Back to the full dot-point answer
NSWEarth and Environmental ScienceQuick questions
Module 7: Climate Science
Quick questions on Carbon cycle and the greenhouse effect: HSC Earth and Environmental Science Module 7
4short Q&A pairs drawn directly from our worked dot-point answer. For full context and worked exam questions, read the parent dot-point page.
What is the enhanced greenhouse effect?Show answer
Burning fossil fuels and clearing land add carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases to the atmosphere faster than natural fluxes can remove them. The extra gas absorbs more outgoing infrared radiation, trapping additional heat. This intensification of the natural process is the enhanced greenhouse effect, and it is the mechanism driving global warming. Atmospheric carbon dioxide has risen from about 280 parts per million before industrialisation to well over 420 today.
What are feedback mechanisms?Show answer
Feedbacks amplify or dampen warming. Positive feedbacks reinforce change: as ice melts, the bright surface that reflected sunlight is replaced by dark ocean that absorbs it, causing more warming and more melting (the ice-albedo feedback). Warming also releases methane from thawing permafrost and reduces the ocean's ability to absorb carbon dioxide. Negative feedbacks resist change: faster plant growth in a carbon-rich atmosphere can absorb some extra carbon.
What is q1?Show answer
Distinguish between a carbon reservoir and a carbon flux, giving one example of each. [2 marks]
What is q2?Show answer
Explain how the ice-albedo feedback amplifies global warming. [3 marks]
Have a question we have not covered?
This dot-point answer is short enough that we have not extracted many short questions yet. Read the full dot-point answer or ask Mo, our study assistant, in the chat for follow ups.