Unit 6.3 - Human Influence on Climate

Question 1

Enhance Greenhouse Effect causes

Answer 1

increase in co2, methane and nitrous oxide concentrations in atmosphere

Question 2

Concentration

Answer 2

amount of substance in a volume of space or solution

Question 3

Ppm

Answer 3

parts per million

Question 4

methane

Answer 4

formed from the breakdown of organic matter

traps more than 20 times the heat of co2

produced in the stomachs of cows and sheep as the bacteria digest the cellulose in the grass the animals eat.

rice paddies, garbage tips, coal mines and natural gas fields also release methane

Question 5

Permafrost

Answer 5

areas near the poles where temperature in layers of soil or rock beneath the surface never rises above freezing point

permafrost traps the methane

Arctic soils store tonnes of methane

Question 6

nitrous oxide

Answer 6

capable of trapping 300 times more heat than co2

produced in car exhausts and through many industrial processes as well as the burning of forests and use of nitrogenous fertilisers

Question 7

Loss of Ice

Answer 7

areas of the globe covered in ice reflect more of the Suns rays and have a cooling effect on earth

reduction in the area of Antartic ice would reduce the cooling effect

less ice : more heat

salt water freezes, salt remains in ocean, salinity increases, density increases

Question 8

Co2 absorption

Answer 8

water at surface of ocean absorbs co2. as cold dense water from Antartic ocean sinks, co2 is carried with it

pumps co2 out of atmosphere

Question 9

shrinking Antartica

Answer 9

losing ice and rate of loss is increasing

Question 10

Ozone

Answer 10

occurs naturally in atmosphere, mostly stratosphere

absorbs uv radiation emitted by the sun

too much exposure to uv cause skin cancers and eye disease

Question 11

Enhanced Greenhouse effect

Answer 11

increase in natural greenhouse effect cause by human activity

Question 12

Consequences of Global Warming

Answer 12

A warming world also has the potential to change rainfall and snow patterns, increase droughts and severe storms, reduce lake ice cover, melt glaciers, increase sea levels, and change plant and animal behavior.