GGS12 - Unit 1

Ecosystems

1

A community of living and nonliving things that interact with each other

Ecosystem

2

Different from other ecosystems in that it is dominated by trees.

Forests

3

Receives less than 25cm of precipitation per year

Deserts

4

Something that absorbs more carbon than it releases

Carbon Sink

5

Frost-molded landscapes

Tundra

Ecosystem Damage

1

The loss of plant-life, creating unusable soil

Desertification

2

The other major issue occurring in deserts that is not desertification

Higher temperatures

3

This has been the number one destroyer of forest ecosystems

Deforestation or clear-cutting

4

Term for the measure of the cloudiness of water

Water Turbidity

5

Oysters, crabs, bay anchovies and pipefish are examples of organisms that live in ____

Estuaries

Climate Change Causes

1

Emissions in the atmosphere that hold heat inside, warming the planet.

Greenhouse Gases (GHG)

2

Burning these for the creation of electricity/heat and transportation is seen as the main cause of climate change (General term)

Fossil Fuels

3

This accounts for nearly one quarter of global energy-related carbon-dioxide emissions and we use it every day (most of us).

Transportation

4

Maintaining these consumes half of all electricity worldwide.

Buildings

5

Each year, approximately this many hectares of forests are cut down (clear-cut), according to the UN.

12 million

Climate Change Effects

1

This was .89 degrees higher in 2022 than in the mid-1900s (Be specific)

Global temperature

2

Precipitation has (increased or decreased) in desert areas in the past between 1984 and 2006?

Decreased

3

This area of Canada (direction) was exceptionally warm in 2023 when compared to the 1991-2020 average.

Northern

4

The rate of warming in the past 15 years has been ___% higher than warming since the 1970s

40

5

This natural disaster is more likely to occur and be more intense in Nova Scotia as a result of climate change.

Hurricanes

Climate Change Solutions

1

Switching to these could make your trip to school much greener and create approx. 50% fewer emissions than traditional means.

Electric Vehicles

2

Plant or animal material used to create fuel

Biomass (used to make biofuels)

3

Energy coming from steam or boiling hot water below the earth's surface

Geothermal Energy

4

A downside of this type of energy is that the materials used can be noisy, unsightly, and can be damaged in high winds.

Wind Energy

5

A difficulty with this potential solution is that you need other forms of energy to be able to separate the hydrogen from water.

Hydricity