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Environmental Science Alevel > The Atmosphere > Flashcards

The Atmosphere Flashcards

(85 cards)

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1
Q

What is the composition of the atmosphere (%)

A

Nitrogen: 78%
Oxygen: 21%
Carbon dioxide: 0.04
Rare gases: 1
Ozone: 0.000007

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2
Q

What does dynamic equilibrium mean?

A

Two processes in a state of balance that cancel eachother out so there are no major increases or decreases.

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3
Q

Starting from the earths surface, list the structure of the atmosphere

A

Troposphere (Tropopause), Stratosphere (Stratopause), Mesosphere (Mesopause), Thermosphere

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4
Q

How does pressure change as you move higher into the atmosphere? Why?

A

The higher the altitude, the lower the pressure.
This is because as you further from the earths surface the effect of gravity is reduced and there are fewer particles compressing on top of them.

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5
Q

How does the temperature change as you travel higher into the atmosphere? Why?

A

Temperature:
- Decreases as you move up the troposphere because IR (heat) is being emitted from the ground
- Increases as you move up the stratosphere because the ozone layer is absorbing UV causing increased temperatures
- Decreases as you move up the mesosphere because there are few particles present to absorb the heat so temperature decreases
- Increases as you move up the thermosphere because temperature gets warmer as you move towards the sun

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6
Q

What is all incoming solar radiation? What happens to it?

A

UV energy.
Most gets reflected by clouds, particles in the atmosphere or areas of high albedo.
Some gets absorbed by clouds
Some gets absorbed by surfaces with low albedo where it gets converted to IR (heat) then emitted from the surface.
It’ll be absorbed by greenhouse gases or enter space

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7
Q

What is global warming?

A

When IR is absorbed by greenhouse gases and particles in the atmosphere.

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8
Q

Organisms uptake a range of atmospheric gases including:

A
  • Oxygen for aerobic respiration
  • Carbon dioxide for photosynthesis
  • Nitrogen gas for protein synthesis
  • Water vapour for photosynthesis

These are used in a range of metabolic processes to form the biological molecules which form biomass

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9
Q

What does the ozone layer do?

A

Absorb harmful UV radiation from reaching the earths surface

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10
Q

What problems can UV cause?

A

Mutations, cataracts and leaf tissue damage

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11
Q

When are winds created and what do they do?

A

When a pocket of high pressure air meets a pocket of low pressure air the air will move from an area of higher pressure to lower pressure. They help transport heat to other ar areas of the earth.

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12
Q

Winds create ocean currents. What do they do?

A

Distribute warm water and nutrients from the equator to higher latitudes and the poles. E.G the Gulf Stream.

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13
Q

Winds displace surface water. What does this encourage?

A

The upwelling of cold, nutrient rich water from the deep ocean to support food chains of certain ocean environments

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14
Q

Winds transport water vapour. Why is this useful?

A

Areas that would receive little precipitation can have a wider diversity of life that can survive.

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15
Q

What is atmospheric pressure and what is it useful for?

A

Atmospheric pressure is created by the particles in the atmosphere being drawn to the Earth by its gravitational pull. It ensures there is liquid water on the earth.

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16
Q

What is the Haber Process?

A

Using nitrogen and hydrogen gas to create artificial, inorganic fertilisers for agriculture

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17
Q

What are the anthropogenic sources of carbon dioxide?

A

Fossil fuel combustion, ploughing of soils, drainage of marshes and bogs

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18
Q

What are the anthropogenic sources of methane?

A

Anaerobic respiration by microbes in rice padi fields, landfills sites and livestock intestines
Formation of fossil fuels
Coalmine ventilation

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19
Q

What are the anthropogenic sources of oxides of nitrogen?

A
  • Vehicle engines and power stations
  • Fertiliser use including nitrous oxide
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20
Q

What are the anthropogenic sources of CFCs?

A
  • aerosol propellants, fire extinguishers, refrigerants, solvents
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21
Q

What are the anthropogenic sources of tropospheric ozone?

A

Breakdown of NO2

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22
Q

What is causing the enhanced greenhouse effect?

A
  • Fossil fuel combustion
  • Deforestation
  • Permafrost melt
  • Melting of ice reducing albedo
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23
Q

Sea level rise is a consequence of climate change. What causes it?

A
  • Thermal expansion of sea water
  • Melting land ice
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24
Q

What effects can rising sea levels have?

