The Greenhouse Effect › Revision notes
The Greenhouse Effect — Revision notes
Need a recap first? Read the full explanation →
Quick recap
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Brain dump
Before you look at anything else, write down everything you can remember about this lesson: key words, facts, examples. Spelling doesn't matter. Then see which of the 13 key terms you remembered.
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Ones you missed. Read these, then try again tomorrow:
Key terms
- Greenhouse effect
- Greenhouse gases soaking up heat and sending part back, so heat escapes to space more slowly
- Atmosphere
- The layer of gases that surrounds a planet
- Nitrogen
- The most common gas in the air, about 78%, which does not help keep Earth warm
- Oxygen
- The gas people breathe, about 21% of the air, which does not help keep Earth warm
- Greenhouse gases
- Gases in the atmosphere that keep it warmer than it would be without them
- Carbon dioxide
- A greenhouse gas that makes up only about 0.04% of the air
- Methane
- A greenhouse gas that cows release, mostly when they burp
- Water vapour
- One of the three greenhouse gases, along with carbon dioxide and methane
- Ice core
- A long tube of ice drilled in Antarctica, holding bubbles of ancient air
- Parts per million
- How many particles out of every million in the air are carbon dioxide
- Fossil fuels
- Coal, oil and gas
- Emissions
- Releases of greenhouse gases into the air
- Enhanced greenhouse effect
- A stronger effect from extra greenhouse gases, sending more heat back down
TERM — tap to reveal
What this lesson covers
How well do you know each one? Be honest: red means go back over it.
- Explain why Earth is about 33 degrees warmer than it would be without the greenhouse effect
- Name the main gases in the air and the three greenhouse gases
- Describe how greenhouse gases slow the escape of heat to space
- Compare a gardener's greenhouse with the way Earth's atmosphere works
- Outline what ice cores show about carbon dioxide over 800,000 years
- Identify the main sources of extra greenhouse gases and ways to cut emissions
Test yourself
Cover the answer, say it out loud, then check the full quiz on the lesson page.
- Which of these is NOT a greenhouse gas?
- Which is the biggest single source of greenhouse gases?
- Why does more carbon dioxide make Earth's surface warmer?
Topic quiz
15 questions on this topic only — not mixed with anything else, one at a time.
Question 1 of 15
Score: 0 out of 15
Spelling challenge
Read the definition, then type the correct spelling of the term. Uses the same terms as above.
Score: 0/0