How the greenhouse effect actually works, the human activities driving it, the predicted consequences, and what a carbon footprint is and how to reduce it.
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1.Name three greenhouse gases.
Water vapour, carbon dioxide and methane.
2.Describe how the greenhouse effect works.
Short wavelength radiation from the Sun passes through the atmosphere and is absorbed by the Earth. The Earth re-emits it as longer wavelength infrared, which greenhouse gases absorb and re-radiate in all directions, including back towards the surface.
3.Why is the greenhouse effect necessary?
Without it the Earth would be far too cold to support life as we know it.
4.Why is the greenhouse effect a problem now?
Human activity has increased the concentration of greenhouse gases, so more energy is trapped and average temperatures are rising.
5.Which human activity is the main source of extra carbon dioxide?
Burning fossil fuels.
6.How does deforestation increase carbon dioxide?
Fewer trees means less carbon dioxide is removed by photosynthesis, and burning the trees releases more.
7.Name two human sources of methane.
Livestock farming, particularly cattle, and decomposition of waste in landfill sites.
8.Why do scientists find climate change hard to model?
The Earth system is extremely complex with many interacting factors, so models are always simplifications.
9.Why should you be cautious with climate claims in the media?
Reports may be based on partial evidence, may be biased, or may be simplified in a way that misrepresents the science.
10.Give four predicted consequences of global climate change.
Rising sea levels and flooding of low lying land, more frequent and severe storms, changes in the amount and distribution of rainfall, and changes to the distribution of species.
11.How could rising temperatures affect food production?
Changes in rainfall and temperature can reduce crop yields in some regions while increasing them in others.
12.What is a carbon footprint?
The total amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases emitted over the full life cycle of a product, service or event.
13.Give four ways of reducing a carbon footprint.
Using renewable energy, increasing efficiency, carbon capture and storage, carbon taxes, and carbon offsetting such as planting trees.
14.What is carbon capture and storage?
Trapping carbon dioxide produced by power stations and industry, and storing it underground rather than releasing it.
15.What is carbon offsetting?
Compensating for emissions by activities that remove carbon dioxide, such as planting trees.
16.Give four reasons carbon footprints are hard to reduce.
The cost, incomplete scientific and economic evidence, a lack of international cooperation, and the lifestyle changes people would have to accept.
17.Why does international cooperation matter?
The atmosphere is shared, so emissions anywhere affect everyone and no single country can solve the problem alone.
18.Why is a carbon neutral product not the same as zero emissions?
It still produces emissions, but an equal amount is removed or offset elsewhere.
19.Why is water vapour a greenhouse gas but not usually a target for reduction?
Its concentration is controlled by temperature and the water cycle rather than directly by human activity.
20.What is the difference between weather and climate?
Weather is the day to day conditions. Climate is the average pattern of weather over many years.
21.Why do scientists rely on peer review for climate work?
So other experts can check the methods and conclusions before they are accepted, which reduces the chance of error or bias.
22.How does using public transport reduce a carbon footprint?
Fewer vehicles are used per person, so less fuel is burned and less carbon dioxide released for the same journeys.
23.Why is the full life cycle used when calculating a carbon footprint?
Emissions come from producing, transporting, using and disposing of a product, not just from using it.
24.Why might a country resist reducing its emissions?
Its economy may depend on fossil fuels, and the cost of changing may be high compared with the benefit it alone would receive.
25.What effect does increasing the concentration of greenhouse gases have on energy leaving the Earth?
Less of the infrared radiation escapes into space, so more energy stays in the system and temperatures rise.
26.Why can no single weather event be blamed on climate change?
Climate is about long term averages, so individual events are affected by many factors and only trends are meaningful.
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