A
  • flooding of habitats leading to death of lose that can’t survive in salty water
  • increased interspecific competition in new habitat and possibly extinction causing trophies cascades in the food chains of new habitat
  • saltwater incursion of aquifers requiring desalination = lots of energy to treat
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25
What is the cryosphere?
Areas of the earth covered in ice.
26
Describe the positive feedback mechanism involving ice melting due to increased temperature
Higher temperatures melt ice, leading to reduced albedo. Reduced albedo means more UV is absorbed which increasing the temperature further causing more ice to melt
27
What is an ice sheet?
Ice covering an area over 50,000km2 This includes Greenland and Antarctica.
28
What is a glacier? And what is glacial retreat?
A large piece of dense ice with a high mass, found moving over land. Glacial retreat is when the front of the glacier is melting faster than it is moving across the land so the ice cover reduces. This affects water availability, humidity and salinity.
29
What is an ice lake?
Lakes that form on top of glaciers from the meltwater. During glacial retreat the front of the glacier disappears which can lead to the release of the ice lake down the valley which the glacier is travelling along which could cause flooding of communities nearby and death of livestock
30
What is perennial ice?
When new ice tends to be quite thin and melts during summer months
31
What effect will water melting into rivers faster have?
As temperatures rise, melting will increase and also rainfall will be more common than snowfall which will deliver water to rivers faster. This can lead to flooding of riverbanks, increased turbidity and damage to infrastructure
32
What are jet streams and how are they caused?
- Strong winds that blow from West to East along the tropopause - Caused due to the different temperatures and therefore density of air in the poles and the mid latitudes
33
What effect does global warming have on the jet stream?
- It is moving slower because the poles and mid latitudes have a decreased temperature gradient. -It is causing the path to fluctuate instead of be a straight line
34
What is the tipping point?
The point when damaging human activities are no longer required for the environmental impacts to continue and cannot be reversed.
35
Why could the distribution of rainfall be affected by global climate change?
1) Evaporation happens faster due to warming temperatures 2) Water vapour moves towards the cooler poles to condensate 3) Some areas could flood or drought
36
What is an example of an ocean current? And what does it do?
The North Atlantic Conveyor brings warm water from the tropics towards north west Europe
37
What is a thermohaline circulation system? And what is an example?
A circulation system driven by temperature differences and salinity. The North Atlantic Conveyor (The Gulf Stream) is an example
38
Describe the Gulf Stream
An ocean current driven by prevailing winds that push warm surface water towards Europe from the tropics. As the water cools near the coast of Europe, it becomes more dense and sinks drawing more water to replace it.
39
What effect does melting land ice and fresh melt water have on the sea water?
The sea water becomes less dense because it is diluted and therefore reduces the likelihood of sinking which is essential to thermohaline circulation.
40
What is the El Niño effect? And what does it cause?
Every 2-7 years the trade winds are reversed from west to east. This causes the ocean currents to slow or change direction As a result, warm water accumulates on the South American coastline preventing the upwelling of cold nutrient rich water leading to food chain collapse as algae and phytoplankton die. Rainfall in America increases which can lead to flooding. Rainfall decreases in Australia leading to droughts = biodiversity loss
41
What is La Niña effect?
When trade winds blow in normal direction but are much stronger. This increases the speed of the water currents and increases the temperature gradient between Australia and South America. This could lead to conditions being moved out of a species range of tolerance. Rainfall in Australia is higher than usual potentially leading to flooding.
42
Why is it important to protect trade winds?
If they disappear, we have no way of replacing them.
43
What effect does temperature have on biodiversity?
- It may move out of a species range of tolerance e.g enzymes denaturing or death - Can disrupt hibernation patterns leading to the starvation of animals if they use their fat stores too soon - Can disrupt migration, breeding and flowering - Can lead to outcompeting of native species in new space Plant species may grow faster as the rate of photosynthesis increases. This would provide more food for herbivores which could cause out competition of other herbivores and therefore reduce the biodiversity of an area
44
What effect does water availability have on biodiversity
- Droughts or flooding which could cause habitat destruction and biodiversity loss - Wetland habitats and lakes may shrink which puts increased selection pressures on the communities of species living there e.g increased competition causing biodiversity loss
45
Flooding can lead to population fragmentation. What is this?
When two species are separated and cannot interbreed and rely on eachother to supply food. It decreases the size of the gene pool and increases the chance of inbreeding It also causes ‘the edge effect.’
46
What is the edge effect?
Species that rely on the interior of a habitat now have less space.
47
What effect does temperature have on the human society?
- People suffering with respiratory or heart diseases will be more vulnerable as heat causes increased metabolic rates so faster blood flow and breathing rates - Pathogen growth rate may increase, potentially affecting more people with the disease they carry e.g mosquitos carrying malaria may reach further - Damage to infrastructure
48
Water supply will be affected by rising temperatures. What does this mean for humans?
- Could put more pressure on drainage systems and water treatment plants - Droughts may cause a loss of crops due to water being a limiting factor for crop growth
49
What are examples of infrastructure damage due to climate change?
- Melting tar causing potholes - Wooden structures expanding and stress cracking - If rivers flood and water velocity increases bridges may be damaged - Landslides may become more likely with waterlogged soil
50
