Climate Change Review Flashcards
(32 cards)
What is the difference between climate and weather?
Weather = atmosphere at specific time
Climate= average weather or long-term weather (how the atmosphere is over time)
What are the factors of weather?
Temperature, Humidity, Air Pressure, Wind
What are the factors of climate?
Latitude, Elevation, Proximity to Water and Mountains
What is the greenhouse effect?
Gasses in the atmosphere trap heat in the atmosphere after the earth has absorbed/reflected back energy from the sun
How does carbon dioxide in the atmosphere affect temperatures in the atmosphere?
More carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, the more heat is trapped in the atmosphere
List at least 3 greenhouse gasses.
Carbon dioxide, methane, water vapor, ozone
How are greenhouse gasses added to the atmosphere?
From the ocean, volcanic eruptions, decomposition in soil, plowing soil, making electricity with fossil fuels, cars, making cement, natural gas leaks, forest fires
How are greenhouse gasses removed from the atmosphere?
Added to exposed rocks/lithosphere, plants, ocean absorption
What are observations that can be made that suggest that the climate is changing?
Warming temperatures, melting ice sheets, glaciers, and sea ice, less snow cover, rising sea levels, warming oceans, more extreme weather events such as hurricanes, ocean acidification
What are the effects of climate change around the world?
Land conflicts and less fertile farmland in Nigeria
changing coastlines and loss of homes in Tangier Island and Kiribati,
dry conditions and bushfires in Australia,
changing animal ranges and new shipping routes open because ice has melted in Alaska,
coral bleaching and affected habitats in the Great Barrier Reef,
glaciers melting and diseases spreading among plants and animals in the Alps
How do we typically make electricity?
By burning fossil fuels to heat up water to create steam to turn a turbine
How are fossil fuels connected to climate change?
When fossil fuels are burned, they release carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, into the atmosphere
What are examples of alternative energy?
Solar, Wind, Hydroelectricity, Nuclear, Biomass, Geothermal
What are the pros and cons of the alternative energy of Solar?
Pro: Renewable, can be placed in large fields/open area/ rooftops, doesn‘t have a main source of **air pollution, **
Con: Expensive to set up, Doesn’t work at night/ cloudy days, Takes up a lot of land, Difficult to store energy that is created
What are the pros and cons of the alternative energy of Wind?
Pro: Wind itself is free, Renewable, Wind turbines do not produce emissions and greenhouse gasses,
Con: Starting cost is expensive to build the wind turbine, Requires consistent wind and not all places have this, Loud, Unaesthetic
What are the pros and cons of the alternative energy of Hydroelectric?
Pro: Renewable, Easy to access, Doesn’t have a main source of air pollution, Reservoirs created by building a dam can be used for many purposes, such as agriculture, irrigation, flood control, and recreation
Con: Risk of overflowing/malfunctioning, Affects wildlife and their habitats, Affects fish migration and spawning, ex: salmon), Costs a lot to build and takes up space, Depends on precipitation levels which change from year to year and may cause instability
What are the pros and cons of the alternative energy of Geothermal?
Pro: Renewable, Reliable, Great for cooling and heating,
Con: Location-specific, High initial costs, could potentially affect earthquakes
What are the pros and cons of the alternative energy of Nuclear?
Pro: low pollution - gives off Water vp, carbon-neutral, efficient, reliable,
Con: radioactive waste, public perception that it is dangerous, potential accidents
What are the pros and cons of the alternative energy of Biomass?
Pro: renewable, easily accessible around the world, can be carbon neutral if the amount of carbon removed during growth is the same as what is released when burned,
Con: releases carbon dioxide, not very efficient
What is the carbon cycle?
Shows how carbon moves through the air, water, ground, and living things
How co2 moves in air/water/living things
How is carbon dioxide in the air and ocean related to ocean pH levels?
more carbon dioxide in the air, the more carbon dioxide in the ocean, and the more acidic the ocean becomes
More c02 in air more acidic oceans
What are some solutions to climate change?
Put less greenhouse gasses in the air by using alternative energy, waste less food, drive less, change how we farm, use plants as a way of carbon removal
less gasses in air, use alternative energy, waste less food, drive less,
Which best describes the greenhouse effect?
Gases in the atmosphere absorb heat from the earth’s surface.
The temperature was 53
F on March 9.
weather
