The Earth's Atmosphere

Cards (6)

  • Atmosphere today
    78% nitrogen
    21% oxygen
    0.04% carbon dioxide
  • 6CO2 + 6H2O -> C6H12O6 + 6O2
  • greenhouse gases
    carbon dioxide, water vapour, methane
  • The carbon footprint of a product, service or event is the total amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that are emitted over its full life cycle
  • Describe how carbon dioxide helps to maintain temperatures on Earth
    Carbon dioxide allowers short wavelength radiation to pass through the atmosphere to the Earth's surface; carbon dioxide absorbs outgoing long wavelength radiation
  • Explain how the amount of oxygen in the air increased to the amount found today
    Algae evolved and started producing oxygen via photosynthesis; land plants evolved to increase amounts of oxygen in the atmosphere further