IB Environmental systems and societies Topic 6: Atmosphere and Climate Change Questionbank

Source: https://www.scientificpsychic.com/etc/timeline/atmosphere-composition.html

(a) Refer to the figure. State the one of the most abundant gases in the atmosphere about 4.3 billion years ago.

(b) State the one of the most abundant gases in the atmosphere over the past 1 billion years.

(c) With reference to Figure 1, identify two greenhouse gases.

(d) Distinguish between the natural greenhouse effect and the enhanced greenhouse effect.

(a) Outline four ways that the conversion of primary forests to intensive agricultural land may influence processes in the carbon cycle.

(b) Natural gas is a resource that can be exploited from geological reserves. Discuss how the value of this resource to a society may vary over time.

(c) To what extent are the impacts of global climate change better addressed through radical shifts in human lifestyle and consumption than through large-scale technocentric geoengineering?

Figure 1: Diurnal variation of air pollutants in an urban valley

(a) Identify one secondary pollutant from the pollutants shown in Figure 1.

(b) Describe how a secondary pollutant differs from a primary pollutant.

(d) Explain the changes in ozone concentration over the course of the day shown in Figure 1.

The table below shows the average total column ozone levels (measured in Dobson Units, DU) at two different monitoring stations between 1970 and 2010.

(a) Using the data provided for Halley Bay, calculate the percentage decrease in ozone levels between 1970 and 1990.

(b) State one negative impact on terrestrial plant life caused by the increased levels of UV radiation resulting from ozone depletion.

(c) Explain the chemical process by which halogenated organic gases, such as CFCs, deplete the stratospheric ozone layer.

(d) Describe how the Montreal Protocol has acted as an effective international management strategy for protecting the ozone layer.

(c) Suggest why nitrogen monoxide ($NO$) and hydrocarbons show a sharp increase between 06:00 and 08:30.