Climate, and Change Flashcards
Climate change
Long-term changes in temperature, and precipitation.
Deforestation
The chopping down, and removal of trees to clear an area of forest.
Ecosystem
A community of plants, and animals that interact with each other, and their physical environment.
Enhanced Greenhouse effect
The increased greenhouse effect resulting from human action (emission of greenhouse gases), and leading to global warming.
Geological climate events
Climate changes that result from major geological events such as volcanic eruptions.
Global warming
A trend whereby global temperatures rise over time, linked in modern times with the human production of greenhouse gases.
Ice age
A period in the earth’s past when the polar ice caps were much larger than today.
Little ice age
A period of slight global cooling that lasted from the mid 15th century to the mid 19th century.
Magafauna
‘Big animals’ which mostly weights over 40kg e.g. woolly mammoth, sabre-toothed cat
Natural causes
Processes, and forces that are not controlled by humans.
Orbital changes
Changes in the pathway of the Earth around the Sun, and the tilt on its axis.
Quaternary period
The more recent geological period of the Earth’s history.
Solar output
The energy emitted from the Sun.
Stratosphere
The layer of air 10-50 km above the Earth’s surface.
Food chains
Plants, and animals are linked together, and depend on each other for food.
