The Greenhouse Effect
What gas do humans release the most by burning fossil fuels?
What is carbon dioxide (CO₂)?
What is the long-term increase in Earth’s average temperature called?
What is global warming?
What is an invasive species?
What is a nonnative species that spreads rapidly and harms ecosystems?
What do we call a species that is at very high risk of extinction?
What is an endangered species?
Deforestation mainly reduces biodiversity by destroying this.
What is habitat?
This layer of gases traps heat near Earth and keeps the planet warm enough for life.
What is the atmosphere?
Melting glaciers and thermal expansion contribute to this major environmental problem.
What is sea level rise?
These organisms are most likely to become invasive when introduced into a new environment.
What are nonnative species?
This U.S. law protects threatened and endangered species and their habitats.
What is the Endangered Species Act?
What human activity is the largest contributor to climate change?
What is burning fossil fuels?
This process occurs when greenhouse gases absorb and reradiate heat in Earth’s atmosphere.
What is the greenhouse effect?
Burning fossil fuels increases atmospheric levels of this greenhouse gas.
What is carbon dioxide?
This invasive snake has caused major declines in mammal populations in the Florida Everglades.
What is the Burmese python?
The loss of this is considered the leading cause of species extinction.
What is habitat destruction?
This agricultural practice can reduce biodiversity when forests are cleared for farmland.
What is slash-and-burn agriculture?
Name two major greenhouse gases besides carbon dioxide
What are methane and nitrous oxide?
Scientists measure past climate conditions using indirect evidence called these.
What are climate proxies?
Invasive species often outcompete native species because they usually lack these in their new habitat.
What are natural predators?
This term describes the variety of life in an ecosystem.
What is biodiversity?
Pollution from excess fertilizers can cause algal blooms and low oxygen zones through this process.
What is eutrophication?
This greenhouse gas has a much greater heat-trapping ability than CO₂ over a shorter time period and is commonly released by livestock and landfills
What is methane (CH₄)?
This positive feedback loop occurs when melting Arctic ice reduces Earth’s reflectivity, causing more heat absorption and further warming.
What is the ice-albedo feedback loop?
This process occurs when invasive zebra mussels clog pipes, alter food webs, and disrupt aquatic ecosystems in the Great Lakes.
What is ecosystem disruption?
This occurs when a population becomes so small that reduced genetic diversity threatens its survival.
What is a genetic bottleneck?
This term describes the maximum population size an environment can sustainably support without environmental degradation.
What is carrying capacity?