Human Impact On Global Systems

Front 1

What is the biosphere?

Back 1

The region of the atmosphere that is occupied by living organisms

Front 2

What is the lithosphere?

Back 2

The crust and upper mantle of the Earth

Front 3

What is the hydrosphere?

Back 3

All the liquid water on the surface of the Earth

Front 4

What is the atmosphere?

Back 4

The layer of gases surrounding the planet

Front 5

What is the carbon cycle?

Back 5

The process by which carbon is recycled through the soil, water, living things, and the atmosphere

Front 6

What is the water cycle?

Back 6

The process by which water is recycled through the soil, the oceans, living things, and the atmosphere

Front 7

What is the nitrogen cycle?

Back 7

The process by which nitrogen is recycled through soil, organisms and the atmosphere

Front 8

Explain the processes of the nitrogen cycle.

Back 8

1. Organisms dying, or lightning striking releases nitrogen back into the soil

2. Decomposers (bacteria) convert nitrogen into Ammonia

3. Second group of bacteria gets energy from Ammonia, releasing soluble nitrates

4. Plants take up the nitrates

5. Animals eat plants with nitrates

6. Nitrogen-fixing bacteria absorb nitrogen from the air and converts it to nitrates

7. Denitrifying bacteria convert nitrates back into gaseous nitrogen

Front 9

Explain the processes of the water cycle.

Back 9

1. Evaporation

2. Condensation

3. Precipitation

4. Transpiration

5. Run-off

Evie Calls Peeing Trajectory Run

Front 10

Explain the processes of the carbon cycle.

Back 10

1. Burning of fossil fuels, forests, decomposing animals and animal respiration release gaseous Carbon Dioxide

2.Photosynthesis through trees and aquatic plants

3. Decomposing release Carbon Dioxide back into the air

Front 11

What are fossils?

Back 11

The preserved remains of dead organisms

Front 12

What are fossil fuels?

Back 12

Fuels that contain the carbon of plants and animals that died and were preserved

Front 13

What are nitrogen-fixing bacteria?

Back 13

Bacteria that absorb nitrogen from the air and convert it into ammonia and then into nitrates

Front 14

What are denitrifying bacteria?

Back 14

Bacteria that convert nitrates back into gaseous nitrogen, which is then released back into the atmosphere

Front 15

Define Weather.

Back 15

The state of the atmosphere in terms of temperature, wind, cloud cover, and precipitation through interaction between the hydrosphere, lithosphere, and the atmosphere

Weather changes day to day

Front 16

Define Climate.

Back 16

The long-term averages of weather conditions

Front 17

What is the difference between weather and climate?

Back 17

Weather is the short-term conditions of the environment, whilst climate is the long-term averages of weather conditions

Front 18

What are the factors influencing climate?

Back 18

1. Surface of the Earth

2. Gases in the atmosphere

3, Orientation of the Earth

4. Ocean currents

Front 19

What is the Southern Oscillation Index?

Back 19

A measure of the atmospheric and ocean conditions across the Pacific Ocean, calculated using the difference in air pressure between Tahiti and Darwin

Front 20

What is La Nina?

Back 20

Opposite of El Nino

Central and Eastern Pacific Ocean cool, trade winds blow stronger, resulting in Australia experiencing colder and wetter conditions

Front 21

What is El Nino?

Back 21

Extreme of the Southern Oscillation which causes drought to parts of Australia

Wind from South America carrying moisture do not reach Australia due to weaker trade winds and little air pressure difference, causing cool air to descend over Australia causing little rainfall

Front 22

What are Interglacials?

Back 22

Periods between glaciations - periods of global warming

Front 23

What is climate change?

Back 23

Change to the averages of aspects of climate that persist for decades or longer

Front 24

What evidence points to climate change?

Back 24

--> Glaciers

--> Ice cores

--> Pollen Analysis

--> Sea level change

--> Rainfall fluctuations

Front 25

What are the effects of climate change?

Back 25

--> Glaciers retract and grow

--> Fluctuating rainfall

--> Changes in sea level

--> Changes in global average temperature

--> Changes in land size

Front 26

What is sustainable development?

Back 26

Developing for the needs of people today without limiting the resources future generations need

Front 27

What are leguminous plants?

Back 27

Plants that produce seeds in pods

Front 28

What are greenhouse gases?

Back 28

Gases that have the effect of trapping heat close to the Earth's surface

Front 29

What is the greenhouse effect?

Back 29

The effect greenhouse gases have upon global warming

Front 30

What are ocean currents?

Back 30

Continuous movements of ocean water

Front 31

What is thermohaline circulation?

Back 31

The interaction between surface and deep ocean currents, creating a circuit

It takes about 1600 years to comlete one circuit

Front 32

What is the global conveyor belt?

Back 32

Another name for the thermohaline circulation

Front 33

What is the Gulf Stream?

Back 33

Part of the global conveyor belt

a current that makes Western Europe warmer in winter than any other region of teh same latitude

Front 34

What is the Indian Ocean Dipole?

Back 34

A cycle of change in the water temperature between the eastern and western areas of the Indian Ocean, influencing the weather of southern parts of Australia

Front 35

What is Global Warming?

Back 35

A global increase in the global average temperature

Front 36

What are glaciers?

Back 36

Large sheets of ice, most common at the poles

Front 37

What are ice cores?

Back 37

Sections of ice sheets analysed to gain information on climate conditions from hundreds of years ago

Front 38

What is a pollen analysis?

Back 38

The analysing of fossilised pollen to gain information about the species living in the area during the time the fossils were laid down

Front 39

What is the enhanced greenhouse effect?

Back 39

An increase in the natural greenhouse effect caused by human activity

Front 40

What is Nitrous Oxide?

Back 40

Gas released through the burning of nitrates

Front 41

What is Gyres?

Back 41

The circular patters shown by the ocean currents in the major ocean basins

Front 42

What is Permafrost?

Back 42

areas on Earth where the temperature in layers of soil and rock never rises above freezing point

Front 43

What is biodiversity?

Back 43

The variety of ecosystems in the biosphere, the variety of species within those ecosystems, and the genetic variation within those species

Front 44

What is the Southern Oscillation?

Back 44

A sequence of changes to the way the atmosphere and water circulate across the Pacific Ocean