GCSE Climate Change

420 ppm

amount of carbon dioxide currently in the atmosphere in parts per million (ppm)

280 ppm

amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere before the industrial revolution in parts per million (ppm)

raised beach

evidence that sea level was much higher in the UK

submerged forests

evidence that sea level was much lower in the UK 4,000 years ago

carbon dioxide

greenhouse gas produced by the burning of fossil fuels

limestone

increased deposition of this rock will help reduce carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere

Anthropocene

most recent part of the geological time scale from 1784 to present dominated by the actions of man

icehouse

name given to the Earth's climate when there is ice at the poles

hothouse

name given to the Earth's climate when there is no ice at the poles

Pleistocene

name given to the most recent icehouse phase of the Earth's climate over the past 2 million years

interglacial

name given to the period of time (like now) when the Earth's climate is relatively warm

hockey stick graph

name given to the shape of this graph showing temperature increase of the Earth's climate

enhanced greenhouse effect

name given to the warming of the climate due to man's actions in the last 230 years

snowball earth

name given to when the Earth was totally encased in ice about 700 million years ago

Keeling Curve

name of this graph showing the increase in carbon dioxide since 1958 in Hawaii

coal, oil and natural gas

name three non-renewable forms of energy that are also fossil fuels

volcanoes

natural source of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere

less than 1%

percentage of carbon dioxide added to the atmosphere by volcanoes in the last 250 years compared to man-made additions

fracking

process that involves hydraulic fracturing of shales to release trapped gas

120 metres

sea level rise that has occurred since the end of the last ice age

ice cores

source of evidence for past climate change back to almost 1 million years

deep sea sediment cores

source of evidence for past climate change back to more than 50 million years

3 mm

the current rate of global sea level rise per year

albedo

this refers to the percentage of the sun's energy reflected back into space by the Earth's surface

long wave radiation

type of radiation that enters the atmosphere from the sun

infra-red or short wave radiation

type of radiation that gets trapped by the Earth's atmosphere in the greenhouse effect

ocean water

type of surface that can reflect only 5% of the sun's energy back into space

fresh snow

type of surface that can reflect up to 90% of the sun's energy back into space

increase

what effect does deforestation have on carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere?