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46 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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What is the relationship between CO2 and average global temperature? |
The increase of atmospheric gases, due to human activities (greenhouse gases). Sun radiates energy/heat onto earth, but then the atmosphere reflects about 30% of that back into space. Planet absorbs rest. However, the gases trap the heat in |
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What contributes most of our excess of CO2? |
Burning oil for transportation and coal for electricity |
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What are some effects of global climate change? |
Decrease in amount of continental ice and glaciers Sea levels rise Weather patterns change: causing drought and floods Higher frequency of extreme weather: warm water causes hurricanes Impacts agriculture Ocean Acidity increases
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What is PH? |
A measurement of how acidic or basic something is. 0= acidic 7= neutral 14= basic |
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What ecosystems are most affected by global climate change? |
Polar seas Coral Reefs Coastal Wetlands Tundra |
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True or False: Salt water is heavier than fresh water |
True |
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How much of the Earth's water is freshwater? |
3% |
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What is precipitation? |
rain and snow continuously fall from the atmosphere to the land and ocean |
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What is Evaporation? |
sun energy continuously moves water vapor from the land and ocean to the atmosphere |
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What is transpiration? |
The water that makes it to the soil, a lot of that will be absorbed by plant roots, moves through the plant and evaporates off the plant when it sweats |
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What is runoff? |
water that moves over the land recharging surface water basins, such as rivers reservoirs, wetlands and lakes |
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what is surface water? |
precipatation that remains on the surface of the land and does not seep down through the soil |
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What is a watershed? |
an area of land that drains into a particular body of water: river, lake, bay. |
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Name a small watershed |
Whale Pond Brook |
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Name a large watershed? |
Mississippi River |
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What is ground water? |
recharged water that is allowed to percolate through the soil, the supply of freshwater that is stored in underground aquifers. the water falls on land-seeps through soil and porous rock until it hits an impermeable later of bed rock where the water collects |
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Is groundwater a renewable resource? |
No, it is non renewable, it takes 100-1000's of years to form |
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What are the properties of water? |
2 hydrogens atoms bonded to 1 oxygen atom |
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Why do belly flops hurt? |
The H2O moleclues are breaking apart |
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Why can bugs float on top of water? |
The h2o molecules are sticking together and the bugs aren't heavy enough to break them |
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What are three water resource problems? |
Too much water- flooding problems Too little water- drought Poor Quality- pollution |
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What is the Ogallala Aquifer? |
Largest groundwater deposit in the world. |
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What is the Colorado River Basin? |
Lake Mead is less than 50% full, it provides water for 30 million people. |
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What is salinization? |
Gradual accumulation of salt in soil as a result of improper irrigation techniques |
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Aral Sea in North Asia |
80% gone |
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What is point source pollution? |
pollutants can be traced to a specific source such as pipes, sewers and ditches from specific sites |
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What is non point source pollution? |
pollutants enter a body of water over large areas rather than specific such as rain washing pollutants out of the soil into runoff |
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Ways to reduce runoff: |
Rain barrels rain gardens green roofs |
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What is grey water? |
Water that has already been used in sinks, showers, washing machines and dishwashers. Can be used for toilets, washing cars or watering lawns |
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What is coal? |
most abundant fossil fuel. Forests over 300 million years ago died and didn't properly decompose, then compacted and heated to create coal |
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How much coal do we have left? |
Enough to only last us 100 or so more years |
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What is mountain top removal? |
one of the most destructive mining methods. Literally the tops of mountains are removed. Over 500 mountains |
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Environmental impacts of Burning Coal: |
contributes air pollutants, more than oil or natural gas Burning releases sulfur which then combines with water to create acid rain Mercury is released |
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What are coal ash ponds? |
They are used to store the ash that occurs from burning coal at a powerplant These ponds contain mercury, lead and arsenic |
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What happened Kingston, Tennesse in 2008? |
Six million tons of coal ash spilled into waterways |
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What is crude oil? |
It's also known as petroleum. It is composed of oily chemicals and the peak production is estimated to be 2035 |
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What are Canadian Tar sands? |
low grade heavy oil trapped in sand and clay. it's the most expensive |
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What are the 2 methods of obtaining Canadian tar sands? |
open pit mining and natural gas is pumped down int the ground and the crude oil comes up |
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What are the different methods for transporting tar sands? |
Pipeline: XL pipe from Canada to Texas Train car: derailed in Quebec Tanker Ship: BP Oil spill and Exxon Valdex Oil Spill |
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What is fracking? |
Hydrologic fracturing, deep extraction of natural gas. It uses large amounts of water from neighboring ecosystems |
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Nuclear Power: What is fission? |
splitting of a nucleus into smaller fragments that are used for energy: Nuclear Power plants |
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Nuclear Power: What is fussion? |
two smaller atoms combined to form a larger element: sun |
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What are the pros and cons of nuclear power? |
Pro: no CO2 is released Con: no proper disposal of nuclear waste, it never goes away |
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What are the pros and cons of solar energy? |
Pros: operating them generates no water or air pollution Con: manufactoring them uses toxic chemicals, they are also large scale operations that use up a lot of land |
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What is active solar heating? |
collectors absorb solar energy, can provide families with hot water and electricity |
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What is Biomass energy? |
organic matter, burning it to make heat. Plant and animal material is used as a fuel. It can be renewable if used correctly, however, it releases a lot of air pollution |
