- Greenhouse Effect
- is a greenhouse gas.
- Forms layer over earths surface.
- Heat is trapped within this layer around earth
- This is the greenhouse effect → that causes global warming
- Enhanced greenhouse effect → may result in climate change.
- Ice sheets in Greenland, Antarctica → may melt.
- Sea levels may rise → causing flooding in some countries
Important
- must say enhanced greenhouse effect when talking about global warming or climate change
Rise in seawater temperature → may result in loss of biodiversity
- E.g. → causes Coral bleaching + death of corals in coral reefs
- Coral reefs → provide habitat → for large variety of marine organisms
- Corals rely on colourful algae → which live in their tissue + produce food for corals.
- When corals are stressed by changes in light, water, temperature → they expel the algae that live in them → and turn white
- Process is known as bleaching
- Corals that have been bleached → lose ability to support as many species, leading to loss in biodiversity
- Diseases
- Rise in atmospheric temperatures + extreme weather → such as floods → could mean more breeding grounds → for mosquitoes.
- More outbreaks of mosquito born diseases → such as dengue → could occur
- Effect on aquatic ecosystems
- High atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations → affects aquatic ecosystems
- more atmospheric carbon dioxide → dissolves in sea water → which becomes more acidic.
- Acid dissolves calcium compounds → in shells of shellfish.
- This weakens their shells → making them more vulnerable to predators
Sample
Question asks for: how increase in concentrations contribute to global warming.
- ENHANCED greenhouse effect
- due to higher concentration of over earth’s surface → trapping more heat.
- leading to increase global temperature