Energy Resources
What is a natural resource?
Something used that is biotic or abiotic
What is the difference between how coal, oil, and natural gas form?
COAL: on land, just plants
OIL: cool ocean
NATURAL GAS: warm ocean
What are the 4 main problems created by climate change?
- glaciers melting
- severe weather
- droughts
- wildfires
Nitrogen
Oxygen
Carbon Dioxide
Water Vapor
Nitrogen - triple bond
Nitrogen makes up 78 per cent of the air we breathe, and it's thought that most of it was initially trapped in the chunks of primordial rubble that formed the Earth. When they smashed together, they coalesced and their nitrogen content has been seeping out along the molten cracks in the planet's crust ever since.
What is smog?
Sunlight interacting with gasses caused from the burning of fossil fuels
What are the 3 fossil fuels?
Coal
Oil (Petroleum)
Natural Gas
What are 5 examples of renewable energy?
- biomass
- hydropower
- wind power
- geothermal
- solar
What are the two main scientific causes of climate change?
- burning GHG's
- deforestation
What is acid rain, and why does it occur?
Nitrogen makes up 78 per cent of the air we breathe, and it's thought that most of it was initially trapped in the chunks of primordial rubble that formed the Earth. When they smashed together, they coalesced and their nitrogen content has been seeping out along the molten cracks in the planet's crust ever since.
What are the main sources of carbon in the world?
Metamorphic, Igneous, Sedimentary
Why is nuclear energy NOT considered renewable?
There is a finite supply of uranium on Earth
How can we dispose of radioactive waste?
Name the three main GHG's
- methane
- water vapor
- carbon dioxide
- nitrous oxide
What is ocean acidification?
Ocean absorbs CO2 from burning fossil fuels that harms ocean an destroys ecosystems because organisms cannot live in extreme acidic environments
What makes up most of Earth's air composition and why?
Nitrogen - can only be broken down by decomposers
How is coal formed?
- 300- 400 mya in the Carboniferous period
- Ancient swamps
- Buried in sediment
- T & NP throughout time
What are three three factors that control what type of fossil fuel (non-renewable energy) forms?
1) Type of sediment
2) Combination of types ofn plants and animals
3) T & P conditions over time
Where do each of the GHG's come from?
Carbon Dioxide: Volcanoes, Forest Fires and Burning of trees and fossil fuels
Methane: Growing rice, raising cattle
Nitrous Oxide: synthetic fertilizers
Name some ways humans pollute the water
Sewage
Agricultural waste
Industry and Mining
Sediments
Heat
Oil and Gasoline
What is biodiversity?
The living variety of plants, animals, and fungi (organisms) in an ecosystem. Climate change threatens biodiversity in rainforests and oceans.
How are oil and natural gas formed, and what is the key difference in their formation?
- 300 - 400 mya - ancient oceans
- buried in sediment
- T & P over time
DIFFERENCE: oil = cooler oceans, natural gas = warmer oceans
Where would be a place on Earth that you could use geothermal energy?
Active plate boundaries
Iceland
What is the strongest GHG?
CH4 = methane
Why is water scarce?
How can water be scarce?
Even though 76% of the earth is made of water, 97% of that water is salt water
of the 3% of earth that is fresh water, 75% is ice
So, 0.75% of the earths water is usable by humans
What are the 3 types of plate boundaries?
Convergent, Divergent, Transform