Question 2

What is ocean acidification?

Answer 2

• Caused by the oceans uptake of CO2
• The CO2 reacts with H2O to form carbonic acid
• this reduces the pH of oceans
• Average oceanic pH was 8.2 until the 19th century
• Dropped to 8.1 in 2015
• Reefs stop growing at pH less than 7.8

Question 3

What is mitigation?

Answer 3

Mitigation is when GHG emissions are reduced or prevented.

Question 4

What is adaptation?

Answer 4

Adaptation is when communities adjust to climate conditions.

Question 5

What is outgassing and how significant is it?

Answer 5

When seismic activity releases CO2 from the crust into the atmosphere. Not very significant in terms of global emissions (0.2Gt annually)

Question 6

How much CO2 do humans produce per year?

Answer 6

35 Gigatons