Greenhouse
Effect
Effect
This gas increases in the atmosphere when fossil fuels are burned and traps heat.
What is carbon dioxide (CO₂)?
Coal, oil, and natural gas are all examples of this type of energy source.
What are fossil fuels?
A graph showing temperatures generally becoming higher from 1880 to 2011 shows this type of overall pattern.
What is an increasing trend?
Driving cars less often can help reduce the amount of this greenhouse gas released into the atmosphere.
What is carbon dioxide?
Driving less can help decrease this greenhouse gases.
What is carbon dioxide?
When the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere increases, the amount of energy absorbed by Earth’s surface generally does this.
What is increase?
This process releases carbon dioxide when fossil fuels are burned.
What is combustion?
A scientist wants to know whether glaciers have been shrinking over time. Data collected for only two years would be this kind of evidence.
What is weak or less effective evidence?
Eating less meat may help reduce emissions of this greenhouse gas because fewer livestock would need to be raised.
What is methane?
Reducing greenhouse gas emissions or increasing carbon sinks such as forests is called this climate response.
What is mitigation?
This natural process keeps some heat from escaping Earth’s atmosphere and makes Earth warm enough for life.
What is the greenhouse effect?
Name the three primary fossil fuels.
What are coal, oil, and natural gas?
For studying climate change, scientists generally prefer data collected over many years rather than a short period because it helps reveal these.
What are long-term trends?
Switching from fossil fuels to renewable energy can help reduce this problem.
What is carbon dioxide emissions?
Reducing the number of livestock raised for food can help decrease this greenhouse gas.
What is methane?
Without the natural greenhouse effect, Earth would most likely become this.
What is too cold for humans to survive?
If many more people used buses, trains, and other public transportation, energy used by these vehicles would likely decrease.
What are cars/personal vehicles?
To investigate whether humans are responsible for increasing atmospheric CO₂, scientists should compare atmospheric CO₂ levels with changes in these emissions over time.
What are greenhouse gas emissions from human activities?
Preparing communities for flooding, heat waves, or rising sea levels is called this.
What is adaptation?
Deliberately modifying Earth's climate through ideas such as solar radiation management or carbon dioxide removal is known as this.
What is climate engineering?
Name two things that could be affected over the long term by an enhanced greenhouse effect.
What are organisms in Earth’s ecosystems and natural resources such as water and trees?
To decrease carbon dioxide released while generating electricity, we should decrease the percentage of energy from fossil fuels and increase this type of energy.
What is renewable or other low-carbon energy?
A graph shows CO₂ concentration increasing over time while global temperatures also increase. This relationship does not automatically prove the temperature rise is due to the CO₂ , but it does show this.
What is a correlation/relationship between the two variables?
To lower CO₂ emissions from electricity production, energy use should shift away from fossil fuels and toward these sources.
What are renewable or other low-carbon energy sources?
The greenhouse effect is important because it helps keep Earth warm enough for this.
What is life to survive?