the atmosphere

• What is oxygen needed for:

  Animals need it for cell respiration
• Carbon dioxide- plants need for photosynthesis- insulating blanket-greenhouse effect -metabolic processes- 15-30 degrees
• Ammonia- in fertilisers helps plants to grow
• Water vapour-used in plant photosynthesis and metabolic processes- cellular metabolism
• Nitrogen- natural fertiliser - made into ammonia -bacteria makes into nitrates no2- protein synthesis
• Ozone-uv protection
• What is the difference between UV an IR- UV shorter wavelength
• Describe how UV ergy behaved when it enters the earth's atmosphere

  Some reflected to space

  5% reflected by ice and snow

  50% absorbed by earth

  Created by fusion in the sun
• Which energy is radiated from earth and how does it behave?

  Infrared radiation is reradiated-68% to space

  22% absorbed by greenhose gases
• Not having atmosphere:

  No gases for natural processes

  No absorption of UV rays

  No prevention of heat loss

  No ocean currents distributing heat around the globe

  No transport of water vapour.
• some of the different carbon sinks

  oceans- - dissolved carbonate salts

  sediments- limestone and chalk

  fossil fuels

  biomass- carbohydrates,lipids, proteins

  CO2- atmosphere
• The main processes involved in the carbon cycle are photosynthesis, respiration, decomposition, and combustion.
• different sources of carbon-

  forests(respiration)

  animals (respiration)

  fossil fuels (combustion)

  seas and oceans (diffusion)
• Deforestation disrupts the carbon cycle by reducing the number of trees available to absorb carbon dioxide through photosynthesis, leading to increased levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide and contributing to climate change.
• Human impacts on the carbon cycle-

  combustion of fossil fuels increases atmospheric carbon dioxide
• biggest sources of combustion are:

  power stations

  transport

  industry
• When fossil fuels are burned, the carbon in them combines with oxygen to form carbon dioxide (CO2) gas.
• The combustion of fossil fuels releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, contributing to the increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide levels and disrupting the natural balance of the carbon cycle.
• Forests sequester carbon through the process of photosynthesis, where trees absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and convert it into oxygen and carbon stored in their biomass.
• Oceans play a crucial role as carbon sinks by absorbing and storing large amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, helping to regulate the Earth's climate.
• How does higher concentrations of atmospheric CO2 cause acidification of the oceans 

  When carbon dioxide is absorbed by seawater , a series of chemical reaction occur resulting in the form of carbonic acid
• Which type of organisms are most affected by acidification by acidification and why?

  oysters and coral-  shells and skeletons dissolve
• Which species will benefit from an increase in carbon?

   algae and seagrass as they need carbon dioxide for photosynthesis.
• How are US crab fisheries affected by carbon in the oceans?

  affects their ability to grow- affecting their income
• State how coral reefs will be affected by acidification?

  carbonic acid attacks the skeleton
• different between plants and man made systems

  natural-goes into biosphere

  man made goes into the lithosphere
• why are we not doing CCS?

  May get leaks of CO2 

  requires a lot of energy 

  the cost of it is to great 
• natural-goes into biosphere

  manmade goes into the lithosphere
• why are we not doing CCS?

  May get leaks of CO2 

  requires a lot of energy 

  the cost of it is to great  
• Sea level rise- melting land ice- no displacement by sea ice - ice in the sea doesn’t contribute to rising sea levels when it melts- Cold water is denser than warm water- when the water gets warmer it expands- molecules are not packed so tightly together- thermal expansion.
• Paris agreement-Keep global temperature well below 2 degrees above pre-industrial limit and preferably limit the increase to 1.5 degrees recognising that this would substantially reduce the impacts of climate change. Emissions should be reduced as soon as possible and reach net-zero in the second half of the 21st century.
• Donald Trump in power- opened the coal mines- people didn’t have jobs and they didn’t want to keep living like this- He had to leave the Paris agreement. Biden joined again-signed of willow project- drilling for oil.
• troposheric ozone- In towns and cities due to pollution 

  Nitrogen monoxide+ oxygen= nitrogen dioxide 

  Nitrogen dioxide UV photolysis = nitrogen oxide + oxygen (1)

  O+ O2=O3
• changes in the cryosphere-

  Reduced snow cover- amount and duration

  Glaciers- change sin extent and speed of movement 

  Ice caps- changes to the thickness and movement -laser used to measure this- satellites go round the planet- go over the ice caps- ice exerts a gravitational pull - first satellite goes over the ice cap and speeds up as it can’t be pulled out of orbit- distance between the two satellites increases- the bigger the gap the bigger the gravitational pull- the thickness of the ice can then be calculated( cryo-sat ESA) 

  Ice shelves and land ice-changes to break up/movement.
• changes in climate process- The amount of rainfall will increase- the water is warmer do more evaporation happens and so therefore more clouds which then leads to more precipitation-amount and duration 

  Timing and location of rain storms changes- harder to predict 

  More rain and less snow 

  More cold air- does not hold moisture 

  Wind direction are changing more frequently 

  The velocity is changing
• Anthropogenic Sources of GHGs-

  carbon dioxide- combustion of fossil fuels and deforestation

  chloro-fluro carbons- aerosol propellants, refrigerants, fire extinguishers, foam plastics

  nitrogen oxides- reaction of atmospheric O3 and H2 at high temperatures in engines and furnaces

  methane- livestock(anaerobic digestion, landfill, paddy fills(both anaerobic decomposition + leaks from gas fields

  troposheric ozone- reaction of NO2 produced from car engines with UV
• species distribution-

  Different fish are being caught 

  Butterflies will benefit as the temperature gets warmer- they need warm temperatures 

  Coniferous trees may be affected due to less water and more insect eating their leaves which means they do less photosynthesis 

  Climate change is happenom rapidly, adaptation  and evolution is too slow 

  Migration and colonisation to more suitable habitats 

  Animals and plants are moving to higher elevations at a median rate of 11m per decade, and to higher latitudes at a median rate of 16.ikm per decade.
• problems with species distribution-

  Species may colonise new areas slower than previous habitats are disappearing 

  Suitable new areas may not be available (mountains,coasts,poles)

  Human land use may block movements (roads)

  Not all species may be able to move at the same speed (interdependency)
• • Hibernation is a state of inactivity and a decreased metabolism in endotherms (warm blooded animals), to conserve energy during periods when food is unavailable
  • Hibernating species may benefit from being able to feed for more of the year
  • Or may suffer, as by being disturbed more frequently,

  or when food is unavailable
• examples of lack of synchronicity-

  Bees take flight- bees missing food source as flower is not there- flower miss chance to be pollinated 

  Migratory birds- their patterns change and there may be no food there- or they could fly too late- birds are already there and eaten the food-missed peak of bioproductivity