When was the Kyoto Protocol created and what did it encourage?
1997 Encouraged industrialised countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions
51
The earths climate has been fluctuating naturally before the Industrial Revolution. Why does this make it hard to monitor climate change?
It is hard to know what are anthropogenic and what are natural fluctuations
52
Climate systems are interconnected. Why does this make it hard to monitor climate change?
It is hard to distinguish where the change started and why
53
There is often a time delay between cause and effect of climate change. What does this mean?
The effect could have been caused by multiple changes that started a long time ago
54
Describe the effect of plant photosynthesis on rising temperatures and state whether it is a negative or positive feedback mechanism
Negative Higher temperatures create a faster growth rate so more carbon is sequestered. This reduces the temperature as there are less greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
55
We rely heavily on proxy data to know about past climates. Why is this?
Historical data is known for being inaccurate due to a lack of technology and gaps.
56
What are examples of proxy data?
Tree growth rings and pollen data
57
What do more modern methods allow us to do?
Collect long term data sets Use electronic monitoring equipment that can be calibrated for accuracy Collaborate globally to ensure no data gaps Collect data on a range of abiotic conditions
58
What can the velocity and position of surface ocean currents be monitored using?
Satellites and buoys They can measure slowing currents and direction of currents
59
What can the deep ocean be monitored with? What do they do?
Argo floats sink to a programmed depth for a set amount of time before floating to the surface to transmit the data to labs using satellites. They can measure temperature, pH and salinity. They can be positioned all over the globe to help us prioritise conservation efforts
60
What is a negative feedback mechanism?
Reverses the original change to help maintain the dynamic equilibrium
61
What is a positive feedback mechanism?
Increases the original change.
62
Describe the effect of temperature increase on cloud cover
As temperature increases, evaporation increases, therefore cloud cover increases and temperature decreases
63
Describe the negative feedback mechanism involving temperature and water salinity
Temperature increase causes increased land ice melt, which causes the salinity of water to decrease. This slows down the Gulf Stream causing the temperature of the U.K. to decrease.
64
Describe the positive feedback mechanism involving temperature increase and melting permafrost
Temperature increase causes permafrost to melt and methane to be released. This causes increased absorption of IR. Therefore temperature increases further
65
Describe the positive feedback mechanism involving CO2 and corals
Increased atmospheric CO2 leads to increases CO2 dissolving in oceans, leading to ocean acidification which kills corals. Therefore less carbon is sequestered and carbon concentration increases in water. More CO2 is released into the atmosphere.
66
How to reduce carbon dioxide concentrations?
- use less fossil fuels e.g use renewable energy or biofuel - afforestation - use electric vehicles - assign carbon storage sites e.g peat bogs as protected areas - carbon capture and storage
67
How to reduce methane?
- reduce intensive livestock production - protect sites such as permafrost - plough and drain soils to reduce anaerobic decomposition
68
How to reduce NOx
- use public transport - switch to electric vehicles - install catalytic converters (reduce NOx to oxygen and nitrogen which are harmless)
69
What did the Montreal protocol do?
1) Banned the production of CFCS 2) Encouraged alternative methods 3) Encouraged alternative processes 4) Ensured proper disposal of CFC containing materials
70
What are examples of flood protection from sea level rise?
Artificial river banks or coastal defences, which would also reduce coastal erosion
71
What is managed retreat?
Allowing the process of erosion to occur in specified areas as the land value does not outweigh the cost to protect it
72
What is urban drainage control?
Increasing the permeability of urban areas by swapping impermeable tarmac surfaces for permeable gravel ones
73
What are other examples of adapting to sea level rise?
- river flow management - building houses on stilts
74
What is the ozone layer?
It is in the stratosphere and is made of O3
75
How is ozone formed in the atmosphere?
When UV light splits a molecule of diatomic oxygen (O2) into two oxygen atoms (O), leaving them able to bind to other O2 molecules to form O3
76
What does the ozone layer do?
Deflects UV back into the atmosphere. UVB light that is absorbed can be harmful to humans as it can cause mutations, skin cancer, and cataracts
77
What are CFCs?
Chlorofluorocarbons are man made chemicals designed for refrigerants, aerosol propellants and solvents.
78
What is the Rowland-Molina hypothesis?
CFCs could be causing ozone depletion due to their chemical properties: - very persistent as they remain chemically stable for a long time meaning they can reach the stratosphere with ease - they react with UV to release a chlorine radical which is very reactive
79
CFCs are split by UV to release a reactive chlorine radical. What does chlorine do with oxygen in the atmosphere?
It binds with O and prevents it from forming ozone = ozone depletion
80
What is an ozone hole?
Where ozone depletion is occurring and the area is less than 220 Dobson units.
81
What did ground based surveys done to prove the Rowland-Molina hypothesis show?
Areas in Antarctica were receiving lots more UVB radiation, suggesting ozone depletion. They then used satellite surveys to detect the amount of UV being reflected from the earths surface.
82
What are examples of alternative processes to CFC use?
Pump action sprays and roll on deodorant
83
What are examples of alternative materials to CFCs?
- hydrochlorofluorocarbons, which are less stable than CFCs and are less likely to reach the stratosphere - hydrocarbons such as butane, but these are highly flammable
84
What happened to products created with CFCs after the Montreal protocol?
Either recycled safely or incinerated. The public are educated on the damage caused by exposure to UV.
85
Why was the Montreal protocol successful?
It was designed and implemented internationally

Environmental Science Alevel (8 decks)

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